Topic - Gizmodo

When a laptop or a phone blows up it's usually because of some dangerous exploding battery. But what if you want to make a laptop self destruct and blow up on its own? You'll have to make something that Q from James Bond would invent, basically. The genius Caleb Kraft did just that. Caleb from Hack a Day used thermite to make the laptop catch on fire to destroy the hard drive. Burnt up hard drive means all your files are secure, right? Right! Caleb's system has its own self destruct mechanism...

For YouTube's comedy week, Dane Boe created this music video 'We Didn't Star the Viral' (riffing off Billy Joel's We Didn't Star the Fire) that recaps pretty much all the viral videos that became infamous on YouTube over the last 8 years. You know the usual suspects: Keyboard cat, Star Wars kid, evolution of dance, Charlie bit my finger and oh so much more. Can you recognize them all? Did you watch them all? [Dane Boe via Neatorama]

If you're busy this weekend with trips to the beach and delicious barbecues and drinks with umbrellas in them, I feel bad for you. Memorial Day 2013 is not about enjoying the weather or spending time outdoors or kicking off Summer, nope, it's about having a day off so you can watch the new season of Arrested Development on Netflix. Netflix just put out four short clips of the new season of Arrested Development and they're delightful in a first sip of alcohol on a night out sort of way. This t...

Here's another look at Kenji Ishida's absolutely phenomenal self-transforming RC car, this time being tested outdoors to make sure it's as awesome as it can be. And it looks like it checks out. In car mode it doesn't exactly tear down the street, but we're assuming Kenji isn't putting the pedal to the metal for this test. What is amazing, though, is how fast the vehicle transforms from a car into a self-standing robot. To the casual observer it could almost pass as a CG scene from Michael Bay...

Cloying, GIF-happy, nostalgic, attention span devoid—this woman-as-website impression could only be better if she, well, did some really horrible things! But it's otherwise perfect. Really, Yahoo could have spent a lot less and just hired Dara Katz.

Quad-copters have become a popular choice for aerial surveillance tasks, in both the public and private sectors, thanks to their portability and ease of use. Problem is, their diminutive nature also limits where and when they can fly—high winds can knock them clear out of the air. The new SkyRanger sUAS, however, is powerful enough to lift off in conditions that would ground other drones. The SkyRanger is the latest sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial System) developed by Aeryon Corp. Weighing about ...

As excitement over Google Glass builds, we all really need to take a step back and seriously think about how the new technology will impact our lives. Sure, having directions and face recognition always accessible could be kind of neat. But if you're already annoyed with people using smartphones and tablets as cameras, imagine a world where everyone's filming everything with their glasses. As this parody/probably incredibly accurate vision of the future illustrates, amateur photographers are ...

Okay Glass, pay for Tang. Barcodes revolutionized commerce with their increased adoption in the early 1980s. Suddenly, accurately ringing up items in stores became much less dependent on the competence of the cashier. The shift from price tag to barcode meant that products simply needed a quick scan rather than a manual key-driven input. But before the barcode became affixed to virtually every product under the sun, how would you have proposed speeding up something like the supermarket checko...

If there's one thing the popularity of GoPro cameras have given mankind, it's the ability to enjoy near-death experiences from a safe and comfortable remote vantage point. Like Erik Roner, who was kind enough to strap a couple of GoPros on as he drove a snowmobile off the edge of a cliff so we can all experience what it's like to almost end our lives prematurely. Thankfully Eric, an experienced base jumper, was wearing a parachute and safely survived the plunge. His ride, of course, didn't. B...

Most clawed crustaceans use their pincers like a pair of deadly scissors, either for defense or tearing apart their prey. But the Pistol Shrimp has developed a far more devastating use for it. Its claw is able to open and snap shut with enough force to create a cavitation shockwave that kills fish and even heats the water to an impossible 7,000+ degrees fahrenheit. If any creature was meant to be studied in slow motion, this is it. The Pistol Shrimp's pincer closes so fast, in fact, that the ...

When a big funnel of destruction touches down, it puts everything that's about ground in instant trouble. But exactly how much trouble actually depends a lot on construction, and not just things like structural reinforcement: pretty standard, inherent things like the size of the rooms. Making admittedly unnecessary use of its fancy-schmancy holo-table, CNN explains wind limits of homes, schools, and hospitals in the path of deadly tornadoes, and how the gusts that each type of building can wi...

There's a surprising amount of energy locked away in the fizzing bubbles of hydrogen peroxide. Enough, in fact, to propel one daredevil and his modified bicycle into the record books at nearly triple the speed limit of your local interstate. Eat your heart out, Wile E. Coyote. Cyclist François Gissy reached a top speed of 263 kilometres per hour (163mph) along an open runway in Munchhouse, France using a bicycle outfitted with a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket engine. His record setting atte...

Ai Weiwei is one of China's preeminent contemporary artists, having won numerous worldwide accolades for his architectural feats (such as that awesome Beijing National Stadium from the 2008 Olympics). Problem is, Ai isn't what you'd call a "company man," riling Chinese authorities for years with his brand of political activism that inbcluded producing documentaries on political dissidents and subjects considered sensitive by the party. This ultimately resulted in his 81-day detention in 2011 ...

The monstrously giant mechs of Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim are controlled by two different people at the same time. The two pilots interact with the computer in Drift Space to control the giant mech and this featurette explains a little about how that works. It basically looks like the funnest video game ever (also the creepiest since you gain acess to other people's brains). [WarnerBros]

Microsoft, which has been trying to force Windows Phone into the Android and iPhone conversation in its recent commercials, is going head on against Apple in its latest spot. That's not surprising (as Samsung loves to pick at Cupertino all the time), but what's hilarious is that Microsoft is using Apple's own Siri to do the ribbing in the commercial. You can hear Siri poke fun of the iPad when compared to the Surface in the ad. It's pretty good (for a commercial). [Windows Video]

It's human nature to immediately pick up and play with an Etch A Sketch whenever you see one. It's in the Hall of Fame of toys (does that exist?) and almost everyone has struggled making anything more than squiggly lines with its knobs. But did you know that you can actually make an Etch A Sketch toy at home? Yeah. Steve Hoefer of MAKE delves into the history behind the Etch A Sketch and then shows you how to build it in accordance to the patent. Creating the pulley mechanism to control the E...

It's not as exciting as seeing Big Dog or Petman in action, but infantry in the US Army should be happy now that DARPA's begun testing its Warrior Web support system. One day robotic exoskeletons will allow humans to easily lift and carry hundreds of pounds, but for the immediate future DARPA has set its sights on a more immediately achievable goal with what could be described as the future of supportive undergarments. Designed to be worn underneath a soldier's existing uniform as an unobtrus...

The fact that we can 3D-print guns, each scarier than the last, is unsettling enough. But why would we stop at weapon itself? Why not 3D-printed ammo? Like, say, these devastating shotgun slugs, fresh from a Solidoodle 3 printer. Wired had a nice long chat with Jeff Heeszel, the man seen in the video above wreaking havoc with his home-made ammunition. Heeszel's no anarchist; he's just a guy who likes shooting things with his shotgun, and who happens to be friends with a man named Tony Griffy....

Since it touched down in August, Curiosity has been taking tons of pictures. We've already seen some of the best shots, but there's hundreds more where that came from. Fortunately, you can breeze through the whole nine months' collection in just a minute. YouTuber Karl Sanford took the whole big collection of all the black and white RAW photos Curiosity has shot with its front left hazcam since August 8th (Sol 0), the most recent dating back to just yesterday. The resulting timelapse is aweso...

Is there anything wrong with a chain of coffee shops trying to drum up a little extra business while they're ensuring drowsy drivers don't end up swerving off the road? Thailand-base Cafe Amazon certainly hopes not. Working with BBDO Proximity, the chain created an iPhone app that monitors drivers for signs of sleepiness, and when it catches them nodding off, it directs them to the closest Cafe Amazon store for a hit of caffeine. The app works by constantly monitoring a driver's eyes and head...

Structure fires are never a good thing, but that doesn't mean they can't be damned impressive. Last Sunday, this railroad trestle in Texas caught fire, and when authorities decided it'd be too dangerous to fight, they just let it burn. The result is a spectacular show of what have to be some of the most dangerous dominoes in the world. The unintentional fire-show ultimately cost about $10 million in damages, and while the resulting footage probably isn't worth quite that much, it's something ...

Coalition airstrikes helped turn the tides of the Libyan revolution in favor of the rebels; why not do the same in Syria? Because the Syrian government may or may not have just taken possession of one of the most frightening anti-aircraft batteries ever devised, that's why. The Russian-made S-300 long-range SAM (surface-to-air) system, known as the Grumble to NATO forces, has been produced by the government-owned Almaz Corporation since 1979. It consists of truck-mounted mobile launch platfor...

What's the largest engine in the world? Well, it depends from how you look at it. Thankfully, we have dedicated Jalopnik readers to help us finding the right answers. So here we go, with everything from heavy oil burning monsters to steam turbines and some renewable energy thrown in for good measure. 10.) The Largest Production Motorcycle Engine How big: 2.3 litersHow powerful: 140 horsepower You would expect this trophy to land at an American company like Harley Davidson, and yes, Boss Hoss ...

When I stepped off the plane in Mexico I got that sinking feeling. My iPhone wasn't going to work. I mean it was, but, you know, it's expensive to use a cell phone abroad. It's even more expensive to use a smartphone abroad. A few years ago, I took a work trip to Paris and did a dumb thing. Long story short, I get off the plane, forget that both my voice and data plans are standard and end up with a four-figure phone bill. AT&T was actually really great about getting the number down to around...

Late last year we told you about Scanadu and its real-life tricorder, called the SCOUT. Within 10 seconds of direct contact to your left temple, the SCOUT analyzes, records and spits back your vitals, including temperature, respiratory rate, ECG, blood pressure (systolic, diastolic), stress and oximetry levels. Today, Scanadu is announcing three upgrades to Spock's once futuristic tool, in addition to an update to Project ScanaFlo, a disposable urine analysis device. On the SCOUT front, the g...

Here's a short video that'll wrinkle your brain a bit. Like debunking 50 common misconceptions, this video shows 13 facts you might not know are true. Like how Neil Armstrong had to clear customs after going to the Moon. Or that Russia is bigger than Pluto. Learning is fun. If I learned all this stuff in elementary school, I'm pretty sure my brain would have melted. [BuzzFeed Video]

If you weren't excited from the explosions-filled Man of Steel movie trailer before, after seeing this final trailer that teases General Zod threatening Earth, you will be. It shows more of the conflict of the film and reveals even more insane action sequences. In the trailer, which is probably the final one before the movie releases next month on June 14, you hear Michael Shannon as General Zod demand that Kal-El surrender himself or Earth will suffer consequences. This is going to be a good...

Don't watch this video. No, seriously, it's really rough. The best thing is that Matthew Gough, the guy who plummets while base jumping, actually survived the fall with only minor injuries. He hit the ground at 40mph from a 1,000 foot cliff because his parachute malfunctioned. The footage is taken from his helmet cam. Daredevil Matthew Gough was base jumping in Lake Garda, Italy when his parachute opened backwards and got twisted and tangled. He floated for a moment and then smashed into the ...

Paolo Soleri, who died last month at 93, transformed the way people imagine cities of the future. You've probably seen some of his concepts without realizing it. He even built an experimental city in Arizona, called Arcosanti. We've got a gallery of his drawings and designs, some of which have never been online before. With his Arcosanti workshops and classes, Soleri popularized the idea of "arcology," a cross between architecture and ecology. The idea was that cities should reflect both huma...

Your skin shouldn't look like a package of pork cracklins after spending the day outdoors; that's why we invented sunscreen. However, there's a right way and a wrong way to slather on your protection—screw it up and you could get burned. It's not the visible light from the sun that causes your skin to crisp, but rather the invisible ultraviolet waves. As assistant professor of dermatology and director of photomedicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Jeffrey M. Sobell, explains: A sunb...

Fabrics geared towards athletes are designed to wick sweat away from the body so they don't feel drenched. But the fabric is still wet and weighed down with perspiration. To really feel dry, researchers at UC Davis have developed a fabric with channels that literally drain sweat away. Gross and awesome. The fabric, made from hydrophobic threads, also kind of works like human skin, pooling sweat into droplets. But the real innovation is a series of woven channels made from water-attracting hyd...

The wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in early 2012 resulted in 32 deaths and the destruction of the ship, resulting in a $300 million salvage operation that may be the most expensive in history. A pair of quadcopters equipped with cameras capture the sad vessel and the massive operation to remove it from the rocks. According to Team BlackSheep, who created this video: This video was shot at the location of a tragic accident. It is not our interest to gain attention on the backs of tho...

Humans see the world through a pair of high resolution, single lens eyes that allow us to adjust focus and pinpoint fine details. But simpler creatures, like insects, instead rely on compound eyes that have lower resolution but offer a much wider distortion-free field-of-view that's actually better suited for lightning fast motion perception. And as researchers work towards designing autonomous drones that will behave like futuristic artificial bugs, it's only fitting that they also work to r...

There are endless metrics a store has access to when it comes to when, what, and who is buying merchandise. But surprisingly, there's not a heck of a lot of data on why a customer decides not to buy something. So Fujitsu is hoping its new Kinect-based research tool provides more insight into how customers browse, and why they may decide against a purchase. The system obviously can't tell what a customer is thinking. But through detailed analysis of their body language and how they respond to ...

Even if it's not quite as amazing as it could be, Google Voice does some wonderful things. That's what makes it hard to admit the truth: It's time for Google Voice to die. A Problem Child When Google Voice launched in 2009, it was straight-up awesome. The concept of re-inventing the basic systems of telephonery for the digital age came with a whole bunch of fantastic features, many of which still kick ass today. Getting a transcript of your voicemails in your inbox? Perfect. Phone calls ring ...

After you've used your crazy robot intellect to crush puny meatbags definitively in a game of Jeopardy, it would seem like the world is your oyster. But Watson's not taking trying to take over the world or anything, no. After a trying out medicine and inventing a pastry, he's settling for a boring job in customer service. Companies including Australia’s ANZ Bank, Nielsen, and Royal Bank of Canada plan to put this supercomputer to work answering questions by SMS, online chat, email, or through...

In an effort to make how robots move and interact with humans feel less awkward and uncomfortable, Disney Research, working with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, are developing a more natural approach to the problem by thoroughly studying how humans interact. In fact, using motion capture suits, the study was taken one step further. The goal of this particular research was to improve how a robot gives, or takes something from a human. So the researchers recorded two humans go...

Given the fevered pace of China's infrastructure development, 16 years is ancient. That's why the two-lane concrete Zhuan-yang viaduct running through the town of Wuhan, Hubei in central China had to go—a bigger and better six-lane freeway was in the works. But to demolish the original roadway without harming the surrounding homes, engineers smothered the blast under a blanket. The surrounding neighborhood tightly packed in around the viaduct wasn't the only concern for engineers in determini...

You thought Chris Hadfield turned his back on us when he left the ISS earlier this month, didn't you? For shame, internet patron, for shame. Hadfield may be safely back on Earth, but the otherworldly videos continue to surface. And in this one, you get to see him make himself a game of darts MacGyver style. In zero gravity. On a spaceship. Because he is Chris Hadfield, and he can do anything. Over on Tested.com, Jamie Hyenman and Adam Savage Mythbusters fame lead us on this tour of an ISS ast...

We've already seen what the Leap Motion can do in apps that support it, but it stands to make your everyday OS-level boredom into a futuristic gesture-controlled wonderland too. This new video shows exactly what kind of applications you can look forward to on your Windows 8 machine, at it seems at least as cool as touch. A similar video showing off the device's Mac potential is in the works as well, but we're already sold. The first stand-alone Leap Motion controllers start shipping this July...

Finding a suitable runway to launch your multibillion dollar fighter jet from isn't always as easy as it sounds. That's why the F-35B Lightning II is designed to with the ability to both take off and land without ever needing to taxi. Here's the first look at its vertical launch. Earlier this month at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md, the F-35B demonstrates its VTOL (Vertical Takeoff/Landing) abilities for the first time on camera. This not only allows the plane to hop short distan...

After the stir several weeks ago, the buzz surrounding Defense Distributed's 3D-printed gun has begun to (somewhat) die down. This is probably due in part to Kim Dotcom's removal of the gun's blueprint from Mega and the fact that, frankly, the gun itself isn't much of an immediate threat. But as one potential threat dissipates, just like clockwork, a new one has appeared on the horizon. And any fear creeping up on you with this newest incarnation of the 3D-printed gun might actually be warran...

For the fisherman with space constraints, cramming every little piece of gear you'll need into one little tackle box can be just as frustrating as it is disorganized. Fortunately—at least for the smaller bits—the Kombo Fish Tool will keep you from fumbling around by wrapping four serious fishing necessities into one handy package. This multi-tool built for a fisherman gives you a bonker (which, for the uninitiated, is exactly what it sounds like), filet knife, gut scooper, and sharpener, all ...

Lockheed Martin just completed the latest high angle of attack test series. It was a complete success, as this video shots. The video footage is spectacular, especially that unreal first shot: EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., May 16, 2013 – The latest in a series of Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A high angle of attack (AOA) testing was recently completed. The testing accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out...

We didn't get to see the PS4 at Sony's big reveal event a few months ago, but with the NextBox announcement right around the corner (read: tomorrow), Sony's showing off a sneak peek to get us all riled. It's hard to make out much of anything other than the vague shape of the thing, but it's better than nothing. Can you make out anything cool?

If you're going to have a glass of orange juice and brush your teeth (a good idea), there's only one order in which to do them. It makes sense that your minty toothpaste-mouth would make OJ taste weird, but why so down-right heinous? As Bytesize Science explains, it's because your tongue gets coated with a particularly troublesome foamy oral detergent. It's about as tasty as it sounds. But whatever the reason, it's not the worst thing in the world; you should be brushing your teeth after brea...

Describing architecture as "instant" can mean different things to different people. During the post-War housing shortage, it meant prefab homes that went up in weeks. For disaster survivors, it can mean something as simple as a shelter that's assembled in hours. For the military, instant architecture often means truly instantaneous—hangars and medical tents that pop up in mere minutes. Over the past few decades, as warfare has evolved and climate change has hastened the frequency of severe we...

If you have to explain a joke, that usually means it's not a very good joke. But, if you're telling a math joke, maybe it just means your audience never enjoyed algebra as much as you did. Either way, these videos help explain to the less able mathematicians out there why they're funny. No really, they are funny. Promise. Maybe. Fortunately, the explanations—delivered dead-pan by stand-up comedian-come-mathematician Matt Parker—are equally amusing. Enjoy, both of 'em. [Numberphile]

When you're looking for something upbeat, some rhythmic clapping and a kazoo solo really help. "It Hurts" is from Bad Bad Hats' 2013 EP of the same name and it's just kind of a good soundtrack for everything. The indie, folk, hipster vibe is definitely present, but if that's what it takes to get some kazoo happening we'll just have to deal with it.