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That Time a Space Station Became Part of the Miss Universe Pageant
Skylab -- a piece of it, anyway -- plays a supporting role at the pageant. (Naa.gov.au)How do satellites die? Sometimes we send them to high-Earth orbit, to spend eternity -- or our version of it --...
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Nasdaq Flash Freeze: Things That Work in New Ways Break in New Ways
When the bug strikes We don't know a lot about the technical problem that shut the NASDAQ stock exchange down for three hours today. As with the recent Amazon or Google outages, the most likely...
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The Flapping of Bumbleebee Wings, at 5,000 Frames per Second
A bumblebee at close range (Science/AAAS)To human eyes, bees appear to float rather than fly: They glide along gracefully, seeming almost to be carried along on currents of air. But if we could look...
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What Is Medium?
Just about a year ago, a new website from two of the founders of Twitter launched. It was called Medium. The new site was invite-only, but outsiders could read from various collections. Ev Williams...
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The Navy Has Fuel Cell Generators. Will You Have Them Soon Too?
Will this cube of fuel cells power your home? (Redox)Fuel cells could break into mainstream use very soon, and that means big cuts in energy consumption. The US navy is reportedly ready to deploy...
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When NASA Met Michael Bay, or, How Nic Cage Might Lasso an Asteroid
Here's how things, apparently, will go: NASA will send two of its astronauts into space with the help of the Orion spacecraft and, of course, a rocket. The astronauts will travel in space for nine...
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Productivity Tools for Cybercrime
flickr/megawatt88Stealing ten million dollars a few hundred dollars at a time used to be too labor-intensive to be a great business. Not anymore. The Internet and advances in semiconductor technology...
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How Google's Autocomplete Was ... Created / Invented / Born
Autocomplete was created ... in 2004. Autocomplete was created ... by Google. Autocomplete was created ... by a guy named Kevin Gibbs. Autocomplete was created ... on a bus. Few things merge technology...
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Github, Object of Nerd Love, Makes Play for Non-Programmers
Github can display the differences between two images in various ways, including "onion-skinning."We're living in the age of Github. The company -- which has the same name as its central product --...
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Spreading Literacy, Spreading Internet
ReutersOn Wednesday, Facebook announced that it, along with a coalition of several mobile technology companies, was launching Internet.org, an organization aiming to dramatically increase Internet...
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From the Lab to the Street: How 3 Illegal Drugs Came to Be
AMC"We're not going to need pseudoephedrine," Walter White mutters through clenched teeth. "We're going to make phenylacetone in a tube furnace, then we're going to use reductive amination to yield...
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Finally, a Service to Track Viral GIFs (Like the Weird Ones From Last Night's...
VMA GifMTV's annual pageant of music and weirdness, The Video Music Awards, aka the event of the teenage late summer, happened again last night. There were shocking performances and the audience was...
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Drone Hits Spectators Watching the Running of the Bulls (in Virginia)
Hello, future. It is nice to meet you. You're not quite like I expected from reading about you, but you're interesting and I'd like to get to know you better. Just this weekend, you surprised me...
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10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Eraser Technology
A pencil eraser (Alexis Madrigal).It's true, as Arthur C. Clarke said, that the most advanced technologies are indistinguishable from magic. It's not true, however, that the world's most magical...
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A Database of 3D Fossils, Ready for You to Explore and Print
National Museum of WalesFossils are a marvel to behold. Coils of shell, lines of bone, spreading branches of a plant -- these are the records of the lives that once graced our planet, a reminder that...
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What's the Matter with Microsoft?
Is Microsoft ready to cut ties with its lost decade? (AP Photo/Clarence Tabb, Jr.)It’s possible, even likely, that Microsoft is about to enter the darkest period in the firm’s history. Darker, even,...
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Wall Street Wakes Up to 3D Printing, Predicts Massive Growth
3D-printed Keanu is sad now -- not even a cat will cheer him up -- but in the next five years, he's bound to find more 3D printed friends. (Alexis Madrigal)Wall Street is starting to wake up to the...
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The International Space Station Just Passed Directly Over California's Wildfire
NASAAt about 4 pm Eastern time, the International Space Station passed directly over the ongoing wildfire in California, one of the worst in the state's history. "Our orbit took us directly over...
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The Condensed Classroom
Flickr/velkr0/Ian BogostThis year, more university students and professors will encounter a trend that has come to be known as "flipping the classroom." It's been largely associated with massive open...
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The U.S. Makes Way, Way More Requests for Users' Facebook Data Than Any Other...
Facebook/Rebecca J. Rosen (Click through for larger version)Facebook released its first ever transparency report today, taking a cue from Google in an effort to provide more information about...
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