Gizmodo

While there may no longer be a physical Disney Store (RIP), ShopDisney.com and Disney Parks have unleashed their fall holiday merch lines. Check out this Halloween haul with Star Wars, Marvel Studios, Nightmare Before Christmas, Haunted Mansion, and more for the whole family—including pets!

In yet another chapter of Elon Musk’s conquest to own Twitter, the billionaire cryptically teased X.com—a potential new social media platform—in a response to a tweet asking what his plans were if his deal to purchase Twitter doesn’t go through.

Researchers in Georgia report that gorillas at zoos across the U.S. have come up with a special vocalization—something between a cough and a sneeze—to get the attention of zookeepers when they’re hungry.

It’s gotten to that point where most of us either had a few Lego sets as kids or played with them at our friends’ houses. Besides the classic blocks there’s been a lot of interesting takes on the building series. Remember Bionicle? There was a whole animated television series dedicated to those weird lil guys.

Fans of film, TV, comics, and all things pop culture don’t really need a reason to go to a big comic convention. You go because everything you love is all under one roof. However, at this year’s New York Comic Con, that statement goes even further. io9 is excited to exclusively reveal that Oscar Isaac—an actor who has…Read more...

Engineers at SpaceX have performed the first static fire test of Booster 7, a prototype of the Super Heavy first stage. The test, in which just one of the booster’s 33 Raptor engines was ignited, moves the company closer to its first orbital test of the revolutionary Starship system.Read more...

The same quality and durability that allows Lego bricks to be passed down from one generation to the next also allows the brightly colored building toy to be weaponized in the worst way imaginable: inside a foot-tracking cannon that deliberately sends the pieces sliding underfoot as someone walks by.Read more...

Amazon’s slowly making good on its goal of one day turning your entire body into one big money oozing meatsuit. First up, your palms.

As I sat down to revisit Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel Stardust, a family friend who was visiting asked me a question. “What are you watching?” “Stardust.” “What’s that?” “This fantasy movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro.” “I’ve never heard of it.” “Henry Cavill is also in it and he…Read more...

Archaeologists at Pompeii have announced the discovery of several furnished rooms in the House of the Lararium, a middle class residence on the ancient city’s northern side.Read more...

Fiddler crabs build their burrows in beaches and in the muck of saltwater wetlands. Usually, those holes serve as the crabs’ home and provide each crustacean shelter and a quick escape from predators. But in some long-abandoned fiddler crab burrows along Louisiana’s Gulf coast, you’ll find something else: Residues of…Read more...

No matter what you thought of Jurassic World Dominion, there’s no denying how cool and alarmingly lifelike its dinosaurs are, a testament to the technical achievements that went into creating them. And surprise: it’s not all CGI! Learn more in io9's exclusive clip from the film’s upcoming home release.Read more...

The days of limiting your office furniture splurges to ergonomic chairs might soon be coming to an end. A sheet of plywood spanning a pair of saw horses is just no longer the optimal place to plop down for a long day’s work. Desks are now being crammed full of useful tech, including their own operating systems and…Read more...

Spotify has apparently unveiled a new website to sell concert tickets to consumers. Spotify Tickets is the mysterious new feature from the streaming company that could chip away at sites like Ticketmaster and StubHub.

Batteries suck, which has become even more of an issue over the past few decades as the battery-dependent mobile devices we’ve become addicted to now demand more power than ever. But as long as you’ve got a source of light—be it the sun or soul-crushing office fluorescents—Urbanista’s new wireless earbuds will keep…Read more...

What does it cost to sell out and hand over the private information of the critics for a despotic regime? Apparently $300,000 and a nice watch. A former Twitter employee was convicted on six of his original 11 counts of operating as an agent for Saudi Arabia. The verdict came down late Tuesday, and all that’s left is…Read more...

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Get a glimpse at the return of Epix’s War of the Worlds. David Dastmalchian gets into exorcisms in his latest role. Plus, what’s coming on Archer and American Horror Stories. To me, my spoilers!

As longtime camera makers like Nikon and Canon struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing market now dominated by mirrorless options and even smartphones, there’s at least one way to boost the sales of dying DSLRs: partner with Takara Tomy and make them transform into fan-favorite Transformers like Optimus Prime.Read more...

New buds alert! Samsung has announced the second-generation Galaxy Buds 2 Pro in tandem with its latest batch of foldables. These new buds are the successors to 2021’s Buds Pro. They promise 24-bit audio capabilities for Samsung phones and also boast a smaller form factor, so they’re comfortable inside more ear types.…Read more...

Samsung held its virtual Galaxy Unpacked event today to debut its next generation of foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4. The two smartphones are fourth-generation follow-ups to last year’s Z Flip and Z Fold releases. They are accompanied by two new smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy…Read more...

As the rumors and leaks had foretold, Samsung today announced the fourth generation of its foldable smartphone lineup at its virtual Unpacked event. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 are on sale this month. They feature updated hardware, including better processors, cameras, and a more durable chassis. Based on…Read more...

Samsung is still making the only Android-based smartwatches worth using, and now it’s adding two more models to its lineup. The company introduced the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro at its Unpacked event today, along with its new family of foldables. While the Watch 5 is billed primarily as the “upgrade” to…Read more...

Court-ordered ankle monitors bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S. every year. Law enforcement uses the devices to monitor more than a hundred thousand people every day, a number that’s expanding rapidly. They play a key role in American criminal justice. For such a crucial technology, though, they…Read more...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk quietly sold $6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock, according to a new SEC filing, despite saying as recently as April that he had no plans to sell any more. The stock sale comes as the billionaire continues to fight with Twitter in court over his attempt to back out of purchasing the social media…Read more...

In deep space, a pilot goes through her routine with very little enthusiasm; when offered the chance to name a new planet, she just jams her finger on the “Y” key until the letter fills the submission box. Ho-hum. But when she encounters something unusual among the stars, she remembers why she’s out there in the first…Read more...

Hulu just announced that its recent film Prey, a prequel to the famed 1987 film Predator, is the “#1 premiere on Hulu to date, including all film and TV series debuts.” That’s a big deal for any film, but even bigger when you realize where it all started.Read more...

According to the world’s top scientists, we have less than three years to right the ship to avoid climate disaster. Across the globe this summer, heat waves, fires, and floods are affecting millions of people and destroying lives as the impacts of our warming planet get more severe. Some scientists suggest that we…Read more...

The Cape Canaveral Space Force Station may soon be under the watchful electronic eyes of the dystopian version of man’s best friend. The U.S. Space Force recently conducted a demonstration using robot dogs to patrol Cape Canaveral in the hopes of automating certain security tasks at the space station.Read more...

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Like butterfly keyboards and chargers being included with iPhones, the MacBook’s Touch Bar seems doomed to extinction soon. The feature wasn’t completely useless, but its diminutive size prevented it from reaching its true potential. If you’re going to put a screen on a keyboard, you need to fully commit to the idea,…Read more...

Anyone who’s ever had a sense of trepidation about jumping inside a bounce house will likely feel vindicated by recent research. A study found that there have been hundreds of injuries and at least 28 deaths worldwide over the past two decades that were caused by bounce houses set up or not properly secured during…Read more...

Disney’s own fan event, the D23 Expo, makes its return to the Anaheim Convention Center in September with a packed slate of direct-from-the-Mouse-House news about its franchises (including Marvel and Star Wars), parks, and (of course) merchandising.Read more...

As you might expect from the lightning-fast blue hedgehog, the Sonic movie franchise is picking up speed. After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened to over $70 million domestically earlier this year, on its way to $400 million worldwide, a third film was inevitable. What was more surprising was the date that third film…Read more...

A combination of dry lightning and drought conditions have caused some of the worst wildfires in California’s history, a new study finds.

Domino’s foray into the motherland of pizza—Italy—proved to be a failure. The pizza restaurant company has closed its final Italy-based store after seven years of operating in the country.

A new Russian-made, Iranian-operated satellite launched to orbit on Tuesday, joining the growing cloud of devices circling the Earth. Though unlike your average SpaceX Starlink, the high-powered imaging satellite has U.S. intelligence officials biting their nails, concerned over what both Russia and Iran could be…Read more...

The biggest challenge facing the growing number of clamp-on gamepads that promise to turn your smartphone into a handheld console is their limited compatibility, especially when it comes to fitting your phone. The Gamevice Flex wants to change that with a modular design that can be reconfigured to support almost any…Read more...

Samsung’s almost unveiled its next-generation foldables, which means the days of relying on leaks are almost over. The company’s virtual Galaxy Unpacked event will start on Aug. 10 at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. P.T. You can watch along with us on Samsung’s website or in YouTube embed below. Samsung will also publish all the…Read more...

There are a lot of expectations around the new House of the Dragon series from HBO Max, and nobody is more concerned than George R.R. Martin himself. He has apparently been more active in this production than the original Game of Thrones series—and he was particularly insistent on three details that, unfortunately,…Read more...

A large-scale trial for a crucially needed vaccine has just gotten underway. Over the weekend, the first volunteers enrolled in the trial testing out a Lyme disease vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer and Valneva. Researchers hope that the multi-dose shot will protect kids and adults against six strains of the…Read more...

Cobra Kai season four ended on a few massive cliffhangers. Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) had successfully framed John Kreese (Martin Kove) for assault and taken full control of Cobra Kai, while Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) called in an old friend from his past, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), to help him defeat the evil…Read more...

Look. Let’s be honest with each other. I know you don’t have any questions, let alone frequent ones, about 2009’s Dragonball Evolution. Critically and commercially scorned, the movie based loosely (ever-so-loosely) on Akira Toriyama’s best-selling manga and anime of (kind of) the same name has been largely forgotten…Read more...

Snapchat has introduced its first ever parental controls, under an app section called Family Center. The company described the new feature in a blogpost on Tuesday. Parents and guardians will now be able to keep tabs on who their teens are friends with and who they’ve chatted with recently (provided the aforementioned…Read more...

WhatsApp will be rolling out a number of new privacy features that allow its users to be a lot more discreet with their online chats. The new features include exiting a group chat without notifying its members, hiding your online status, and preventing other users from screenshotting ‘view once’ messages.Read more...

When the saga of Japanese tokusatsu hero Kamen Rider Zero-One, star of the 2019 Japanese TV show of the same name, returns in comic form this November, the Rider won’t be alone. Unfortunately for him, he’ll be accompanied by an all-new villain named Ragnarok, whom you can meet here.

The latest crypto bro on the block happens to be the country of Iran. Reports from the Tasnim news agency Tuesday said that, according to the country’s head of its Trade Promotion Organization Alireza Peyman-Pak, the country made its first official import order using crypto worth $10 million. Further, the official…Read more...

Not only is Sennheiser known for its excellent sounding audio gear, it’s also known for its distinct styling, particularly with headphones like its wireless over-ear Momentum line. In past iterations, the line featured an exposed metal headband strap that aesthetically stood out against the competition, but for the…Read more...

Some Burger King customers were left confused and rightfully a little freaked out this morning when they woke up to a receipt for a fast food order in their email—except they didn’t order any food, and the receipt is completely blank.Read more...