Tech News

How 3D Printing Is Making Better Movie Monsters

Cinematic special effects have come a long way since Jason and the Argonauts. What once required dedicated and labor-intensive filming sessions can now easily be generated in near-lifelike quality by modern CGI. But Luma Pictures, an animation studio responsible for some of the biggest blockbuster movie effects of the last decade, has come full circle…

These Scarves Are Printed With the Outlines of Cities Aglow at Night

We’ve all seen the glowing fingerprints of cities after dark: Manhattan as an orderly grid, London a sprawling mess bisected by the winding Thames, the ring of Paris’s arrondissements. The patterns are recognizable but abstract, just right on a silk scarf that lets you subtly broadcast your city allegiances. The new collection, “Cities by Night,”…

Bad Cell Phone Calls Could Actually Be Tracked to Detect Rainfall

Despite the many wonders of our modern cell phones, using them to call a real live human can kind of suck. The sound is fuzzy, the calls drop randomly, and a simple rainstorm can make it all even worse. But there is surprising upside to all this: we can monitor the quality of cell phone…

What Do You Want Gizmodo To Do More Of?

Gizmodo began as a compendium of gadgets; page after page of strictly hardware and gear. But in the decade since, the ways society talks about and interacts with technology have evolved. This site has, too. And as we continue to, I’d like to know what you want to see us doing more of—or less—along the…

A Trip On the Hybrid Crane-Boats That Pull Wreckage from NYC Harbor

The US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for keeping debris out of New York’s Harbor, whether it’s dead whales, helicopters, driftwood, or floating docks. Without the Corps the harbor and the outlying beaches of the Rockaways and the Jersey Shore would be filled with massive pieces of debris and ships would risk being critically…

A Multi-Function Clip That Hides a Toolbox In Your Hair

A Leatherman multi-tool hanging off your belt is a great way to stay prepared for emergencies, but it means you look like someone with a Leatherman hanging off their belt—and that part’s not so great. This innocuous hair clip is a better alternative. It manages to replicate the functionality of quite a few tools, but…

“Women Needed to Help American Men Win This War,” poster from the munitions company Hercules Powder Company circa 1942, illustrated by Mel Hopla. [Getty Images]

Unlocking Your Phone Is About To Be Legal Again

Looking to overturn a longstanding Library of Congress decision to Fort Knox your gadgets to a specific carrier, the “Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act” (S.517) just hurdled its second major obstacle on its way to becoming a law. Now, the bill only needs the POTUS’ signature and smartphones will be able travel among…

​How And Why To Take Your Smartphone Camping

No other device packs a camera, a stereo, video recording, GPS navigation and guide books into such a small, conveniently carried package. Here’s how to get the most of your smartphone in the outdoors. https://gizmodo.com/so-you-want-to-go-spearfishing-for-the-very-first-time-1609682913 Protect It: You need to plan to be exposed to weather and activities. And, if you plan to be around…

This Dreamy Drone Tour Shows the Rebirth of Downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles’s swiftly mutating downtown is usually viewed at street level. Now, thanks to filmmaker Ian Wood, we get a top-down perspective of the city’s transformation in this gorgeous video, which he shot with a lightweight remote-controlled quadcopter and camera system. 20 stories up, there’s change afoot as well. With the stunning detail that only…

Bad News for Verizon’s Heavy Data Users: You’ll Be Throttled This Fall

If you’re clinging to your grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan, here’s some bad news. Starting October 1, Verizon will throttle LTE speeds for heavy data users who enter high-volume areas. As GigaOm points out, this means Verizon will privilege users who pay for their data per gigabyte over their customers who use unlimited plans. And…

Your Right To Be Forgotten Beats Google’s Right to Remember

Last week, Microsoft’s Bing joined Google in acquiescing to the E.U. high court’s “right to be forgotten” ruling, which allows European citizens to petition for the removal of search results about themselves that are “inadequate…no longer relevant, or excessive.” The Court of Justice sees it as a victory for privacy protection; Google sees only censorship.…

How to Keep Dozens of Tabs Open Without Exhausting Your Browser

Those who lived through the tabbed browsing revolution will remember just how convenient it felt to be able to open up three or four tabs in the background without losing focus from the current one. Now that kind of behavior is taken for granted, but if you queue up too many tabs to get around…

Never Stay In a Hotel With Crappy Wi-Fi Thanks to This Useful Site

When you’re traveling, hotel Wi-Fi might be your only source of connectivity, so when you wind up in a hotel and the internet crawwwwwls, it can be a major bummer. Thanks to sites like SpeedSpot or Hotel Wi-Fi Test, you can avoid unfortunate internet conditions. If you’re traveling to a city, simply search for each…

California pays prisoners $2 per day to fight wildfires

California uses about 4,000 inmates as firefighters to help battle the state’s brutal wildfires, paying each just $2 per day. Many are low-level offenders who work 24-hour shifts, getting incredibly little sleep. Why would California do this? Using prisoners as firefighters saves the state about $100 million per year. From KQED: The Bully Fire, which…

The Watch That Walked On the Moon Gets an Anniversary Upgrade

Believe it or not not, the watch that Buzz Aldrin wore as he took those first steps on the moon wasn’t some custom contraption engineered by NASA to endure the vacuum of space. It was an Omega Speedmaster Chronograph, and 45 years later the watchmaker has released a commemorative follow-up called the Speedmaster Professional Apollo…

Deals: Nespresso Pixie, Stick-On Whiteboards, Galaxy Camera

The compact and excellently-reviewed Nespresso Pixie with included milk frother is down to its lowest price ever by a solid margin today one of the lowest prices we’ve seen. Deals on this don’t tend to last long, so grab yours fast. [Nespresso Pixie with Milk Frother, $194] $10, $20, or $$30 off? The nicer the…

The Amazon Fire Phone’s Headphones Are What All Cheap Earbuds Should Be

Have you ever met a pair of pack-in headphones you liked? Me neither. That is until I got the ones that came with the Fire Phone. They look a lot like Apple’s (bad) EarPods, but are better in almost every way you would want. All cheap headphones should be at least this great. Do the…

This Tank Thinks It’s a Beach-Storming Hovercraft

As the U.S. military explores the idea of moving our forward operating bases offshore, it is faced with the issue of actually getting troops from ship to land. However, at last month’s RIMPAC exercises in Hawaii, the Navy showed off the future of landing craft with a gargantuan aquatic tank prototype—and even that’s only half…

HP and Chubby Checker Finish Fight Over “Chubby Checker” Penis-Size App

Chubby Checker, the “Twist”-singing denim enthusiast, has made legal peace with Hewlitt-Packard and Palm following a trademark infringement lawsuit over Chubby Checker, a penis measurement webOS app. HP users intent on assessing the angle of their dangle and the girth of their groin are no longer able to size up their schwanz using the Chubby…