Gizmodo

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's buzzy startup Worldcoin has a relatively straightforward pitch to prospective users. First, you fork over a scan of your eyeball to one of several thousand iris-scanning, basketball-sized metal computers called Orbs." In exchange, you'll receive a one-of-a-kind World ID" that could one day be...Read more...

Google and Apple enjoy taking each other on in as many different arenas as possible: mobile phones, maps, cloud storage, music streaming, photo management, note taking, smart assistants, tablets, smartwatches, calendars, web browsers, word processors, email, and more besides. In cars, we have Android Auto and Apple...Read more...

Jeff Bergman will soon be back as Bugs Bunny in Max's Tiny Toons Looniversity. While promoting his upcoming documentary Looney Legends in Conversation, the voice actordiscussed playing the Looney Tunes icon for the past few decades, including Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Deja pandemic: with Hollywood experiencing a sudden shutdown of work-this time due to the ongoing actors and writers strikes-release dates are being delayed. The first studio to officially announce movies shifting on the calendar is Sony, and it affects highly anticipated releases like Spider-Man: Beyond the...Read more...

After much to do, and a split season to mark the occasion, Henry Cavill has hung up his swords as The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia. The second volume of the Netflix show's third season began streaming this week, and they're a fascinatingly weird trio-but they can't escape the context surrounding them.

Facebook users are down to their last month to sign up to receive a piece of Meta's $725 million settlement for privacy violations. The company signed the settlement in December 2022 in response to a class action lawsuit filed by the Keller Rohrback law firm, for its role in sharing users' data with Cambridge...Read more...

Were you watching Futurama back in 2003? If so, you've been waiting 20 years for a certain plot-point resolution. That said, considering the show was off the air for 10 years before its recent Hulu return, even later-arriving fans have been wondering for some time about this one.Read more...

Earlier today, SpaceX performed the second test of its newly installed Starship deluge system. This test was considerably more powerful than the first one, which the company conducted on July 17.Read more...

Lots of Americans have had the potential joy of eating a juicy steak taken away from them by a measly tick, new research out this week has found. The study estimates that up to 450,000 people in the U.S. have developed alpha-gal syndrome since 2010, otherwise known as an allergy to red meat. The condition is caused by...Read more...

Look out Grogu, Lizzo the Duchess has left a galaxy far, far away for a visit to Middle-earth.Read more...

Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour is still making headlines, for better or for worse, but this past weekend, it wasn't fans shaking with excitement, it was the Earth. A Washington University geologist recently revealed that Swift's Seattle stop was such a rocking time, that the concerts showed up on a seismometer.Read more...

For the last month, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk danced around the idea that they might finally contribute something of value to the world in the form of a head-to-head Las Vegas cage match, and no, if you haven't been paying attention, that isn't a joke. As the weeks dragged by, Zuck, at least, seemed completely...Read more...

While there have been some efforts toward unionizing animation writers, there hasn't been much movement. A few studios are unionized under the Animation Guild (TAG), and a few more are organized with WGA, but in a recent announcement at an animation-themed WGA-led picket in New York, Susan Kim, WGA East animation...Read more...

More Americans plan to travel this year than in 2022, and even as revenge travel has slowed down, and despite inflation, a potential recession, nationwide mass layoffs, and disastrous travel delays, more people are flocking to airports than in recent years.Read more...

In the early 1980s, comic book creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had a very silly idea. What would a turtle look like if it was a ninja? Almost 40 years later, that idea has become one of the most recognizable in the world. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may have started as a comic book, but they became toys,...Read more...

In what can only described as one of the most bizarre interviews I've read recently, Secret Invasion director Ali Selim spoke to Variety in the wake of the Marvel show's finale. The questions spanned the abbreviated runtimes, how much of the scripts he was allowed to change, and, most importantly, what he thinks about ...Read more...

Good Omens has returned-you can stream all of season two on Prime Video July 28-and there's lots to love about the return of Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), Crowley (David Tennant), and heaven and hell's relentlessly dysfunctional relationship with Earth. Here's our (spoiler-free) take on the six new episodes, which...Read more...

Get ready for terrifying thrills at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, soon to saturate both coasts with cinematic chills. The Exorcist: Believer has just been announced as rounding out the big names coming to HHN 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Orlando.Read more...

After several months of investigation, local and federal authorities-including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-announced this week that they have detected infectious agents like coronavirus, HIV, and hepatitis in a Fresno warehouse.

Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, rebranded as X,announced on Thursday that he would be eliminating light mode on the social platform's app, plunging users into permanent darkness. But following an outcry from users, Musk quickly decided on a compromise.Read more...

When io9 saw Talk to Me at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, we knew it would become a breakout horror hit, especially once A24 became its distributor. This week, the film-which is both clever and alarmingly frightening-finally opens wide, and audiences can see what all the buzz is about.

Social media algorithms have been a point of contention for lawmakers and regulators for several years over concerns that users were being brainwashed by the flood of misinformation promoted on their feeds. As it turns out, while the algorithms do impact the person's experience on social media, four studies published...Read more...

In an exclusive report, Variety has learned that vendors for the 75th Primetime Emmys have been notified of a delay in the broadcast. Originally scheduled for September 18, the news of the pushback is no surprise, but with no timetable for when the AMPTP will return to the bargaining table with either the WGA or...Read more...

The U.S. agency dedicated to pushing the boundaries of space exploration is finally exploring the barest edges of the modern livestreaming era. On Thursday, NASA announced it's launching a beta for on-demand streaming content through NASA+. Oh, and if you couldn't already guess, that +" in the logo is shaped like a...Read more...

California-based Rocket Lab-the company voted most likely to compete with SpaceX-appears to be tinkering with its Neutron blueprints, as new artwork suggests.

Billy the puppet returns in a new look at Saw X. New Last Voyage of the Demeter clips herald Dracula's awakening. Scooby Doo and Krypto the Superdog are ready to team up in a new movie. Plus, what's next on Riverdale and Outlander. Spoilers away!

The third incarnation of Reddit's r/Place has come and gone, and now the social media platform has released a timelapse compilation of the project to highlight all of the whimsy-and anger-of its users.

A Twitter label correcting unfounded, misleading speculation posted by Elon Musk Tuesday was removed after the app's user-run Community notes system voted down the information.Read more...

Prepare yourselves for the power of the Scarab: in just a few weeks, DC Studios will see a newcomer arrive on the big screen in the form of fan-favorite comic book superhero Blue Beetle.

Hello, what have we here? An actual update on the Disney+ Lando series? Don't mind if we do.Read more...

You'll soon be able to raise a glass to the memory of the defunct Fantasmic dragon on the Rivers of America at Disneyland.

It's fitting that the X-Men as an idea are as similarly cyclical as one of the franchise's most iconic figures. Hear me, X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am Fire and Life incarnate!" cries Jean Grey, now the Phoenix, in X-Men #101, beginning a cycle of fated death and rebirth for her similar to the one...Read more...

There are a lot of things that make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem stand out from the rest of the Turtles movies. The main characters are voiced by teens, for one. The unique, purposefully messy animated style is another. And the fact that the Turtles' most commonvillain, Shredder, is nowhere to be seen...Read more...

Try walking outside on a midsummer day in New York City. You're sweating buckets. You can smell garbage rotting by the side of the road. The sunlight and heat seem to reflect from the steaming pavement, which is so hot to the touch it burns your skin.

Rachel Smythe is now on hiatus, but she had one important stop to make before her break: San Diego Comic-Con, where she was a special guest and was also awarded her second Eisnerfor her hit Webtoon series Lore Olympus.Read more...

What We Do in the Shadows is back for season five, and the hilarious vampire sitcom is funnier and weirder than ever. In honor of all the quirky vampires out there and those of us who love them, I've got 21 tabletop roleplaying games to recommend.

On Thursday, the Artifact news app announced it was adding speech-to-text features that will allow users to listen to articles with an AI voice powered by Speechify. The update should be available free for all iOS users, and the feature should be out on Android sometime in the near future.Read more...

UK regulators are investigating the Ozempic and Saxenda weight loss drugs over reports that patients experienced suicidal and self-harming thoughts while taking the medications. The drugs skyrocketed in popularity in the U.S. as doctors began prescribing them to people who struggled with obesity, but new reports are...Read more...

The aftermath of a tropical storm can bring along some nasty waterborne germs, a recent study from Columbia University researchers found. The study shows that tropical cyclones in the U.S. over the past two decades have been linked to an increase in several infectious diseases afterward, including Legionnaires'...Read more...

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' fondness for exploring old ideas and structures doesn't just rely on an affection for the original Star Trek. It's willing to take on tones, ideas, and experiments from across the franchise's history-and even its most recent past, as is the case this week, as the show takes on Discovery...Read more...

Oh, the Hugh manatee. A long-time fixture at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, the 38-year-old manatee named Hugh died under unknown circumstances back in April. This week, new, graphic details about his demise are pitting federal agencies against the Florida aquarium about how best to preserve the vulnerable...Read more...

Two new studies associated with the James Webb Space Telescope's Early Release Science program have been published, and both have to do with Jupiter's moons, namely Ganymede and Io.

Variety has released a report on what's going on behind the scenes between the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the two guilds that are striking for fair pay, AI protections, and other existential issues. It seems, however, that the AMPTP isn't coming back to the table precisely because the...Read more...

As NASA shifts its gaze back to the Moon and sets its sights on Mars and beyond in the coming decades, the agency is rethinking the means by which we'll get there. After previously announcing a collaboration between NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a nuclear-powered rocket intended...Read more...

Tesla reportedly created a secretive Diversion Team" tasked with trying to quickly divert and cancel as many appointments for range-related issues as possible. The unit, according to a Reuters investigation, was reportedly responsible for closing hundreds of cases per week of upset Tesla owners complaining about...Read more...

As SAG-AFTRA enters its third week on strike alongside the WGA (which has been on strike since May 2), some performers are doing everything they can to make the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers pay attention. One such actor, Mike Massa-who is also a prolific stunt double and stunt...Read more...

Remember when Marvel's shows on Disney+, like WandaVision and Loki, had everyone talking? Well, those days are long gone as its most recent show, Secret Invasion, came and went rather quietly. Many, many Marvel fans either started the show and gave up, or didn't watch it at all. That's why now seems like a good time...Read more...

At a certain point about halfway through watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, something was wrong with my face. It just didn't feel right. There was unexpected discomfort. A second later, I figured it out. What I was watching on screen made me smile so wide for so long that the muscles creating a...Read more...

Big Tech companies are facing possible federal regulations from Congress after two senators released a proposal on Thursday to sue or force platforms to stop operating if they violate consumer privacy and spread harmful content online. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)...Read more...

Although the main Castlevania series ended after four seasons, Netflix and Powerhouse Animation announced they weren't done with the IP. The sequel series, Castlevania: Nocturne, will follow Richter Belmont, a descendent of the vampire slayer Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, and one of the main characters of the ...Read more...