Tech News

See Nevada’s Hellish Nuclear Moonscape From Above

The 1950s were an optimistic time. Houses and cars were affordable, the economy and the birthrate were booming, and—oh yeah, America was detonating hundreds of nuclear bombs in its own backyard. Much has been written about the Nevada Test Site—aka the Nevada Testing Grounds—since the last bomb was detonated in the early 1990s. In fact,…

The World’s Most Powerful Laser Is Headed for a Czech Research Lab

Imagine a laser that fires super-powerful blasts of light ten times a second. A laser with one quadrillion watts of power. That’s one powerful piece of equipment—the most powerful—and it’s exactly what’s being built for the ELI-Beamlines science facility in the Czech Republic. The “High Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System,” or HAPLS, is being built…

This is what $425,659.59 in camera gear looks like

These are all the cameras and lenses that the Getty Images photographers have brought to the Sochi Winter Games. Exactly $425,659.59, according to Robert Cianflone in Petapixel—”that’s the value of a house and more than a Lamborghini Aventador!” Here’s the list: 20 Canon 1Dx cameras 3 Canon 5DmkIII cameras 1 Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS…

Keep Track of Your World Travels on This Cork-Covered Globe

Great news for globetrotters who like to impress their friends with their travels: Now, instead of having to sacrifice a big chunk of wall space for a giant map covered in thumbtacks, they can downgrade to this clever and compact cork-covered globe. At just ten inches in diameter, it can fit on any desk, counter,…

Sealand: The Island Nation Founded by a Guy Calling “Dibs”

If you haven’t heard of Sealand before, it is the site of one of Britain’s Maunsell Naval Sea Forts that were utilized during WWII. This particular one was originally named HM Fort Roughs. The fort’s primary function was to keep tabs on the Germans who were laying mines off the coast of England at the…

General Motors’ wind tunnels aren’t only used to test the aerodynamics of the carmaker’s latest vehicles. Here we see a member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team working to improve his tuck position so he’s as streamlined as possible as he streaks down a mountain. [FastLane]

8 Viral Sochi Olympics Photos That Are Total Lies

Thousands of images are pouring out of Sochi in the lead-up to the Olympics. And things don’t look great. There are unfinished buildings, a lack of winter weather, and an abundance of trash. But don’t believe every image you see. Like so much of what gets passed on social media these days, a lot of…

Bloomberg Businessweek’s New E-Cig Cover Also Comes in GIF Form

Everybody knows that Bloomberg Businessweek’s design team is damn good at what they do. What’s truly impressive is how often they out-do themselves. Take this week’s cover about e-cigarettes, for instance. It’s a hypnotic animated GIF! Of course, the magazine on the newsstands just has a regular cover: a portrait of a Marlboro man obscured…

What Do Fertilizer, Omega-3 Pills, and Pig Feed Have in Common? A Fish

You have never seen a menhaden, but you have eaten one. Although no one sits down to a plate of these silvery, bug-eyed, foot-long fish at a seafood restaurant, menhaden travel through the human food chain mostly undetected in the bodies of other species, hidden in salmon, pork, onions, and many other foods. Millions of…

Scientists discover new species that looks like a giant snot

When Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin saw this photo of two kids next to what looked like a giant snot she says she said “Phwoar!” out loud. After all, she was looking at a completely new species, one that she had been chasing for a decade. The thing that I first said when I saw it [the…

The Best Science Visualizations of the Year

From microscopic coral to massive planets, the natural world is full of beauty on a scale that can only be seen with the aid of a microscopic or a telescope. Announced today, the winners of the 11th annual International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge—sponsored by the journal Science and the U.S. National Science Foundation—zoom into…

Wire Your Speakers, Get Into Photography, Logitech Boombox [Deals]

The Sony NEX-3N was a great camera when it hit the market for $500, but at under $300, this deal is unmissable for anyone looking for a great portable camera, ready to downsize their DSLR, or interested in diving into an interchangeable lens ecosystem for the first time. Retractable power zoom lens, tilting LCD, 16MP,…

This Wind-Powered Tumbleweed Robot Aims to End Desertification

Robots have a hard time walking. They’re getting better! But we’re a ways away from having a robot that you can send on an excursion through a dune-covered desert. That’s why, when he wanted to design a robot to collect climate data, designer Shlomi Mir looked to nature. Specifically, to tumbleweeds. Thanks to its fabric…

How Olympic Athlete’s Bodies Have Changed Over the Years

When you watch footage of the Olympics from back in the 1920s, it’s hard to imagine the athletes involved did any training at all. Their physiques are by and large what we would consider average, not the sculpted and toned competitors we know today. But that’s because back then the image of the ideal athlete…

Darts On With Nerf’s New Hit-Recording Cam-Blaster

Are kids bigger little scamps these days or are they just leaving more evidence? Unclear, but they sure have cooler toys, among which they can soon count Nerf’s new N-Strike Elite Cam ECS-12 Blaster, a crazy gun that records and plays back your target practice right on the crosshairs—and leaves plenty for the mounting evidence…

This Football-Sized Device Could Replace Your Huge Water Heater

That 60 gallon tank of hot water in your basement eats up a lot of energy. But tankless on-demand water heaters leave you running water down the drain while you wait for warmth. This tiny Kickstarter water heater promises to change all that, and save you money, thanks to some fascinating technology. The team behind…

Sound-Enhancing Bluetooth Tube Amp Doubles as Cheesy Sci-Fi Prop

Bluetooth speakers tend to trade sound quality for a compact form factor and portability—but not this monstrosity. Looking like a contraption you’d find in Willy Wonka’s factory, this vacuum tube amp promises to vastly improve the sound of music streaming from your mobile device. Many audiophiles swear that vacuum tube-based amplifiers produce warmer, distortion-free tones,…

A New Chip Will Make Projected Images Look Better In Bright Light

We all know the drill: whenever you’re using a projector you need to make the room as dark as possible so the images don’t get all washed out. But Hitachi wants to change that with a new chip that automatically applies corrections and adjustments to a projected image so that it looks clear even in…

Stunning photos of Lick Observatory by Laurie Hatch

It may look like a movie frame showing an Evil Mad Scientist lair, but it’s just a one-minute exposure photograph of Lick Observatory, as seen from Kepler Peak. It’s part of a series of outstanding shots of this beautiful place by Laurie Hatch. I asked Laurie to tell us about herself and show us her…

How L.A.’s 1984 Summer Olympics Became the Most Successful Games Ever

It’s almost showtime for Sochi, which may or may not have its shit together by the time the opening ceremonies start. While it’s too late for Sochi to change its trajectory, perhaps the 2016 host city could jot down a few tips from what are widely considered to be the most successful Olympics ever: L.A.,…