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Tech NewsThe Woman Who Invented the Bag That Keeps Your Pizza Warm
Ingrid Kosar always dreamed about running her own business. She didn’t know what kind of company it would be, but she liked to picture herself carrying a little briefcase. As it turns out, a very different kind of bag would define her career. It’s a bag that appears on doorsteps millions of times a week … Continued
Wailin Wong - The Distance -
io9
For the first time ever, researchers have discovered comet dust (!) on the earth’s surface. The extraterrestrial particles were found preserved in the ice and snow of Antarctica, which Science Magazine’s Ilima Loomis reports could serve as “a promising new source of this material.” Above: A particle of comet dust, recently recovered from Antarctic ice, … Continued
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Tech News
There Is No Such Thing As An Unbiased Map
Who knew that asking for directions to the Hollywood Sign could be such a complicated question? Well, it is. After writing recently that a group of residents have succeeded in effectively erasing the Hollywood Sign from Google Maps to lead tourists astray, I was floored by the response that came from every corner of the … Continued
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Tech News
Why Are Some Franchises So Content With Retelling The Same Story?
As you might have known, this weekan officially licensed game set in the HBO version of the Game of Thrones universe was released. Naturally as a fan, I checked it out – and while I enjoyed it, I was jarred by how much it felt like it was just a retread of stories Game of … Continued
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io9
Mind-Boggling Optical Illusion Graffiti Looks Like It Floats In Mid-Air
Graffiti artist Odeith wanted to make his street art stand out, so he decided to create murals that are also anamorphic illusions. By skewing is images in just the right way and painting “shadows” on the walls and ground, Odeith is able to create designs that look like 3D objects hovering in space. Not all … Continued
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Tech News
Trains Could Get Lasers To Burn Slippery Wet Leaves Off the Tracks
Each autumn, leaves fall to the ground by the billions. Slightly annoying if you have a backyard but really annoying if you run a railroad company. It turns out those leaves are a slippery menace on train tracks. That’s why Dutch Railways is testing a high-energy solution: Train-mounted lasers. In a recent article, New Scientist … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
io9MoviesCelebrate the End of Prohibition with This Odd Movie
On this day in 1933, Prohibition ended in the United States — which means it’s time to celebrate with what’s probably the strangest film made about that dark time in history: 1976’s Bugsy Malone. Cheers! Alan Parker’s musical gangster extravaganza stars an all-kid cast, including a slick-haired Scott Baio (in his debut) and a spit-curled … Continued
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io9Television
What Television Show Deserves Its Status as “Gamechanger”?
Every few years, we’re told there’s a new show that’s changing television forever. Sometimes, it’s actually true; sometimes it’s wishful hype. Which shows or miniseries really did change the way we think about television? I’m going to do the obvious thing and pick Game of Thrones, because it did two things that television had never … Continued
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Tech News
These Star Wars Face Hats Are the Nerdiest Thing New Era Has Ever Made
New Era is best known as the purveyor of apparel for professional athletes and fashion-forward trendsetters. They’ve really left the nerds behind, and that’s a huge missed opportunity embraced by these insanely loud fitted hats. The new $56Star Wars 2014 Big Face 59Fifty hats are embroidered with the faces of some of your favorite characters … Continued
- Tech NewsMicrosoft
Your First Look at Cortana In Action on Windows 10
We knew Cortana would show up on desktop sooner or later even though it’s never been announced, and now we’ve got an idea of how it’ll work. Screenshots and video from WinBeta show what Microsoft’s virtual assistant will be like when it finally and inevitably shows up in Windows 10. Cortana already runs on Windows … Continued
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io9
Now We Know Some Creepy Things About How Penicillin Destroys Bacteria
We know how penicillin works. It kills bacteria. But a new study shows that it’s not nearly that simple. Even when it can’t kill a bacterium, penicillin forces the cell to kill itself. Here’s how penicillin is supposed to work. It invades a cell, usually a bacterial cell. A cell is constantly engaged in maintaining … Continued
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io9
Back When the Victorians Used Microscopic Photography to Look at Porn
Soon after the popularization of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, people started experimenting with gimmicks like microphotography. There was a brief but huge craze for these tiny images that could only be seen using a special microscope lens. It was perfect for sharing porn in a repressive age. Above, a microphotograph (actual size) on the … Continued
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ScienceSpace
NASA’s most ambitious spacecraft ever is about as smart as your phone
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is being heralded as the saving grace of restless, star-gazing pioneers everywhere. And for good reason! It’s the first real attempt in decades at pushing human space travel to its furthest possible limits. And what feat of engineering is powering this manifestation of mankind’s greatest ambitions? An obsolete processor circa 2002. Of … Continued
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io9Trailer FrenzyWhat We Do In The Shadows Trailer Makes Us Miss Vampires, No Really
Before you swear off all vampire movies and shows forever, we urge you to check out the latest trailer for What We Do In the Shadows, because it’s hilarious. Plus it stars Jemaine Clement, who is excellent. The movie is a mockumentary look at the lives of vampires. Just about every joke we’re seen thus … Continued
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Tech News
The Most Detailed Tweet Map Ever Includes 6,341,973,478 Tweets
If you’ve tweeted in the past 3.5 years, you’re probably on this map. A data artist named Eric Fischer has spent the past few years on the seemingly Sisyphean task of tracking every single geotagged tweet, and he recently posted the final product: A lovely light map of 6.3 billion tweets. Fischer, who works at … Continued
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io9
What Is It Like To Follow your Heart, When You Have Two Of Them?
A growing body of evidence suggests that the emotions we experience, while seated in the brain, are heavily influenced by cardiac awareness (literally the attention you pay to the activity of your heart). Now, researchers have turned to a man with two hearts, to study this enigmatic brain/body relationship. Over at BBC Future, David Robson … Continued
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Tech News
Upgrade Your Kitchen Knives, Groom Your Entire Head, and More Deals
Anyone who takes cooking semi-seriously should have at least a great chef’s or santoku knife, and a great paring knife. Today at Bloomingdales, you can get both from Shun, plus a knife block and honing steel for $225. The Shun Premier chef’s knife was one of your five favorites, and it’s certainly the most visually … Continued
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io9
CDC: Big Whooping Cough Outbreaks Could Become ‘The New Normal’
This year, California weathered its biggest pertussis – aka “whooping cough” – epidemic in seventy years (for a whopping dose of perspective, see the graph up top). A new report from the CDC says the outbreak could be a sign of things to come. Above: A graph depicting the number and incidence of reported pertussis … Continued
