Tech News

Why Fire Hydrants Don’t Freeze and Burst During Winter

The fire hydrant that we know today traces its origins back to fire plugs. Water mains that transported fresh water in a city or town used to be made of hollowed out logs buried beneath the streets. Whenever there was a fire and firefighters needed water, they dug up the cobblestone street and drilled a…

This Is What It’s Like to Drive a Car From a Drone’s Point of View

Imagine driving a car from a third-person point of view, as seen by a drone hovering in the sky. It sounds fun but dangerous, like a computer game made real—which is why Tom Scott decided to try it out in real life. Equipped with a filming drone, some video goggles, a Mazda MX-5 Miata and…

Google Funds An Undersea Cable to Connect the US to Asia at 60 Tbps

The US and Asia will soon be connected by a trans-Pacific cable network that will carry data at — hold your breath — 60 terabits per second. The high-speed network, named FASTER (you know, than just about everything else on the planet), will connect Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Oregon and Seattle to Chikura and…

Twitter’s disclosed some specific numbers about how many of its users are bots. In fact, as of June, it was a fairly staggering 23 million—or about 8.5 percent of the entire user base.

What’s the Most Boring Number?

To any good nerd, numbers are inherently interesting, whether they’re square, primes, part of the Fibonacci sequence… whatever. But some numbers aren’t so special—so what’s the most boring one? “With all due respect to 14972, 17807, 1121 and 2121…” starts Numberphile in this fun little video, before listing the reasons why it doesn’t like those…

Report: The Next iPad Will Have a New Glare-Free Display

The next iPad will have a new anti-reflection coating to make the display easier to read, according to a new Bloomberg report. The news agency claims that Apple’s suppliers have already started putting together the new iPads, which will feature a special coating on their display to cut glare. But manufacturing complications as a result…

Here’s What Happens If You Like Everything On Your Facebook Feed

Despite popular perception, your Facebook news feed isn’t just a string of updates from your friends and Pages you Like. It’s a highly-customized list created by Facebook’s mind-bogglingly complex algorithms. So what would your feed look like if you decided to Like every single thing you saw on it? Mat Honan, Wired’s intrepid reporter, bravely…

You Can Now Cast Your Google+ Stream To Your Chromecast

Here’s one more thing you can add to all the awesome things you can do with a Chromecast: cast your Google+ stream directly from the app to your Chromecast-connected TV set to view posts, pictures and videos in full HD glory. This only works if you’re on Android, for now, but you have to think…

A lightsaber katana is the closest we’ll get to Star Wars in real life

I’m still holding out hope for light sabers in the future but with our world’s technological limitations and silly allocation of resources, the most beautiful deadly sword-type weapon we can create without lasers might be this mashup of a lightsaber and katana made by Man At Arms: Reforged. It’s mostly a katana with an intricately…

Let’s See Your Best Supermoon Astrophotography

The best thing about supermoon hype is that it’s an excellent excuse to go outside and stargaze. What are you favourite photographs from last night’s peak-moon moment? Share your photos, either those you took yourself, or ones you’ve seen today taken by others. Please try to keep credits and linkbacks attached — we only get…

Dogs jumping for treats in slow motion

The focus. The determination. The body control. The complete satisfaction. It all comes together when a dog jumps in the air for a treat. It’s so fun to see, the dog jumps in the air without ever thinking about landing, it’s 100 percent concentrated on the treat. And once it chomps down, that face of…

Pay Tribute to Robin Williams, Whose Comedy Brought Us All Together

The news that Robin Williams has died is utterly heart-wrenching. While details of his death remain vague, it’s immediately clear that the actor and comedian led a brilliant life and touched millions in profound ways. There’s no better way to pay tribute than by watching one of his movies. Again, it’s inexpressibly sad to look…

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Jackson

Ever since I saw them in a small, grimy room above a bar in Albany, New York, Cymbals Eat Guitars has been one of my favorite bands. Their album openers in particular repeatedly strike an epic, sprawling, noodley indie rock chord I just cant get enough of. And now that the band’s third album is…

This Is The Last Journey For ESA’s Cargo-Carrying Space Tugs

The last of the Automated Transfer Vehicle missions is currently underway, bringing supplies to the International Space Station with fabulous style. Due to dock tomorrow, ATV-5 sneaking up on the station looks more like a watercolour than a photograph taken by an astronaut. ATV-5 during a fly-under just 7 kilometers below the International Space Station…

This Weird Rainbow Nipple is Actually a Sophisticated Model of a Brain

There are lots of thing I can think of when I see this gelatinous rainbow mass, but I do not think “brain.” Yet this funny-looking thing is one of the most complex models scientists have ever developed to study what traumatic injury does to brain cells. Growing brain cells in a petri dish is not…

These animated X-ray GIFs show how the inside of our bodies work

Cameron Drake create these excellent animated GIFs that reveal how various joints in our bodies bend and fold and work under the all seeing see through eye of the X-ray. Under our skin, we all have the same beautiful machinery. See more of Drake’s work here. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join…

Automatic Skyscraper Shades Bend and Fold to Keep You Comfy

It’s the very worst part of working in a giant climate-controlled building: Depending on the time of day, half of the offices end up roasting while the others freeze to death. How about a smart skyscraper skin that adjusts window by window based on the angle of the sun, saving energy and allowing workers to…

Vanquish Blank Walls With These Awesomely Detailed Linocuts

Got a blank wall that needs a little love? I dare you to browse the prints at 3 Fish Studios and not find something you want to mount proudly in your apartment. Check it out: Godzilla! Robots! Ballparks! Architectural landmarks! Iconic landscapes! Old school game controllers! Mid-century-freaking-furniture! Eric Rewitzer and Annie Galvin are the married…

Join Gizmodo for a Los Angeles Happy Hour Tonight

Little known fact: At least six of your favorite Gizmodo contributors are based in Los Angeles. Because it’s summer, and we’ll take any excuse to drink outdoors, we’re organizing a happy hour for our L.A.-based readers. Join us, won’t you? We’re headed to Hollywood on Monday, August 11 for drinks at The Cat & Fiddle,…

A Small Danish Suburb Is a Lab for the World’s Smartest Streetlights

If you happen to drive through Albertslund, Denmark starting next month, you could become part of a massive experiment on the future of street lighting. The Copenhagen suburb is getting hundreds of smart lamps connected to all sorts of sensors. It makes sense this would happen in Albertlunds—a suburb already known for its historic street…