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Weather is annoyingly fickle, and so is the wind. If massive offshore wind farms are going to become reality, we need better ways to store the extra energy from windy days for the windless ones. One a bizarre-sounding idea floating around: giant balloons of compressed air stored deep underwater. Like many good ideas, the seeds…
I haven’t mentioned astronaut Reid Wiseman in over a week. Clearly, that means it’s time for him to spring a new bit of beautiful, soothing, incredible timelapse video of an S-curve aurora dancing above the southern hemisphere. This is a six-second loop I am completely content to leave on repeat for the next unconstrained period…
They’re the bane of modern interstates and countryside roads alike: Potholes cost American drivers nearly $6.5 billion dollars in flat tires, blown shocks, and cracked rims in 2013, according to AAA. Save your car this beating by learning to recognize the early warning signs of developing potholes and how to get them fixed before they…
French artist and photographer Franck Bohbot has the ability to make New York City look even more cinematic than it normally does by manipulating color very carefully. According to him, he plays with melancholic light and hues to create an “enigmatic atmosphere with a documentary-style approach.” It works. I’ve never seen the city more beautiful…
Nike’s new Vapor 360 fielding glove is specially designed to be used “straight out of the box,” according to Nike. Forget stashing it under your mattress for weeks until the leather loosens up—this glove is broken in from day one. The key to the Vapor 36o’s ready-to-play design is the perforated leather on the palm,…
The domain Google.com was registered on September 15, 1997. But before that, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had another name for their search engine: They called it BackRub. From Google’s company history: 1996: Larry and Sergey begin collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. BackRub operates on Stanford servers for more than a year—eventually…
Behold the spectacular trailer for Master Jiang and the Six Kingdoms, a new Chinese animation feature that feels like a wild magic mix between Seven Samurai, Ran, and Lord of the Rings through a Studio Ghibli lenses. It looks amazing and, the cel animation was done by just two animators: Li Wei and Pei Fei.…
As adults, we’re better equipped with basic skills than a bunch of Boy Scouts, right? Prove it, could you pass the test to get a Swimming Merit Badge? In addition to these written questions, Scouts are required to demonstrate competence in the front crawl, backstroke, sidestroke, breaststroke and elementary backstroke, demonstrate water rescue methods, perform…
After an overwhelming surge in traffic the past few days that essentially crippled the FCC’s comment page, the Commission has decided to extend its deadline. Meaning you now have until Friday, July 18 to post your initial remarks—if you can get the site to work, that is. In the release,FCC press secretary Kim Hart wrote:…
For the first time in two centuries, the number of American breweries has finally reached pre-Civil War levels. There are 3,040 breweries currently churning out beer in the U.S. The last time we saw this many breweries, the transcontinental railroad had just been completed and there were only 37 stars on the U.S. flag. According…
Germany went blitzkrieg on the entire UN of soccer and took the 2014 World Cup. Here are your views of the festivities—ranging from your quiet kitchens to Brazil’s insane parties. WINNER: Before At the FIFA Fan Fest in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Clint Dempsey scores the 2nd goal for USA against Portugal in the group stage,…
Google has boosted Gmail storage space by a factor of 15 since it debuted in 2004, but power users may still find themselves bumping up against the limit (and you now have to share it with Drive and Google+ Photos too). Here are some quick, easy tips for clearing out a significant amount of room…
Docked off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center prison barge is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest operational prison ship in the world. Yet many New Yorkers might be surprised to find out it exists. The barge was built as a result of overcrowding…
An impressive old photo of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II trying to escape planet Earth. The two seat, twin-engine supersonic fighter jet looks more awesome and more Star Wars than the current stealthy, always-grounded F-22s and F-35s. At all that wear and tear is so beautiful. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff.…
Video games aren’t always suitable for young kids—some decidedly so. But try explaining to a five-year-old why the Xbox is a grownup device and you’ll end up in an endless spiral of “but why?” LeapFrog’s new LeapTV aims to change that, with a gaming console built just for kids age three to eight. LeapTV offers…
Preorder the Games of Thrones Season 4 blu-ray to lock in your preorder discount and as always get preorder price guarantee. Just as with season 2, season 3 hit low prices before release, before bouncing back up for quite a while, and we expect the same pricing behavior from season 4. Guess you’re really gonna…
A consortium of companies just announced a new wireless networking protocol for the home called Thread. It’s designed to help build low-power, wireless mesh networks so that devices can seamlessly connect to form a true internet of things. In a way, Thread promises to create little mini internet for your home. Based on the players…
One fake, two fakes. Red fakes, blue fakes. Today we’ve got more fake images that you may have seen recently on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever else you get your daily dose of pixel-based newstainment. No, that supermoon isn’t real. No, that’s not what happens when sand is struck by lightning. And no, that’s not a…
After reading aboutRyan Block’s Comcast customer service horror storylast night, quite a few of you came out to offer you support in the form of some hearty commiseration. So to continue the healing, tell us, what’s the worst cable customer service experience you’ve ever head? It’s ok—this is a safe space. We already know you’ve…
Science hasn’t gotten around to officially proving it just yet, but everyone knows it’s all but impossible to hate Winnie the Pooh. Even though the yellow bear’s admitted to stealing honey, harassing rabbits, promoting obesity, and other antics—that the designers at Nendo have captured in this adorable glassware collection featuring sculpted silicone lids and coasters.…
