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The Washington Post is reporting that, according to a newly released internal document, the National Security Agency isn’t just swiping location data from our cell phones; they actually have the ability to decode private, encrypted data, putting all our texts and calls right at their disposal. https://gizmodo.com/oh-great-the-nsas-using-cell-phones-to-track-your-eve-1476615078 Though US Law may prohibit the NSA from…
This concept for a high-speed personal helicopter was an early expression of what would become in the years immediately after World War II an extremely popular vision of the future. — the 1943 personal helicopter of tomorrow, drawn by Alex Tremulis
The FAA can make the rules about air travel (god no inflight calls, please), but it’s still beholden to the whims of earth’s shifting magnetic field. Runways are named after their compass orientations to help pilots navigate. A changing magnetic field, however, means they now have to be renumbered. https://gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-airspace-design-1469196960 This fall, Oakland International Airport…
Feel that holiday spirit in the air? It smells like pine trees and whatever toy parents are beating each other up over this year. Share the giving spirit and present your phone with some sweet new apps. Multi-Platform Updates Viber This week’s update brings the ability to make VoIP phone calls to any phone number,…
The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority has posted a fresh set of images showing the progress on the Second Avenue subway being slowly carved out beneath Manhattan—and the photos are amazing. This concrete cavern is the future home of the 72nd Street station. Just add posters. [Flickr]
You probably already saw a railgun in action, but perhaps not the end result. This is how one of those thick steel plates look after being shot. The kinetic projectile just doesn’t give a damn. https://gizmodo.com/this-navy-electric-railgun-annihilates-targets-100-mile-5711467 SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us in Facebook.
Hey, using your feet is cool again! Chances are, you know someone in your life who walks to stay healthy, to explore their city, or simply to commune with their neighborhood. Whether they’re commuting on foot, illegally accessing abandoned infrastructure, or simply enjoying a Sunday stroll, here are some gift ideas for the walkers in…
Tools like chainsaws and nail guns are tons of fun, but tape measures? It’s hard to get excited about the ones that don’t involve lasers. But a measuring tape that looks like a tiny earth with an even tinier rocket that blasts off leaving a trail of inches and centimeters? You’ve got our attention. The…
Think you can only make whiskey from rye or barley? Think again. At least at Brooklyn’s Kings County Distillery, they’ve made the spirit with some crazy components. When Gizmodo stopped by for a visit earlier this week, we spent a fascinating day with co-founder Colin Spoelman as he pulled some transubstantiating magic and turned Coca-Cola…
Even after 40 years of service, X-ray computed tomography (better known as CT scans) can be a challenge to capture. If the patient moves even a nudge, the image will come out blurry. But with GE’s new Revolution CT, doctors will be able to image the entirety of your innards in the span of a…
This may seem like some random blotches of ink to the naked eye. But when you take a photo and turn it into its negative, the paper magically turns into an hyperrealistic painting of the Wolverine, all thanks to the mutant art powers of Brian Lai. You can see him action here: Here’s another example…
Sprint is reportedly considering making a bid on T-Mobile US. The theoretical merger between the number three and number four US carriers would probably face some stiff antitrust scrutiny from the Justice Department if an offer was made. [The Wall Street Journal]
Earth from above is a beautiful sight and, apart from cats and porn, there’s almost nothing the internet likes more at the moment than data visualizations. Combine the two and you’ve got solid gold—or in Earth‘s case, a stunning, technicolor look at global wind and weather conditions. https://gizmodo.com/on-this-day-in-1972-the-crew-aboard-apollo-17-snapped-1478721212 The animated map was made by Tokyo-based…
The coolest kid science fair projects were always those erupting baking soda and vinegar volcanoes. Nothing captures the imagination like a good ol’ explosion. This is kind of like that but a lot more insane and groundbreaking: scientists have created artificial volcano lightning in a lab for the very first time. Volcanologists Corrado Cimarelli and…
When shopping for that special someone who loves the great outdoors, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. There are so many companies and so many items with so many different features that it’s hard to know where to start. That’s why we thought we’d kickstart this party with some of our favorite camping gear. We hope…
It’s that special time of year where we have holiday parties to attend. Before you collapse into a drunken pile of hair and shoes and whiskey smell after singing Boyz II Men with coworkers until the wee hours of the morning, you have to actually make conversation. Chat up the boss’s wife! Thank the CEO…
I thought I knew all the dreadful effects of climate change, but this new discovery has truly surprised me: “Climate change is causing the North Pole’s location to drift, owing to subtle changes in Earth’s rotation that result from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.” The entire Earth is tilting because this change. One…
We were confronted on the street corner by an evangelical wielding a large, battery-powered megaphone. This being a soundwalk, the appearance on this very cold day of the screaming man in the t-shirt was something akin to an act of serendipity. As he burdened us with the fear of eternal damnation, all I could think…
Television was hardly a reliable broadcast medium in the early 1930s. But that didn’t stop companies from speculating about TV designs of the future. Like this Marconi-brand “radio set of 1960.” New technologies often adopt the terms and design characteristics of the tech that came before them. So this wasn’t simply the television set of…
There’s probably no greater symbol of the global financial collapse than London’s Bishopsgate Tower, aka the Pinnacle. The building has sat unfinished for years, a stump-shaped reminder of 2008’s presumptuous boom and flailing bust. Now, construction is set to resume—but is it a triumph or a warning? According to a report from The Independent, the…
