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Tech News
Somebody Found Waldo and Put Him on Instagram
Remember Where’s Waldo books? Since the 1980s, kids have spent countless hours scouring their pages for the lonely man in the red and white shirt. But in the internet age, nobody can remain lost for long. In hindsight, it was only a matter of time before someone found the elusive mime and stuck him on … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Can These Glasses Help the Colorblind? We Put EnChroma to the Test
A company called EnChroma has built a pair of glasses that claims to restore color vision for the colorblind. Predictably, the internet has erupted with excitement. But it’s not the first instance in which a piece of technology has made this bold assertion, and the science behind color perception isn’t straightforward. We decided it was … Continued
Diane Kelly & Maddie Stone -
Tech News
New Evidence Is Challenging What We Know About the Deadliest Mass Extinction in History
The extinction at the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago was one of the darkest chapters in the history of life. Up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial life forms vanished in a geologic blink. But was the Great Dying really as sudden and devastating as its name … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Soon We Will Hunt Like Predator With This New Night-Vision Sensor
Graphene could make it possible to build ultra-thin, flexible thermal sensors for built-in night vision technology — just like that lethal alien in the Predator franchise. Modern night-vision equipment exploits the generation of heat by living bodies by focusing the thermal emissions with a special lens. The signal is then transmitted to IR detectors, which … Continued
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Tech News
This Video Explains Everything That is Wrong With Kickstarter
Kickstarter has made countless dreams come true and changed the way many companies do business. But over the past few years, it’s also become bloated with scams, half-baked product pitches, and brilliant, well-intentioned ideas that somehow never see the light of day no matter how much money we sink into them. There’s a reason most … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
This Space Shuttle Test is Serious Science Wrapped in Pure Visual Extravagance
A mahogany wind tunnel for testing spacecraft aerodynamics is just too delightfully steampunk for real life. Or is it a real-life simulation of a 1980s-style overly-exuberant display of photographic superposition? Take a tiny space shuttle, suspend it with magnets, and you have this beautiful low-speed wind test in a transparent hexagonal tunnel wrapped in mahogany. … Continued
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Tech News
More Nightmare Stories of Your Worst IT Jobs Ever
After we published reader IT job horror stories, we received more than a 1000 comments, and you kicked it up to a whole other level. From finding porn on church systems to working IT in actual warzones, you’ve been to computerized hell and back. OrbitalGun wrote: I’ve been at my IT job for 11 years, … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Architects Say This Apartment Complex Is the Year’s Best Building–Here’s Why
What do villages look like in a world where most people live in cities? Can close-knit communities even exist in the megapolis of the future? The Interlace, an unusual apartment building that was just crowned Building of the Year, thinks so. The Interlace is an apartment complex in Singapore designed by Ole Scheeren, a German … Continued
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Tech News
Think Cat Pics Are Worthless? This One Sold for Nearly a Million Dollars.
You’re looking at “My Wife’s Lovers,” a painting done by Carl Kahler in 1891. It represents forty-two felines of an eccentric California millionaire, and it sold for $826,000. Kate Birdsall Johnson was what a polite person might call “well-situated” and “eccentric,” meaning she was rich and crazy. Among her favorite pastimes was feeding the many … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
This wall of clouds creeping over a city is so ominous
If I saw these clouds coming at me like this, I would drop everything, turn around, and start running. It’s absolutely what I envision the end of the world looking like. These shelf clouds popped up and rolled into and over Sydney’s Bondi Beach earlier today and look absolutely terrifying. Nothing really happened but it … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
JonBenet Ramsey’s Father Still “Sort of” Thinks Her Killer Will Be Found
Barbara Walters sat down with John Ramsey for her new Investigation Discovery show, “Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals.” It’s been 19 years since baby beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in her home; the Ramsey family wasn’t officially cleared of involvement in 2008. In this interview snippet, John Ramsey—his wife, JonBenet’s mother Patsy, died … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech News
The Bread Lab’s Mission to Breed The Best New Wheats
The Bread Lab at Washington State University is a collaboration between plant geneticists and master bakers. The goal? To breed new varieties of wheat that can turn out superior breads and beers while still growing well in the cool and wet Northwest climate. According to Ferris Jabr’s profile of the lab in the New York … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech NewsSploid
How a machine separates egg yolks from egg whites
I have a hard enough time trying to crack an egg without fishing out bits of the shell so I don’t even dream about ever separating the egg yolk from the egg white. If I eat an egg, it’s always going to be the whole damn thing no matter how many flip flopping lies I’ve … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
NASA’s Super Guppy Eats Spacecraft Parts for Breakfast
NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft is one of the most extravagant cargo planes in the world. The awkwardly shaped aircraft has been in service since 1965, and was specifically designed to carry oversized payloads, like rocket stages and spacecrafts. This Tuesday she was fed with the Orion service module stacking assembly interface ring and stack holding … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech NewsDesign
These Drones Are Like Floating Legos
Ever wish your Legos could fly? Someone invented the next best thing—BitDrones are tiny box drones that work like 3D building blocks. Created at Queen’s University, BitDrones are physical manifestations of pixels, made for the real world. There are three different kinds of BitDrone: PixelDrones come with an LED light for different color capabilities, while … Continued
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Tech NewsArtificial Intelligence
Bank of America Wants to Use Robots to Manage Your Money
We’re trusting robots with more and more these days: Our luggage, our meals—even our lives on the road. Why not add finances to the list? Bank of America is joining several other banks that want to do just that. Bloomberg Business reports that Bank of America wants to use algorithms that provide customers with investment … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech News
LA’s New Streetlamps Will Keep Cell Service Running After an Earthquake
Cities beefing up their smart infrastructure have tapped the ubiquitous streetlamp to track traffic data and measure pollution. Now, in Los Angeles, some streetlights will help keep the communications network intact after an emergency. LA is the first city in the world to install Philips-branded SmartPoles, which are outfitted with 4G LTE wireless technology by … Continued
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Tech News
Your Forearm Could Soon Morph Into an Augmented Reality Keyboard
Has texting worn your thumbs to the nub? Help is on the way: Japanese electronics giant NEC is introducing new wearables that project an augmented reality keyboard onto your arm. NEC announced the innovation, called ARmKeypad, earlier this week. Here’s how it works: Slip on special glasses and a special smartwatch. With the glasses on, … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsSploid
Seeing a cruise ship get chopped in half and extended is always so cool
The logic behind these construction projects where a ship gets chopped in half and then extended always seems a little bit like a magic trick. So you’ll chop a floating vessel, plug in a whole part in the middle and then hope it doesn’t sink? Cool! I’m all in for watching as many of these … Continued
By Casey Chan