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Reader Loran Richardson just received the ESEE-6 survival knife he won in our reader giveaway. How’s he using it? Once again thank you for your generous give way. I am so grateful to be the winner. The ESEE-6 is an awesome knife. I have been a big ESEE fan for a years and own a…
In the more innocent days of April, we showed you a mystery bike lock that purported to be “unpickable.” A hidden keyhole was supposed to prevent picks from getting into the lock. It seemed rock-solid! Except not really. Of course not! Here’s a guy picking it open with ease. Oliver Diederichsen, the lockpicker in the…
Muhammad Karim—the cook at Bindi Restaurant, in Lincolnshire, England—is the inventor of the Atomic Kick Ass Drumsticks. He has to wear a gas mask when he prepares the sauce to stop the vapors getting into his nose. Inhalation of those vapors can cause facial paralyses or even death by asphyxia. The sauce contains two of…
Miniature cube satellites allow for contained research projects on a tight budget. More and more science is being done with these tiny cubes, with 24 projects currently in-orbit and another 76 pre-approved on a waiting list awaiting launch. A pair of CubeSats ejected from the International Space Station in February 2014. Credit: NASA The satellites…
There should be a sense of pride and revelry overtaking the nation of Brazil, where the World Cup starts today. Yet residents in cities across the country are protesting with transit strikes and tent occupations, hoping to draw attention to the extreme costs and unfinished facilities stunting the sluggish economy. Blinded by their love for…
Ever wished you could keep track of what you’re consuming without keeping a detailed list? Meet Vessyl, a cup that can calculate detailed information about what your drinking—and sync that information with your fitness tracker and peripheral apps. The quantified self has officially made its way into our tableware. Vessyl is exactly what it sounds…
I know you didn’t know you wanted to know about ant sperm but now you know: This weird spaghetti monster is sperm produced by the desert ant Cataglyphis savignyi. According to a new study published in Biology Letters, its sperm can swim faster because it works in teams. He releases sperm in bundles of about…
Some people keep an extra key hidden under a rock in case they get home and find their keychain missing. But Gerber’s come up with a more entertaining solution, especially if you’re getting home from work feeling stressed. The Ding Dong Breaching Tool is actually designed for law enforcement who need to break down doors,…
No matter what smartphone you own, you can probably find a $5 or $6 Rearth case for it today on their eBay storefront. [$5-$6 Rearth Cases] Prefer all the deals in one place? Join us for our third installment of Kinja Deals. The Omega 8004 has fantastic user reviews, is the Sweethome’s pick for best…
Prime Music is a free benefit for legions of Amazon Prime members. It makes Prime an even better deal than it already was. But is it so good that you can give up your other music services altogether? Here’s a brief investigation based on a couple of hours of use. Selection When I learned the…
I print nearly everything: Boarding passes, itineraries, and all the online papers that I use for research to write this blog. I know this makes me a weirdo — these things don’t “need” to be converted to paper form. But believe it or not, I’m living much closer to the paper-filled future that was imagined…
At the end of World War II, just as relations between the US and the Soviet Union were beginning to freeze, America found itself dangerously vulnerable to Soviet ballistic missile submarine attack. To counter this potential nuclear threat to the Eastern seaboard, the US Navy set about devising an ingenious system of underwater listening stations…
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A self-absorbed narcissistic runner transforms into an ugly zombie during his jogging routine while mayhem ensues behind, without him noticing it. It’s the E3 2014 animation short announcing the new survival horror video game Dead Island 2—and it is a lot of fun to watch. SPLOID is a new blog about…
At today’s opening match between Brazil and Croatia, the referees will be wearing smartwatches that read “GOAL” and vibrate when a team scores. No, it’s not punishment for the infamous Frank Lampard disallowed goal of 2010. It’s part of a new “unhackable” goal line detection system, the first to ever be used in the World…
The Northern Clingfish is one of the weirdest animals I’ve ever seen. It has a suction cup on its belly that can tightly hold onto anything, no matter how rough and irregular the surface is. The cup’s grip is so strong that, if you had them on your hands, you would be able to climb…
If you use TweetDeck in any capacity, you’re probably aware of a nasty little bug that was running rampant around TweetDeck’s hallowed columns yesterday afternoon. But what, exactly, was causing all the retweeted trouble? Computerphile’s Tom Scott breaks it down. It all has to do with cross-site scripting, a vulnerability that allows hackers to inject…
Apple’s voice-activated assistant is now a well-known personality in his/her own right, but unless you’ve taken the time to dig into all the features that Siri offers you might not realize just now capable it is (particularly since the arrival of iOS 7). Here are seven ways to get Siri working harder for you. 1.…
A writhing mass of fire ants floating across the water is thing of horror and a marvel of engineering. But how do you study the architecture of ever-squirming ants? By flash-freezing them and coating in glue, as scientists did for a recent study. Ant rafts, it turns out, are more complicated than you might think,…
The Whill started life as an innovative device designed to give manual wheelchairs an electric motor so they were self-propelled. But since its inception, the Whill has evolved into a full-fledged personal mobility device with a unique control mechanism and even smartphone connectivity. And as promised late last year, the Whill is finally available for…
Last month, we looked Chicago’s tiniest buildings of the year. Now, the national chapter of the American Institute of Architects has unveiled its 2014 Small Projects awards, which honor buildings on the smaller end of the spectrum. Their list includes five houses that were built small, on smaller budgets. So, what qualifies as cheap in…
