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The placebo effect seems to make no sense: get mildly ill, take a dummy pill without knowing it’s ineffective, and you’ll recover in much the same way as someone taking real drugs. But new evidence suggests that we might have evolved the placebo effect to save energy. New Scientist reports that new computer simulations seem…
Your mind is not playing tricks on you. These amazing animations were done on transparencies. A pair of images were printed on separate plastic sheets your high school math teacher used and one was slowly dragged over the other, resulting in crazy moving pictures, like PacMan eating bullets, or a cat running. And you can…
Holy Jesuspants. The image was already astonishing but this video made my head spin. Watching this magnificent violence from every angle is a good way to realize how lucky we are to be alive, precisely because of that titanic ball of fire in the sky. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-most-astonishing-solar-eruption-ive-ever-se-5940625 The video of this “magnificent CME”—as NASA calls it—was…
If your MP3 collection has maxed out your ultrabook’s SSD right out of the box, Western Digital’s got a pair of new slim external drives designed to complement your laptop’s sleek profile—whether you’re a Windows or OS X user. Available in Mac and PC specific models, the drives pack 500 gigabytes of storage and a…
If you wear contact lenses you’re already familiar with hydrogels—a jelly-like material made from polymers soaked with water. But a new type of hydrogel developed at Harvard University promises to be far more robust than your corrective lenses, stretching up to twenty times its original length without breaking. In fact, the new hydrogel’s creator, a…
Today, Amazon lifts the veil on its all-new Kindle lineup. We’re anticipating new Kindle Fires in a bunch of different flavors, Kindle Touches that light up the night, and maybe even our very first glimpse at an Amazon phone. So what’s the full rundown on today’s goodies? How Many Kindles? Staples’ U.S. retail chief Demos…
Lady Gaga’s next album, Artpop, will be released as an iOS app to include extra features. Umm, yay? [Little Monsters]
Straight from the same guy who leaked images of the next iPhone’s rumored bigger, better battery is a side-by-side comparison of the new device with the 4S. If it’s real, the new phone sure looks mighty slim. https://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-5s-leaked-battery-is-bigger-taller-and-fits-5940459 Obviously, we’re not entirely sure what to expect from next week’s announcement, but if the two-tone unibody…
For the past decade, scientists have been working on the assumption that 20,000 genes, less than 2 percent of the total genome, underpin human biology. But a massive international project called ENCODE has just revealed that plenty of the remaining 98 percent, once tossed aside as “junk DNA”, is in fact incredibly important. In fact,…
A whistle-stop tour of the science of orgasms, from the physical phenomena to what happens deep inside your brain at the point of climax, all in cartoon form. You’re welcome. [YouTube]
Another report from a Chinese labor watchdog suggests that reports of Samsung’s underage and abused workforce weren’t a one-off. https://gizmodo.com/report-underage-children-abused-in-samsung-factories-5932504 A four-month investigation by China Labor Watch has revealed “severe labor abuses” at six Samsung-owned factories and two of its suppliers. A press release details abuses including unpaid labor, forced and excessive overtime hours, and…
Google Drive for iOS is to be updated to allow in-app editing of documents. Finally. [TechCrunch]
We heard in August that Apple had been struggling to square up the future of its TV service with the big bad cable companies over. Now, a Bloomberg source is admitting that it means no new Apple TV product will launch this year. https://gizmodo.com/apple-tv-may-not-become-the-streaming-utopia-we-and-app-5935205 Last month’s Wall Street Journal report hinted that a new Apple…
Despite its relative success, the Nook eReader and tablet from Barnes and Noble have often been viewed as underdog devices trying to go up against the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire. So imagine the position that Kobo is in with its 6-inch Kobo Glo eReader and 7-inch Kobo Arc Android tablet. Yep. Once aligned with…
Remember the Fujifilm X-Pro 1? Remember its mirrorless, 16.3-megapixel APS-C sensor and range of XF lenses? Yep, well look closely at the X-E1, because it’s virtually the same camera in a smaller package. https://gizmodo.com/fujifilm-x-pro1-review-serious-style-serious-price-u-5934188 Miraculously, all the same controls are intact. As is the hotshoe. And the EXR Processor Pro. Yes, the 2.8-inch screen is…
Amazon’s big gala is tomorrow and we’re expecting a lot of new products: a Kindle Fire, new Kindles with frontlit displays and maybe even a surprise phone. You can see two of ’em right now. During tonight’s Giants vs Cowboys NFL game on NBC, Amazon unveiled a brand new commercial that also shows off never…
Rhythm & Blues Revue This variety show, filmed at the Apollo Theater in NYC, showcases some of R&B’s pioneering artists including Bill Bailey, inventor of the Moonwalk. What, you thought Michael Jackson invented that? Fantastic Family Feud Failures Still not as bad as dropping the N-bomb on Wheel of Fortune. Space Pioneers The fact that,…
Usually, an upgrade brings you more power, more functionality, and a generally more useful machine. But, sometimes, the thing we love most about a gadget—say, its ability to play a certain game—gets outmoded, the game fading away into MS-DOS obscurity. Like it never existed. If you’re smart and lucky, you’ve saved your old gadget and…
We have a vague idea of what Amazon will announce tomorrow—a new Kindle Fire is very likely, a front-lit Kindle too—but what if Amazon had a surprise in store for us? What if it was going to announce a smartphone? There are reports that Amazon will do just that. https://gizmodo.com/could-this-possibly-be-the-new-kindle-fire-5939309 According to The Verge, Amazon…
You spend all this time taking the most strategic and appealing photos of yourself, to send to…whomever is in your life to get them, but what if you don’t want to give too much away too early? https://gizmodo.com/a-complete-guide-to-sexting-5920542 Peekiegram is a new app—being released this Sunday, September 9—that adds a little more mystique to your…
