Gizmodo

Despite no new movies or books on the immediate horizon, the Harry Potter universe is so expansive there’s no shortage of locales or characters to inspire new Lego sets. The Danish brickmaker just revealed six new Harry Potter sets arriving in 2020, including a giant flapping Hedwig and the first centaur minifigures.

Vice President Mike Pence is the White House official who chairs the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force. On Tuesday, he tromped around the Mayo Clinic without wearing a mask, in clear violation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and the clinic’s rules.

The movie industry has been turned upside down, and the people behind Hollywood’s most prestigious awards ceremony are scrambling to recalibrate. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had a board of governors meeting to essentially figure out WTF to do about the 2021 Oscars.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the food industry amid government lockdowns, Belgians are being asked to lend a hand to one struggling market in particular: Potatoes. More specifically, Belgians are being called upon to eat a ton of fries.Read more...

Doctors in Europe are warning that they’ve started to see an alarming rise of rare, life-threatening complications among children confirmed or suspected to have covid-19. However, it’s not certain how common these complications are or whether they’re necessarily connected to the novel coronavirus.Read more...

Streamers and content creators typically rely on subscriptions, Patreon donations, or affiliate money from Twitch or YouTube to keep the lights on. But for those who had a more traditional, brick-and-motor business before the pandemic, it might be tough keep providing their customers, students, or clients the same…Read more...

Though trolls are generally a social menace we would all do well to keep out of our lives, recent events led to Dreamworks raking in a wild amount of money off them—by putting Trolls World Tour out directly on demand due to movie theaters across the world being closed amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.Read more...

The Hubble Space Telescope didn’t rest during its recent 30th anniversary celebration. Instead, it watched the comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) fragment into at least 30 pieces.Read more...

Aside from a color screen and an option to boost the processor’s speed, the Game Boy Color included an infrared port that was mostly used for sharing data, like high scores or unlockable characters. One tinkerer found a better use for it, turning a gifted GBC into a remote control for his air conditioner.Read more...

Cristina Cuomo, wife of CNN’s Chris Cuomo and sister-in-law to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, is on the mend after a covid-19 diagnosis, a steady recovery she attributes not to mainstream doctors or health heroes, but a slew of alternative health remedies. The self-described “wellness worshiper” is a steadily rising…Read more...

Pixel Buds 2 are here, and while you can’t buy them (because they’re sold out!), those who either got lucky or signed up to join Google’s waitlist can supplement their purchase with a chic new accessory designed to endure casual and permanent abrasions. Bold and distinctively minimalist, as is customary for Nomad, the…Read more...

So far, our guides to the unmissable episodes of each entry in the Star Trek franchise have dealt with lauded icons of the series. The esteemed original. The beloved Next Generation. The revered, dark Deep Space Nine. And now, we’re at Star Trek: Voyager, a show which is...well, not loved as much as those (but very…Read more...

By recreating prehistoric one-on-one sword fighting and analyzing the ensuing damage inflicted onto replica weapons, experimental archaeologists are shedding new light onto ancient combat techniques and the advanced skills required to be a Bronze Age warrior.

Verizon isn’t the only telecom and ISP to extend its non-cancellation pledge through the end of June: Comcast, T-Mobile, and AT&T have all announced that they will be doing the same, continuing to help individuals, families, and small businesses affected by the covid-19 pandemic by waiving late fees and overage…Read more...

All of Marvel’s movies have been uprooted from their original release dates, and there’s been no word on exactly when all those Disney+ shows will drop. But fans craving new adventures still have one more outlet on the small screen. Remember your old pals on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD?

If you’re an Apple user stuck at home with a wonky device or waiting on one that’s stuck in the shop, help may be on its way soon as Apple is reportedly going to start reopening its U.S. stores starting in May.Read more...

Environmentalists and ranchers are challenging President Donald Trump’s repeal of federal water protections. In two separate lawsuits, the groups take vastly different approaches to argue against the Trump administration’s replacement for the Waters of the U.S. rule, better known as WOTUS, that’s defines and protects…Read more...

New research shows an incinerator licensed to dispose of toxic firefighting foam is instead belching out dangerous chemicals onto neighboring communities, including a public housing project.Read more...

Of all the pundits currently on the warpath against Big Tech, Republican Senator Josh Hawley might not be the most coherent, but he’s certainly one of the loudest voices on the field. Recent weeks have seen him launch criticism—misplaced or otherwise—on the likes of Apple and Google, TikTok, and at least one federal…Read more...

Amid more reports of pets and other animals testing positive for the new coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines on social distancing this month to include our furry companions. However, there’s no evidence that pets are playing a major role in spreading the virus to people.Read more...

io9 is thrilled to exclusively reveal today that Dreamworks’ Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts—the coolest dystopia around—is coming back to Netflix for a second season this summer. We also have a special look at Kipo’s coming battle with the evil (but fashionable) Scarlemagne in the first teaser.Read more...

It was a warm June day in 1374 in the medieval town of Aix-Ia-Chapelle, present-day Aachen, Germany, when the dancing started. It was the holy feast of St. John the Baptist, which aligns with the pagan celebration of Midsummer during the summer solstice. Traditionally, St. John’s Day was a day of rest and worship for…Read more...

What started out as an amusing case of a bizarrely-branded folding smartphone has now evolved into a legal drama. Escobar Inc, the shady phone company run by Pablo Escobar’s brother, is suing its chief operations officer for allegedly extorting the company for money and hijacking its extremely meme-worthy YouTube…Read more...

Nintendo Joy-Con Grip | $10 | Amazon

The new second-gen iPhone SE is the cheapest iPhone you can buy, which means you have to make a few sacrifices, particularly when it comes to the cameras.Read more...

Back in December, which feels like a century ago, the Sunrise Movement gave Joe Biden an F on their Green New Deal scorecard. They gave an A- to Bernie Sanders. The next month, after a six-week long deliberative process, the group endorsed Sanders for president.Read more...

Working from home has its advantages, but one of the problems is the increased number of distractions—not only is it more likely that your brain will wander on to something else (Netflix, the leak in the shower, whatever your kids are doing), it’s less likely that there’s an authority figure watching over you (unless…Read more...

Last fall, the birdwatching community was shocked by the appearance of a small yellow bird. Birder Matthew Grube first spotted it off of a trail near Riverside, California, noting that it looked like a hybrid of two birds from different taxonomic families. This perplexing creature has recently returned to the area,…Read more...

Adam Goldberg really wants to make a Goonies sequel. HBO Max has ordered a bizarre new time-displacement comedy from Seth Rogen. Katherine McNamara teases Green Arrow and the Canaries’ crossover potential. Ryan Murphy hints that another familiar...face?...could return in American Horror Story’s tenth season. Plus,…Read more...

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Financial Times reporter Mark Di Stefano allegedly spied on Zoom meetings at rival newspapers the Independent and the Evening Standard to get scoops on staff cuts and furloughs due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the UK’s Independent. And he did a comically bad job of covering his tracks.

Two years after the Mavic Air wowed us with a drone so small it could be shoved in a (very large) pocket DJI is back with the Mavic Air 2, and this time the size is similar, the weight is heavier, but the drone sounds a whole lot smarter.Read more...

Fox News has cut ties with pro-Donald Trump media personalities Diamond & Silk—who have repeatedly appeared with the president at rallies and White House—after they pushed headache-inducing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Beast reported on Monday.

Clone Wars’ endgame has inextricably entangled itself in the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s own endgame in a way that makes for some truly incredible drama (and lightsaber fights; it’s Star Wars, after all). So it does stand to reason that weaving them side-by-side makes everything that much more exciting.

Aside from figuring out when to end their shutdowns as quickly as possible, one of the main concerns on the minds of large and small businesses is how they can avoid litigation once they do reopen. And it turns out that these business’s mission to avoid getting the pants sued off of them might inadvertently end up…Read more...

Many of us are spending considerably more time at home than we were just a few months ago, and that means looking for ways to pass the endless time we suddenly all have on our hands. If you’ve got a soft spot for puzzles and low-level gaming, Google’s coming through with a handful of legacy Google Doodle games to help…Read more...

One hundred forty-eight crew members—out of 632 total—on board the Italian cruise ship Costa Atlantica have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, USA Today reported on Monday.

Verizon won’t make you pay late fees—or cut off yourself altogether—if you can’t pay due to coronavirus-induced financial hardship. The carrier announced today that it will extend its new non-payment and late fee policy through the end of June for individuals and small businesses.

“We have such sights to show you,” television producers promised us last year with news that the Hellraiser franchise (10 films so far, including the 1987 original, plus there’s a reboot on the way) might be coming to the small screen. Now, there’s been some major progress on the horror TV series.Read more...

Enigmatic features tucked inside two Martian impact craters could be the remnants of colossal ice avalanches, the largest of which traveled over 9 miles.

Medical workers and researchers in states across the U.S. are now gathering the crucial data needed to understand the new coronavirus and its spread. They’re testing large groups of people for the virus, regardless of whether the person feels sick or has reason to believe they’ve been exposed.Read more...

The current state of the world means that everyone—you, me, famous actors, even more famous directors—is pretty much stuck inside all day. One group of recognizable folks turned that situation into a fundraising cause, with a fun video that fans of The Goonies won’t want to miss.Read more...

Last month, the new U.S. Space Force, which has been forcing space for many years before it was called “Space Force,” received their first official offensive weapon, a satellite jammer known as the Counter Communications System Block 10.2. It’s basically a ground-based satellite communications jammer that will prevent…Read more...

Few things make the eyes bleed more than a messy nest of errant cords. They just sit there, a trap for pet hair and dust bunnies, an ugly eyesore in the middle of your room just begging to be tripped over. You’d assume a blog full of tech nerds would be in agreement that messy cords are a cardinal sin. But alas,…Read more...

Several weeks after New Zealand instituted a strict covid-19 lockdown, the country’s prime minister says that its measures helped curb untraceable community spread but stressed that the country must continue adhering to a new standard of social distancing in order to keep the disease contained.

The Trump administration released a long-awaited plan to “revive and strengthen the uranium mining industry” to boost nuclear power. If enacted, the proposal would wreak ecological havoc on U.S. public lands, including the Grand Canyon.

The coronavirus pandemic has put many low-wage workers at increased risk, gig workers especially. For Shipt customers, it no doubt came as a relief that the Target-owned platform had “secured protective equipment for all Shipt Shoppers” and was “showing [its] appreciation with increased pay (30% on average),”…Read more...

Something as simple as going to the grocery store or picking up prescription medication has become a more serious activity for persons who are at a higher risk of contracting covid-19. But grocery deliveries and special shopping hours are sometimes easier to come by than getting prescriptions delivered to your front…Read more...

It’s the 457th day of April and we’re still stuck indoors! Good thing the big streaming services are still dishing out hot and fresh (and hot and classic) content to feed our hungry eyeballs. I’m filling in for Germain this month on Nerd’s Watch, but will try not to let things get too weird around here.

On the day Layla got out of prison and back to her home in Georgia, she was told she would need to purchase a smartphone—not an insignificant task for someone who’d just completed a sentence, but Layla was lucky to have a friend who could buy one for her. She says she was at home in bed a few days later when the app…Read more...