Topic - Gizmodo

#science Tears are obviously our body's mechanism to keep our eyeballs well lubricated, but why do humans start bawling when they're sad, in pain, or overjoyed? What purpose could crying possibly serve? More »

#space Astronaut Chris Hadfield continues to make us all insanely jealous of the time he's been spending on the International Space Station with another video showing what day-to-day life is like orbiting the Earth. Except this time he shows what happens when you wring a soaking wet cloth in zero gravity, and the results are almost magical. More »

#specialeffects As a young pup watching Jurassic Park, I was in terrified of the T-Rex, fearful of the Raptors, in awe of the Brachiosaurus and annoyed of that little spraying dinosaur. But probably above all, I felt for the Triceratops. It was hurt! It was dying! It was so incredibly detailed. Stan Winston School revealed how they built the Triceratops, how they painted it, how they shipped it and how the puppeteers controlled it in this video. Part two of the Triceratops video can be found ...

#pastperfect It's become the defacto standard for digital photo editing and tweaking, but how much do you know about Photoshop's 22+ year history? In this short documentary the creators of what is possibly one of the most pirated pieces of software ever—including Thomas Knoll, John Knoll, Russell Brown, and Steve Guttman—talk about Photoshop's humble beginnings. More »

#monstermachines Explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) is one of the deadliest jobs in the military and it's no less dangerous here at home. But since Lieutenant-Colonel 'Peter' Miller designed the Wheelbarrow in 1972 against IRA IEDs in Northern Ireland, remote EOD robots have played an enormous part in explosive disarmarment. So when police find a suspicious package, they don't send in Officer Traven, they send in Officer tEODor. More »

#lego There's something hypnotically satisfying about drawing the endless circular patterns with a Spirograph machine—unless you're hopelessly lazy. Then it's just another form of work you're trying to avoid, and you'll probably love PG52's latest creation. It's an autonomous Lego Spirograph machine powered by a single motor connected to an impressive four-speed gearbox. Its engineering is as much a piece of art as the spiral patterns it sketches. More »

#science Humans come in all shapes and sizes, but when it comes to height there seems to be an unofficial limit on how tall someone can be. On average, the tallest of humans measure in at around seven feet six inches, with a few Guinness-worthy cases breaking the eight foot barrier. But why is that? More »

#dealzmodo Did you know that there's no legal way to stream all-you-can-watch Simpsons episodes online? (Actually, Hulu streams the most recent episodes, but you can't even watch them on your TV.) That seems like a real missed opportunity, and it means if you wanted to revisit vintage El Barto, you'll have to catch him on syndication, or buy the DVDs. More »

#touchscreens Realizing that the oft-promised 'paperless office' may never actually come to fruition, researchers at Fujitsu are working on a backup plan that gives printed documents similar tablet-like touchscreen functionality. More »

#science You'd think with all the tumultuous weather and winds the Earth experiences, the planet would be covered in a fairly even mix of green space. But it's not. Some parts are covered in fertile rain forests, while others are barren deserts. And it's all because of a weather effect known as Hadley Cells. More »

#bats We all know about echolocation, but way more is happening when a bat takes flight, and some bats don't echolocate at all. So how do they have so much precision in their flying and what's different about bats and birds? More »

#space While you are sinking into you soft, pillow-top mattress—or pile of trash—there are a handful of human beings in space who take to their nightly respite a little differently, by strapping themselves into a zero-g space coffin. Apparently it's better than it sounds. More »

#soundtrack Let's go waaaay back for this one. Almost half a century ago, in 1964, the legendary Oscar Peterson Trio performed this great rendition of Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" in Denmark. While Peterson could (and often did) burn through standards at breakneck speed, he lets this tune stretch out – displaying his famous Art Tatum-influenced two-hand mastery and just grooving out an intro for about the first 3 minutes. And only then does the song really start. More »

#gaming When it comes to making video games feel more realistic, Nintendo seems to be one of the industry's leading innovators. First it introduced a vibrating rumble controller accessory for the N64, and then of course it made a buttload of money from the motion-controlled Wii. But a company called Tactical Haptics wants to steal Nintendo's thunder with a grip-simulating motion controller that promises to accurately simulate how a sword or gun really feels in hand. More » <img width="

#rockets Rocket engines require two important ingredients to fire: fuel, and an oxidizer. And to get the most bang for your buck with those ingredients, you need to find the perfect recipe. As the BBC series Bang Goes the Theory demonstrates with three plastic soda bottles, maxing out on either ingredient doesn't produce as effective a chemical reaction as ensuring the two are in perfect balance. There's a reason they call it rocket science after all. [YouTube via The Awesomer] More » <img sr...

#slomo BBC Earth Productions is back with another mesmerizing bit of high-speed footage that captures hawks as they're swooping in to attack their prey. Seeing all of the bird's complex feather mechanics in action as it slows mid-air to snatch its target is utterly fascinating, and seeing it extend those terrifying claws will make you happy you're not a tiny rodent caught in its crosshairs. [YouTube via Laughing Squid] More » <b

#humor One of the best parts of growing up in the 1980s were the awesome action-packed commercials for G.I. Joe toys. They featured kids actually playing with the vehicles and figures, re-enacting scenes of heroism as the Joes battled Cobra. The folks at Movieclips clearly enjoyed those ads too, as they were inspired to make a modern version using one of the trailers for the recently released G.I. Joe sequel. More » <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/ynZogT8l_

#art Tetris, a game we all spent many a years playing in the back of classrooms, on the top of toilets and so forth, has never been played like this. Artist Chris Carlson created a 3D chalk art version of Tetris and played a quick round of the puzzle game. It's incredible how detailed it is, you feel as if you could just step right in and play the game. Except if you were to play the game you'd have to draw out each Tetris piece, note the shadows, erase the Tetris piece, re-draw the Tetris pi...

#remotecontrol Say what you will about the Fast & Furious films, the franchise has to be doing something right to warrant sequel after sequel. But as the filmmakers keep upping the ante and including more grandiose stunts, maybe they should think on a smaller scale for the next flick. Because this trailer for Fast & Furious 6 created with RC cars is awesome. More »

#tape So you've got yourself a car that needs lifting, and have secured an industrial crane for the job, but did you also remember to get a giant harness for the lift? Probably not. Don't worry, though, as long as you can scrounge a few rolls of cellophane packing tape, you're good to go. More »

#slingshots Bill Gates has posted a $100,000 bounty to the person or team that finds a way to improve the age old design of the condom. Including "designs that are easier to properly apply" which inspired our favorite weapons designer Joerg Sprave to of course apply his expertise in slingshots to the problem. More »

#soundtrack The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' fourth album, Mosquito, is coming out on April 16th. But their new single "Sacrilege" is already here. The video, starring Lily Cole, is pretty creepy. It involves a masked man, some ritual sacrifice and a handful of sketchy townspeople. Oh, and the story unfolds in reverse. Was that a spoiler? Whatever, it's great. The band played on The Late Show With David Letterman on Friday and brought the Broadway Inspirational Voices gospel group along to keep everyone ...

#slowmotion Fruit and cereal, it's a tried and true combo. You might even venture to call it boring. But damned if there's anything—anything—that can't be improved with a little liquid nitrogen and super slow-motion. More »

#robots Boston Dynamics—the folks behind the brick-tossing BigDog—has released some new footage of one its other incredibly unsettling robotic creations. Petman's designed to serve as a testbed for hazmat suits and other military garb, and is so realistic it's hard to believe there's not a real dude inside that suit. More »

#robots Unless it's been brought to life by Disney or Pixar, it's hard to feel much empathy for robots, particularly the emotionless cyborg experiments being developed around the country. But not this little guy. Designed to stay on its feet no matter what happens, you can't help but feel a little sad as you watch these researchers push, prod, and bully it like a nerdy fifth grader. More »

#overkill Combining the backyard pastimes of hot tubs and fire pits, Cal Spas has created the Cal Flame R-Elements: a hot tub that surrounds those inside with a series of small butane fire pits. Because as anyone who's ever escaped a burning building will tell you, there's nothing more exciting than being surrounded by fire. More »

#watchthis Remember that utterly depressing abandoned factory island that Javier Bardem's character used as his headquarters in Skyfall? It's actually a real place known as Hashima—or Battleship island</a—that was built and used as a coal mining facility until it was abandoned in 1974. It's kind of a sad tale, so it's a little confusing as to why Sony chose such an upbeat and whimsical soundtrack for this tour of the island using one of its action cams attached to a quadcopter. Maybe they hav...

#gopro After watching this terrifying footage of a wing walker precariously climbing out of their seat and onto the top of a plane, you'll never complain about your crappy job ever again. You'll also probably wonder how this particular hobby ever came about. Even the Wright Brothers—the first people to fly—believed in seats and restraints. It's a terrifying and ridiculous stunt, even if it makes for some awesome GoPro footage. More »

#robots Replacing fighter planes and reconnaissance aircraft with robotic drones turned out to be a far easier task for the military than replacing soldiers with bots. But DARPA remains determined to one day enlist robots for all military jobs, and among other research, it's working hard to develop a relatively low-cost set of artificial arms and hands that can perform everyday mundane tasks. More »

#science Researchers at MIT have discovered that when nanowires just billionths of a meter thick are inserted into liquids, they passively draw it upwards along its length without any outside power or suction. It's like the world's tiniest Dyson that you never have to find an outlet to plug in. More »

#slingshots Not surprisingly, the Nabisco folks weren't entirely impressed with Joerg Sprave's brilliant Oreo-splitting pump action slingshot, and took his video down. So as an act of revenge, Joerg has added another pump action weapon to his arsenal designed to decimate a box of cookies. But this time he's also provided the plans and instructions needed to build your own. More »

#soundtrack The season 3 premier is upon us, people. There were a lot of quality contenders for this soundtrack slot. Mashups, covers and original tracks abound. Jason Wang's cover of the Game of Thrones theme by Ramin Djawadi is all-around solid, though, and also pretty epic. The track incorporates acoustic and electric violin, and was recorded before the start of season 2. Play this on loop when the premier is over and you're already starved for more. More »

#science This is actually a pretty great thought experiment. At first it might seem kind of pointless to talk about what would happen if the sun vanished, but it doesn't actually result in the immediate destruction of everything. Which is weird. Vsauce walks through a pretty nuanced description of how earth's natural systems would slowly fail, but over weeks and even years, not seconds. The cold would get us in the end, but extremophiles that live in deep sea volcanoes and thermal vents could...

#hacking It's a common little meta-game for those of us who are technically competent: keep your eye out in the movies for the most egregious technical misrepresentation you can find. And while its one thing to just keep tossing of reference after reference to "the mainframe," this complication of hacktastic scenes put together by the folks at Hack a Day is particularly cringe-worthy. More »

#guns You probably never wondered this before but the Internet is always about answering questions you never knew you had. Like, how many Peeps and Cadbury Easter Eggs can a 50 cal rifle shoot through? Rated R on YouTube decided to give it a try and blasted through your favorite Easter treats so you don't have to. More »

#hackers "Hacker" is one of the most loaded Internet words getting thrown around these days. To many (hi cable news), the label is inherently malicious, and goes hand in hand with threats to blow up the interwebs. Others who self-identify as such, will never ever stop whining about how it means just the opposite. But are hackers of either flavor heroes? Can they be? More »

#hacks It's useful for blasting dust, crumbs, and other crap off your keyboard and electronics, but those overpriced compressed air cans are almost as big a rip-off as printer ink. So here's a brilliant and relatively simple hack that makes a compressed air can refillable with a standard tire pump. And just to highlight what's probably the most crucial step in this project: you'll want to make sure the can you're using is completely and thoroughly empty before going at it with a drill. [YouTu...

#science Have you ever wondered why your skin gets covered in tiny bumps when you step out of the shower, or when your body's fight or flight instincts kick in? The goosebumps phenomenon, named after the way a large bird looks after being plucked, is actually your body's attempt to protect itself. More »

#humor The problem with being a panhandler in this day and age—besides, you know, possibly being homeless—is that people don't carry coins or cash as much as they used to. It's easier to shrug off someone asking for change when you don't actually have any to give, so maybe it's time for panhandlers to start accepting credit cards. More »

#slomo Slo-mo footage of wet dogs shaking themselves dry are a dime a dozen online. But wet dogs and wet hedgehogs and rats? Now that's something new, and we can thank BBC Earth Productions for this mesmerizing footage. More »

#ironman3 As May 3 gets closer and closer Marvel is starting to flood the airwaves with 30 second Iron Man 3 commercials, including this spot which reveals something fans have speculated since the first trailer: Pepper Potts gets to don the Iron Man armor. It doesn't look like Stark has created her her own custom suit—yet—but she looks right at home in his armor. Talk about a power couple. [YouTube via Laughing Squid] More »

#movies Our friends at Cinema Sins found 45 things wrong with The Hobbit and I'm just going to assume all 45 of those things are because of the 48FPS that Peter Jackson chose to use for reasons unknown. Or I guess it could also be because the movie just wasn't any good. [Cinema Sins] More »

#watchthis The term 'mainframe' doesn't get thrown around as much as buzzwords like 'cloud computing' these days; except in Hollywood. The movies are still obsessed with the idea of someone hacking into the mainframe. Or, to be more specific, "hacking the mainframe" is still a convenient but lazy plot device that lets characters discover vital expository backstory, or escape a seemingly inescapable situation. More »

#architecture Just a couple of years ago, if you wanted to make something look trendier, you put a bird on it. Birds were everywhere. I'm not sure if Twitter was what started all the flutter, but it got so bad that Portlandia performed a skit named, you guessed it, "Put a Bird On It". More »

#specialeffects In shots where they were seen walking, Jurassic Park's resident brachiosaurs were realized with ground-breaking computer animation. But for shots when the film's human characters interacted with them high in the trees, the brachiosaurs were brought to life with complicated animatronics created by Stan Winston Studios. More »

#slingshots Tweaking the design of his bizarre pump-action Oreo gun, Joerg Sprave has built a smaller version designed to take office warfare to the next level (if the next level is a long two-hour talk with human resources). Made only using stuff you'd find around the office—like cardboard, glue, staples, and rubber bands—the pump-gun is able to fire euro coins, US nickels, or M5 washers. More »

#startrek It's supposed to be an hour when everyone conserves energy by turning off the lights and other superfluous power drains. But apparently Paramount is still not up-to-speed on what Earth Hour is all about since over the weekend it celebrated the event by sending 30 quadrotor drones into the air, forming the Starfleet insignia to promote the upcoming release of Star Trek Into Darkness. More »

#science Whenever I pass a Wells Fargo bank "The Wells Fargo Wagon" from the Music Man plays in my head for the rest of the day and wrecks everything. But research shows that solving anagrams may be a way to stop the broken record. Seriously, this better work. More »