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Earlier this week, we asked you to help us come up with some applications for McDonald’s new mascot, Happy, that were a bit more suited to his—er, unique set of talents. And then, dear readers, something incredible happened. Maybe it’s that, for a cardboard box, Happy looks alarmingly human. Or maybe it’s that all-encompassing horror…
This is the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. At D-Day—70 years ago today—it was already the most mass-produced airplane of any kind ever. Here’s the fascinating story on how America built it when nobody thought it was possible. Together with the other Allied airplanes, it was pivotal to crush the Nazis.
I don’t really care about Jurassic World—Jurassic Park 4, if you prefer—but abandoned amusement parks are awesome. When I heard that the movie is being shot in this amazing abandoned Six Flag in New Orleans, beautiful images of huge dinosaurs running around this gorgeous place started to pop into my mind. The video claims that…
Nerf’s latest round of Super Soakers blast water further and more accurately than ever when it’s throwdown time, as you might expect. But we put them through their paces just in case. Jalopnik honcho Matt Hardigree and I took these new Nerfs to a park in Brooklyn earlier this week to put them through the…
A few months ago we did a little fact-checking and found out that UberFacts is full of shit . So we wanted to give them another shot. The results? UberFacts is still spreading way too much misinformation. Below, we’ve looked at every UberFacts tweet from yesterday—midnight to midnight, Pacific Time. Of the 67 tweets that…
Here’s further proof that you don’t need celebrities, scantily clad models, or even a developer’s conference to advertise a product. Playing up those billboards that rotate through multiple advertisements during the day, Samsung stuck one of its vacuums on top of this sign, and it roars to life with suction whenever another ad attempts to…
For the past two years, the Panthéon in Paris has been undergoing a renovation, its signature dome wrapped in a cute little plastic hat. This week, the 1790 structure revealed an art installation to tide tourists and residents over until the work is complete: thousands of black-and-white faces covering its marble surfaces. The faces are…
If you own a laptop, you probably own a webcam too. But what you may not realize is that it has plenty of potential outside of Skype, FaceTime, and the other chat apps you’ve been using it for. Here are three alternative uses to consider, all made possible with free software your webcam’s built-in tools.…
Researchers at the University of Michigan have just stumbled upon the most important development in laser research since the invention of the semiconductor diode in the 1950s. It promises to create a new class of lasers that use 250 times less energy than today’s, and that’s not even the craziest part. Semiconductor diodes convert electricity…
There’s a revolution in the skies. Things are flying around up there. Some of them are remote controlled, some of them are autonomous. Some of them shoot at people, some of them don’t. Some of them are in stores, some are military. But should we just call them all “drones”? It might seem like a…
So, the British Government is supposedly outsourcing its referendums to…Lego and Buzzfeed? According to a financial analysis from HM Treasury, if Scotland chooses to remain as a part of the UK (rather than vote for independence), each person in Scotland would be “£1400 better off every year.” A Buzzfeed post in the “You Decide” section…
Take a moment to stop, breathe, and immerse yourself in the sheer beauty of our planet. Denis Frantsouzov spent last month travelling around Kazakhstan, collecting photographs, videos, time-lapses, and long exposures of the land and sky. The result a stunning 5-minute break from your day. I could go into detail the geology, astronomy, and atmospheric…
At this point, we’re damn near certain that Amazon’s big June 18 announcement will be its first foray into the (3D?) smartphone market. But now, thanks to a report from TechCrunch, it looks like the four front-mounted IR cameras will be powered by Omron’s Okao Vision’s face-tracking face-tracking technology. Amazon’s teaser video certainly seems to…
Well, e-ink, you’ve had a great run. You showed us that reading on electronic displays could be just as enjoyable as paper, and somehow you thrived in a world of color-screen tablets. But with these new OLED displays that can be folded up like a magazine, your days could finally be numbered. Developed as part…
Don’t feel bad if your climb up the corporate ladder currently has you serving time in an open cubicle. You’ll get that private suite one day, but until then, see if you can convince your office manager to swap out your chair for Campeggi’s Tuttomio, which swivels into a semi-private spot to shut out distractions.…
Today marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, aka Operation Overlord, the single largest seaborne military invasion of all time. How has Normandy changed in the seven decades since? In these perfectly-matched photo composites, Getty Images photographer Peter Macdiarmid compares the quaint towns in 1944 and 2014. Macdiarmid has actually done a similar project before—earlier this…
It’s easy to stress out about lenses. Which ones to buy, which ones to use when—ad nauseum. Fashion photographer Erik Madigan Heck avoids the problem completely by shooting exclusively with one single lens, and you’ll probably never guess which one it is. Heck is no amateur. You might find his work on the cover of…
They started out as Dustbusters that actually worked, but Dyson’s cordless vacuums have improved to the point where they’re very nearly a viable alternative to full-sized models. Especially now that they come with a powered cleaning head, capable of really tackling the crustiest of carpets. The DC59 Motorhead is the company’s first cordless vacuum to…
This is how Shenzhen’s Dameisha Beach—in China—looks at the end of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Some 780,000 people dumped more than 362 tons of trash in just one weekend. It seems unreal that people can still relax surrounded by so much garbage, just imagining the stench makes me feel sick. They are now cleaning…
Scientists have discovered traces of another world in rock samples from the Moon—and it’s evidence of the planet that once crashed into Earth to form our rocky satellite. It’s been believed since the 80s that the Moon was created when a planet called Theia hit Earth 4.5 billion years ago. But until now, there hasn’t…
