Gizmodo

The shadow of the First Order looms, but something even more dangerous is in the waters beneath.Read more...

Bad news for fans of LEGO, Lord of the Rings, and buying things: Warner Bros. has taken The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit away from us—possibly forever.

Working out at home is part of my routine. My roommate and I set up her old ass Windows laptop on a living room chair and play legendary fitness DVD Insanity once a week when we’re not too lazy. Intense fitness guru Shaun Thompson guides us through the brutal workout that includes planks, lunges, and suicides for an…Read more...

Today’s Gold Box offers hefty discounts on the Cowin E7, E7 Pro, and E8 headphones. Cowin offers some of the best-selling noise canceling headphones on Amazon, and while they won’t match the quality of Bose and Sony ANC headphones, they’ll likely satisfy most who are curious about this new-ish tech.Read more...

Juul may be sitting pretty following its $12.8 billion deal with big tobacco giant Altria, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not amused.

More than a couple weather apps have recently come under fire for their handling of user data, either by collecting too much or allegedly tracking users without their permission. Now, the maker of yet another popular weather app is being accused by the city attorney of Los Angeles of deceiving millions of users and…Read more...

In a year filled with some fantastic genre movies, December 2018 went out on a high for me, dragging me into a theater again and again over the month. Bumblebee, Aquaman, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse each surprised me as some of my personal favorites of the year, but what surprised me most was the exuberant…Read more...

The first bill introduced by House Democrats in the 116th Congress is a whopping 570-page election security package that offers considerable funding for state officials working to safeguard the vote. It would require intelligence community assessments ahead of all federal elections, to be accompanied by formal, public…Read more...

Some of the winter’s biggest esports tournaments are still a ways off, but Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which ended 2018 on a Donkey Kong smackdown, begins 2019 strong with a handful more events taking place across the globe this weekend.Read more...

The first big superhero movie of 2019 is mere days away: Glass, the sequel to 2000's Unbreakable and 2016's Split, is coming on January 18. There have been several trailers and TV spots, but in grand M. Night Shyamalan fashion, the film’s biggest mysteries remain intact.Read more...

The Grapevine Only 2 Hours Into Surviving R. Kelly, the Conclusion Is Simple: Black Girls Deserve Better | Deadspin You May Be Shocked To Learn Which 76er Is Reportedly Causing Problems Behind The Scenes | Jezebel Police Open Investigation After Woman in Vegetative State For Over a Decade Gives Birth | Splinter This…Read more...

What’s happening to Arctic sea ice is pretty straightforward: Earth is getting warmer, and everything’s melting. But on the other side of the planet, things are more complicated, as evidenced by the latest Antarctic sea ice slump that has scientists scratching their heads.

We all love Star Trek for its moral core, the way it presents heroes that champion utopian ideals and diplomacy and a love of scientific curiosity over hostility and division (although the bits where spaceships phaser-and-torpedo the shit out of everything are also good). But every once in a while we need a reminder…Read more...

Archaeologists excavating a site in Mexico have discovered a temple dedicated to Xipe Tótec, an Aztec deity associated with the ritualistic practice of wearing the skins of sacrificed individuals.

Remember that orca mom that carried around her dead calf for more than two weeks in the Pacific Northwest’s Salish Sea? Tahlequah, also known as J-35, had a rough year, and 2019 isn’t shaping out to be much better for her. Now, her 42-year-old mother, J-17, appears malnourished and isn’t expected to make it to through…Read more...

Once you’ve used a rear-view camera, it can be tough to live without, and you can add one to your older car for just $98 with promo code XVHY9BPG.Read more...

Just a fun fact!

While downsizing the estimate of how many guests were impacted by the historic breach of its hotel reservation system, Marriott International on Friday announced that roughly 5.25 million unencrypted passport numbers are now among the sensitive data illegally obtained by hackers unknown.

One of the most distinctive body parts of your typical English bulldog, French bulldog, or Boston terrier—their coiled screw tail—might be caused by a specific genetic mutation, suggests recent research. And more importantly for us humans, that same genetic quirk might help scientists better understand a rare disorder…Read more...

Elon Musk’s lawyer is hoping to prevent Tesla shareholders from bringing the company CEO’s former romantic partner into a lawsuit related to his disastrous tweet about taking Tesla private.Read more...

Mary Conner, a legally blind woman, filed a class-action lawsuit against Beyoncé Knowles’ entertainment company Parkwood Entertainment on Thursday alleging that the superstar’s official website isn’t accessible for visually impaired users. Conner is described in the lawsuit as having “no vision whatsoever” and alleged…Read more...

For months, players in HQ Trivia, a trivia app that offers cash prizes, say they have been having issues getting their money.

With the ban on the international trade of ivory, dealers are increasingly turning to a surprisingly abundant alternative: the tusks of woolly mammoths preserved in Siberian permafrost. But at what cost?Read more...

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) will host the largest annual gathering of the world’s largest weather nerds this weekend. But a key group of constituents will be notably absent.Read more...

Attendees of a major hacking conference in Singapore were supposed to hear about a mysterious, new method of hacking Apple’s Face ID, but the presenter scheduled to talk on the matter has withdrawn from the event after his employer asked him to cancel, according to Reuters.Read more...

On Thursday, authorities in Germany were made aware of an enormous leak of personal information belonging to artists, media figures, and politicians—including Chancellor Angela Merkel. The hack is being called the “biggest data dump” in German history and appears to contain a treasure trove of information that could…Read more...

For the first time in history, a mobile probe is active on the far side of the Moon.

While many Windows 10 users may have never encountered this, during setup, Windows 10 has an annoying feature where Cortana speaks up in an attempt to verbally guide you through your installation.Read more...

Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland might be awful at keeping secrets about the Avengers series—but Brie Larson, the latest superhero to join the fray, knows how to get the job done.

Seeing the forest through the trees is so 2018. In the coming years, ecologists are planning to do a lot more listening through the trees in an effort to get a better handle on forest health.Read more...

The Grapevine R. Kelly Threatens to File Federal Lawsuit Against Lifetime If It Airs Documentary [Updated] | Deadspin James Harden Is The Most Valuable Damn Player | Jezebel Duchesses Kate and Meghan Did What You’re Supposed to Do at the Holidays: Fought and Moved On | Splinter Dummies Freak Out After Rashida Tlaib…Read more...

Jumanji 2 could add a Crazy Rich Asians star. Rick & Morty has started teasing potential news about its next season. Christina Hodson teases the importance of Harley Quinn to Birds of Prey, and her ideas for a Bumblebee sequel. Plus, what’s to come on Gotham, and new stills from Captain Marvel and Godzilla: King of…Read more...

The glittery ball has dropped, New Year’s resolutions have been made, and that means it’s time for the world’s biggest tech companies, startups, journalists, and random celebrities to swarm upon Las Vegas for this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. It’s a weeklong showcase of every gadget you could ever dream of,…Read more...

The human body is resilient, but not every part is replaceable internally. As a result, people are always on the lookout for better methods of transplant and prosthesis, which we’ve harnessed as medical tools since ancient times, particularly in our mouths.

Welcome to the first Lifehacker tech-advice column of 2019! This week’s question from Lifehacker reader Mike is something that many of us have had to deal with at one point in our lives: the irritating balance between technology, one’s personal life, and the demands of one’s professional life.Read more...

At $23 (with promo code 1549VL86), this smart power strip costs about as much as a standard smart plug, but it includes four smart AC outlets that you can control individually with your smartphone or Alexa, plus four USB ports too (though you can only control them as a set).

This time of year, it’s probably dark already by the time you get home from work. But without any wiring to futz with, Mpow’s solar-powered, motion-sensing spotlights are the easiest way to illuminate your front porch or lawn, and you can get four of them for just $25 today with promo code XOSQRKS2. That could be one…Read more...

Science fiction writers are professional future-dreamers, imagining worlds far beyond their own. With technology advancing at astronomical rates, real life feels more and more like sci-fi every day (for better or worse). So it’s fun to look back at those writers who, decades and even centuries ago, imagined what life…Read more...

Unless you spent 2018 living in a cave (which would be 100 percent justified given the political climate) you’ve undoubtedly heard the buzz around the new 5G wireless networks coming online. They not only promise faster internet speeds for mobile devices but wireless internet that’s actually fast enough to completely…Read more...

The war against Brazil’s indigenous people has begun. Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wasted no time his first two days in office, signing a decree Wednesday that hands over power to designate indigenous lands to the Ministry of Agriculture, a move that could have repercussions for the country’s 690…Read more...

Chinese technology company Huawei sent out a tweet over the New Year’s holiday wishing everyone a happy 2019. But many social media users noticed that the tweet had been sent from an iPhone. Why does that matter? The iPhone is made by Huawei’s American competitor Apple, and now there are reports that the employees who…Read more...

The World Bank has released its annual World Development Report, and the headline news this go round, as relayed by Bloomberg and others, is basically that “Robots Aren’t Killing Jobs.” Which, good news, if true.

A method a pair of hackers used this week to hijack thousands of Google Chromecast devices is now, for those who hadn’t figured it out already, plain as day.

Medical crowdfunding has become a billion-dollar industry practically overnight, led by sites like GoFundMe. But yet another new study shows a dark side of the trend: Millions of dollars funneled to ludicrous, unscientific treatments for life-threatening diseases like cancer. Tragically, the study also found that many…Read more...

The president today wandered into a surprise White House press briefing already attended by border security suits to restate that he is, among other things, an expert on drone technology.Read more...

Phones with bendable screens are coming whether you like it or not.

The deserts of the southwestern United States have a spare, ethereal beauty, and it turns out a light dusting of snow only cranks up the enchantment.

Introducing Hyloscirtus hillisi, a species of treefrog recently discovered in the eastern Andes of Ecuador. Among its many distinguishing features is an enlarged claw, the purpose of which isn’t immediately clear.Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.Read more...

Online harassment has existed for as long as online has existed, and as access speeds up and expands, it’s only getting worse and more nuanced. A newly released report from the Digital Rights Foundation, a feminist nonprofit in Pakistan focused on digital freedom, spotlights timely data collected on harassment in the…Read more...