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In a stroke of pure genius, Jack Chalkley decided the intricate pattern he’d chosen for his pumpkin was too complicated for his limited carving skills. So he converted his design into vector art in Illustrator, fed the results into his laser cutting machine, and plunked his pumpkin down on the cutting bed. The results are … Continued
It seems impossible, but we live in age when robots can clean our floors for us. You don’t have to be Donald Trump or Emperor of Mars—this is science fact. But which floor-bot is dominant? We have answers. A robot cleaner has to suck up the dirt, obviously—and most importantly. But it also needs to … Continued
Do you know what Schrodinger’s cat looks like? Can you imagine how you would dress up as a Higgs Boson particle? Both are potentially difficult Halloween costumes since one might be dead and the other is hypothetical. But The Science and Entertainment Exchange‘s blog makes it easy! It spells out how to create the aforementioned … Continued
The Graffiti Research Lab is back again with another open source project that lets untalented wannabe Banksys easily tag an entire wall with a customized dot matrix message. But we highly doubt they’ll be laying down the works of Shakespeare. https://gizmodo.com/graffiti-research-lab-draws-rude-things-on-buildings-270463 The GRL is the same group responsible for those harmless LED Throwies, and they’ve … Continued
You might have noticed your new iPhone lasts about as long as Kim Kardashian’s marriage—and what’s the point of nifty new features if your phone’s dead? Use these tweaks to squeeze the most life out of your battery. https://jezebel.com/kim-kardashians-divorce-by-the-incredibly-ridiculous-5854891 The 4S battery situation is a little weird! It’s got a slightly higher capacity than the … Continued
The huge Google TV 2.0 update we reported last week is being pushed out to devices across the land. Sony internet TVs and boxes have already gotten the update. Expect it for Logitech very soon. https://gizmodo.com/google-tv-2-0-android-honeycomb-apps-awesome-5854222 Google TV 2.0 holds a lot of promise even if the first iteration was something of a disappointment. The … Continued
With 26 directors, 80,000 video clips, and 4,500 hours of raw footage, it had so much potential to be a garbled mess. Instead, the crowdsourced this-is-our-planet hash of Life in a Day turned out every bit as profound, expansive, and inspiring as its terrifically ambitious subject. The Ridley Scott-produced film, a collection of short user-submitted … Continued
Did you see this great iPad halloween costume? It’s terrifying, because we’re afraid the iPad might fall. But we’re also sure there are a ton more clever techie Halloween costumes out there. We want to see yours! https://gizmodo.com/best-halloween-costume-ever-use-two-ipads-to-create-an-5854649 Got a good one? Post in the comments or hit us on Twitter with the #scarymodo hashtag. … Continued
Hello, this is your friendly government authority here. You may be concerned, frighted or even angered by news that you will now be under constant surveillance, even in your home. The advent of video cameras which transmit video signals over IP have made it possible to efficiently keep tabs on your behavior at all times. … Continued
Charles Kinnane’s 11 year-old brother dressed as an iPhone. And a next-gen iPhone at that, it appears. Oh Hellz yeahs. I love this Minecraft Creeper costume from Nick Abbott. It’s creative, home-made, and totally cool. Plus it’s a creeper, so, kind of scary. Josh Brodfuehrer sent us this photo of himself and a pal as … Continued
I used to be scared of dragonflies—they were big and buzzy and always zippin’ their damn wings. Plus, the dragon part of their name was intimidating! Turns out though, dragonflies are really just a bunch of wussies. They can be scared to death. A group of professors from the University of Toronto raised dragonfly larvae … Continued
If you are an obsessive user interface jerk like me, you may have noticed the slight design changes in iOS 5. They are almost invisible but they are there, from two-pixel position adjustments to transparency changes in the badges’ shadows. https://gizmodo.com/why-the-f-ck-is-the-1-on-the-iphones-calendar-off-cente-5788166 Right: iOS 4. Left: iOS 5. See if you can spot more of them. … Continued
If you’re still plugging your headphones and desktop speakers directily into your computer’s headphone jack, but are curious what lies on the other side of the audiophile divide—consider giving this little $39 USB sound card a try. The new Hifiman Express HM-101 Portable USB Sound Card has no frills, but according to one review, it … Continued
You know that amazing Halloween costume you’ve been crafting for the past month? I’m sorry you wasted all that time because this Pure Smoke illusion—that magically conjures up puffs of vapor from your bare hands—has easily got you beat. https://gizmodo.com/working-dslr-costume-will-easily-win-every-contest-this-5853159 The smoke that’s produced comes from an emitter tucked away just inside your sleeve, which … Continued
Like everyone else in the planet, I’m reading Steve Jobs’ biography. Finding the origin of his character and taste is truly fascinating. Like the influence of his very first home on his perception of what design for the masses should be. Jobs’ first home was a Joseph Eichler-built house. Like many people in California, Jobs’ … Continued
You know what? It sucks to be undead. People are always trying to bash your skull in. You’re hungry for brains, but can’t move fast enough to catch things with brains. You’re falling apart (literally). Ace Hardware understands you. A very clever marketing campaign for the Westlake Ace Hardware in Lenexa, Kansas has dedicated an … Continued
This is the new Petman, by our friends at Boston Dynamics, the creators of Big Dog and BigDog 2. It’s like a robotic marine that never gets tired. You tell him to give you a thousand and he’ll do it. https://gizmodo.com/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-368651 It was created to test chemical protection clothing for the US Army. It moves … Continued
When properly designed, explosives detection sensors are really expensive. But researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a cheap, ammonia-detecting sensor that can be manufactured with an inkjet printer and some paper. According to Gizmag, the key ingredient are silver nanopartibles, which are transformed into carbon nanotubes which attract ammonia (a component of explosives) in trace … Continued
It’s easy to be jealous of some of the cool mobile-only apps and functions in iOS 5 that aren’t available on OS X. But rumors have two of the more desirable ones—AirPlay mirroring and iMessage—in development for a future OS X release. The iMessage rumor we’ve heard before, but now the word is that it’s … Continued
So how does one park a 20,000-pound aircraft travelling 130 knots on the roiling deck of the USS Ronald Reagan? Very careful aim, and the incredible assistance of Mark 7 Mod 3 arresting gear. Simply, arresting gear is the mechanical system designed to quickly halt an aircraft as it lands. The US Navy’s current system—the … Continued