Gizmodo

This year Lucasfilm is rolling out across the galaxy—er, retailers, with Star Wars merch for every fan.Read more...

The Zune, Microsoft’s failed digital music player from the early 2000s, is getting a second chance on board the International Space Station (ISS), after performing cameos in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and other Marvel movies. Microsoft and its collaborators are planning to resuscitate the famously doomed gadget…Read more...

Colleges and schools are a big target for cybercriminals, so the fact that a ransomware gang hacked a university in Virginia last month isn’t exactly surprising. What is surprising is what the ransomware gang did next. In a bold move, the gang hijacked the school’s emergency communications system, using it to spam…Read more...

Image Comics’ superhero series turned cross-comic multiverse Radiant Black has long played with all sorts of tropes from the genre, drawing inspiration from places like Japanese superhero fiction and classic big-two comics. But its latest twist is going back into the past to emulate an all-time iconic moment in…Read more...

Following nearly two years of downturn exacerbated by a botched treadmill hazard response and rusty bikes, Peloton announced today that it’s relaunching its brand in an effort to make more money. The company plans to focus more on fitness content rather than hardware and will roll out “app tiers” with varying plans…Read more...

For all its warts, being online might be an overall positive for older people, new research suggests. The study found that reported regular internet use was associated with a reduced risk of dementia in those over 50. The largest possible benefit was seen in people who reported two hours or less of internet use…Read more...

It’s funny that May 4 has become the official Star Wars day, because if you follow movies, television, and pop culture, every day is basically a Star Wars day. It’s one of the most popular franchises in the world and we all talk about it so much that, on a day like May 4, maybe you want something different.Read more...

We will all soon get into the habit of using AI tools for help with everyday problems and tasks. We should get in the habit of questioning the motives, incentives, and capabilities behind them, too.

Electric vehicles are a popular pollution reduction strategy, but vulnerable communities are being left behind. A new study published in PLOS Climate analyzed California’s electric vehicle rebate program and found that EVs are indeed reducing pollution—but only for already affluent areas.Read more...

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Google really wants you to buy the Pixel Fold, and has given up on trying to keep it under wraps after so many Pixel Fold leaks. It officially announced the phone’s existence in a tweet co-opting Star Wars Day. The tweet says, “May the fold be with you,” and links to the Google Store, where you can pre-order the…Read more...

Simply viewing a photo of the Quran in the Xinjiang region of China is enough to be designated a dangerous extremist by government officials, according to a Human Right Watch report released Wednesday. Chinese police maintain a “master list” of around 50,000 video, audio, and photo files they claim contain violent and…Read more...

Not all power outages in the U.S. are created the same. Populations that are already socially vulnerable are being exposed in some areas to high levels of threatening blackouts—while climate change is making long power outages much more likely, according to new research published in Nature Communications.Read more...

The pre-Google I/O rumor mill is turning faster on the lead up to May 10, and there’s now more than a few leaks pointing to Google finally taking its own dive into AirTag territory. Still, it remains unclear whether Google could have its own Bluetooth tracker reader for it’s big event, or even on the docket for 2023.Read more...

Discord announced its users will be required to change their usernames in the coming weeks, allowing them to pick a new and unique name without the social network’s trademark discriminator. The discriminator, which consists of a hashtag and a series of four numbers added to all Discord usernames, will be replaced with…Read more...

While not much news has come out from either Tomorrow Studios, Netflix, or Eiichiro Oda about the live-action One Piece adaptation, Oda and Netflix have released a short update. Today, in celebration of Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday, Oda posted the letter on his Twitter, assuring fans that all was well and that work was…Read more...

Robosen’s Flagship Optimus Prime, which debuted back in 2021, was easily one of the coolest toys of the past decade, transforming from truck to robot mode all by itself. After releasing a smaller, cheaper version last year, Robosen is back with yet another animated Optimus Prime toy, based on the character’s…Read more...

Earlier today, a Falcon 9 rocket launched to space with 56 Starlink satellites on board. For SpaceX, this was an otherwise routine mission, but with this launch, the company now has over 4,000 Starlinks orbiting the Earth at low altitude—yet another unprecedented milestone for the Elon Musk-led company.

Delivering a third film in a trilogy is never an easy thing. But imagine going into it after the company making it fired you, and finishing it while you’re beginning to work for that company’s number-one rival.Read more...

The robot takeover may not be as exciting as promised, but it is expanding to a wider array of city streets. Waymo’s driverless taxis are coming to more parts of Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco, California, the company announced in a Thursday blog post.

Scientists may have just unlocked another of the Moon’s secrets. They found evidence to suggest that the Moon’s inner core is solid, like Earth’s.

We’ve known from the get-go that Andor season 2 would be leading into the very beginning of Rogue One—bringing to a close Cassian’s lens on the birth of the Rebel Alliance as we go right into his final mission. But according to Tony Gilroy, it’s going to close it’s tale very close to that beginning.

The White House unveiled a series of new initiatives on Thursday that represent a first step in combatting the risks associated with artificial intelligence. On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss the initiatives in a meeting with top executives at Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic—an AI…Read more...

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Ahead of introducing the world to a 20-foot tall Donkey Kong arcade cabinet next month, the Strong National Museum of Play revealed this year’s inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, with Wii Sports, The Last of Us, Computer Space, and Barbie Fashion Designer getting the nod.

Danny Elfman talks returning to the world of Beetlejuice. More footage from the Flash movie teases Michael Keaton’s Batman. Jon Favreau talks balancing different tones in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Plus, what’s coming in the world of the *other* Flash. Spoilers, away!

Leer en español.Read more...

Las Vegas city officials have approved The Boring Company’s request to expand its planned network of underground tunnels. The Las Vegas Loop will now feature a total of 69 stations and 65 miles, or 104 kilometers, of tunnels.

Liquid water is typically associated with planet Earth, but our solar system hosts surprisingly large volumes of the stuff—you just need to know where to look.

Accurate full body tracking has benefits for everything from fitness applications, to gaming, to virtual reality, but no one wants to squeeze into one of those form-fitting body tracking suits that Hollywood uses to create visual effects. It turns out there’s a less awkward solution, and it leverages the devices…Read more...

Apple Arcade subscribers usually get a new game every Friday, but it’s been a somewhat slow year for the service outside of those promised weekly updates. As we ramp up into the spring and summer gaming season, though, Apple’s keeping pace in its gaming ambitions by announcing 20 new games for the service. Among them…Read more...

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It was only about a year ago that Silicon Valley seemed to be at the top of its game — jobs were a dime a dozen and a skillset in tech was highly sought after. Positions in the tech sector like Amazon and Google meant higher salaries, job security, and a plethora of perks.Read more...

Microsoft opened its ChatGPT-powered search engine to the public Thursday, removing the waitlist and likewise granting free access to its AI-enabled Edge web browser. The move makes Microsoft the first company with a major, freely-accessible AI search engine, a change that could have a dramatic impact on the future of…Read more...

Brooklyn resident Fabian Rogers knew he had to act in 2018 when his penny-pinching landlord suddenly attempted to install a facial recognition camera in the entrance of a rent-stabilized building he’d called home for years. Under the new security system, all tenants and their loved ones would be forced to submit to a…Read more...

The space milk must flow—straight out of a galaxy far, far away and Knowhere in particular.

His comics bona fides have long since been impeccable—for Marvel, he drew 1991's record-selling X-Men No. 1, written by Chris Claremont and inked by Scott Williams—and now the great Jim Lee has another link in his impressive chain. He’s just been promoted to president of DC Comics.

Almost two years have passed since fans got their first look at Insomniac Games’ highly anticipated sequel, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. And while we still don’t know specifically when that game is coming out, or when a second trailer will be released, the story of the game will begin to come to life on May 6, aka Free…Read more...

Google has announced what it calls the “beginning of the end” for passwords, rolling out a new security mechanism that it says will ultimately come to replace PWs in the years to come: the passkey. “We’ve taken a giant step forward on the journey towards a passwordless future,” Google said in a blog post published…Read more...

Most people in the U.S. pay private or investor-owned power companies—fueled by profit motives—for their electricity. It’s a system that makes advancing renewable energy secondary to advancing corporate revenue. But public utilities offer an alternative that divorces peoples’ energy needs from companies’ bottom lines.…Read more...

A small suborbital rocket from Colorado-based company UP Aerospace failed shortly after its launch on Monday, exploding seconds after liftoff over the New Mexico desert. The rocket was carrying over a dozen student experiment payloads for NASA, as well as the cremated remains of a late NASA astronaut.

More than 100 capsules containing cremated human remains have been recovered after a rocket carrying the ashes for a space memorial service exploded over the New Mexico desert.Read more...

The Federal Trade Commission proposed a “blanket prohibition” that would ban Meta from monetizing children’s data Wednesday. The FTC says Meta—the company formerly known as Facebook—failed to comply with an existing 2020 privacy order by misleading parents about the control they have over Facebook Messenger, and…Read more...

Dune: Part Two released a new trailer today, offering our best look yet at director Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of his 2021 Frank Herbert adaptation. There will be a revolution, there will be assassins, there will be mystical orders of generational witches vying for political power via bloodline manipulation, and…Read more...

A shoebox-sized satellite may soon meet its untimely death after failing to fire its thrusters. The cubesat may have been compromised as it excessively waited for launch on board NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in advance of the Artemis 1 mission last year.Read more...

Watch out, woke investors—Ron DeSantis is coming to get ya, even if it means screwing over his own constituents.

Artificial intelligence is truly having a moment, and advertisements might be the next frontier for the rapidly advancing technology. As AI art generators, music creation, and even video engines continue to be released and get better, it might be sooner rather than later that we also see AI used regularly in…Read more...

Here’s a fandom-centric guide for every type of mom: new moms, dog moms, mother moms, and more. It’s getting down to the wire to shop for the perfect gift (Mother’s Day is May 14!) but thankfully places like BoxLunch, ShopDisney, WB Shop, and other pop culture retailers have you covered.Read more...

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Companies like Meta have been on a blue check mark kick lately, despite how the verified icons have become a mark of shame rather than a status symbol on Twitter, the site which originally popularized the idea. Now Google is also getting in on the blue check hype with its own verified branded email system, though it’s…Read more...