Gizmodo

The Federal Bureau of Investigation spent two years considering whether it should procure a clandestine commercial spyware tool that could reportedly hack any phone within the United States, according to an investigation by New York Times Magazine.

If you’re also someone who’s waited in line for hours to get a COVID test—or faced similar frustrations trying to buy them at your local drugstore—then you’re in luck. A group of scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara say they’ve developed a new kind of COVID-testing system that only involves some…Read more...

An apartment building with ties to the occult. A person obsessed with a mystery they uncover in found footage. The blurring of media and reality. Surveillance and paranoia. The possibility of other dimensions! Netflix’s spooky series Archive 81 combines all of these elements, and it does it so well it’s no shocker…Read more...

Oil prices are rebounding as global economic activity picks back up. But the boom could likely be a mirage as governments finally get their act together on climate change—and it could lead to financial ruin if Big Oil ends up chasing it.Read more...

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week suggests that two recently resurfaced drugs are now contributing to the ongoing overdose crisis in the U.S. Among both reported overdose deaths and drug busts, officials are seeing an increase of the drugs para-fluorofentanyl and metonitazene,…Read more...

In 2017, io9 wrote about a short film titled Brian and Charles, dubbing it “beautifully shot and equal parts poignant and wryly hilarious.” So we were thrilled to see that director Jim Archer made a feature film based on his short It just made its debut at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and is an early contender for…Read more...

In a major victory for open internet activists, a federal court has once again shot down the telecom industry’s challenge to a California state net neutrality law.

As noted philosopher and Poison frontman Bret Michaels once said back in 1988, “Every rose has its thorn.” Alas, it’s a truth that even applies to roses that bloom as beautifully as the Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise. We’ve known for a while that the third movie, Vol. 3, would be the last for director James…Read more...

Big businesses are throwing a tantrum in New York over a new pay transparency law requiring all employers with more than four employees to post minimum and maximum salary ranges for posted positions. Those rules are significant and would apply to the majority of New York’s 8.5 million residents.Read more...

As apex predators, orcas can basically feed on whichever marine animal they want, but biologists weren’t entirely sure if these aquatic killers feast on the biggest of them all: blue whales. New evidence suggests they very much do, and it ain’t pretty.

When Star Wars fans think of Corellia, they think of Han Solo. They think of Qi’ra. Maybe they think of piloting the Millennium Falcon there for Hondo Onaka. What they don’t think of is Jedi roaming the streets, but that’s going to change in Star Wars: The High Republic: Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older—and we’ve…Read more...

Researchers in western Uganda found a new species of leafhopper insect, the first sighting of any animal from its genus seen since 1969. The red-eyed, metallic-looking animal resembles the legendary Mothman and is nearly as rare.Read more...

Netflix has the power! After years of development hell at Sony, a new live-action Masters of the Universe movie has moved over to the streamer with plans to shoot this summer. Kyle Allen, currently seen in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, will play He-Man/Prince Adam, working with directors the Nee Brothers (The …Read more...

After spending years coming after furniture and pizza, QAnon followers are finally ruining life for butterflies and those who enjoy them.Read more...

Research out this week is the latest to suggest that covid-19 may be linked to a higher risk of type 1 diabetes in children. The study found that reported diabetes cases at a large children’s hospital in San Diego significantly rose during the first year of the pandemic. However, many experts—including the study’s…Read more...

If there’s one thing that keeps Games Workshop moving, it’s the new arrays of shiny model kits for its Warhammer tabletop games that keep fans oohing, ahhing, and throwing out lots of money on little plastic warriors. But their latest releases are going to be doing justice to one of Warhammer 40,000's most neglected…Read more...

We try recommending the best gadgets to our readers, especially those that offer the greatest value. Still, anyone shopping for a laptop or phone will need to be prepared to spend at least a few hundred bucks—even if that device is a Chromebook or a budget handset. What if there was another way?

Even without an ongoing pandemic disrupting supply chains and making it an even bigger challenge to hire seasonal labor, being a farmer is hard work, especially around harvest time. A company called Tevel Aerobatics Technologies believes it’s come up with a better harvesting solution for fruit farmers with the apple…Read more...

A bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania collapsed on Friday, taking a bus down with it and resulting in at least 10 people reporting injuries—though fortunately, no one was severely harmed or died. The collapse occurred just hours before Joe Biden was scheduled to give a speech in the city on the crumbling state of the…Read more...

When last we left the Fast and Furious franchise, Dominic Torreto’s crew had finally made it into space. For the next installment, could they go under the sea? Anything’s possible, especially since Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, is likely to join the cast.Read more...

With The Legend of Vox Machina, the voice actors behind Critical Role are attempting to break new ground as a tabletop roleplaying series turned into an animated TV show. Since the same actors are voicing their characters, and have been guiding hands in the show’s development, fans haven’t been very concerned with…Read more...

Winter sports involving snow-covered hills and gravity are really only fun if you’ve got an easy way to get back up that hill. For those times or places where a ski lift isn’t available, the PL1 is a portable tow rope system that can be quickly set up on-site and easily carried in a backpack.

Buckle up, East Coasters. It’s about to get ugly. Starting on Friday and stretching into this weekend, a stretch from Virginia to Maine could see snow—and lots of it.Read more...

There’s so much to love about Nic Cage. There’s his incredible body of work, which has spanned four decades. There’s his acting, which ranges from subtle, compelling performances to outright lunacy. There’s his extensive nerd-dom, which extends to naming his son Kal-El after Superman. There’s the time people believed…Read more...

Waymo, the burgeoning autonomous vehicle company living under the Alphabet umbrella, is suing the California DMV to keep certain records of its test car crashes private. Though that type of data might seem like just the sort of thing public safety agencies like the DMV should be sharing with the public, Waymo…Read more...

In space now for more than three months, the Lucy asteroid explorer is operating normally, save for a solar panel that failed to fully unfurl shortly after launch. Experts with the mission say they’ve identified the problem, but whether they’ll be able to fix it remains an open question.

Deafening chatter about the theoretical hellscape that is the metaverse has seemingly encouraged every exec to give their take, but notably missing from the scrum is a certain Cupertino-based company. On Thursday, we finally heard from Apple CEO Tim Cook who gave a restrained endorsement.

At one point during the new movie Something in the Dirt, the characters make a joke about Dan Brown books. Basically, they’re worried the movie they are making (in the movie we’re watching) is too much like The Da Vinci Code because both are filled with so many weird coincidences and problems to be solved. And it kind…Read more...

As interest in retro gaming continues to grow, it’s getting harder and harder to find original hardware at a reasonable price. So while we applaud this clever hack that creates a truly big-screen Game Boy Pocket experience, we’re also saddened to see it required the sacrifice of ten Game Boys in total to make it…Read more...

Researchers at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland recently detected a vanishingly rare particle they believe was around at the very beginning of the universe. The particle—called an X particle for now, because no one knows exactly what it is—was produced by colliding billions of heavy ions inside the famous…Read more...

For New York City-based organizer Ilona Duverge, housing justice isn’t just some theoretical concept. She knows what it’s like to be housing insecure firsthand.

Simon Pegg talks Star Trek 4's future and wanting to work with Edgar Wright again. Laurie Strode returns in another glimpse at Halloween Ends. Carmine Falcon doesn’t fear the Batman in a new clip from... The Batman. Plus, the System Shock show gains quite the writer, and what’s next on Peacemaker. Spoilers get!

Windows 11 has been available to install since last October, and its first major update is already on the way. But Microsoft also released another OS, Windows 11 SE, which looks like Windows 11 and shares some common features, but there are also a slew of differences that separate Windows 11 SE laptops from their full…Read more...

Apple’s long-awaited Universal Control feature is finally here, and after spending some time with it, I have to say: It’s exactly what Apple promised. Now available as part of the macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 developer betas, the feature creates the bridge between Macs and iPads that many have been waiting for…Read more...

DeWalt has recalled its 18-inch corded chainsaws because they can continue running even after being switched off, according to an announcement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Aiming to put an end to unexpected costs and fees for broadband, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal requiring providers, such as AT&T and Comcast, to create “nutrition labels” to help consumers navigate the industry’s maze of prices and offers.Read more...

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples never intended for Saga to be gone this long. When they announced that the beloved Image Comics series would go on hiatus in 2018, it was expected to last about a year. Until... it didn’t. And now Saga is back to pick up the pieces it left behind, adding a fascinating twist to one of…Read more...

One of the best deals in the smart home is a deal no more. Wyze, the company behind the affordable WyzeCam security camera, is discontinuing its original WyzeCam V1 on Feb. 1.

Research published earlier this week shows that a nasty Android banking malware has evolved, bringing with it a number of alarming new features—including the ability to factory reset your device after stealing your money.Read more...

Boba Fett might be having a rough time as a nascent, Tatooinian crimelord in The Book of Boba Fett, but there’s one thing the ex-bounty hunter was always good at: being a bounty hunter. That would have been the focus of the Star Wars: 1313, a game that was going to put players in Fett’s boots as he traveled through…Read more...

You Won’t Be Alone is both a poetic fantasy story and a searing investigation of what it means to be human. It’s emotionally wrenching and also frequently gory. Following its premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the film debuts in theaters April 1, and anyone looking for a mind-expanding cinematic experience…Read more...

Apple is reportedly set to launch a service that would let businesses use their iPhones as payment terminals with no additional hardware—a move that could put pressure on market leader Block (formerly Square).

Star Wars loves two things above all: its own history and its own metatextual history with merchandise. Sometimes, these come hand in hand—and what is old isn’t exactly new again, but it does suddenly have more people wanting it for more money.

The recent eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga was the biggest recorded anywhere on Earth in the past 30 years. A series of before-and-after satellite images highlight the extent of damage to the volcanic island and the neighboring region.

Amazon warehouse workers in New York are in the middle of a drive to create the company’s first unionized workforce, an effort Amazon has no interest in it succeeding. Though Amazon’s no stranger to fighting union efforts, a new complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board revealed on Thursday claims the…Read more...

It’s safe to say fans will be seeing new Spider-Man: No Way Home merchandise for a long time. Maybe even up until the next Spider-Man movie comes out, whenever that is. So much of the movie was shrouded in mystery that it’s likely not even the toy companies got a glimpse of many of the characters from the second half…Read more...

Los Angeles is finally turning the page on the city’s oil-coated past. In unanimously approved measures, the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of banning new oil and gas wells and outlined a plan to phase out those already existing over five years.Read more...

NASA’s Perseverance team announced that the Mars rover managed to dislodge the pebbles clogging its sample cache system, a problem that has vexed the robot since last month.

When I started the Dungeons & Dragons & Novels series, I wanted to go through all the D&D fiction of yesteryear to see how they held up (or spectacularly fell to pieces). But if I’m being honest with myself, what I really wanted to reread was R.A. Salvatore’s original Icewind Dale trilogy. The Crystal Shard, Streams…Read more...

Surprise, surprise, the people who are the most affected by the climate crisis in the U.S. are the ones who are more likely to put their bodies on the line to change bad climate policy.