The Wall Street Journal reports that a Chinook helicopter carrying 31 US special forces troops and 7 Afghan troops was shot down last night by a Taliban insurgent's missile. The crash killed everyone onboard. More »
Next time you're inhaling an entire box of Girl Scout shortbread cookies, just think of the potential you're wasting: a full $15 billion worth of graphene. At least, that's the estimate given by a team of Rice University researchers working on a dare. More »
Man's eternal quest for faster and ever-more efficient ways to shoot blood into his penis has taken a step into the 21st century. We're now using nanotechnology to churn out our boners, thanks to an Egyptian-made transdermal patch. More »
Oh MIT, we can always count on you to come up with the most clever, little inventions. Just the other day you created goo-powered batteries to replace lithium-ion and now you've gone and found a way to make photovoltaic electricity without sunlight! More »
With arguably the coolest job on or off the planet, astronauts need nobody's pity. Nonetheless, theirs is a life of extraordinary psychological demands: leadership, technical proficiency, split-second decision making and ironclad focus. More »
Iarpa, the intelligence community's way-out research shop, wants to know where you took that vacation picture over the Fourth of July. It wants to know where you took that snapshot with your friends when you were at that New Year's Eve party. Oh yeah, and if you happen to be a terrorist and you took a photo with some of your buddies while prepping for a raid, the agency definitely wants to know where you took that picture - and it's looking for ideas to help figure it out. More »
RED Epic cameras are the bees' knees in camera tech, but their data throughput makes using typical storage options seem like filling a water balloon with a fire hose. Vincent Laforet gives us a look at how his team handles the deluge. More »
According to this explanation, the butterfly effect used to explain chaos theory is just a big exaggeration. Watch the video for a much better understanding of how it works and why we can't predict the outcome of these complex systems. More »
The National Debt Ceiling debate has reached an unprecedented level of rancor recently with no end to the wrangling in sight. These 6 tools can help our glorious leaders reach an accord, or at least die trying. [top image via shutterstock.com] More »
Starting today, Facebook will pay $500+ to anyone who exposes a vulnerability that could compromise user data. To qualify, you must be the first to report it and give them time to fix it before going public. [Facebook via TheNextWeb] More »
Smoke your data stogies if you got 'em, because AT&T's going to be taking away the unlimited data fun starting October 1st. The top 5% of data users will see their speeds hamstrung. Are you one of them? More »
I wonder what HR Giger would say about this horrendous bike created by Roo Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn, a Bangkok man who apparently sells them to people all over the world. More »
President Obama has requested that you tweet your representatives to help solve this whole debt ceiling mess. But if you live in, say Cleveland, that's a waste of time. Tweet at these pols—who can actually get stuff done—instead. More »
iPhones. iPads. Android. Windows Phone 7. We've updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Check them out! More »
This is not some guitar hero hack. Maayan Migdal hacked together this cool drum kit that uses his sandals and a pair of freaking garden rakes to make his sound. More »
Vulnerabilities in electronic systems that control prison doors could allow hackers or others to spring prisoners from their jail cells, according to researchers. More »
It's been another month, and an amazing batch of gadgets has once again piled up on our doorstep. If we were being honest about which we've loved the most the past month, this list would be nothing but air conditioners. But apparently we're not allowed to do that. So here are the other gadgets that captured our hearts and minds in July. More »
Billings, MT police office Samantha Puckett was caught speeding above the legal alcohol limit. She even admitted to being under the influence of alcohol. But after fighting the results of her breathalyzer test, she got them to call it a mistrial. How the hell? More »
