- EDITORS' PICKS
- Japanese Robot Learns to Sing by Mimicking Pop Stars
- A Day in the Life of a Commenter
- The Extinction of the Ewoks
- Post-Apocalyptic Wizard of Oz Miniatures
- When 'Monopoly' and Internet Collide...
- Facebook Bandit Pleads Guilty, Is a Moron
- Popcorn Apocalypse
Playing Pong with the Stuff of Life
Protozoan Pong and neurostimulating LCD projectors illuminate the control mechanisms of simpler organisms. Continue reading
Stuxnet and the Uncertain Future of the Internet of Things
The Sunday New York Times‘ thrilling coverage of the uncovering of the Stuxnet worm prompts questions that complicate images of the coming Internet of Things. Continue reading
In Case We Have a Problem, Houston
Space race historian David Portree outlines the choices astronauts stranded in lunar orbit would have faced. Spoiler Alert: none of them are very good. Continue reading
The Plaid Nebula
In astronomical imagery, false colors abound: ultraviolet, infrared, x-ray—and now, green and red checks. Continue reading
Wikileaks and the End of Stolen Kisses
Slavoj Žižek says that Wikileaks is hated not because of the secrets it has revealed, but because it exposed the cynicism of a system that has long stopped believing in the values it imagines itself to uphold. It’s a problem not only for diplomacy and governance, but for the eroding distinction between public and private life. Continue reading
Gearfuse Almanac: January 17 in Science and Technology
Visits to the Antarctic and the farthest reaches of the solar system: today’s hits in science and technology. Continue reading
Everlastingly Strange
G. K. Chesterton: “The simplest truth about man is that he is a very strange being; almost in the sense of being a stranger on the earth.” Continue reading
Unevenly Distributed: What Gremlins Says About The 80s And Its Tech
Even before the viewer catches a glimpse his first Mogwai, Joe Dante’s Gremlins establishes the link between the titular goblins and malfunctioning technology by way of Randy Peltzer and his many incompetent inventions. It’s a film very much of its time, with many fascinating things to say about the way Reagan-era Americans looked at technology. It’s also a movie that would be impossible to remake today, for one big reason: the smartphone is our Bathroom Buddy. Continue reading
Taste of Tech: Alternative Edible Reality, Optimized for Viscosity, Torque, and Texture
GOOD’s Nicola Twilley wonders how the industrial analysis of qualities like texture, consistency, and juiciness will transform age-old culinary cultures, in the second in a joint series exploring the science and technology of food. Continue reading
Reality is Broken, Beautifully
Reviewing Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal’s manifesto of gaming for a better world, Ian Bogost realizes that he likes the messy, repellent, stunning reality we’ve got. Continue reading
