-
Tech NewsThe Government Shutdown Has Created a Science Ghost Town at NIH
With days of the shutdown dragging on, projects and services across almost all government agencies are, you know, stalled. And the situation at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD is unstable, according to a report in Nature. Hundreds of experiments with animals and cell lines are in jeopardy because researchers can’t go to … Continued
-
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWatch the SpaceX Grasshopper Reach A New Record-Setting Height
In the past few months SpaceX’s Grasshopper has done test runs that included jaunts to 250 and 325 meters above ground. The rocket has been regularly sticking its landings and has even done some side-to-side maneuvering. And now the Grasshopper has taken its biggest hop yet to 744 meters aka 2,441 feet aka almost half … Continued
-
Tech News
A Really Enormous Cyclone Is About To Hit India’s Eastern Coast
A huge storm, cyclone Phailin (pronounced: phie-lin), is approaching the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on the eastern coast of India and will probably also cause heavy rain in neighboring states. Indian authorities evacuated half a million people over the past few days as predictions about the storm grew more dire. Mother Jones reports … Continued
-
Tech NewsThere Are 480GB-Worth Of Photos In This Epic Time Lapse Of Barcelona
There are tons of great city time lapses. When you combine beautiful, weird or iconic architecture with changing light at different times of day, and people speeding by you almost always get a winner. But its not easy to make these shorts. This time lapse of Barcelona, shot in the past few months from August … Continued
-
Tech News
Obamacare Customer Service Told Everyone To Reset Their Passwords
We’ve all done tech support for family members and it tends to start basic. Did you restart? Have you ever downloaded updates ever? Why are you trying to buy WD-40 from Amazon Japan? And often it’s as simple as resetting a password. But service reps for Healthcare.gov relied a little too heavily on that trick … Continued
-
Tech News
Sleeping In Public Just Keeps Getting Easier
Like ostriches themselves, the Ostrich Pillow is enigmatic and generally fascinating. Who would use it? Is it appropriate for children? Is it a sex toy? Hard to say! But it looks downright comfortable for napping. The only issue is carrying it. With that thing hanging out of your bag it’s pretty obvious that you’re getting … Continued
-
Tech NewsO-Zone: Dragostea din tei
You remember this, right? Moldovan pop group O-Zone released “Dragostea din tei” in Romania in 2003, and it got really popular when it had its worldwide release in 2004. Then callow youth Gary Brolsma of New Jersey posted a video of himself lip syncing and dancing along to the song. Obviously, because it was 2004, … Continued
-
Tech News
Narrative Is A Lifelogging Camera That’s Finally Happening
In March we covered Memoto, a lifelogging camera that takes two photos a minute while you’re wearing it. It was in the preorder stage then and with $500,000 more than expected from its November Kickstarter, it had an ambitious April shipping timeframe. Which obviously didn’t happen. BUT now it’s actually going to ship on November … Continued
-
Tech News
Bitcoin Seized From Silk Road Is In A Highly Prankable FBI Wallet
Ross Ulbricht’s arrest last week included an FBI seizure of about 26,000 Bitcoins. But you can’t just stick Bitcoins under your mattress. Even if you’re the FBI they have to be in a wallet somewhere. And people know where. Internet denizens found the wallet and have been contributing tiny sums, we’re talking 0.00000001 BTC here, … Continued
-
Tech News
Russia Will Be All Up in Everyone’s Business at the Winter Olympics
Not to be outdone by the sheer magnitude of the NSA’s PRISM program, Russia’s FSB security service is preparing to monitor every single communication made by competitors and spectators alike during the 2014 winter games in Sochi, according to a report by The Guardian. The system, called Sorm, will be supported through new infrastructure installed … Continued
-
Tech News
What’s Your First Tech Memory?
I watched The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from a young age. I was so young that my hands weren’t strong enough to turn the knobs of my parents’ retro TV. I’m totally serious. I had to have someone turn on the TV and change the channel for me. And somehow there was never an adult … Continued
-
Tech News
The Social Media Hotels Keep On Coming
People have instagrammed and live tweeted from pretty much everywhere. The peak of a mountain, the birth of a baby, the toilet. Users don’t seem to crave permission. But somehow the idea for a social media-themed hotel keeps coming up, and The New York Times notes that another one started in Majorca this summer. Sol … Continued
-
Tech News
More Steve Jobs Action Figures Are On Their Way
Ah the second anniversary of someone’s death. The biography is a bestseller. The movie with Ashton Kutcher is out. The mourning process is on its natural course. But one more thing has to happen: new action figures. Sure, there may be a model from February, but that was then and this is now. Enter the … Continued
-
Tech NewsA Wall Dock Ruled By Simplicity
There are a lot of wall chargers and docks out there for iOS devices. A lot. So many. But it’s nice to see one that’s simple, portable, flexible, and smartly designed. It’s just sort of a relief. If you need this, here it is, and it’s 10 bucks. Done. The Rolio by Blue Lounge uses … Continued
-
Tech News
The FDA Isn’t Inspecting Food During The Government Shutdown
E-coli outbreaks crop up every now and then. Some are more widespread then others, but if they’re related to food and especially if that food may have crossed state lines, the FDA starts tracing to find the source. If foodborne bacteria cause an outbreak in the U.S. today, though, the FDA won’t do anything. Because … Continued
-
Tech NewsDuck Sauce: Barbra Streisand
I understand that this song is polarizing. You either love it or you hate it. I realized that I loved it when I was backstage with some friends before a classical clarinet concert. I know, just stay with me for a second. We were backstage and I had Barbra Streisand stuck in my head. I … Continued
-
Tech NewsGet Back Into The Habit Of Winding Your Clocks
Okay so most of us have probably never had a clock we had to wind, but it seems like an appealing ritual. Calm and quiet. A connection to the passage of time. Or maybe it would be totally automatic like brushing your teeth. Whelp there’s only one way to find out. Designer Pauline Saglio created … Continued
-
Tech NewsSize Matters If You’re Fishing
Apparently the size of the fish you fish matters if you’re fishing on a large scale. You may not have thought about this, but it makes sense given broad overfishing concerns plus our knowledge of selective breeding. As MinuteEarth explains, there are laws that establish a minimum size for catching fish so young fish have … Continued
-
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
The Eagle Nebula Couldn’t Look Cooler
That top image is pretty, but the only way to see this incredible combination of dust and gas is to take in the whole image below. Holy crap, right? This picture, which was created in 2005 using Hubble data and digitally assigned colors, shows the Eagle Nebula surrounded by and intertwined with dust pillars that … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgets
New Gadgets Are Fun But Why Not Love the One You’re With?
As a tech reporter a lot of gadgets pass through my hands, but I’m a lousy early adopter in my personal life. I think the reason is readily understandable: it’s money. I don’t like to spend a lot on gadgets when I can make smart decisions and then just enjoy what I’ve bought. And by … Continued
Lily Hay Newman
Lily Hay Newman's posts