Sploid: Where awesome, wild, and breathtaking tech moments burst into view.
Imagine our world without polar ice caps. The most dismal global warming predictions look something like this new imagery from NASA that shows the mountains of dry old Antarctica without the covering of ice we’ve come to expect. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-what-antarctica-will-look-like-without-all-that-452404119
This is the disgustingly tacky wedding scenario built by Facebook billionaire Sean Parker and his apparently tasteless bride. He spent $4.5 million on this Tolkienesque abortion after ignoring California Coastal Commission’s prohibition to build in the forest, seriously damaging it in the process. http://valleywag.gawker.com/the-full-damage-of-facebook-billionaire-sean-parkers-f-511236497
Two-year-old kid Luca Albanese died in Piacenza, Italy, after his dad left him locked inside his car for eight hours. The car interior reached temperatures of 140F (60C). The dad claims he forgot to drop him off at school.
America’s powerful car dealership lobby continues to block Tesla’s plans for direct-to-consumer purchase of automobiles. It’s starting to get to Elon Musk, the electric car company’s CEO. Musk is nearly driven to tears in this video. https://jalopnik.com/change-the-anti-tesla-law-argues-long-time-texas-car-485851184 [Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.]
Even people who swear that gay marriage will somehow cause the collapse of society realize it’s “inevitable,” a new Pew study says. With 72% of Americans acknowledging the change in marriage reality, 42% of those questioned still say it’s wrong.
George R. R. Martin appeared on Conan last night to enjoy the pain and horror of Game of Thrones viewers, after home video of their shocked reactions became a YouTube hit. The bloody wedding scene has also led to child-safe GIF versions and alternate endings. http://gawker.com/george-rr-martin-reacts-to-people-reacting-to-game-of-t-511614463
What happens when some American hicks try to destroy a beautiful old tree with a chain and a 1980s Oldsmobile? The tree wins, even after a half-dozen horrific attempts to yank it out of the ground. https://jalopnik.com/slack-jawed-yokels-attempt-tree-removal-with-car-fail-511514154
Despite Facebook’s public promise to crack down on hate speech and misogyny, there’s still plenty of ugly stuff on the world’s most popular social network—this Facebook page about prostitutes in the brothels of Kolkata is the latest outrage. A do-gooder bus driver lost his job for mentioning a hungry student on Facebook, and a weird…
Government-run anti-obesity program First 5 is running a campaign asking kids not to abuse juices and soft drinks with sugar in them, even if they are labeled as “less sugar.” Unfortunately, to do that they fattened a stock photo of a girl (left) using Photoshop in the most horrible and sloppiest way possible (right).
A giant prehistoric lizard who feasted on huge mammals back when the world was broiling is a possible preview of what our world will look like when climate change melts the ice caps. The “Lizard King,” named for Jim Morrison’s reptilian alter ego, thrived upon the flesh of big animals during a warm age 36…
With a third of all American marriages now starting with online dating, there’s some good news for all the Match.com and OkCupid couples planning to get married: People who meet on dating sites are less likely to separate or divorce, and they’re also happier than married couples who meet the old fashioned way. https://gizmodo.com/couples-who-meet-online-tend-to-have-better-marriages-511429018 [Photo…
The college kids protesting in Istanbul are from Turkey’s first big video game generation, and the language they’re using on social media to describe the scuffles with police are straight out of Grand Theft Auto, the hyper-violent car crime game. http://gawker.com/what-is-going-on-in-turkey-and-do-i-really-need-to-care-511018243
An apartment building and thrift store collapsed in downtown Philadelphia this morning, injuring 13 and the rubble. Just before 11 a.m., the four-story structures at 22nd and Market fell to the ground, killing six people. http://gawker.com/building-collapses-in-downtown-philadelphia-511433001
Major League Baseball wants to suspend about 20 players—including lots of really big names—who allegedly took performance-enhancing drugs supplied by Biogenesis, a Florida anti-aging clinic. It the suspension goes through, it will become the largest performance-enhancing drug scandal in US sports history.
US phone operator FreedomPop is now offering a 100% free cellphone plan that includes “200 free anytime minutes (FreedomPop to FreedomPop calls are unlimited), 500MB of free 4G data, and unlimited free texts every month.” Additional minutes and data cost extra. The only catch: you have to use one of their cellphones.
After being interrupted by gay rights activist Ellen Sturtz at a fundraiser speech, Michelle Obama moved over to the protester and told her: “Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.” The White House has deleted the exchange from the official transcript.
A robotic exoskeleton that reads the wearer’s mind will make walking possible again for people who have lost the use of their legs. The Mindwalker Project, now being tested by European Commission researchers, combines a mind-reading EEG signal processor that controls a powerful musculo-skeletal system you wear over your legs.
Last week, Lindy West—one of the editors of Gawker Media’s blog Jezebel—participated in FX’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, arguing that rape jokes contribute to “a culture of young men who don’t understand what it means to take this stuff seriously.” The resulting barrage of rape threats has been disgusting.
This is “Saint Joe’s,” the tiny Catholic high school on the tiny San Francisco Bay island of Alameda where Jason Kidd became a legend. It was here, playing for the St. Joseph Pilots, that Kidd first took a team to the championships. By the time the Pilots won the state title in 1991, the team…
You are about to witness a historical event: the first drone jet ever launched from an aircraft carrier. In a few decades, when autonomous drone planes battle each other in the skies, fire missiles at drone troops and battleships, humanity will look back at this day as the true beginning of total drone warfare. https://gizmodo.com/the-navys-x-47b-drone-proves-can-take-off-from-carrier-505732511…
