Gizmodo

Nothing has made the tech industry cower quite the way ChatGPT has. While some have tried to hop on board asap, others—like Google—are attempting to compete. The tech giant has just announced its answer to the wildly popular chatbot, and it’s called Bard.

One of the solar system’s 1.1-million-plus asteroids was recently spotted by the Webb Space Telescope, from a distance of about 62 million miles. The asteroid is relatively small, making it a showcase of the new space observatory’s sharp vision.Read more...

After becoming the new hotness for fans of surreal insanity, the never ending AI-generated stream inspired by the 90s sitcom Seinfeld called Nothing, Forever has been temporarily kicked off the air. Just like some other famed comedians, the series main character “Larry Feinberg” was slapped down hard after making an…Read more...

The country of Saudi Arabia has scrounged up several billion dollars in investments from major tech companies, which are interested in building cloud computing centers in the region.

In 1997 slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character famously screamed, “What are you waiting for, huh?” Well, if she was talking to Hollywood, they were waiting for precedent. And now, now that they have it, the character and franchise are ready for a big-screen comeback.Read more...

NASA’s Curiosity rover found a meteorite as it was trucking across Mars last week.Read more...

Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent earnings call that Meta’s next consumer oriented headset, speculated to be the Meta Quest 3, will include full color mixed reality features. This could be a major shift in the VR industry and the company’s continuing fascination with shared virtual spaces.Read more...

Even if you aren’t a big movie fan, odds are you know a bit about Michael J. Fox. Fox was one of the biggest stars on the planet in the 1980s; with a hit TV show and the main role in a mega-franchise, the world was his oyster. But a few years later, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and his life completely…Read more...

In a not-so-surprising, sudden reversal, Elon Musk walked back on plans to completely end free access to Twitter’s application programming interface (API) over the weekend. The billionaire indicated that limited, cost-free API access would remain for “good” bots on the site, in a Saturday night tweet.

The AMC Theatre conglomerate is taking a new stance on ticket pricing, changing the cost for moviegoers based on standard, prime, and value seating options. The change, called Sightline at AMC, will expand to all of its roughly 1,000 U.S. AMC Theatre locations by the end of this year.Read more...

A 150-car train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in northeastern Ohio, and the local area is now at risk from the potential release of toxic substances as well as a potential explosion. The train was headed to Pennsylvania from Illinois and derailed on Friday night, NPR reported.

The Last of Us, eat your heart out. Scientists at the University of Georgia say they’ve developed a vaccine that should be able to protect against a variety of dangerous fungi. In animal studies, the vaccine prevented severe infections and deaths from three types of fungi that often cause opportunistic illness in…Read more...

Rolls-Royce Holdings is getting into the nuclear reactor business. The British aerospace engineering company says it’s developing a micro-nuclear reactor that the company hopes could be a source of fuel for long trips to the Moon and Mars.

More than a third of animal and plant species in the U.S. could go extinct while more than 40% of ecosystems are at risk of collapse, a new report from a conservation group has found.

Austin Butler and his carefully cultivated Elvis accent may still be angling for Oscar gold, but Netflix’s secret-agent spin on the King has just nabbed Matthew McConaughey as its hip-swiveling, high-kicking lead. The first teaser for Agent Elvis is here, and, well... is McConaughey just kind of doing his own voice…Read more...

Police shut down a shadowy encrypted messaging app Monday that was allegedly used by organized crime figures to facilitate the transfer of drugs, illicit cash, and firearms throughout Europe. Then they nabbed the people who allegedly coded it.

In November, Gizmodo exclusively reported that Apple harvests data about its users even after they flip the switch on an iPhone privacy setting that promises to “disable the sharing of device analytics altogether.” Since then, consumers across the country have filed at least 12 different class-action lawsuits about…Read more...

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Marvel has been dominating pop culture for 15 years, but it arguably wouldn’t be as strong a brand if it didn’t have its animation slate. Cartoons like X-Men and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have helped define Marvel in the eyes of viewers. But for the last several years, many Marvel cartoons have focused on…Read more...

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Fans of horror inspired by Jewish folklore are having a boom time between last month’s The Offering and now Attachment—the latter arriving on Shudder just in time for Valentine’s Day. From Denmark-based filmmaker Gabriel Bier Gislason, it’s the tale of two women who fall quickly in love but soon encounter some…Read more...

More than 2,300 people have been killed and thousands more injured in Turkey and Syria after a series of earthquakes hammered the region already beset by civil war and a refugee crisis on Monday, according to the Associated Press. Rescue workers and officials said that, as evening fell, hundreds more people remain…Read more...

The maiden voyage of India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle didn’t go as planned in 2022, but the country’s space agency is ready for a re-attempt, with the rocket slated to blast off on Thursday. Meanwhile, SpaceX is hoping to launch a communications satellite on Monday.

There’s a long history of very good reasons for using an external keyboard instead of your MacBook’s, but it does put the laptop’s very useful trackpad out of reach. Instead of spending $149 on Apple’s standalone Magic Trackpad, Taliyah Huang designed and built a custom split keyboard with its own mouse and trackpad…Read more...

HBO really cares about the numbers for The Last of Us, apparently. In light of a certain football game that will likely dominate airwaves and streaming time on Sunday—during the same slot of time when The Last of Us usually gets released—the series’ fifth episode will instead premiere on streaming services on Friday,…Read more...

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is so desperate to repay its creditors that it is clawing back any and all money the company and its ex-execs used for political donations. The company has even implied it will go after charities and other nonprofits politicians said they donated FTX’s money to if it doesn’t get its money…Read more...

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

A new Stephen King story makes its way to the big screen. Star Colin Farell knows how many episodes he’ll be wearing gobs of prosthetics for the Penguin TV series. Plus, meet the crew of the USS Titan-A, coming soon to Star Trek: Picard season three. Spoilers will be docking... now.Read more...

Dell is following in the footsteps of the wider tech industry and is laying off around 6,600 positions. The company is citing a reduced demand for PCs—as well as the economy—for the decision.

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round up of the latest toy news. This week, Mondo’s X-Men: The Animated Series line continues with much jubilation, set phasers to stun with a new Star Trek replica, and Lego goes Disney for a new 100th anniversary celebration. Check it out!

The great Chinese spy balloon drama of 2023 is not over yet. As it turns out, there’s another not-a-spy balloon floating over Latin America and yes, that one also belongs to China.Read more...

A company that sells flying motorbikes just got listed on the Nasdaq, which means that we’re all living in The Jetsons now, basically.Read more...

After weeks on high alert, the nail-biting incidents at the Dallas Zoo may have finally come to an end. Dallas police arrested 24-year-old Davion Irvin on Friday and accused him of messing with several animal enclosures, which led to the escape of a clouded leopard on Jan. 13, and stealing two emperor tamarin monkeys…Read more...

As we’re here to talk about the fourth episode of HBO’s The Last Of Us, I think it’s okay to start the recap with a bit of a fourth wall break. Sunday’s episode, “Please Hold To My Hand,” is great. There’s lots of character-building, new conflicts, solid action, and more. However, I feel the need to disclose…Read more...

Right now, Prime Video is on a pretty good streak with adapting various properties to TV. Between Critical Role, Jack Reacher, and Invincible, plus its various original series, the streamer is good about finding something for a particular niche.

It probably goes without saying, but Elon Musk’s current tenure as Twitter’s CEO has been pretty chaotic, and not in the fun way. Between constantly changing things without any real warning and trying to get money any way possible, the popular social media site feels like it’s about to fall apart at any moment now,…Read more...

Ever since he showed up as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, Pedro Pascal’s rise to stardom has been pretty fun to see, because he’s just good in basically everything he’s in, even if that thing itself is a hot mess. And as the star of both The Mandalorian and HBO’s new prestige hit The Last of Us, it’s clear that…Read more...

It’ll only be a couple of months before Ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba returns for its third season. Season two received high marks when it came out, and its theatrical Mugen Train movie was a box office hit. Now as that season’s being nominated for awards in the anime community, studio Ufotable and Aniplex…Read more...

As of Saturday, the giant white balloon that U.S. authorities claimed was sent over by China to spy on the country is no more.Read more...

Anyone who watched and enjoyed the original Avatar: The Last Airbender has a particular villain that’s their favorite, and for many, that baddie is Zuko’s sister Azula. The princess of the Fire Nation was remains pretty intimidating even today, and is part of one of the show’s best moments.

As the larger Disney corporation celebrates turning 100 years old this October, Disneyland Paris is reaching its own 30th birthday in April. To commemorate the milestone, France’s theme park currently has an Avengers-themed show for the parkgoers that stay through to the evening.

The CW’s Flash show has been running along for eight seasons now, with its ninth and final season hitting in just a few days. In what’s pretty typical for the final seasons of shows that know they’re going to end, the CW is bringing back as many actors from the show’s history as it can manage, and recently announced…Read more...

For his next film, director Colin Trevorrow is going under the sea.

In what feels like just a few short years, advancements in generative artificial intelligence have seemingly transformed “AI” from a buzzword slapped onto boring business to attack investor capital into an an actual tool with clear, real -world use cases. Writer and business have already begun using image generator…Read more...

Taking vitamin D supplements was linked to lower rates of attempted suicide and intentional self-harm among former military members, new research found. In the study, scientists looked at data about a large group of U.S. veterans and determined that those given supplemental vitamin D were at lower risk for attempting…Read more...

As wise men once sang, “the power of love is a curious thing”—and for that special someone who loves pop culture, finding the perfect gift sometimes has to be a more-than-ordinary quest. Fandom-fueled festivities make my heart sing, and since Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, here’s a pop culture curation of gift…Read more...

In this era of “sure, it’s still streaming on HBO Max... but for how long?”, it’s smart to turn to physical media to make sure you can always access your favorite shows and movies. With that in mind, good news for fans of HBO Max’s Station Eleven—of which there were many, even if the show didn’t quite become a…Read more...

Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons, really wanted to get his money’s worth when it came to the various dice used to play the game. That’s the only possible explanation for the overwhelming number of tables inside the AD&D 1st Edition of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Gygax wanted players to roll for practically …Read more...

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Late Thursday night, a giant, mysterious balloon floated over the United States, apparently by way of the Pacific Ocean all the way to sensitive air space in Montana.Read more...