Gizmodo

Video games depicting armed military combat have come a long way from the rudimentary, textureless early iterations of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. But what happens when graphics and gameplay collide and progress to a point where they can fool casual observers into mistaking gameplay for reality? While Fox News…Read more...

As the semi-proud owner of a cracked, dirty, degrading Google Pixel 3 phone, I would never make claims that its night camera is very good for taking pictures of something as fast moving as a meteor shower, let alone my late night, near dark selfie sessions (don’t judge).Read more...

An irreparable software glitch has put an end to Geotail, a JAXA-NASA joint mission. The satellite observed Earth’s magnetosphere for more than 30 years within an extremely elliptical orbit, but the mission has officially been terminated, according to JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS).Read more...

Even though a second trailer is now here, it’s still a little hard to fully fathom that this is real: Nintendo teamed up with Illumination and made a full-on animated Super Mario Bros. movie. And while the first trailer focused more on the franchise’s villain, Bowser, this one shifts to those lovable Italian plumbers,…Read more...

Apple Music has finally unveiled the songs and artists that ruled the streaming service this year. Everything from TikTok viral hits from GAYLE and Jack Harlow to veteran Elton John revisiting his own discography in a collaboration with Dua Lipa to the respective comebacks of Harry Styles and Adele, 2022 was…Read more...

As 2022 winds to a close, Apple is ready to reflect on the apps and games that made its tech so fun to use. Today, Apple released its list of the best apps and games from the year, curated by Apple’s global App Store editorial team.

Many of the traditional companies that jumped into digital streaming to catch up to the likes of Netflix are now finding that the streaming wars haven’t done much to help their business. Like the kingdoms of old regularly found out, wars are costly, and drained coffers won’t do anything to help you stay in the fight.Read more...

I don’t know why the Muppets love Christmas so much, but they certainly do. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and the extended Muppet cast of characters have made nearly a dozen holiday specials, along with a feature-length TV movie and a theatrical movie. That last one is The Muppet Christmas Carol, one of the…Read more...

The mind-altering effects of a well-known parasite may extend to more species than we thought. In new research this month, Yellowstone scientists are making the case that Toxoplasma gondii infection can influence the behavior of gray wolves in the area. It appears to increase their odds of risk-taking behaviors, such…Read more...

Texas-based ICON has been assigned the pivotal task of developing the means for NASA to build critical infrastructure on the Moon to further its Artemis ambitions.Read more...

Terraforming Mars, the resource-building strategy board game where you play as rival CEOs attempting to make Mars habitable, might be heading to your screens, reports Deadline. The game is widely considered a fantastic example of larger strategy hex games, and has already been adapted as a video game.

Digital thieves are using horny TikTok viewers’ thirst for nude images against them in a new malware attack.Read more...

The original Willow film feels like the first act of a larger story. While it does end with the defeat of the evil Queen Bavmorda thanks to Willow and his friends, almost every other major character and storyline is left dangling. The whole film is predicated on this small child, Elora Danan, being the chosen one…Read more...

Frequent Elon Musk watchers raised an eyebrow on Monday when the billionaire started lashing out at Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, over the many ways Twitter had been wronged, at least in his view. At one point, Musk even tweeted a meme about “going to war” with Apple, but later appeared to change his mind. He deleted…Read more...

Alexa, are you feeling okay? Amidst ongoing reports of turmoil in the tech industry from mass layoffs to consumer privacy issues, there has been buzz around the future of Amazon’s iconic voice assistant. As former employees and sales trends paint a devastating picture for the fate of Amazon’s Alexa, the technology is…Read more...

The Great Barrier Reef is in danger and should be labeled with that official designation on the list of World Heritage sites, according to a joint assessment by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report,…Read more...

Two major tabletop conventions are happening this weekend: Dragonmeet in London and Pax Unplugged in Philadelphia, and if you’re going to either, I am very jealous and hope you have a wonderful time. So many of my favorites will be there; if you’re in the UK say “hi” to Rowan, Rook and Decard at Stall 41 and if you’re…Read more...

Federal water authorities warned California cities and industrial water users to prepare for water cuts in 2023 as the state enters what is likely to be a fourth consecutive year of drought.Read more...

SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch on early Wednesday morning. The mission, featuring both private and public payloads, exemplifies the current state of the spaceflight industry and the changing manner in which we’re exploring space.Read more...

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Starting early next year, Sony plans to capitalize on the rise in popularity of VTubers—virtual YouTube (and sometimes Twitch) celebrities—and our slow but steady transition to a life spent entirely in VR. The company will be introducing a new and relatively affordable motion capture system that relies on just six…Read more...

Just over a year ago, io9 broke the news that best-selling YA author Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights, Our Violent Ends) would be making the leap to adult fantasy fiction with 2023's Immortal Longings, the first in a new trilogy. Now, we have the first excerpt from the novel for you to peruse.

Twitter has dropped its covid-19 misleading information policy that used to prohibit users from spreading misinformation about the virus. Over 11,000 Twitter users were banned under the platform’s previous policy, and nearly 100,000 posts involving content that included covid misinformation was removed between January…Read more...

Next year, the final movie in the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi, turns 40. And just as it had done so with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back before it, Hasbro is celebrating with familiar faces in classic packaging.

The Monopoly Man, AKA Rich Uncle Pennybags, has been a staple at big tech hearings on Capitol Hill. As much as these hearings often lead to no tangible action on actually addressing the tech industry’s missteps, at their worst those hearings allow CEOs like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to appear like the smartest man in…Read more...

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

It’s been two years since IDW’s runaway hit comic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin arrived on shelves, an alternate-universe tale starring a bitter Michaelangelo as the sole survivor of the Turtles and their friend. Soon, fans can return to Mike’s gritty adventures in a new follow-up: Teenage Mutant Ninja…Read more...

The third season of Star Trek: Picard won’t arrive until February, but the crew of the Enterprise-D can’t wait for what might come after it. Youmay want to set your alarm to watch (or avoid) the next trailer for Mario’scinematic outing. Plus, learn more about the next projects of FrankMiller, M.Night Shyamalan,…Read more...

China sent a new crew to its brand new Tiangong space station on Tuesday. The astronauts will spend around six months aboard the orbital outpost, preparing it for operations.Read more...

Houston’s public school system will be closed again Tuesday following a power outage at a water treatment plant on Sunday that has forced the entire city to boil water before it can be used. Water officials had expressed hope that the boil water notice for the city’s 2.3 million residents would be lifted by early…Read more...

This trend is so edgy, right? I guess if you want to satisfy your inner child who is into this sort of thing, The Mean One might be for you; it definitely looks to prove that the lowest forms of entertainment keep it “real” by bastardizing children’s IP without any real intention outside of making Bambi, Pooh, and now …Read more...

As a grandfather clock tick-tocks past midnight, a young woman turns to her aunt and confesses: she’s certain there’s a malevolent presence in the room with them. Instead of trying to talk her down, the elderly woman reveals she’s quite aware of what’s lurking in the shadows... and how to deal with it. Or does she?

Twitter updated its Community Notes feature (formerly known as Birdwatch) on Friday, according to a set of posts from a company Twitter account. With the update, Community Notes are now, once again, subject to “scoring,” in which site users can vote on whether or not a note is useful. Additionally, an algorithm change…Read more...

This year’s Grinch is the ongoing U.S. drought, and it’s affecting Christmas tree farms all over the country. They’ve seen smaller tree yields and more dead trees, which has meant higher prices for customers.

As conversations around mental health become more normalized, so does the surface-level way we talk about it on the Internet. According to Merriam-Webster, the word “gaslight” is the dictionary’s 2022 word of the year as the nuance and magnitude of the word has been dulled across cyberspace.

Pull up Amazon to search for a product, and there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to see no matter what you want to buy: ads. That isn’t a fluke. The Amazon website and the app are so full of ads that it actually makes it harder to shop, according to recent reports from both Vox and the Washington Post. But if the…Read more...

While Tim Burton’s Wednesday certainly attempts to imitate the aesthetic of the ‘90s Addams Family films, the surrounding plot and characters of Netflix’s newest teen drama fails to capture the morbid charm of Charles Addams’ gothic family.Read more...

Some of our posts include links to retailers. If you buy something from clicking on one, G/O Media may earn a commission. Because editorial staff is independent of commerce, affiliate linking does not influence our editorial content.A lot of people looking for a dedicated camera see the hype surrounding mirrorless systems and wonder whether a digital single-lens reflex camera is still worth it in 2022. And the answer is: absolutely! While camera tech is shifting toward mirrorless, there are still plenty of amazing DSLR cameras you shouldn’t…Read more...

Meta may have to break open its legal piggybank once again to put to rest yet another data privacy fine in Europe.Read more...

At a time when superheroes are ridiculously omnipresent in popular culture, Batman is among the most prevalent of all. No matter the medium, stories starring or featuring DC’s flagship hero come out with such a frequency that it can sometimes be hard for particular stories to stand out. Even in the stories that focus…Read more...

The internet is full of talented engineers and designers building all kinds of weird and wonderful vehicles that, quite frankly, look absolutely terrifying to climb aboard. Like The Q’s self-balancing skateboard, reminiscent of the Onewheel, but built around a beefy Formula 1 wheel.Read more...

Some of our posts include links to retailers. If you buy something from clicking on one, G/O Media may earn a commission. Because editorial staff is independent of commerce, affiliate linking does not influence our editorial content.The holidays only mean one thing for a certain type of person: a bounty of new video games to play.Read more...

Avatar: The Way of the Water officially gets a PG-13 rating, surprising no one. Tobin Bell is back as Jigsaw in some behind-the-scenes Saw X photos. And our first look at the new Transformers in the new ˆmovie—Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Airazor, and Cheetor—may have come from... a promotional coffee mug? Please buckle…Read more...

Some of our posts include links to retailers. If you buy something from clicking on one, G/O Media may earn a commission. Because editorial staff is independent of commerce, affiliate linking does not influence our editorial content.The new space race has everyone excited for more powerful rockets, treks to Mars, and everything in between. For your friends and family caught up in all this excitement, we have these excellent gift recommendations to share.

The Attorney General of the Bahamas, L. Ryan Pinder, released a video statement on Sunday night about the investigation into crypto platform FTX, which was based in the Bahamas before it imploded earlier this month, taking billions of dollars with it. And at least one thing is clear: Pinder knows investors in FTX…Read more...

Houston, Texas issued a boil water notice on Sunday night for over 2.2 million people after a power outage occurred at three water treatment facilities on Sunday morning. Residents of Houston should boil all water used for drinking, bathing, or even just brushing teeth, for at least three minutes, according to a tweet…Read more...

If there’s one thing you can count on the MCU to often provide, it’s often a callback. The recently released Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special offers maybe the greatest callback of the whole enterprise by bringing in Kevin Bacon as himself. You may recall that Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord is deeply enamored with the …Read more...

Filmmaker Albert Pyun passed away on Saturday in Las Vegas at the age of 69, reports Variety. The news was confirmed by his wife and producer Cynthia Curnan on Facebook, and comes years after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and dementia.

Amongst the cinematic and television hits that made up the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2022 output, the megafranchise got into the holiday spirit with a pair of one-hour specials. The Guardians of the Galaxy headlined the recently released Christmas special, while Werewolf by Night kicked things off with one for…Read more...