Tech News

Oh God, Even TMZ Wants Drones Now (Updated)

We, as private citizens, are screwed. The government has a whole terrifying fleet of drones. But now TMZ wants its own army of robotic paparazzo in the sky. Someone, President Obama, Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, anyone, please help! Because of a new law that’s opened up our friendly U.S. skies to thousands of more…

Ask the Mastermind of This Amazing Rain Forest Treehouse Community Anything

Did you see Return of the Jedi as a kid and wish you could live in the trees in the middle of the forest, but your family and friends would all be connected in a community? Guess what: now that exists. Five years ago I was lucky enough to go visit Finca Bellavista in southern…

20 Cutaway Drawings That Will Slice Open Your Mind

When I was a child I loved to bury myself in the centerfold cutaway illustrations of the monthly scientific magazines my father subscribed to for me. Cars, tractors, ships, trains, engines—I loved every tiny detail. I loved pretending I was one of the tiny men in the pictures. As an adult I appreciate these drawings…

Facebook Copyright Law (For Idiots)

We already explained just how worthless that Facebook copyright privacy status update gobbledygook is. But just in case you or one of your friends needs it spoken outloud to you because word-things are too hard, College Humor breaks it down for you in plain English. https://gizmodo.com/that-facebook-copyright-notice-is-worthless-5963210 Sorry, folks! Let’s let this always be a reminder…

Paper-Based 3D Printer Now Adds a Splash of Color

Back in 2008 Mcor Technologies unveiled its brilliant Matrix 3D printer that created models from a stack of regular old copier paper. It was a cheap way to dabble in 3D printing, and now the company has unveiled a new model, the Iris, that adds a bit of color to your creations. https://gizmodo.com/mcor-matrix-3d-printer-replicates-objects-on-the-cheap-5079482 Like with…

Skydiving, Like Everything Else, Is Even Crazier in Dubai

Dubai is full of unbelievable things like the tallest building in the world and a mall with a ski slope. It’s pretty awesome, but you know what makes it even better? Skydiving over it. There is so much outlandish architecture in Dubai, it almost looks like the guys parachuting in are overlooking a place that…

Eagle-Eyed Argus II: An Artificial Retina That Reads For the Blind

The advent of cochlear implants in the 1970s and ocular implants in the early 2000s revolutionized hearing and vision loss treatment by circumventing damaged organs with digital prostheses that directly stimulated neural pathways. But these devices have been poor substitutes for the real thing. That is, until now. For those of us with functioning vision,…

The Military Has Enlisted a Laser-Wielding, Paint-Stripping Robot

Anyone who’s ever done any home renovation knows what a messy job removing paint can be. But imagine that instead of a flat wall you were tasked with stripping a curvy streamlined fighter plane. And the paint you were removing was designed to endure the stresses of supersonic flight. It’s a daunting task, which is…

Watch the Empire State Building Give Its First-Ever Light Show

Were you in NYC last night? Notice anything different about its iconic skyline around 9PM? For the second time this month but with a little more pizazz, the Empire State Building flexed its fancy new Philips Color Kinetics LED lighting system muscles for its first-ever light show. A myriad of colors sprinkled the sky perfectly…

Highly Productive Gifts for the Workaholic

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But maybe Jack doesn’t care. Maybe Jack is already a dull boy and is chiefly concerned with his workflow efficiency. Sometimes the Jack (or Jacqueline) in your life just can’t pull out of a taking-care-of-business binge. Here are some gifts to help this busy bee…

The NYPD Is Amassing a Huge Log of Call Records From Stolen Phones

If you get your cell phone stolen in NYC, the police will help you find it. Great. But not so great? They’re going to subpoena all your call records from the day it was swiped onward and add them to a searchable database. The justification is the NYPD will have the calls the thief made…

Let’s Just Assume Amazon Has Sold, Like, Eight Kindles

There’s no doubt that Amazon sells a lot of Kindles; it’s the most popular product on a site that sells many very popular things. But we’re five years into the Kindle Age, and we still don’t have a single firm sales number to pin on them. Come on, guys! Let us quantify how impressed we…

Israel Fires Iron Dome’s Big Brother

The Iron Dome missile defense system is getting a lot of praise, having (ostensibly) knocked down a lot of Hamas’ rockets with remarkable accuracy. All of this unexpected action means it’s time to kickstart the bigger, badder version: David’s Sling. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-israels-iron-dome-5961836 The system, also known as “Magic Wand,” depending on translation, functions in mostly the…

Is a $100 Wii Mini Worth It?

The Wii Mini will be available exclusively in Canada starting December 7 for 100 real Canadian dollars. Yes, the most adorable product just for the most adorable country. Assuming someday it makes it to U.S. soil, would you buy it? https://gizmodo.com/best-buy-canada-has-let-slip-that-a-new-slimmer-wii-the-5963541 It might be just a Benjamin (plus $1 due to conversion rates), but it…

How to Get Apple’s Black Friday Prices All Year Long

It ain’t easy getting Apple gear at a discount. That’s why Apple’s Black Friday deals cause a fuss, even if they’re unspectacular compared to what other manufacturers offer up. But here’s the secret cheat code: You can get those same deals, more or less, all year long. https://gizmodo.com/apples-black-friday-deals-are-live-5962854 You’ve just gotta buy refurbished. Refurbs have…

Those Skinny New iMacs Go on Sale November 30

You might want to make an addendum to your Christmas list. Those impossibly slender new iMacs go on sale November 30. Announced in September at Apple’s iPhone event, the latest desktop machines are just 5mm thin. The base 21.5-inch model has a 2.7 GHz quad-core processor and starts at $1,300. The 27-incher starts with a…

Super-Tough Antarctic Bacteria Provide Hope For Alien Life

Lake Vida in East Antarctica is seven times saltier than the sea, 13 degrees celsius below freezing and pitch black. It was a place researchers thought life would never exist—but they were wrong. A team of Antarctic scientists have found a new breed of strange bacteria that live in a completely sealed lake, and have…

Google Found Guilty of Libel Over Search Results

A big hole has been punctured in Google’s usual defence against libel, with an Australian court throwing out the search giant’s argument that it’s just a listing tool. All because it didn’t remove a link to an incorrect web site. The Australian case covers a chap called Milorad Trkulja, who asked a web site to…

Best Buy Canada has let slip that a new slimmer Wii—the Wii Mini—will be available from December 7th. Oops. [Best Buy]

This Is What Happens When a Lion Steals Your Camera

We all worry from time to time about having our tech stolen. But when Ed Hetherington travelled to Zimbabwe for a wildlife photography adventure, he probably didn’t expect to have his camera snatched by a lion. That is, however, just what happened. He was using a Canon 5D Mk II remotely, to capture animals from…