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Tech NewsLA Freeway Looks Post-Apocalyptic After Drones Delay Firefighters
Dozens of charred, abandoned cars made for a surreal landscape after a massive wildfire swept across a major Southern California freeway yesterday afternoon. Early this morning officials confirmed that five drones flying over the scene hindered firefighters’ response and caused the fire to jump the freeway. According to an early morning report by NBC LA, … Continued
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Tech News
Firefighters Can’t Help People In Burning Cars Because of a Stupid Drone
A giant wildfire currently spreading through Southern California’s Cajon Pass is burning cars on the freeway in what the San Bernardino County Fire Department is calling a “multi-casualty incident.” But the firefighters also issued a report that due to a drone seen flying in the area, they couldn’t get their helicopters to the scene right … Continued
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Tech News
9 Cocktails Made With LaCroix, a Sparkling Water With a Cult Following
The perfect warm weather drink is an elusive unicorn. Light and tasty? Refreshing and boozy? It’s hard to achieve all of these things in a single glass. Luckily, I have the answer. It’s time to give your summer cocktails a makeover with the zany fruit-essence flavors of LaCroix sparkling water. Welcome to Gizmodo’s Happy Hour. … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Australian Snow Is So Rare They Don’t Have Tools to Measure It
As a new climate report concluded this week, our planet is definitely getting warmer, which leads to more extreme temperatures around the world. Now Australia is seeing its coldest temperatures in decades, and last night, many Australians saw snow for the first time in their lives. The local Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gorrdon Banks told … Continued
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Tech NewsThe Los Angeles River Will No Longer Be A Speedway For Terminators
You’ve likely seen plenty of footage of the Los Angeles River—in Terminator 2, Grease, Drive, shall I go on? But unless you’ve poked around the famous watershed in a kayak, or traveled the path that runs alongside it by bike, you probably haven’t seen it like this. Although most know the river best for its … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
6 Scary Charts That Prove 2014 Was Earth’s Warmest Year On Record
Do your recent weather memories include an unnaturally high number of heatwaves, droughts, and record-breaking temperatures? It wasn’t just your imagination: 2014 was one of the hottest years experienced by nearly everyone currently living on the planet. The many records set in 2014 included land temperatures, ocean temperatures, sea levels, and greenhouse gas levels, according … Continued
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Tech News
There Are No Accidents
Earlier this week morning commuters witnessed a gruesome scene at a busy Brooklyn intersection. An SUV struck several vehicles then hit a cyclist, tangling the bike’s frame in its tires. The cyclist died immediately, his body covered in a white sheet in the middle of the road. Still, many news outlets reported what happened as … Continued
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Tech News
Pantone’s “Minion Yellow” Isn’t Just Annoying, It’s Bad For Designers
Minion Yellow is a customized shade issued by Pantone with the express purpose of promoting the current installment of a certain film franchise which opened last weekend in theaters nationwide. It’s supposed to make people feel happy. But it makes me feel worried. Pantone is a system for identifying colors. It is a great tool … Continued
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Tech News
How Much Rain Would End the Drought?
What’s the best way to get people to stop watering their lawns? Why aren’t we investing in desalination? Will we ever get used to the idea of drinking our own (recycled) pee? And most importantly, when will this drought be over? You had a lot of questions about water, so we turned to two experts … Continued
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Tech News
Los Angeles Is Redesigning the Voting Experience To Be Not Awful
The last time I voted in LA, I used a fat marker to place a black splotch on a Scantron-like form inserted between the pages of a plastic booklet. The form never lined up exactly, and the design of the booklet was so confusing, I’m pretty sure I voted for the wrong person. Now (thankfully) … Continued
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Tech News
There’s A Way to Make Big Earthquakes Safer. The US Won’t Pay For It.
Everyone’s fretting about a terrifying article on the terrifying Cascadia Subduction Zone, which will almost certainly deliver the deadliest earthquake in US history. That earthquake would almost certainly be made less deadly with an early warning system that’s ready to be implemented—if only the US would decide to make it a priority. Certainly it is … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
US Coastlines Will Change Dramatically When Earth Warms by 2°C
At a UNESCO climate conference last week, scientists declared (once again) that climate change is already happening. The evidence is our wacky weather—even Paris, where the conference was held, was broiling in a historic heatwave. But the biggest red flag is the rise in peak global mean temperatures: Which means rising sea levels will almost … Continued
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Tech News
The World’s Largest Indoor Vertical Farm Is Being Built in New Jersey
This week, a former steel factory in Newark, New Jersey began its transformation into a new life as a vertical farm that will feed hundreds of thousands of people—it will grow up to two million pounds of kale, arugula and romaine lettuce per year when it’s finished. The farm is one of many industrial buildings … Continued
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Tech News
Who Needs Google’s Dreaming Robot? Just Eat Some Shrooms Instead
The first week of July 2015 will forever be known as the week the internet freaked out about a bunch of triiiiiiippy images generated by a snoozing computer. Please. In my day we didn’t need Google to help us see melting dog faces with six eyes that are actually snails with centipedes crawling on their … Continued
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Tech News
Indian Police Are Asking Citizens To Periscope Crimes As They Happen
It’s just after midnight and you’re jolted awake by the sound of a window breaking somewhere on your street. You look outside and you see two men who you’re pretty sure are stealing your neighbor’s car. You take out your phone but instead of calling 911, you start live-streaming to Periscope. That scenario might soon … Continued
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Tech News
You’re Going to Want This Designer-Curated Guide for Your City
It’s hard to get good advice when you’re visiting a new city. Yelp is anarchy; books are out of date as soon as they’re published. Most travel apps are horribly designed. So these designer-made neighborhood guides are an especially welcome resource. A few weeks ago, a promising new guide to New York City was released … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Oh Good, We Have One More Year to Eat Bloomin’ Onions In Oblivion
Although you might already be aware of the 520 calories in a Orange Mocha Frappucino thanks to existing laws in your city or state, the FDA recently mandated that calorie counts are to be posted at all chains nationwide by the end of 2015. Thankfully, a new ruling has postponed the deadline until next year. … Continued
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Tech News“Very Strong” El Niño Is Coming: But Will It End the Drought?
NOAA’s El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) discussion center released its latest predictions today and, well, are you ready for some El Niño? Because wet weather is almost totally certainly coming to the Western US. The question is, how much? Warmer than normal ocean temperatures in the Pacific create an El Niño event, which began to … Continued
Alissa Walker
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