Tech News

Watch SpaceX’s Grasshopper Hover 80 Meters In the Air

When we last saw SpaceX’s Grasshopper, it had just finished a test flight that carried the vertical takeoff/landing rocket up to 40 meters. A couple months later, it’s now hovering in at around 80 meters! Progress! And Johnny Cash! https://gizmodo.com/spacexs-grasshopper-rocket-takes-off-and-lands-vertical-5971543

Google just redesigned its mobile Gmail web apps for Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and BlackBerry. Lookin’ fresh.

Half Price Harman Kardon Headphones Are Your Deal of the Day

Well, hello there, price-matching. At some time during the wee hours of March 10, 2013, several sites across the Internet — except for the Apple Store — cut the price of the Harman Kardon CL headphones in half. They were $200, but now they’re $100. That’s an enormous price drop that’s rarely seen for headphones…

Japan Turned the One Surviving Tsunami Tree Into a Gigantic Sculpture

Two years ago today, Japan was ravaged by a horrible tsunami. And now, right on the anniversary of the disaster, there’s a new memorial to the people and things who lived through it: the “miracle tree” that survived the surge has now been converted in a sculpture. When the surge hit the coast in Rikuzentakata,…

You Should’ve Seen the Fly Swatter That Made These Insect Wing Fans Possible

When it comes to design, it’s never a bad idea to see what Mother Nature has come up with first. After all, she’s had a lot more time to perfect her creations than we have. And what could be a better design to steal for a fan than an insect’s wing? It’s lightweight and effective…

In case you’re still in mourning, OS News just posted a 22,000 word, 55-page elegy to the late Palm, Inc. Wallow away.

The Most Ambitious Cathedral In Human History Might Finally Be Finished Thanks to Software

For three generations, some of the best architects and builders in the world have struggled to complete Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. After 130 years, the massive cathedral in Barcelona might finally be within a decade or two of completion thanks to computers. La Sagrada Familia is the longest running architectural project in human…

5 Apps to Turn Your Phone into a Universal Remote

Controlling your home theater system used to be easy—you simply told your kid to turn the knob and presto, Honeymooners. But today’s home theater packed with feature-rich TVs, cable boxes, AV receivers, and streaming boxes—and all demanding their own remotes—there’s no way the little guy can keep up. Instead, replace your pile of remotes with…

Clip-On Recorder Simplifies Everything But the Legality Of Recording a Phone Call

Recording a conversation on your smartphone isn’t as easy as you think it would be. Varying state-by-state laws make the legality a bit of a gray area, and if you don’t have access to the free Google Voice service, you’re going to have pay a monthly fee to capture a call. Or, put up with…

The Oreo Splitting Wars Escalate with Carnegie Mellon’s Brilliant Bot

In what is turning out to be one of the most entertaining marketing stunts of the past few years, Nabisco’s Cookie vs. Creme challenge is attracting all kinds of talented minds from across the country. Including robotic researchers from Carnegie Mellon University who’ve even drafted their advanced bot HERB into Oreo separating service. https://gizmodo.com/an-even-better-oreo-separating-machine-blasts-hot-creme-5988312 Surprisingly,…

The New Smartphone War: 7 Apple and Samsung Challengers

You might call it a lack of ambition. Or you could just call it being very pragmatic. At a recent roundtable with reporters in Tokyo, the head of Sony’s mobile business professed his desire to be the No. 3 player in smartphones behind Apple and Samsung. BlackBerry’s CEO said the same thing heading up to…

Scientists Claim Meteorite Fragments Contain Alien Biological Fossils (They Don’t)

A paper came out of Cardiff University today claiming to have found algae fossils in samples of a meteorite that landed in Sri Lanka this past December. At first glance, the claims are stunning: proof that life exists throughout the universe. But sadly, also deeply flawed. The analysis was carried out in part by Chandra…

Paint Plus Power Drill Shows Just How Beautiful Centripetal Force Can Be

Take a power drill, add some paint, and you get “Black Hole,” artist Fabian Oefner’s new series of photos, which shows paint responding to centripetal force. To create the trippy photos, Oefner hooked up a metal rod to the end of a drill, popped some paint to the end, and pressed power. The project is…

Win Some Headphones to Make Up for Missing SXSW

So half your blogger/rich friends are down in Austin for SXSW, and you’re stuck up in the frigid north listening to Bon Iver in your thermal socks, huh? We know that feel, bro. Stop pouting! We’ve got these sweet MartinLogan Mikros 70 headphones to keep you warm for well after your hungover comrades come home.…

I Can’t Stop Looking at This Puppy Spinning in a Bowl

You might as well just call it a day now, because look at this baby puppy spinning in a puppy-sized bowl. It’s the very first GIF created by renowned dog photographer William Wegman, best known for his pictures of Weimaraners in various costumes and poses. It’s pretty cool to see Wegman endorsing (r)evolving media, and…

Arizona Town Replaces an Alligator’s Tail with a Prosthesis and Orange Floaty Water Wing

An alligator with an orange water wing on its butt and a rubber tail. This marvel of science is given to us by the Phoenix Herpetological Society, because apparently everyone in Florida was taking the week off from doing insane things. Mr. Stubbs is a 7-foot-long alligator who lost his tail at an early age.…

Battery-Powered Yeti Guides Antarctic Explorers Past Concealed Crevasses

Moving people and supplies across the Great White South is treacherous, difficult, and expensive with logistical costs constituting as much as 90 percent of an expedition’s budget—about $125,000 a trip on average. And that’s assuming the convoy isn’t swallowed by an ice crevasse en route. But a new radar-equipped rover could help the National Science…

This Cordless Kettle Design Pours Water At All the Right Angles

When he’s not designing products for the likes of Blackberry, BMW, and Lenovo, Di Tao is re-imagining commonplace items with his amazing concepts. Take this electric cordless water kettle—nothing but right angles in austere black and white. A perfect contrast to the formless water it’s meant to hold. In the words of the designer himself:…

A Crisp, Functional Lockscreen Is Reason Enough to Jailbreak Your iPhone

Whenever you bring up jailbreaking with the uninitiated, you’re faced with that one, recurring question: “Why? Why should I jailbreak?” This beautiful, functional, better-than-stock lockscreen is as good an answer as any. https://gizmodo.com/17-reasons-to-jailbreak-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch-now-5605827 Peekly is a two-page lockscreen widget with a clock on the first page, and a three-month calendar you can peek at with…

What Age Should Kids Get Their First Smartphone?

Look at this precious child screaming her little self hoarse because she got an iPhone for her 11th birthday. Eleven! Good lord, the kids they get smartphones young. I didn’t have any phone until I was 17! Yes, the times have changed, but does this certifiable child really need an iPhone 4? I mean, if…