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Tech News
Someone Spent Almost Half a Billion Dollars on a Possibly Inauthentic da Vinci Painting
On Wednesday, auction records were shattered when an anonymous buyer spent $450.3 million to be the proud owner of a “long lost” painting “by” Leonardo da Vinci. The thing is, it may not have even been painted by Leonardo, it’s in terrible shape, it’s not especially good, and in the financial world of art, none … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
ScienceBiology
The Deepest Living Fish Ever Recorded Has a Wonderful Smile on Its Face
Normally, if a story about deep water sea creatures comes along it involves horrifying abominations of nature that have been hardened by some of the toughest conditions for life on planet Earth. But a team of researchers from Japan recently documented the deepest living fish ever seen, and it almost seems like it’s waving hello … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
EartherClimate Change
Antarctica Had a Terrifying, Pleasant Day [Corrected]
Here in New York City, it was a beautiful spring day with temperatures hitting 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Life was good, and it almost made you forget all the troubles the world faces at the moment. Then, you find out that it was basically the same frickin’ temperature in Antarctica this time in 2015 and the … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
Tech News
The Biggest Rattlesnake You’ll Ever See?
The biggest western diamondback rattlesnake ever caught? An Arkansas man borrowed a hot pink snubnose revolver from his wife to shoot this one after it bit one of his dogs. As with all things “biggest,” there’s controversy over this critter’s size. Some claimed 8’ 9” when photos were originally posted to Facebook last month. But … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech NewsSploid
Game of Thrones’ The Mountain breaks 1000-year-old weightlifting record
Watch Júlíus Björnsson (AKA The Mountain of Game Of Thrones) carrying a 1433-pound (650 Kg) log on his back and walk five steps with it breaking a 1000-year-old viking weightlifting record. The record is based on the 1000-year-old legend of Orm Storulfsson, an Icelander that carried a 1433 pounds and 33 feet (10 meters) long … Continued
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Tech News
The Largest Alligator Ever Caught
Measuring 15 feet long and weighing in at a staggering 1,011.5 lbs, this giant alligator was pulled out of a river in Alabama on Saturday morning, becoming the largest ever caught. The woman who did so broke out her special pearl necklace to celebrate. Like coyote/wolf hybrids on the east coast, alligators represent a success … Continued
By Wes Siler -
io9
What does a record made out of wood sound like?
Not great, but it’s an interesting process. Maker Amanda Ghassaei decided to test how maple worked as a song-delivery medium by laser cutting her own wooden records. You can certainly hear the songs on each record, but Ghassaei explains the challenges of making high quality wooden records. After 3D-printing her own records, Ghassaei decided to … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Who the Hell Can Understand the Voyager Disc’s User Manual?
In a very distant future an alien spaceship will come across one of the Voyager spacecrafts. And when they do, they will find two things: a golden disc—a space-proof metal version of a normal vinyl record containing sounds, music and images from Earth—and a record player. When that happens, we will subject the aliens to … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
This Lego Record Player Is Made From Half Bricks and Half Pure Awesome
While it may seem disappointing that this Lego record player doesn’t actually play vinyl records, that’s actually good. Its color-coded record playback mechanism is much more awesomerester than standard record playing. These player’s records are created using a program that codifies musical notes into patches of color distributed in concentric circles. The program prints out … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Pentagon Robot Is Faster Than Usain Bolt—and Freaks the Hell Out of Me
This is freaking scary. This is even scarier than Big Dog. It’s the latest version of the Pentagons’s newest Cheetah robot and it now runs faster than Usain Bolt. 0.5 miles per hour faster than the fastest man on Earth. https://gizmodo.com/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-368651 And if can catch Usain, it can catch you too. And then kill you. … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Richard Feynman’s FBI Files Make Fascinating Reading
Following a Freedom of Information request, the FBI has just released its records on Richard Feynman. Celebrated as an incredible intellectual, the Nobel prize-wining physicist was also a wonderful speaker, writer and, according to the files, a target which the FBI wanted to out as a communist sympathizer. In all, there are 361 pages pf … Continued
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Tech NewsApple
Here’s Everything Apple Could Buy With the Billions They Just Made
We know that Apple just had its biggest quarter in history. We know that they made an insane $46.33 billion in revenue. But do we really know how much money $46.33 billion is? It’s hard to visualize, so this presentation and facts may help: • 2,204 Mitt Romney’s in 2011 • the value of 72,220 … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9Television
Channel Master TV Will Let You Cut The Cord And Keep The Sports
Channel Master’s newest DVR is a cord cutters dream. It lets users record over-the-air programming so they can ditch cable and still follow their local news and sports. And there’s no monthly fee, just the cost of the device. Besides OTA television, the Channel Master TV also streams VUDU content. VUDU is a nice add-on, … Continued
By Kelly -
Tech News
New York Hospital Trades Insurance Cards for Vein Scanners
Langone Medical Center in New York is streamlining the hospital check-in process with specialized scanners from Fujitsu that recognize the unique vein pattern of your palm. With these scanners, there’s no need to flash your insurance card or fill out long forms when you enter the hospital. You don’t even have to be conscious. Each … Continued
By Kelly -
Tech News
Watching a Guinness World Record Blob Jump Is Soaring Flying Fun
Ah, the blob jump. It’s the timeless practice of using people to launch people. Trust me, you’ll know what it is when you see it. This video shows a blob jump that sent someone 55 feet in the air, a Guinness world record. Done in Switzerland, the blob jump is when one person jumps on … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsApple
iTunes in The Cloud Won’t Launch In The UK Until 2012
iPhone owners in the UK may need a pat on the back and another ale to make it through this news. According to the UK-based Performing Right Society, Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match service won’t launch until 2012. Apple needs licensing agreements for the service and talks between Apple and the UK … Continued
By Kelly -
Tech News
VinylLove for iPad Re-Creates That Warm Vinyl Record Sound for Your MP3s
I’m sad that I never really got into vinyls because every time I hear a record play, I wish my silly iPod could capture that same texture and warmth. VinylLove for iPad tries to re-create that warm vinyl sound to great success. VinylLove for iPad is a music app that beautifully mimics a record player—you … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Private Records of 3.5 Million Texans Were Mistakenly Leaked by the State
Today is not a good day to be a Texan. Sure, they’ve got good steak, the Rangers, oil, and sharp-looking cowboy hats—but now, some 3.5 million Texans are also facing public exposure of their private records. The information includes citizens’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and possibly dates of birth and drivers license numbers. State … Continued
By Davey Alba