On August 13th, 1961, East German troops set out to close the border between East and West once and for all with the construction of the Berlin Wall. This one-124 mile expanse of barbed wire and concrete changed the tone of the Cold War and remains a powerful symbol to this day. More »
If there's anything I've found to be painfully clear about social media, it's that having friends is exhausting. Privately, I don't care if it's your birthday. I secretly hate you. But society now forces me to acknowledge your virtual existence. More »
Either someone's playing a practical joke or the Game has serious internet powers. It seems that the Game tweeted containing the number for the Compton sheriff's office yesterday. That resulted in hundred of calls to the department that apparently overwhelmed their emergency service. More »
This "wristwatch" looks clunky as all hell now, but with work it has some formidable applications. It was designed to use the back of your hand as a haptic interface. It's obvious. It was meant for James Bond. More »
In the continuing saga of those hilarious fake Apple stores in Kunming, China, it looks like they've made an about face and changed their name to the Smart Store. Well not an about face, really. Just a logo change. More »
We've already seen how future ships can be cloaked against sonar, and maybe someday even space and time. Now researchers say they can cloak the ships' wakes, tricking water itself into acting as though nothing is there. More »
A Florida man got into a particularly nasty fight with his live-in girlfriend earlier this week. This was clearly the final straw, because, after a quick shower, he got two swords out and challenged her to a duel. A break up fight to the death?? More »
I wouldn't want to live in West Texas right now. Why? Because the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which supplies water to the region, is recycling wastewater (aka pisswater) into tap water. Recycle, reduce, reuse...it never sounded so gross. More »
The NY Times has a story about how a conference was held to teach 200 teenagers from Boston how to have "healthy breakups". Unsurprisingly, a lot of the discussion revolved around proper Facebook breakup etiquette. More »
In 2015, Boeing will launch its CST space capsule three times. Two of those trips will be unmanned. But the third launch—en route to the International Space Station—will be piloted by two Boeing employees. Who gets to go? More »
Nothing says summer quite like a field full of fireflies on a starry night. And this beautiful long-exposure shot, which happened quite by accident, is actually pretty easy to replicate. Here's how: More »
Anyone who's played Mario Kart knows the terror of seeing these shells bearing down in their rear-view (not the blue! Anything but that!). Now these leader-seeking missiles are coming to the real world in the form of adorable R/C racers. More »
You know, I don't remember the last time I had a good rubdown from a world class sacksseuse. What's that? You're not familiar with sacksseusery? Here, let Don Cheadle, CEO and Manager of Sacks West, fill you in. More »
Enson Inoue is a 5 foot 10, 210 pound, MMA heavyweight championship-winning, black belt-wearing, thrower of fists, knees, and other jabbing appendages. He also loves dogs enough that he risked massive radiation to help abandoned animals. This guy is good.
Those rechargable batteries in your phone took well over two decades to develop—way too slow in today's global economy. So, the US government has introduced the Materials Genome Initiative and cut the development time of new materials in half. More »
Real life fights are painful and destructive! And video game fights are usually frustratingly difficult. So instead, watch this incredible stop-motion animated bout between Ryu and Ken. It almost feels like you're getting kicked in the skull. More »
In this week's app roundup: songs, made EPIC; DSLRs, controlled by Androids; trail maps, downloaded to your iPhone; photos, edited by a touch; sharks, made interactive; Rdio, iPadified; Skype, also iPadified; notifications light, customized and much, much more. More »
It seems like Acer founder Stan Shih has gone gaga. Or perhaps he forgot to read the bloody memo, because he claims that ultrabooks and tablets are both short-term fads that apparently are going nowhere. More »
Well, this is scary. Researchers have created software that uses public information to ID basically anybody just walking down the street. Stalkers, rejoice. Everyone else, time to find a comfortable mask that you'll never take off. More »
