Gizmodo

A book detailing Elon Musk’s chaotic Twitter takeover is already in the works. Ben Mezrich, the author of “The Accidental Billionaires” which became the inspiration for the film “The Social Network,” announced he will be publishing his new book “Breaking Twitter” next year.Read more...

AMC+ has released another trailer for Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, the second installment in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe. Mayfair Witches arrives in January, following up the the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Interview with the Vampire. Watch the new trailer below.Read more...

Big Oil has a fancy new piece of climate technology to sink money into. As Bloomberg reported on Monday, both Shell and Norwegian oil giant Equinor have helped a new Israeli direct air capture startup, called RepAir, raise a cool $10 million in funding—despite the company only having a shoebox-size prototype for a…Read more...

Reviews of Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off Wednesday have been mixed, but there’s one thing everyone could agree on: Jenny Ortega’s unapologetically goofy dance scene was amazing. Unfortunately, notice I said “could”—your enthusiasm might wane upon learning she filmed the scene while having the coronavirus.

Telegram is not yet done finding new ways to monetize access to its platform. On Tuesday, the encrypted messaging app announced users will be able to sign up for its services without needing access to a SIM card. How, you may ask? By buying up a phone number with crypto, of course.

Blue Origin is once again making a pitch to build a lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program. The space company is partnering with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Astrobotic Technology, Honeybee Robotics, and Draper in hopes of building a second lander, Blue Origin announced on Tuesday.Read more...

Sigourney Weaver’s character in the first Avatar movie—Dr. Grace Augustine—is dead. During a press conference for Avatar: The Way of Water on Tuesday, both James Cameron and Weaver wanted to make that explicitly clear. But Weaver was such an integral part to Cameron’s vision that he brought her back for the Avatar…Read more...

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Meta and an assortment of public advocacy groups, normally at odds on just about everything, joined forces this week to oppose a major piece of legislation ostensibly aimed at giving news publications the power to collectively bargain with social media companies for more ad money. Flexing its muscle, Meta threatened…Read more...

If you’re still hunting for holiday presents, we’ve got you covered with the latest pop culture drops to add to your cart—but don’t delay; shipping cut-offs loom at various places online, like ShopDisney for its Marvel and Star Wars goods. Some mall favorites, like Box Lunch, Target, and Hot Topic, may also offer “…Read more...

This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.

After achieving instant meme-ability in her first trailer—which kind of came out of nowhere, and elevated an “ugh, not another killer-doll movie” situation to “OMG WHEN CAN I SEE THIS” status—M3GAN’s overprotective, alarmingly powerful plaything has returned for another tease.

Orion’s most recent accomplishments include a new distance record, a close flyby of the Moon, and a trajectory correction maneuver that sent the uncrewed capsule on its journey back to Earth. Not surprisingly, these milestone events made for some excellent photo opportunities.Read more...

In a hasty retreat, San Francisco lawmakers have reversed a vote allowing local police to use remote-controlled robots equipped with lethal explosives in extreme situations. The move comes after a wave of backlash from the community and activist organizations.

German authorities dismantled what’s being called a far-right terrorist group that was behind alleged plans to overthrow the government. Police arrested 25 suspected conspirators who had set up and communicated on several channels on the platform Telegram to plan the coup that authorities believe would have likely …Read more...

For the first time, Uber customers will be able to hail a third-party autonomous vehicle in the company’s app—at least in Las Vegas. The rideshare service is partnering with autonomous vehicle company Motional to offer robotaxi rides in the Nevada city.

Privacy regulators in the European Union have ruled that Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, can’t make giving up data for targeted ads a condition of joining the social networks, according to reports published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. The decision threatens to upend the social…Read more...

If James Cameron is lucky enough to make a fifth Avatar film, not all of it will take place on Pandora. At a recent press day for Avatar: The Way of Water, io9 asked Cameron’s producer Jon Landau if the Earthlings who were defeated and left Pandora at the end of the original film will return to bring war to the Na’vi.…Read more...

When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he prompted a mass exodus of advertisers worried his reign might elevate hate speech and other stomach-churning content that would then appear alongside their ads. Musk had said he would restore a vast swath of accounts banned for violating Twitter policies, and he did, resurrecting…Read more...

The Pale Blue Eye is an adaption of a novel by Louis Bayard that imagines a chilling horror story set in West Point during the time that Edgar Allen Poe was in attendance. The early 1800s time period places the film well before Sherlock Holmes, offering a darker, more reserved kind of horror, creating a strange,…Read more...

A team of scientists sequenced the most ancient DNA yet, found in permafrost in the northernmost reaches of Greenland. The DNA is 2 million years old, blowing past the previous record for the most ancient DNA by a million years.Read more...

The Bad Batch, is ready to come back, and now the team behind Star Wars’ Clone Wars spinoff has a new mission: fight back against the Empire instead of merely survive it.

If you’re not into decking the halls with shimmering baubles or cutesy Hallmark Keepsake ornaments, Jeroen Domburg has created a fantastically nerdy alternative: a tiny retro desktop PC ornament complete with a working screen that actually plays Doom.Read more...

Meta has taken its (in)famous avatars out of the “metaverse” and has been dropping them into its social apps, hoping personalized cartoon versions of people will generate enough interest in the company’s flagging metaverse project. After adding them to Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, the company has finally come…Read more...

Kate Winslet is ready to hype up Avatar: The Way of Water. Chainsaw Man teases its biggest battle yet in a new trailer. Frank Grillo is teaming up with his son for a wild take on the life of Charles Manson. Plus, what’s coming on Let the Right One In. To me, my spoilers!

Streaming giant Netflix is going through some changes. In addition to the previously announced and released ad-supported tier, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has spilled the beans on the company’s business strategy moving forward, and it currently involves no sports and includes upcoming additional ad tiers.

Easily one of the worst things to come out of the digital age is discourse completely detached from reality. You might have heard the phrase “chronically online,” which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, but more specifically can refer to the idea of someone who has no/very little attachment to the way the…Read more...

Apple wants you to know that it cares about your privacy. For years, the company has emblazoned billboards with catchy slogans about its robust data protection practices, criticized tech rivals for their misuse of users’ personal information, and made big pronouncements about how it shields users.Read more...

Look out, kids, there’s a new chatbot in town and it’s making stuff weird for everybody. Launched last week by OpenAI, a startup founded by Elon Musk, the artificial intelligence-fueled platform ChatGPT has garnered well over a million users in a matter of days. It’s also caused no small amount of debate and …Read more...

China announced on Wednesday the country’s strictest covid-19 rules will be lifted, allowing more freedom of movement for people who are living under some of the harshest health regulations in the world three years after the start of the pandemic.Read more...

Andor may have just wrapped its first season on Disney+, but the Star Wars series is still very much on the minds of viewers who couldn’t get enough of its exciting plot and its memorable characters. One of the most endearing was droid B2EMO, faithful companion to Cassian Andor’s mother, Maarva.Read more...

When we bought a second tree, it was officially a problem. I’ve loved sci-fi and pop culture my entire life. So, when I was young, my mom started taking me to Hallmark each year to buy a few of the latest Keepsake ornaments. Even after I moved out, each year I’d give her a list and that year’s ornaments were part of…Read more...

Do you break out your TikTok dance moves at the club or constantly share and exchange the short-form videos with your friends and family to stay in touch? If so, perhaps you’ve watched some of the videos that have made the platform’s top 10 list for 2022.Read more...

A pair of women have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple after they claim their exes used the company’s quarter-sized AirTag trackers to stalk them. The lawsuit, viewed by Gizmodo, claims Apple’s alleged missteps around privacy considerations with AirTags amounts to negligence and violates California’s…Read more...

North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn’s brief stint in the House has been rife with scandal. There’s the time he seemingly bragged about invites to alleged cocaine-fueled orgies. That’s on top of sexual misconduct allegations surfacing, which he’s denied. There’s also a leaked nude video as well as multiple…Read more...

The premiere for Avatar: The Way of Water has revealed James Cameron’s sequel to his 2009 feature Avatar, kicking off the director’s planned franchise run with more films to expand the world of Pandora. So what did critics and early audiences think?Read more...

On Tuesday, Meta’s Oversight Board dropped a more than-50 page report detailing how the company needs to overhaul its systems that have allowed major influencers and celebrities leeway to post disingenuous or harmful content that would otherwise be moderated.Read more...

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Airlines are working to lower their carbon footprint, but flyers are going to have to help foot the costs, the leader of an international airline trade group said this week.

An over-the-counter nasal spray meant to prevent fatal opioid overdoses could reach shelves early next year. The Food and Drug Administration has reportedly fast-tracked the approval process of an OTC naloxone spray from Emergent BioSolutions, the developers of Narcan. The FDA is expected to make a decision on its…Read more...

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, drew a line in the sand Monday, saying it adamantly opposes a proposed law that would allow newspapers to bargain collectively with social media companies for more ad money in exchange for content. Allowing such a thing would create a “cartel-like entity,” the…Read more...

They may have only just recently come to a close, but Andor and House of the Dragon already have some of their first major awards nods of the season, leading a solid contingent for genre TV at the Critics Choice Awards.

The Artemis 1 mission is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the hard part is over. The uncrewed Orion spacecraft, currently on its way home from the Moon, must still survive a harrowing reentry through Earth’s atmosphere if it’s to perform a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA is hoping that a new…Read more...

Apple used illegal union busting tactics against workers in one of its Atlanta, Georgia stores, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at the Cumberland Mall store were the first in the country to officially file for a union election. However, just a month after filing, the Communications Workers of…Read more...

Shopify has routinely denied calls to ban a noted right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ harassment group from using its platform to sell merchandise. Now it’s becoming clear just how deep the company has stuck its head in the sand to ignore the LGBTQ community’s pleas.Read more...

Christmas comes a little early for fans of Sega’s speedy hero: new series Sonic Prime arrives December 15 on Netflix, and it’ll be taking the hedgehog on an adventure across multiple universes—or as the show will be calling it, the “Shattervese.” io9 has some exclusive stills to share today!

Apple announced its new feature today, Apple Music Sing, an immersive karaoke experience that allows users to modify the vocal range and sing alongside real-time lyrics. The newest service will give karaoke enthusiasts options to set the vocals to a solo, duet, or include background singers.Read more...

The U.S. military’s long, often winding road to rolling out autonomous vehicles has, to this point, mostly disappointed energetic technologists eager to see human drivers eliminated from combat scenarios. Though the Pentagon’s largest research agency has spent the better part of two decades fiddling with autonomous…Read more...

If you’re not one of the seemingly few people who watch Miracle Workers, you may be thinking to yourself, “Is that the sitcom with Daniel Radcliff?” and “Wait, that show is still on?” To my delight and the delight of the comedy series’ viewers, the answer to both questions is “yes,” and we finally have a look at the…Read more...

New research appears to provide a clearer picture of why cold and flu cases are more common during the winter. The study found evidence that our nose’s innate immune response weakens in colder temperatures, providing some germs a better opportunity to infect the rest of the body. The findings, the authors say, could…Read more...