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Sponsored content, native advertising, advertorials. Maybe better to call it what it is: media content, paid for by advertisers, produced to look like news. Whether you think it’s ethical or not, we need to first acknowledge one important fact. The fight over this kind of advertising is about 150 years old. This past Sunday, John…
Do you own a 39- or 42-inch E-Series Vizio flat screen? Does your flat screen keep falling on its face? Then we have some good news for you, friends: Vizio just recalled about 245,000 of its TVs due to a “risk of tip over.” According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Vizio has already had…
If there’s one downside to a digital SLR that every photographer has to deal with—at least every photographer who doesn’t just stick with their kit lens—it’s dust getting inside the camera and on the sensor. Attempting to clean the inside of a DSLR often feels like performing delicate surgery, but this faux lens promises to…
This Sunday, the moon will appear in more splendor than it will for another 20 years. Yes, some of you already sent in photos of this summer’s super moons, but that old moon? Pfft. Not as impressive as this month’s moon! So for this week’s Shooting Challenge, don’t miss the opportunity to capture the moon…
Government bureaucracy, am I right? Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins get out of their ship after going to the moon, and the first thing they have to do is fill out some pesky customs paperwork. It’s a sign of our times, right? Nope—it’s an urban legend. As NASA History explained recently (and as our friends over…
California is currently in the grips of a major drought, one of the worst of this generation. The region’s lack of precipitation has not only hindered California’s agricultural industry, it’s also turned our forests into tinder. But researchers at the University of California San Diego have a potential solution: just wire up all the trees…
Hollywood Reporter just got word that Warners is planning two more Lego movies to open the summer season. That’s great! We’ll just have to wait until Memorial Day 2018 and 2019, respectively, to see them. As we previously heard, the second Lego movie will hit theaters on May 26, 2017. Further installments will come on…
File this under “simple settings you might not be aware of.” If you’re frustrated by the “Click here to subscribe!” pop-ups and other annotations that clutter up many YouTube videos, you can quickly disable them from the site options page. You’ll need to be signed in for the changes to take effect. Click on the…
After nearly a decade, multiple false-starts, and many billions of dollars, the Army has finally chosen a new camouflage for its troops. Except it’s not exactly new. It was originally developed back in 2002. And it looks a whole lot like one of the patterns that the Army was in talks to adopt from an…
First, there was only LG and Samsung. Now, Sony has joined the growing curved 4k TV fray. With the Bravia S90, Sony showcases its take on the future of the living room, and it’s definitely a future I want to be part of. Available in the totally reasonable sizes of 65 and 75 inches, the…
Kanye West is a worrier. Except these days, he’s not upset about Bonnaroo or water bottles, he’s worried about adult stuff, like the safety of his one-year-old daughter North. More specifically, he’s worried about her getting electrocuted by a paparazzi-piloted drone while she’s swimming. As with most things Kanye, it’s an insightful point flecked with…
Unless your measuring spoons are all tethered together (which is annoying unto itself) you’ve probably spent too much time sifting through kitchen drawers trying to find the one you need. Rahul Agarwal’s Polygon measuring spoon solves that problem with an easy-to-store flat design that simply folds to whatever capacity you need. Pre-etched and labeled score…
NFL Now, the league’s new video highlight app, just launched today. It somehow crams over 6,000 minutes of original video content, and nearly 5,000 minutes of video per team, into every week of the season. Clearly, the world is about to run out of minutes. Available for free on Android, iOS, Windows, and Kindle mobile…
This animated short by Nina Paley—in the tradition of the best Monty Python music skits—might not be an orthodox history lesson, but it’s an accurate depiction of the horrible 6,000-year bloodshed in the region of Palestine, with dozens of tribes and nations fighting each other to claim ownership of that land. Here is a summary…
These may look like Lego pieces, but don’t be deceived: the smart building blocks are made of flexible plastic and stuffed with fluidics channels and electronics, designed to build simple, adaptable robots in double-quick time. The basic 6×9 stud blocks are 3D-printed using a soft and flexible plastic—a type of elastomer—and can be easily trimmed…
Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers gives out an award to celebrate the sheer size and complexity and awesomeness of infrastructure projects built by Americans. From an Antarctic research station on hydraulic stilts to an flyover railroad crossing, this year’s five finalistsare truly remarkable. Building gigantic structures is not usually glamorous, but the…
The Galaxy Note 3 is a monster, both in size and importance. It was the best-selling device in Samsung’s Galaxy lineup last year, and more importantly made phablets something you’d actually want to use. But with Apple potentially about to enter the biggie-sized smartphone space, the upcoming Note 4 has a whole lot more riding…
While thenext update to Windows 8.1 is set to be minor, new reports suggest that Windows 9 will see Microsoft distance itself yet more from the bold Metro styling of the current OS. The Verge claimsto be able to confirm reports that Microsoft plans to remove the Charms bar from Windows in the next iteration…
Eric Stanleyuses laser-cut paper layers to create these amazing 3D sculptures inspired by gothic and Islamic low relief windows. He got the idea when laser cutting Cheerios boxes for another project and he realized that he could create very complex and beautiful forms by stacking them together. Eric is an Associate Professor of Studio Art…
When you build an amazing spacecraft like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, you have to be methodical—and just look how neatly organized their workspace is. This photo was taken a few weeks ago at Northrop Grumman, where the pathfinder backplane of the telescope was assembled. It will soon head to NASA Johnson for cryogenic testing.…
