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io9Motörhead-playing robots are the ultimate metal band
All-robot rockband Compressorhead pays tribute to their namesake in this video. Of course, it’s a lot easier to play “Ace of Spades” when your guitarist has 78 fingers and your drummer sports four stick-wielding arms. Yes, the Compressorhead bots use their technologically enhanced bodies to their advantage. Guitarist Fingers (created by Kernschrottrobots) has 78 hydraulic … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsThe Most Loyal: Shrinking Violet
You know what goes well with a full belly, an empty house, and that warm feeling you get after spending the day with friends and family? More pumpkin pie? That, and a little folk rock. While the Americans are distracted with their drunken turkey-induced comas, let me introduce you to a group of talented Torontonians … Continued
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Tech NewsThis Is the Closest View of Mars Yet
The Mars Curiosity Rover has touched a Martian rock for the first time. And, in the process, it gave us the closest, most detailed view of the Red Planet (a tiny part of it) yet, using her Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at ten, two and one inches from the rock. The target was … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Mars Rover to Study Pyramid Rock of Unknown Origin
NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity has its first analysis target, an intriguing rock with a pyramidal shape that is now 8.2 feet (2.5 meter) from its current location. The scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are excited about this and other features discovered by the rover’s cameras. In fact, it seems that they have hit a … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Curiosity Took an Earth Rock to Mars
In the 60s and 70s, America spent $109 billion on getting rocks from the Moon back to Earth*. In 2012, America spent a couple billions on moving an Earth’s rock to Mars**. Moving rocks is a lot of fun! Yes, there’s a piece of America on Mars now, people. America, f*ck yeah! Of course, you … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9
Life on Earth might never have happened without some well-placed rocks
Biologically speaking, it isn’t that hard to create very simple, one-celled organisms. But the leap to multicellular life requires many factors to line up just perfectly. Now a new hypothesis suggests we wouldn’t even be here without some well-timed erosion. Certain proteins seem to be essential for the rise of multicellular organisms, and those proteins … Continued
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Tech NewsWe Love Rock Music Because It Makes Us Feel like Cavemen
Distorted guitar, jarring chords and screeching solos get a lot of us pumped up. New research, though, reveals that it’s not something we’ve learned to love—in fact, the distinctive sounds of rock music echo the raw, visceral warning sounds of humans and animals from prehistoric times. The study, published in Biology Letters, investigates the effects … Continued
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io9
X-rays reveal why the Moon has no volcanoes
The Moon is an almost completely still world, its eternal peace and quiet disrupted only by the occasional meteor or Apollo astronaut. But we now know there’s plenty of magma inside the Moon. So why are there no volcanoes? That’s the question researchers at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) set out to answer. They … Continued
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Tech NewsLost Coves: Iceberg Firebird (Live)
Meet Lost Coves. I’m always at a loss for how to describe them. Experimental stoner rock? Hallucinogenic post-punk crash and bang? I’m not good with genres. What I know is that Lost Coves create soundscapes that suck you in. The Brooklyn-based band is Dylan Ricards on bass/vocals and Bil Saunders on drums. They create one … Continued
By Brent Rose -
io9
The Mysterious Rubbing Rocks of the Atacama Desert
South America’s Atacama Desert gets less than a millimeter of rain a year, and some areas have probably never received rainfall. Yet there are rocks in the desert that seem to have been eroded by water. What’s going on here? You can see some examples of the rocks in the pictures above and below. These … Continued
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Tech NewsThe Black Keys: Heavy Soul
Sunday is my day here at Gizmodo. Has been for some time. The day and this shift have nestled nice and snug into my life groove. Unfortunately, it’s also the day I’m most apt to be a bit, ah, groggy. Why isn’t really important. I’m a man with vices and I long ago succumbed to … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
io9
Floating rocks were the first cradles of life
We know that ancient organisms crawled out of the sea onto land, not the other way round. We know that the earliest life predates the existence of true continents. But life might just have began on land after all…sort of. The secret is volcanic pumice. This type of rock is one of the very few … Continued
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io9
This is the first ever photo of a fish using tools
This blackspot tuskfish, found in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, held a clam in its mouth and smashed it against a rock to reach the food inside. This photo is the first incontrovertible proof that fish are capable of tool use. While tool use was once seen as a uniquely human behavior, decades of animal observation … Continued
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Tech NewsBambi Rescued By the Jaws of Life
What do you do when you find a baby deer trapped underneath a pile of rocks? Call your local firefighters, who extract the poor creature using the largest power tool they could find—the Jaws of Life. This heart-warming animal rescue took place in Bush Prairie, Washington where an unsuspecting fawn managed to get caught under … Continued
By Kelly -
io9Reptoids have infiltrated the world of heavy metal
Why are these metal bands convinced that the world is secretly ruled by extraterrestrials called reptoids who are breeding with humans in their hidden caves? Art by Marco Hasmann, from the cover of Vivid Interpretations of the Void. If you believe reptoid “expert” David Icke, our planet is secretly ruled by extraterrestrials who walk on … Continued
Phil Freeman -
Tech News
Largest iOS Jailbreak App Stores Become One After Cydia Acquires Rock
Jailbreak iOS app store Cydia has acquired fellow jailbreaking app store Rock, and will now begin the process of folding all Rock app store users and apps into the Cydia system. According to ModMyi, the acquisition comes after several month of negotiations between Jay Freeman of Cydia and Rock owner Mario Ciabarra. The deal was … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Send Your Own Song to Awake Astronauts of the Last Shuttle Mission
NASA has been waking up astronauts with music since the beginning of the manned space program. Now, they not only want you to pick the music, but also submit your own for STS-134, the last space shuttle mission. You have to ways to participate in this. The first is to listen to the top 40 … Continued
By Jesus Diaz
