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We all have a little box in our kitchen that heats food up in minutes. But how the hell does it do that? Witchcraft? Not quite. Actually, microwaves cause water molecules in your food to move back and forth rapidly, and the resulting friction causes it to heat up. Sure, maybe you already knew that,…
If you’re used to seeing a device like this on a daily basis, you probably assume that it’s a vital security measure to keep your employer’s networks and data secure. A team of computer scientists beg to differ, however— because they’ve cracked the encryption it uses wide open. Update: RSA has now explained why the…
Howdy. We’ve been working on this new discussion system for just about a year now—almost nonstop—and I’m pretty pumped to announce that it is officially in effect, starting with this post. It’s called Kinja, and we really, really, really hope you like it. I know: This is a new thing on the Internet, and new…
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Back in 2010, a team of German doctors announced that they’d recorded the world’s first MRI of a woman giving birth. Back then, only still images were available—but now the researchers have released the video, and it’s spellbinding. https://jezebel.com/groundbreaking-mri-shows-childbirth-from-the-inside-5708217 New Scientist explains how the video, which you can watch below, was acquired: The video captures…
If you were planning to have a productive start to your work day: forget it. Instead, you’re going to spend hours playing with Lego online, because Google has teamed up with the toy maker to release a simulator which allows you build its bricks in Chrome. The application, called Build, is actually the brainchild of…
Communicating in plain text can be really tough; it just doesn’t allow the subtlety, nuance and level of emotion that humans need to understand conversations properly. If you struggle with it, the Sound-Word Index might be able to help you out. A pair of Royal College of Art graduates, Blanche de Lasa and Stina Gromark,…
While Apple announced the launch of Passbook for iOS 6 a couple of weeks ago, even those using the developer release of the operating system can’t really try it out properly—as information to use with the app just isn’t out there yet. Now, however, Redmond Pie has shown us how to start trying it out.…
Hidden away within Google’s X laboratory, where all kinds of secret projects are underway, its engineers have been working on creating an artificial brain. With 16,000 computer processors and freedom to learn whatever it chooses from the internet, though, it turns out that the brain does just what you do online: watch cat videos. The…
Whereas pixillation is usually very successful at obscuring images otherwise unfit to be seen, the US Army is $5billion in the hole, with its pixellated camo uniform (introduced in 2004) being dubbed a colossal mistake. The Daily reports that soldiers have “roundly criticized the gray-green uniform for standing out almost everywhere it’s been worn.” “Essentially,…
The Frog’s Bollocks UK-based graphic designer Stephen Ong doesn’t think people spend nearly enough time contemplating testicles. That shouldn’t be a problem, however, once you’ve watched this brief round up of au natural nutsacks. [Cartoon Brew] Big Buds Explains the Munchies It is not humanly possible to eat $30 worth of Jack in the Box…
Regular readers may remember that, exactly one month ago, the hard drive in my (2008) MacBook crashed, leaving me computerless and confused as to how best to proceed. https://gizmodo.com/rip-my-hard-drive-2008-2012-5913507 My options were limited: I could either buy a new hard drive to install into my MacBook, or I could buy a new computer all together.…
Obitz.com has revealed that customers browsing the site on an Apple computer aren’t necessarily being shown the best deals the discount travel broker has to offer. It’s all part of a “predictive analytics” initiative the the company has rolled out in order to gain more revenue. As reports the Wall Street Journal, a study conducted…
Version 2.5.0 of Instagram for iOS and Android* was released for download today. The update is not wholly transformative, but it brings to the already popular app a few incremental advancements that improve the overall experience of the app. • Revamped profile tab: the layout is a lot cleaner and more intuitively arranged. • Search…
It’s hard to get excited about another drawn-out business meeting. Stiff chairs. A circle of equally bored faces. Maybe your leg falls asleep from all that sitting, and then what? You jiggle it silently in your seat and stumble gracelessly on your way out the door. Listen up, bosses and interior designers: It doesn’t have…
Bing Maps just added 165TB of new aerial images—more than doubling the 129TB previously available. The update covers 15 million square miles in North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Europe and Asia. Besides satellite imagery, additions include exclusive aircraft photography. You can explore the whole release and get more details from the Bing Maps World…
It’s June, meaning it’s high time you got your fat ass in shape for beach season. No one likes working out, because, you know, paying a boatload of money to run around like a hamster on a wheel isn’t exactly fun. But Teemo aims to make getting off your butt a lot easier, and you…
Breaking away from the traditional split-handle design used by Gerber and Leatherman, CRKT’s new multitool works more like a Swiss Army knife with fold-out tools. But it’s also got a heftier housing that makes room for a multi-fit box wrench. So while you sacrifice a pair of pliers, you gain other functionality including screwdrivers that…
June! The month your parents banished you to sleepaway camp as a kid. You’d learn how to waterski, tell ghost stories, and cook hot dogs over the fire using a bent wire coat hanger. Though you’re not exactly packing up your trunk, you can still char your weiners on at your next backyard barbecue with…
Hopefully this is some kind of unfunny joke, but there is now a line of QR code clothing. Yeah, that’s right. QRTribe (that’s a real name) makes hoodies, purses, and t-shirts all with these ugly things that no one uses printed on them. When you scan them they’ll take you to a page that has…
