Gizmodo

Although high-speed wireless technologies like Wifi 6E and 5G dominate news headlines, analog, and optical cables are still the backbone of the internet, and for good reason. Researchers in Japan just set a new fiber optic data transmission record with a technique that’s compatible with existing cable infrastructure,…Read more...

Netflix debuts its newest offering, “After School,” a programming push aimed at younger children, with Oni: The Thunder God’s Tale, an animated show rooted in Japanese mythology. Oni is led by its creator and showrunner, Dice (Daisuke) Tsutsumi, who co-directed The Dam Keeper, an 2014 Academy-Award nominated short filmRead more...

Our liver stays plenty youthful even as we get older, new research this week suggests. Using a form of radioactive dating, the researchers estimate that the average age of our liver’s cells is around three years. Some cells seem to live longer than others, however, a finding that may one day help scientists better…Read more...

Warner Bros. wants Todd Phillips back in the DC Universe. Go hands-on with a new preview of Netflix’s Wednesday Addams series. The CW’s Diggle-focused DC spinoff might still be happening. Plus, catch up with what’s been going on with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more behind-the-scenes goofs from Rob Zombie’s Munsters. To me,…Read more...

The Texas law that seeks to stop companies from being mean to fossil fuels is getting popular—even if its execution and implications are still murky. States across the country are looking at adopting similar bills to one passed in Texas that forbids the state from doing business with any institutions that “boycott”…Read more...

Customers at Chipotle will now be able to pay for their burritos with cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin, in a move that could help crypto become more mainstream, according to trade publication Restaurant Business. But there’s just one important caveat: Chipotle will accept the crypto through a…Read more...

While the release of Obi-Wan Kenobi and its new roster of characters within the Star Wars universe was for most fans an exciting occasion, the show also supplied a new target for the fandom’s racist and misogynistic trolls: Moses Ingram, who stars as Third Sister Reva Sevander.Read more...

Watch out intrepid web3 entrepreneurs, the feds are cracking down on insider trading. Former OpenSea product manager Nate Chastain was arrested by the FBI early Wednesday morning in New York City and charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an elaborate NFT insider trading scheme. In a press…Read more...

If you lost a loved one but had a chance to bring them back, wouldn’t you risk everything to try and do that? Sci-fi short Red String of Fate—directed by Lance Fernandes and Lovina Yavari, and written by Onna Chan—manages to create a surprisingly gripping sci-fi tale in fewer than 10 minutes.Read more...

This is not entirely surprising news considering he’s one of the creative forces behind the project, but Will Arnett (Lego Masters, The Lego Batman Movie) will voice one of the main characters in Peacock’s action-comedy series adaptation of PlayStation game Twisted Metal.

“I knew my character was going to be the queer one,” Vico Ortiz said in our interview last week. “I’m used to being the queer one.” Ortiz is speaking about their role in the hit pirate comedy, Our Flag Means Death. Their character, Jim (shortened from their last name, Jiminez), is a transgender, nonbinary, Latine…Read more...

Welcome back to io9's monthly Nerd’s Watch, where we pare down the enormous lists of new films and television shows arriving on all your favorite streaming services into the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles we think you’ll like most.Read more...

NASA announced today that it has partnered with two private U.S. companies, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, to develop its next spacesuits, which will be ready no earlier than 2025.Read more...

I get annoyed by all the jokes people make about Google killing things willy-nilly. I think that’s because I’m so deep into the ecosystem that these kinds of changes usually directly affect me. Google’s latest assassination target is Duo, which is now being combined with Meet into one video-calling app. As much as it…Read more...

The CEO of the notorious spyware vendor NSO Group apparently has a new plan to rebound from the company’s ongoing legal and fiscal tailspin: start re-selling its noxious spyware to the very governments that got it into trouble in the first place.Read more...

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Star Wars is full of forgettable side characters that some people refuse to forget. From the man carrying an ice cream maker in Empire Strikes Back (who has a name, and it’s Willow Hood, for some reason) to my editor’s suggestions of Captain Fordo, Ooryl Qrygg, and Voort “Piggy” saBinring, there’s a lot to choose…Read more...

Meta’s longtime business chief, Sheryl Sandberg, is leaving the company.Read more...

An ongoing drought in Iraq revealed a sunken Bronze Age city.

Canadian regulators on Wednesday found that Tim Hortons—a popular fast-food chain owned by the same multinational company as Burger King—changed its mobile app in 2019 to track and collect sensitive location data on its customers.

It took less than an hour for one researcher studying Meta’s titular metaverse to be “virtually raped” after putting on the VR headset for the first time. After days of witnessing and experiencing rampant conspiracy theories, sexual harassment, racism, and homophobia, writers of a recent report said the tech giant is…Read more...

After six weeks of tabloid headlines, the seven-person jury in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation case reached a verdict on Wednesday. They ruled in favor of Depp, stating they believed that Heard should be held liable for her statements about his alleged abuse. The jury took almost 13 hours to come to the…Read more...

When revealing a new product, Apple often spends time talking about how much faster it is than the previous model and how favorably it stacks up against the competition. Claims like “the Macbook Air is faster than 98% of PC laptops,” make headlines, whether they’re accurate or not. It’s an effective marketing…Read more...

A 2020 proposal to provide internet to New Yorkers lacking access just hit a snag. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Internet Master Plan is on pause allegedly due to the mayoral transition this past November.Read more...

A man’s suspected case of painful eczema on his left wrist turned out to be something much more unusual. Doctors in China discovered that their patient actually had caterpillar hairs lodged in his arm, likely caught while climbing an apple tree months earlier. Following a steroid injection, the man’s lesions cleared…Read more...

Jurassic World is the most Jurassic movie of all the Jurassic movies. It takes the structure of the first movie—a theme park run amok—and blends it with the franchise’s ultimate fantasy, finally revealing what a fully functioning dinosaur theme park looks like. It’s John Hammond’s vision come to life. The result,…Read more...

A group of technology experts is trying to warn the government of the dangers of the crypto industry. In a letter to U.S. policy makers, 26 computer scientists and engineers called on lawmakers to block efforts to create a ‘regulatory safe haven’ for cryptocurrency. They want leaders in Washington to instead focus on…Read more...

Two hundred years ago, an earthquake revealed the entrance to a large cave system in southern Spain; sealed within the dark chambers were artworks made tens of thousands of years ago by early modern humans and Neanderthals, our closest relatives. Now, excavations and scientific analyses have revealed the precise age…Read more...

Amazon—a trillion dollar multinational corporation repeatedly sued by labor groups for unfair working conditions at its facilities—wants you to know it’s being treated unfairly.

The plastic crisis can seem depressingly all-encompassing and impossible to escape: We’re producing more plastic than ever before, doing serious harm to the environment, the climate, and our own health, while our recycling system remains shamefully broken. So it may be comforting to pick up an iced coffee in a cup…Read more...

HBO Max kicked off Pride Month by announcing a second season of Our Flag Means Death, a pirate workplace comedy that centers queer romance and characters. The renewal, announced via press release, comes in the wake of the show spending nearly 10 weeks on the top of the in-demand streaming charts. For a show with…Read more...

Is it really possible to “Netflix and chill” when everyone watching the TV is aggressively battling to control the volume? Sennheiser’s latest earbuds could finally bring peace to the family room, as they wirelessly connect to any TV, even older models that don’t have Bluetooth built in.Read more...

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If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of Apple history, now is your chance. Only a few Apple-1 computers exist, and even fewer are in as pristine condition as the one going up for auction tomorrow. Not only that, but this extremely rare computer was signed by its creator: Steve Wozniak.

Tech leaders could probably use some reassuring pals right about now.

Google has apparently discovered through recent, internally conducted research that two-thirds of U.S. adults look up what they’re going to watch on TV on their phones first, which is why it’s finally making its Google TV app available to iPhone users. The company announced that it’s pushing out Google TV for iOS…Read more...

Expand the image above to fill your screen and stare at the black blob in the center. (You can also find the original version here.) Most people perceive the blob as expanding or feel that they’re falling toward the hole. This new-to-science illusion has given researchers some more insight into how human vision works,…Read more...

Amid all of the CW’s cancellation announcements, new shows have still been in the works (I know, that’s the way TV works, but it still feels a little weird). Today we got a first look at the Gotham Knights trailer, and while eagle-eyed hardcore Batman fans might be able to figure out which teenage anti-heroes are…Read more...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave his executive employees an ultimatum in an email yesterday: return to the office full time or leave the company.

Sorry, but if you’re one of millions living in drought-afflicted southern California, you’ll have to hold off on watering your azaleas. As of Wednesday, millions homeowners in southern California are being required to limit outdoor water usage to just one day a week.Read more...

Obi-Wan Kenobi is halfway over. That’s odd to say considering this highly anticipated Star Wars show has only been out in the world for less than a week but it’s true. Part III marked the midpoint of the six-episode series and, as such, things we may not have expected to happen so soon, did. That also left us…Read more...

Torrential rain pummeled Northeastern Brazil, causing catastrophic landslides. Authorities in the Pernambuco state have confirmed that 106 people are dead and at least eight people are still unaccounted for, CBS and AFP reported. Thousands of people have been displaced by the flooding and landslides as well.Read more...

Rob Zombie just keeps adding more folks to his Munsters movie. Neill Blomkamp is still working on a District 9 sequel. She-Hulk adds a Flight Attendant star. Plus, what’s coming on Fear the Walking Dead’s season finale, and Spock is, well, Amok, in new Strange New Worlds pictures. Spoilers, away!

Microsoft is keeping the pressure on Chromebooks with the reveal of the Surface Laptop Go 2, the company’s budget-friendly traditional laptop.

You might also start seeing missing children as you scroll through selfies and reels on your Instagram feed. While ‘Meta’ and ‘children’ aren’t typically two words anyone wants to see near each other, this time they’re coming together for some good news. Starting today, Instagram users can start seeing and sharing…Read more...

The U.S. Supreme Court put a controversial new Texas law on hold in a 5-4 decision late Tuesday. The law would allow social media users to sue companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook if those users felt they were being “censored” online.Read more...

NASA Earth Observatory has been cataloging images of our planet since 1999, bringing us coverage of all the cool and weird geology Earth has to offer. The Observatory publishes images taken by different satellites or by astronauts aboard the International Space Station depicting Earth’s geography, environment, and…Read more...

If all you knew about Ray Parker Jr. was a) he wrote and sang the outrageously catchy, Oscar-nominated theme to Ghostbusters, and b) Key & Peele poked fun at him via this sketch that really captures the show’s signature blend of hilarity and pathos, that’s about to change with a new documentary, titled (of course) Who…Read more...

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A new strain of ransomware was recently identified by cybersecurity analysts, which forces its victims to complete a series of charitable tasks in order to retrieve their data. It combines the inconvenience of having your data stolen, plus the added cringe of self-righteous instructions on how to retrieve said data by…Read more...