Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Science, man. An international team of scientists have made a major breakthrough in synthetic biology. For the first time ever, they were able to insert a man-made, custom-built chromosome into brewer’s yeast to not only create a life form but one that also passes down its man-made genes to its offspring. We’re closer to creating…
Defense technology blog Ares reports on a mysterious flying object—most certainly a military classified aircraft—flying over the skies of Amarillo, Texas, on March 10. Aviation Week’s defense expert Bill Sweetman says this is unprecedented but he’s convinced it’s real. Images by Steve Douglass and Dean Muskett Three of us here—myself, Graham Warwick and Guy Norris—concur…
It takes work to go upstairs, but it doesn’t have to. That’s why elevators were invented. If you want an elevator in your home, though, it takes some serious construction. Why not travel through pneumatic tubes like the Jetsons? No, seriously, you can. Dayton Elevators makes pneumatic vacuum elevators that can be easily installed in…
This is a little unsettling. A year-long investigation into alleged cheating on proficiency exams has resulted in the dismissal of nine nuclear missile commanders at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. The military expects to punish dozens of junior officers, as well. You probably didn’t even realize that nuclear missile commanders have to take…
In its quest to get the whole world online, Facebook’s Internet.org project has included partnerships with companies like Samsung and Nokia, as well as with NASA. Now it seems that rumors about Mark Zuckerberg’s drone dreams are true, and the social network giant is planning on internet-delivering drones, satellites, and even lasers. Here’s our first…
Hackers operate by the same rules of economics as we all do. Thanks to a high profile breach like Target’s, a glut of stolen credit cards has made them cheap cheap cheap. So you know what’s a more valuable target these days? Your Twitter account. https://gizmodo.com/target-confirms-up-to-40-million-credit-and-debit-cards-1486419257 That’s all outlined in a new cybercrime report by…
This is just a quick reminder that there’s still plenty of time to pick up a copy of Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. We’ll be discussing the book with author W. Bernard Carlson on April 23, 2014. See you there! (By which I mean here at paleofuture.gizmodo.com.) https://gizmodo.com/introducing-the-paleofuture-book-club-1545042478
More music today: Listen to the Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW playing 43 cartoon themes in 4 minutes and 33 seconds. https://roadtrippers.kinja.com/coolest-symphony-ever-performs-an-awesome-mashup-of-43-1553109236
After Office for iOS proved itself a pretty big disappointment to anyone who was hoping to actually do things with the app, the long-anticipated Office for iPad has finally hit the App Store. It’s ok; you can let out a sigh of relief. This time, Microsoft got it right. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-office-is-finally-coming-to-the-ipad-1552777058 The Basics Whereas Office for…
The pursuit of an absolutely minimal wallet leads some to just wrap an elastic band around their plastic cards and cash. But many of us still need a little more structure than that, and that’s what the Flexy delivers, with a form factor that’s just barely larger than a single credit card. Made from a…
It’s that time of year, when getting out of the city has never felt so good, escaping the salt-white concrete of winter and the waste-blown streets for the steadily-warming hills and forests outside town, stepping into the peripheral wilderness of the city for some early spring hikes. Gizmodo tied up its boots, donned a warm…
Seriously people, you must watch Jelani Eddington’s incredible rendition of the Main Title from the Star Wars Symphonic Suite on a Sanfilippo Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. It starts slow but it gets pretty crazy after a while. And the end—holy crap that end. Is he playing in the Death Star or what? The organ is…
The WSJ is reporting that Amazon has its sights set on an ad-supported streaming media service that would be available outside of its existing streaming offerings on Prime. Think of it as an all on-demand Amazon TV network. Per the report: The new service, which could launch in the coming months, likely will feature original…
Ever wondered who dreams up the otherworldly architecture and cities you see in movies like Thor 2 and Man of Steel? Meet Christian Lorenz Scheurer, the concept artist behind both movies—and many others. https://gizmodo.com/the-fantastic-worlds-and-alien-cities-of-christian-lore-1553062088
Maybe it was a shot of a sunset under the tint of an X Pro II filter. Or perhaps it was a school pic from back when you had braces and headgear with a Valencia tint and a very special #tbt tag. Whatever it is, show us your most popular Instagram post. We invite you…
These are the fantastic worlds and cities of Christian Lorenz Scheurer, an artist whose latest work include Thor 2 and Man of Steel. His work is beautiful, his architecture very organic and evocative. But without further ado, please feast your eyes upon his art. Asgard Athens and Xerxes’ palace Krypton Sculpture work Futuristic cities Mansion…
Last week Samvir Thandi blew our minds with a model rocket car that hit 285 mph. But it was basically just a rocket engine with wheels that you aimed—hopefully accurately—and fired. Nick Case’s remote control speed demons actually have electric motors, and his latest creation—quite possibly the world’s fastest RC car—just hit 188 mph. https://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-fastest-model-rocket-car-just-hit-285mph-1547298590…
Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper recently proposed splitting California up into six distinct states. Draper’s plan is getting a good deal of ridicule in the press, despite the fact that it could actually make its way to California ballots in the next election. But it’s easy to forget that throughout history, political boundaries have indeed…
The Search for Extraterrestrial Life (SETI) Institute is holding an art contest to celebrate the Kepler space telescope and the many exoplanets it has discovered. The contest is open to US residents age 13 and up. Register by April 14th, submit art by April 21st. https://gizmodo.com/kepler-is-a-planet-hunting-powerhouse-1543642014 Artist’s impression of the Beta Pictoris system. The contest…
I don’t often have emotional reactions to shelving units, but cripes—these pics from Design is a State of Mind, a new exhibition at London’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery, are just about perfect. Storage systems are often stuck in the shadow of the stuff they’re displaying, but, here, a handful of perfect specimens get the spotlight they…
