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Turbines are huge, intricate, beautiful machines. And if you drop something inside of them, they double as musical instruments. But as YouTuber AgentJayZ demonstrates, the delightful xylophone sound that makes is actually horrible. Why? If you’ve got a screw in there and you turn it on, you’re going to be the owner of a brand…
When the NSA’s phone tracking was revealed, the agency was quick to point out that it’s not listening to phone conversations. But the agency is tracking who you call, when, and for how long — your metadata. Claims that metadata is anonymous have never been fully comforting, especially now: Stanford researchers say connecting an individual’s…
It’s been a fun year for Gizmodo’s video operation. We’ve gone inside distilleries and toy factories, and met some really interesting people in the process. The following is a compendium of moving images from 2013 for your listening and viewing pleasure. Grab an armchair, sip some ‘nog, and enjoy. The Art of the Hologram Is…
The shimmering wall of windows that makes up Manhattan is breathtaking, and seems almost infinite. But Michael Pollak—the wizard behind The New York Times’ “F.Y.I” series, which plumbs deep and weird questions about New York—got down to brass tacks this week, estimating how many windows are on the island. You might be asking yourself questions…
The 1980s ushered in more than a few aeronautical revolutions thanks to the emergence of both composite manufacturing techniques and rapidly advancing digital technology. This uniquely designed experimental aircraft integrated all of them into a single system. The X-29 experimental aircraft, developed by Northrop Grumman in the early 1980’s from the company’s existing F-5A Freedom…
Without further introduction, here are all the utilities that have been especially useful in enhancing my productivity during 2013.
Christmas time has come and gone, and it brought its fair share of iPhones and Xboxes and PS4s and MacBooks and gadgets galore. And of course, also some spoiled teens who weren’t too happy about the (awesome) stuff they got: But the real plague? The high-and-mighty teens who will not quit whining about spoiled teens:…
In what is either the exact definition or total opposite of a Christmas miracle (depending on whether or not you decided investing in a meme was a good idea), millions of the crypotcurrency Dogecoin were stolen in a hack on Christmas day. Many Grinch. Very irony. Wow. The meme-based digital coins were originally created as…
Behold the first panorama taken by the Chang’e 3 moon lander. It’s quite crappy—especially compared to the images taken by the Mars Curiosity rover. And it can’t compare to the film photos taken by the Apollo missions. Still, good to be back on the Moon’s surface. Snapped by three cameras on the lander aimed level,…
Target is denying an anonymous executive’s claim that customers’ banking PINs were stolen in the hacking spree that compromised 40 million credit and debit cards. Still, if you paid by card at a US Target store, you might want to keep a close eye on your banking info. [Reuters]
Much has changed in our world in the past decade. Remember 2003? 50 Cent was still on top, as was Dubya, and you were hot shit if your cellphone had a color screen. Imagine knowing that in ten years, we’d interact with tech using our voices, our gestures, and even our brainwaves. 2013, in particular,…
It ain’t easy living in the big city—escpecially when you’re a floating yellow orb with an alcoholic girlfriend.
It’s a lovely thing when a chorus of voices comes together to perform that Christmas classic, Carol of the Bells. But hey, who needs humans? This season’s audio-visual holiday card from the Glasgow School of Art is an electronic masterpiece, bringing together a selection of vintage Mac computers, a Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum + 1,…
Christmas is as much about tradition as it is finding new ways to celebrate the holidays with your family. So instead of curling up with A Christmas Story, Scrooged, or It’s a Wonderful Life tonight, why not consider the Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special, which is now free to watch until January 12 to celebrate its…
It’s true! This is all I want for Christmas. I don’t want socks. Nope. All I want is a shiny new Moog. Santa, please? This delightful ditty by San Antonio electro-poppers Hyperbubble is a lot of fun, but the claymation video by Ambar Navarro might just be the best part. My word, those synthesizer replicas…
The 4th of July is great, but every holiday is improved by explosions. Every. Holiday. And slow motion? Even better. So here, for your Yuletide pleasure, are some Christmas baubles blowing up in festive slow-mo. The concept is simple: you put a little water in a standard globe-shaped Christmas ornament, and then you heat it…
The animated image enthusiasts at Giphy have dreamed up a cute way to spend the next five minutes of your life. Take a moment to decorate your very own kitschy GIFmas tree. Making a GiFmas tree is unbelievably simple. Go to the Giphy site; select your animated background; load up your tree with GIF ornaments;…
Christmas is upon us—finally, huzzah!—but that just might mean that even the most avowedly pro-holiday people out there are tired of hearing the same old festive standards again (and again and again…). If you’re looking to mix up the playlist, this interactive “singing map” lets you to explore seasonal tunes from around the world. https://gizmodo.com/heres-your-christmas-eve-spotify-playlist-5971102…
Those few precious days off you have during the holidays are best spent taxing your brain as little as possible. But who says you can’t learn something even when away from work or school? If you’re lacking a fireplace to curl up next to, this wonderful video from AsapSCIENCE will keep you cozy while educating…
The easiest way to set a world record is to think of something so grandiose and obscure that no one could have ever possibly thought of attempting it before. And for the folks over at Custom SLR, that involved building the world’s largest Christmas tree made entirely of tripods—plus the requisite festive decor. All-in-all the…
