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Tech NewsDishwashers of the Future Were Sometimes Supposed to Just Break Your Dishes
“The house of 1999 will be virtually maintenance free,” the narrator declares in his 1967 concept film. And while you can probably guess some of the technological advancements in the movie—like computers, fax machines, and even email—there’s one prediction from the short promotional film that didn’t quite pan out. It was the dishwasher of the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHealthUK Approves Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine For Distribution Early Next Week
Health authorities in the UK have approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S.-based pharma company Pfizer and German-based biotech firm BioNTech, according to a press release from the two companies. The first doses will be given free to some of the most vulnerable Britons and health care workers early next week—welcome news to a world … Continued
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Tech NewsTrump Attorney Calls For Execution of Former DHS Cybersecurity Official
One of President Donald Trump’s remaining election lawyers, Joe diGenova, declared on Monday that former DHS cybersecurity official Chris Krebs should be executed. Krebs was fired from the Trump administration in mid-November after releasing a statement that the 2020 election had been the most secure in American history, a message that angered Trump immensely. President … Continued
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ScienceHealthModerna to Ask FDA for Emergency Authorization of Covid-19 Vaccine on Monday
Biotech company Moderna will ask for an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its covid-19 vaccine on Monday, according to a new press release posted to the firm’s website. Moderna also released new information indicating its messenger RNA-based vaccine has a 94.1% efficacy rate in a study of 30,000 people—encouraging news … Continued
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Tech NewsTransportationRahm Emanuel Rumored For Transportation Secretary Despite Embarrassing Flop With Elon Musk
Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, is rumored to be president-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of Transportation, according to a new report from Axios. But Emanuel would be a very weird choice for the position, not only because the longtime political operative has quite a list of political scandals. One of Emanuel’s few … Continued
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Tech NewsUtah’s Mystery Monolith Appeared Around 2016 Near Site of Old Movie and TV Locations
Was it aliens or artists? Yesterday, the internet was enthralled by the discovery of an unexplained metallic monolith in the middle of nowhere by officers for Utah’s Department of Public Safety. Roughly 24 hours later, we have a lot more answers, all thanks to amateur sleuths online. And given the area’s long history with Hollywood, … Continued
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Tech NewsUnexplained Monolith Discovered in Rural Utah’s Red Rock Country
Officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety discovered a shiny metallic monolith in rural Utah’s Red Rock Country on November 18 while surveying big horn sheep by helicopter. The monolith has drawn comparisons to the black monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the helicopter crew said there’s “no obvious … Continued
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Tech NewsFood Delivery Worker Dies in Australia, Becoming Fifth Gig Economy Death Since September
Another Uber Eats delivery worker in Sydney died on Monday evening, local time, after his bike was hit by a truck, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The unnamed man is the fifth death of an app-based delivery worker in Australia over the past two months, prompting questions about the safety of gig economy workers … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Reportedly Faces Ban in Vietnam Over Refusal to Censor More Local Political Content
The government of Vietnam is threatening to shut down Facebook within the entire country over the social media company’s refusal to censor more local political content, according to a new report from Reuters. Facebook had previously censored some political speech on the platform to appease the Vietnamese government, but apparently, that wasn’t enough. Back in … Continued
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ScienceHealth1,971 Americans Die of Covid-19 on Thursday as U.S. Sets Record For Daily Cases
The U.S. reported 1,971 deaths from covid-19 on Thursday, the highest death toll since May, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The country also recorded over 182,000 new cases and more than 80,000 Americans are currently hospitalized, both grim new records for the U.S. during the pandemic. Public health experts warn it’s going to get … Continued
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ScienceHealthTyson Managers Allegedly Made Cash Bets on How Many Workers Would Get Covid-19
Managers and supervisors at a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, allegedly forced employees to work in unsafe conditions during the coronavirus pandemic and even took cash bets on how many workers would get sick from covid-19, according to new filings in a lawsuit brought against Tyson by the son of a worker … Continued
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Tech NewsBoeing 737 Max Aircraft That Killed 346 People Given Green Light to Fly Again by FAA
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft has been approved to fly again by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, according to a press release by Boeing and a statement from the FAA. The 737 Max was the model of plane that crashed in 2018, killing 189 in Indonesia, and again in 2019, killing 157 in Ethiopia. The … Continued
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ScienceHealthU.S. Could See 2,000 Covid-19 Deaths Per Day by Christmas: Report
The U.S. could see 2,000 Americans dying per day by Christmas if strict new mitigation strategies aren’t adopted, according to warnings from doctors on the White House Coronavirus Task Force and a new report from CBS News. The alarming news comes as the U.S. reports 1,565 deaths from covid-19 on Tuesday alone, with hospitals across … Continued
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Tech NewsCrimePonzi Scheme Suspect Flees FBI Using Handheld Sea Scooter, Fails Miserably
Federal agents arrested Matthew Piercey near Redding, California, on Monday over an alleged $35 million Ponzi scheme, but Piercey didn’t surrender quietly. The suspect reportedly fled FBI agents in a truck before jumping out, getting something out of his vehicle, and hiding in the freezing water of Lake Shasta for 25 minutes. How did he … Continued
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Tech NewsU.S. Destroys Mock ICBM in Space During New Anti-Missile Test
The U.S. Navy destroyed a mock intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean early Tuesday morning in a successful test of America’s experimental missile defense system, according to press releases from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and defense contractor Raytheon. The new test was notable for destroying a target missile while it was outside Earth’s … Continued
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ScienceHealthAmericans Will Start Dying in ER Waiting Rooms According to Covid-19 Expert
Dr. Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and expert on the covid-19 pandemic, warns U.S. hospitals have become so overwhelmed that people with coronavirus will soon be dying in ER waiting rooms. And he’s not talking about something that could happen six months from now. Dr. Osterholm says this nightmare scenario will start within a few weeks. … Continued
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ScienceHealthElon Musk Might Have the Disease He Said Would Be Gone By April
Elon Musk has been tested for the novel coronavirus and received conflicting results, according to the tech mogul’s Twitter account. The 49-year-old founder of SpaceX wrote that he was given a rapid covid-19 antigen test four times, with two tests coming back positive and two coming back negative on the same day. Musk, who wrote … Continued
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Tech NewsCultureThis ‘Telewriter’ Transmitted Handwriting Across Long Distances in the 1930s
Need to send a message to a friend 50 miles away? Today, you’ve got plenty of options—whether it’s SMS, email, tweet, Facebook message, Zoom video chat, or the old-fashioned telephone. But back in the 1930s, the choices were much more limited. You could use the phone or write a letter or send a telegram. And … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsDOJ Elections Lawyer Resigns in Protest After Bill Barr’s Latest Bullshit
The head of the Election Crimes Branch at the U.S. Department of Justice resigned in protest late Monday after Attorney General Bill Barr issued a new memo giving the green light for federal prosecutors to investigate alleged “voter fraud” in the presidential election. Richard Pilger, a prosecutor with the Justice Department since long before President … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsTrump Launches New ‘Voter Fraud’ Hotline After Prank Calls Swamp Old Number
President Donald Trump’s grumpy gang of dipshits set up a new hotline over the weekend for Americans to report “voter suppression, irregularities and fraud” during last week’s presidential election. The old number was inundated with prank calls, and the Trump regime has pledged to keep changing the number if the pranks continue. “Another new number. … Continued
By Matt Novak
Matt Novak
Matt Novak is a reporter at Gizmodo covering news and opinion, with a little history thrown in for good measure. Novak started at Gizmodo in 2013 and has been writing about past visions of the future at Paleofuture.com since 2007. Novak is fascinated with the history of technology and got his start writing professionally for Smithsonian magazine. Emails telling him to "stick to tech" can be sent to [email protected].
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