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The ongoing drought in the U.S. west and mountain region is leading to the surprise reappearance of historical artifacts, including entire towns and villages emerging from the sand and muck left behind by drying reservoirs. “As water levels recede,” the Wall Street Journal quips, “the past has emerged.” More specifically, this means that “long-submerged historic…
Another ‘very strong cold front—one that will be stronger than before—is coming from the North!’ says the National Weather Service. No problem, says National Public Radio: ‘move to Alaska!‘ It’s warmer there. According to Accuweather: [On] multiple dates this month, temperatures have been warmer in Alaska than they have been in Texas, Louisiana and much…
Google Glass is demonstrably creepy, sure. But at least at this point, it’s still just a plaything of the tech elite—not that it’ll stay that way for long, though. Last night, The Simpsons gave us a glimpse into an arguably imminent future where Google Glass—or in this case, Oogle Goggles—become a part of the everyman.…
China’s Yutu Lunar Rover landed on the moon just over a month ago, and promptly started sending back photos. Unfortunately, it looks like China’s triumph could be short-lived; the Xinhua news agency reported that the rover stalled in its tracks while shutting down for the evening. Space is hard! https://gizmodo.com/chinas-rover-has-reportedly-landed-on-the-moon-1483252000 The WSJ reports that the…
Today’s Amazon Gold Box features SSDs, SD cards, and external hard drives from Transcend, all at great prices. Here’s the complete list: Transcend Information 128GB SSD | $70 Transcend Information 256GB SSD | $130 Transcend 16GB MicroSDHC with Adapter 45 MB/s | $10 Transcend 32GB MicroSDHC with Adapter 45 MB/s | $17 Transcend 64GB MicroSDXC…
If you’re planning on sticking around for longer—a lot longer—than a standard human lifespan, you’ll need a watch that keeps time on the galactic level. Van Cleef & Arpels’ new Complication Poétique Midnight Planétarium will certainly fit the bill. Instead of hands denoting the hours and minutes, it incorporates six of our solar system’s planets…
Photovolcanica has captured a tremendous pyroclastic flow that happened last week at Mount Sinabung, Sumatra: “A close-up of the lava lobe is shown including the collapse of the lobe front leading to a pyroclastic flow. Movement of the lobe prior to collapse is just about visible.” That thing was really huge—it looks like the lava…
Everybody loves some good Earth porn, and if the mission currently in progress goes off without a hitch, we’ll all be in for a lot more of it. A pair of cosmonauts are currently on a spacewalk to install an Earth-facing Ultra HD camera on the ISS that will eventually livestream our blue marble to…
We’ve all seen it: That colorful human body, staring blankly ahead in the doctor’s office, its stomach skin missing and guts exposed. But have you ever really stepped back and wondered what it took to perfect that anatomical diagram? Long story short, it took centuries of study—and plenty of mistakes, most of which have been…
Microsoft’s SkyDrive is a terrific little cloud service that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Unless, of course, it’s being sued by British Sky Broadcasting Group over its name. But now SkyDrive will be called OneDrive, for just as long as is legally allowable. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-has-to-change-skydrives-name-because-of-a-la-976021224 Presumably Microsoft’s gaggles of lawyers have vetted the…
At last, someone put together a cool compilation of the best wingsuit flight videos. It’s full of crazy people flying through tight mountain holes and gliding dangerously close to sharp rocks at full speed. Optional: Turn off the audio to avoid the horrible tecno track. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us…
Google has acquired a London-based artificial intelligence company called DeepMind for $500 million to add it to its existing AI division. DeepMind is dedicated to find “the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms.” One step closer to apocalypse or utopia. https://gizmodo.com/googles-buying-an-ai-startup-called-deepmind-for-500m-1509664408
The first ever full genome sequence of a European hunter-gatherer has revealed that hunter-gatherers had far better immune systems that we thought—and evolved blue eyes way earlier than predicted, too. The genome was sequenced from the remains of a 7,000-year-old body found in a Spanish cave after DNA was extracted from its teeth. “This is…
When a ship comes to the end of its working life, it has to be torn apart, piece-by-piece, to be disposed of. By that point, though, little care needs to be taken in getting it ashore—so they’re just intentionally run aground. This is what it looks like. Actually, it’s quite dramatic, and I wouldn’t want…
These days we all love computers, but when they first arrived on the scene they had a few… glitches. So, instead of people punching their computer, they could take their stresses out on the technological equivalent of a stress ball: a Smack-a-Mac. Inspired by the launch of the first Mac, the cuddly little toy meant…
Ever wondered if the site that you’re typing your credit card details in can really be trusted? Well, a new report reveals how well 1o0 top retail sites look after your details. The research, carried out by Dashlane, used 24 criteria to assess how seriously the sites took security—from acceptance of weak password to emailing…
The PIN system is an ageing and not entirely secure technique, especially when it comes to ATMs. But a new system that uses color and shape may go at least some way to solving the problem. https://gizmodo.com/the-10-dumbest-atm-pins-are-even-dumber-than-youd-thin-999973113 With many ATM hacks recording PIN button presses using a small camera, TRI-PIN claims to have a solution…
Clearly not content with buying a terrifying robot army, Google is now purchasing a London-based artificial intelligence company to go with it—for a cool $500 million. https://gizmodo.com/google-just-bought-crazy-walking-robot-maker-boston-dyn-1483235880 The Information reports that Google will buy DeepMind for “more than $500 million,” having beaten Facebook in negotiations with the startup at the end of last year. According…
I am going to do this track-by-track countdown to the release, on February 13, 2014, the day prior to Valentine’s Day, of my book in the estimable 33 1/3 series. It is a love letter to Aphex Twin’s album Selected Ambient Works Volume II, which will mark its 20th anniversary this year, less than a…
Screw the Grammys. The only thing I want to see tonight is this tiny short by Wayne Unten showing the imagined takeoff of Olivia Wright in 1903, “the first to pilot the great grasshoppers of North America.” While taking my kids to the playground, I shot live-action footage of a grasshopper, using my iPhone. This…
