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Imagine setting foot inside a building big enough to comfortably house a Concorde; a place where the aerodynamics of WWII-era Spitfires were tested, and women “doped” planes with toxic, varnish-treated textiles during WWI. There’s a whole lot of history at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in Farnborough, England—and for the first time ever, three…
Readers, I have a confession. Having grown up in the puritanical state of Massachusetts where even sparklers are illegal, I knew fireworks only as explosions in the far-off sky. I did not know fireworks were things ordinary people could buy, touch, and maim themselves with. But then I spent last summer in Washington state, where…
When you’re drilling deep under the seabed, the last thing you might expect is freshwater. Yet Danish scientists on a recent expedition in the Baltic Sea suddenly found freshwater gushing up from their drill. In fact, undersea freshwater reserves are hidden all over the world, and some claim this could quench our thirst for decades…
At this year’s Fourth of July party, blow your guests’ minds harder than a Yonshakudama firework with a watermelon that splits to reveal a jiggly Jell-O core. All of the vodka and flavor, none of the seeds. The process is really quite simple. Take a watermelon, split it in half, scoop out the meat, replace…
Hearkening back to a simpler time when electronics—including home vide game consoles—came with stylish faux-wood finishes, the R-KAID-R packs a modern emulator into a handmade wooden box that’s able to play all of your favorite classic arcade and console games in style. With an 800 x 600 LCD display and modern hardware under the hood,…
While the Chinese are busy scouting the best under-sea sites to pillage for precious metals, America’s venerable oceanic exploration sub, the newly-renovated DSV Alvin, continues to uncover scores of deep sea life forms that science has never even seen. Here are just a few of the more exotic animals Alvin has come across in its…
I don’t know who would win the race between Optimus Prime, the Batmobile and a DeLorean time machine. Probably the DeLorean, since it can travel to the future and win right away, right? This cool stop motion short by Taiwanese animator Counter656 says otherwise. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on…
As you bide your time until darkness falls tomorrow night, here’s something to keep your mind occupied: Photographer Andrew Waits slices open popular firecrackers and shows us what’s inside. Read more on Gizmodo’s photography blog, Reframe.
In 1919 many black South African diamond miners were inspected by X-ray each and every day as they left. The mine owners were looking for diamonds that the miners would swallow or hide in self-inflicted wounds. As I wrote back in 2013 for Pacific Standard magazine: New technologies can do a tremendous amount of good.…
As a kid (or, let’s be honest, even as an a adult), nothing is more thrilling than getting to venture into an airline pilot’s coveted cockpit throne. But if Arbus’ new cockpit-less patents ever become a reality, those days are behind us. Because let’s face it—a “tour of the baggage locker” just doesn’t have quite…
As a kid, you couldn’t care less about what was inside the firecrackers that your parents wouldn’t let you play with. All you cared about was BOOM. But the chemical mixtures inside those colorful capsules are fascinating to look upon, as proven by the photographs of Andrew Waits. The series is entitled Boom City, which…
If you needed any further proof that buttons, dials, and knobs are slowly being completely replaced by touch-sensitive alternatives, Rado’s new HyperChrome Touch Dual Timer watch is Exhibit A. Its old-school analog display looks traditional enough, but finger gestures have replaced dials when it comes to setting the time. Swiping up and down along the…
Some artists find inspiration from the grand and vast, painting galaxies and taking photos of expansive landscapes. ButRogan Brown finds his inspiration through a microscope, focusing on the infinite mystery of nature’s smallest parts. Brown’s latest piece, Outbreak, is a series of hand-cut paper sculptures in transparent domes, depicting neurons, pathogens, cells, and microbes, a…
When activist Abbie Hoffman wore his American flag shirt back in the 1960s people were shocked. He was even arrested and charged for “mutilating the American flag.” Oh how times have changed. Today, putting the American flag on t-shirts, in advertisements, and even on napkins is considered the height of patriotism. But technically, many of…
Photographer Donna Dotan was shooting downwards out of a Manhattan apartment window when she noticed the beautiful symmetrical reflection. It inspired her to create this amazing series in which New York looks like an entirely different place—sometimes a starship, others the endless canyons of an alien megalopolis. Donna Dotan is a New York-based architectural photographer.…
Ah, Old Glory. A symbol of hard-won freedom that we honor by printing on $60 short shorts. It seems eternal, but it’s actually gone through dozens of revisions over the years. Would your beer kozies and bikinis have looked better if we’d stuck with the Bedford Militia Men’s flag of 1775? You be the judge.…
Not only is this 1968 photo from Russia totes adorbs LOL, the Getty Images description is pretty funny as well: “Twins in a Russian street are so well protected against the cold that they look like penguins.” Having grown up in Minnesota, I can definitely relate to these kids. Factually is Gizmodo’s new blog of…
Audio-Technica’s new ATH-S600 headphones don’t break much new ground when it comes to sound quality, but that’s not why consumers might be interested in the new cans. What makes the headphones interesting is their over-ear design with a headband that wraps around the back of the wearer’s head to protect their well-coiffed hairstyle. Even though…
Electricity bill got you down? Blame your cable box or PlayStation or printer or refrigerator or any of your smart, networked devices that have a gentle-sounding but energy-sucking “standby mode.” A new report from the International Energy Agency puts the energy from networked devices worldwide at 616 terawatt-hours. That’s more than the entire energy consumption…
Andreas Markus Hoenigschmid is the master of solid geometry, the black magic wizard of three-dimensional space. Check out the dozens of objects he can create with his amazing transforming cubes. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
