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If you’re an aspiring animator, this might be the best news you’ll hear this month: Pixar is giving away—that’s right, giving away—a version of RenderMan, its in-house rendering software. Gratis. No catch. You’ll be able to download the program some time in August. Pixar has used RenderMan, which costs $500 a pop for commercial use,…
I’m glad video stabilization technology is mainstream now. It’s giving us new insight into historical events, opening new perspectives in scientific research, and then there is the endless fun factor—like seeing how ridiculous the battle scenes in Star Trek: The Next Generation are. Enjoy! The original Star Trek, as posted by reader Major-Frank: SPLOID is…
One of the best features of the Moto X—besides that perfectly-sized screen—is its always-on listening capability. Nothing beats saying “OK, Google” and watching the device wake up from sleep to do your bidding. It works like magic, and if this Android Police report is true, it’ll be coming to every Android phone before you know…
Not only is the NSA interested in all your email and text messages, it would love to know exactly what you look like. The New York Times reports that the agency has been using new facial recognition software to tap into millions of images in emails, texts messages, video-conferences, and even social media to build…
The Geological Society hosted a bake-off so spectacular I challenge any other discipline to compete. From rock cores to outcrops, phylogeny trees to death assemblages, and thin sections to test pits, geology and baking make a great combination. Mars cake with a marzipan rover. Image credit: unknown While the Geological Society awarded points and winners…
I bet I can guess the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Cloverfield: “SHAKY CAAAAAM!!” It’s so excessive it can be a little bit of a problem, and some endeavoring internet hero tried to fix it. The result is a Cloverfield that’s unwatchable in a completely different way. This can’t be…
Ugh, love songs are so sappy, right? Usually! But every once in a while there’s a glorious exception. Something full-to-bursting with a vital vibrancy. Something earnest and cute without being lame. Dear and the Headlights’ “I Just Do” is one of those songs. Off the band’s fantastic 2007 debut Small Steps, Heavy Hooves, “I Just…
Without synapses, your neurons wouldn’t be able to communicate and your brain would be little more than a ball of meat. Exactly what synapses look like has been a mystery until now, and it turns out that even though their job is simple, they’re complicated as hell. You have trillions of synapses in your brain,…
Paper plates might be ok in a barbecue scenario, or for serving birthday cake, but a greasy pizza will make short work of what little structural integrity they had to begin with. When a slice of pepperoni pie is on the menu, there’s no better way to serve it up than on a set of…
This week in tech reads: What really happens when you shock a dead brain with electricity, the real science behind the summeriest sci-fi movies, ex-Lulzsec hacker walks free, and more! Danny Yadron talks to the man behind the first computer password, and digs into how this whole password thing got so out of control. [WSJ]…
If you’ve ever disabled the PIN on your lock screen (hi, hello), or lent your phone to someone, you know the feeling. Oh shit I left my phone in there with them! I hope I don’t have anything embarrassing on there. Shit, did I leave that tab open? It’s OK. I can trust them, right?…
WWDC is on the horizon, and we’re waiting with bated breath about what iOS 8 might bring. But in the meantime Google tweaked its logo ever so slightly, Apple bought Beats f’reals, we tried out the Surface Pro 3, pondered pink slime, and saw some new self driving cars. Check out all that and more…
The AirPlay wireless streaming system makes sharing stuff between your phone and TV incredibly easy—but only if stick with Apple gadgets. Try to share content from an Android and suddenly you’re out of luck. But with these third-party streaming apps, Airplay and Android can finally speak the same language. DoubleTwist DoubleTwist is a triple threat.…
Astronaut Reid Wiseman’s open excitement about being in space is killing me. His tweets are full of such open delight, it’s like getting a live feed of fanboyish squealing paired with the always-astounding view from the International Space Station. Reid’s daughters gave him a giraffe for good luck, which he dangled in the Soyuz cockpit…
Apple’s new Cupertino HQ promises to be an ultra-modern hub of highly considered, state-of-the-art design. But was this UFO-beamed-down-from-the-future actually inspired by a architectural relic from the Bay Area’s past? John King, the San Francisco Chronicle‘s architecture and urban design critic, puts forth the engaging, if not entirely verifiable, theory that both Steve Jobs and…
San Francisco’s got a beautiful skyline, but Angela May Chen prefers looking towards the pavement for a crystal clear view. The designer and photographer captured some of the city’s iconic (and lovably hyper-local) sights reflected perfectly in puddles after good hard rains then flipped the pics, resulting in a series that is a delightfully funky…
Thanks for reading, everybody, but After Midnight is being retired. We’ll still serve up the weirdest things we find on the Web for your enjoyment, just no longer at midnight. Now stop fucking around on the Internet and go do some psychedelics.
The Earth Science Picture of the Day is featuring this spectacular photo of a double rainbow at the end of a stormy day. It was taken last April by Manolis Shamanos at sunset, in the island of Samos, Greece. It really looks like some kind of supernatural phenomenon. LeVar Burton explains how they form: Reddened…
In a complete reversal of typical plastic surgeries involving Koreans, this time, a Brazilian man of European descent went under the knife and got plastic surgery to look like a Korean guy. Everybody wants to look like anybody but themselves! According to The Korea Herald, the 25-year-old Brazilian underwent 10 surgical operations to transform his…
I watched The Lego Movie once again. Like the first time, I cried like a little kid. It’s a good movie, but the strong emotional reaction came from deep inside, firing the same childhood memories that The Lego Memory Lane—Leg0 HQ’s underground secret vault with all their sets—did when I visited it in Billund, Denmark.…
