Tech News

The Department of Energy Wants To Make Better Batteries By Recreating the Manhattan Project

The U.S. Dept. of Energy has big plans. They want batteries that are five times more powerful than what we’ve got today, and they want them to be five times cheaper. All that in just five years. It’s a tall order, but they’ve got a plan: recreate the Manhattan Project. It goes a little something…

The Amazing History and Figures of the First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier in the World

The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear aircraft carrier in the world, has been officially retired today at a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia—special appearance by Captain Kirk included. Since her comissioning in November 1961, she has served under ten Commanders-in-Chief, including John F. Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The figures and the history…

The Internet Is Coming Back On in Syria

Just two days after the Syrian government cut the country off from access to the Internet, connectivity is coming back. Reports from Renesys and CloudFlare indicate that the country’s connections started coming back online at 14:32 UTC today. https://gizmodo.com/syria-just-turned-off-the-internet-updated-5964243 Renesys is confirming the restoration as “largely complete” and CloudFlare is reporting a “partial reestablishment.” The…

Facebook Elbow Boobs, The Best Secret Gmail Feature, Apocalypic Emails Chains, and More

It’s been a long week, and now you want to just kick back and relax. What better than some Facebook elbow boobs to help you out. Not your bag? We’ve got plenty more like horrible pictures from a stolen tablet, the place where all nudie picks eventually wind up, the best hiding-in-plain-sight Gmail feature, iPhone…

Gigantic Monsters With Atomic Hearts

Foot-power might be enough to get you across the house, and gas packs enough punch to get you across the country by car, bus, or plane. Coal had its time to reign as the king of the rails, and electricity is poised to take the world by storm. But when you’ve got a real job…

How to Spread Your Music Across the Web

Cloud storage has transformed the way digital music collectors access their media. But with so many competing hosting services, which should you choose? How about: All of them. Here’s how to sync your music collection throughout the cloud. iTunes Apple’s supplemented its ubiquitous media management program in 2011 with iCloud, a 20,000 track music locker.…

The Secret, Subtle Power of Graphic Design

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but that’s not true; you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. You can, and chances are you do it all the time, so better make sure that cover is good, right? They also say a picture’s worth a thousand words, and that’s where graphic…

Google bought BufferBox. Looks like it’s getting ready to step up its e-commerce game. [BufferBox via Financial Post]

BitTorrent Wants To Be Hollywood’s New Best Friend

Torrenting, it’s the tool of thieves and pirates, right? The evil protocol no honest person should ever dare touch? Not quite, but it’s got that reputation with some, and it’s trying hard to shake it. According to BitTorrent’s executive director of marketing Matt Mason, they plan to take it all the way in the other…

Watch This Army Of Cassette Tape Players Sing a Song of Days Gone By

Remember cassette tape players? Unlike the mp3 players so prevalent today, they didn’t just play music; they made some white noise too. This art installation called Binatone Galaxy by Stephen Cornford takes advantage of that fact to create a neat but eerie soundscape that’s totally living in the past. So take a little trip back…

Here Are All of Nintendo’s Video Game Consoles

Nintendo has an eternal soft spot in my heart. The NES, SNES, N64, GameBoy and DS had a lasting impact on my childhood. The original Wii was the most fun I had playing video games in a long time. Nintendo probably means the same for you! (unless you were a Sega and Sony guy). Watch…

The Stoner Channel: The World’s Biggest Binger, Snowblind Puppets, and the Finka Palmalera Challenge

Jimmy Kimmel’s Finka Palmalera Challenge With Starbucks’ recent announcement that it will soon carry a $7 cup of coffee made from a rare breed of caffinated bean, Jimmy Kimmel took to the streets to see if people could actually tell the difference. Boy could they ever. You’re Going to Need a Hand Lighting the World’s…

Apparently No One Knows Who Tim Cook Is

Brian Williams, the go to newsman for any sane American, recently interviewed Tim Cook about Apple and all things going on at Cupertino. It’s the first interview “of its kind” and will be shown next week on Thursday. But that’s not why we care! What’s hilarious is that Brian Williams says no one recognizes the…

I’m Sad That No Kid Will Ever Know What This Coffee Table Really Is

Can you imagine the conversation you would have with a child, hell, a tween, about this coffee table? “You see, son. Before the cloud and usb sticks. Before hard drives and iPhones and Androids. Before the iPod and even before the CD player, there was something called the floppy disk. And it stored 1.44MB. Yeah,…

This Week’s Top Comedy Video: Old Girl

Whether you love Zooey Deschanel’s New Girl quirkfest, hate it, or have never even heard of it, I think we can all agree that it’s much improved by swapping out the twee thirtysomething with a crass octogenarian. No, seriously. I’d watch Old Girl in a heartbeat. And you would too. The rest of this week’s…

This Redray 4k Cinema Player Looks Like Something Out of Terminator

The much lusted after Redray, which looks like the blu ray player Terminator and Darth Vader would use, can now be pre-ordered for $1450 and will start shipping in December. That’s damn expensive but 4K! 4K! 4K! https://gizmodo.com/red-ray-drive-plays-4k-2k-hd-video-from-red-disc-red-379566 The Redray can play HD, 3D and 4k media and has a 1TB hard drive to store…

Watching People Give Compliments to Each Other Will Make Your Heart Melt

It’s probably the soundtrack this video has going on in the background but this phonebooth/giant headphone setup where people give compliments to one another is so aww inducingly sweet that you won’t be able to not be happy. And you have a lot to be happy for! It’s Friday! People are great! Well, some of…

Real-Life Pixar Lamp, Herman Miller Couch, and More

Make it out of that turkey coma yet? You’re just in time for something that is completely unrelated to the holiday madness about to commence. An edible lamp and a stacking bookshelf, and so much more are here to save you from your stupor. These are the most beautiful items of the week. Clock Box…

A Dozen Short Buses You Wouldn’t Make Jokes About

The gleaming 40-foot behemouths that shuttle suburban American kids to school and back are useless on the crowded streets of Delhi. Throughout the developing world kids get to their daily lessons by any means possible—trike, rickshaw, even ox cart. Our friends at Oobject have assembled 12 of the coolest home brew tike transports. When you’re…

This Robotic Sea Turtle Moves Through the Water With Breathtaking Grace

Mankind’s attempts to create robotic humans that move exactly like us have so far been far from perfect. They usually stumble around, desperately trying to keep their balance like a toddler taking its first steps. But recreating the natural motions of underwater creatures like sea turtles? We’ve damn near perfected that. Naro – tartaruga is…