Gizmodo

Even living in an age of climate denialism, pandemic denialism, and so on and so forth, you’d think a trailer for a comedy about humanity collectively burying its heads in the ground while a massive comet comes to wipe out life on Earth wouldn’t quite hit so disconcertingly hard as it does. And yet, here we are.

Spotify, Discord, and Snapchat were all experiencing issues on Tuesday, with early reports indicating that a brief Google Cloud outage could have been the culprit.Read more...

Read more...

One might think that after waiting around Dallas, Texas for weeks expecting JFK Jr. (a man who is dead) to emerge and give a surprise speech restoring Donald Trump to the presidency, one would simply conclude that JFK Jr. is dead and he’s not going to do that. That is not the case for QAnon supporters.Read more...

If your favorite part of the holidays is parking your butt on your couch and watching TV, good news. You are not going to lack for holiday entertainment as 2021 draws to a close. Alien shoppers, festive archers, a Santa suit-clad Satan, and a movie called A Boy Named Christmas—which seems to be about a boy who is very…Read more...

Batteries are the curse of every device not permanently tethered to a power cord, but wireless earbuds manage to eke out a decent amount of playback time through the use of charging cases—a minor inconvenience but an acceptable compromise. The new Relods buds manage to boost their battery life even further by…Read more...

In 1983, astronomer Michael Rowan-Robinson conducted a search for a proposed 10th planet (Pluto still being a planet at the time) using data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, the first infrared space telescope. Rowan-Robinson didn’t turn up a new planet, and by 1991, he was pretty sure that such a planet did…Read more...

Live-action adaptations of Sir Terry Pratchett’s beloved Discworld books have always been a mixed bag, but we might have finally found a winner. Penguin Random House has announced that it has commissioned new audiobook recordings of all 40 Discworld novels, using a variety of British stars to bring them to life.

A bizarre wildfire has ignited near Estes Park, Colorado, forcing residents to flee at a time of year when they’re usually gearing up for ski lifts to start turning.

An outbreak of flu at the University of Michigan has sickened more than 500 people since early October. Local health officials have now brought in help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the matter, which may offer a preview of the flu season this winter. One important consideration is…Read more...

We’ve known the young stars of Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender for a few months, leaving fans to wonder: who would play Uncle Iroh, the kindly former Fire Nation general-turned-mentor who travels with Prince Zuko, and one of the most beloved characters in the entire franchise?…Read more...

Expanse fans! You’re gonna need to stop what you’re doing right now and watch the trailer that Amazon Prime Video just released for the show’s upcoming sixth and (sob) final season. That teaser from October? Just a tiny, tiny taste. This new look is a juicy, nerve-wracking, revealing (but not spoiler-y) delight. Just…Read more...

Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy book series has traveled a weird road to get to TV. Now that the live-action adaptation of The Wheel of Time is here, the results are… well, weird. It’s a show that’s full of contradictions; it clearly loves the source material but constantly fights with it. The series is…Read more...

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has spoken out about an anti-satellite weapons test that potentially sent debris into the path of the International Space Station yesterday, saying it’s “unthinkable” that Russia would endanger both American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts.

The volcano that has been erupting on the Canary Islands since September has claimed its first victim.Read more...

Renowned conservationist Jeff Bezos has shared his vision for planet Earth. It’s not enough to protect it for the humans living here. No. Instead, according to the second-richest man on this planet, future generations “will visit Earth the way you visit Yellowstone National Park.”Read more...

As part of its Disney Plus Day promotion last week, Disney partnered with TikTok to release a suite of text-to-speech voices featuring beloved characters like Chewbacca and Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, but wouldn’t let them say words like “queer,” “gay” or “lesbian.”Read more...

The folks at Adult Swim decided that there was not nearly enough anime Rick and Morty this year, or not nearly enough Rick and Morty shorts in general, so lucky us: we’re blessed with round two of Studio Deen’s samurai spin on the multiversal duo.

Wireless charging doesn’t facilitate as much freedom as the name implies—although it technically allows a device to be charged without plugging in a cable, that’s about it. True wireless charging isn’t that far off, however, as today Ossia announced a partnership with Archos to release the first gadgets that can be…Read more...

A Pumpkinhead remake could be in the works. Rob Zombie’s Munsters offers us another tease. Claire Redfield gets spooked in a clip from Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Plus, what’s coming on Star Trek: Discovery, and another look at the next big Flash crossover. Spoilers away!

I am still very hesitant about going out into the world and living my life. The pandemic is not over, and my kid still can’t get a vaccine. Until then, I’m avoiding densely crowded areas as much as I possibly can.

With the inevitability of seeing Italian family members at Thanksgiving right around the corner, it pains me to type the sentence that will surely be the one that gets me, at long last, banned from future family gatherings for life: The new meatless meatballs from Impossible Foods are delicious.

If Yoko Kanno didn’t return to write the music for Netflix’s new live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, there really wouldn’t have been a reason to do it. Her jazz-infused score practically defines Cowboy Bebop as much as Spike, Faye, Jet Black, and Ein combined. Thankfully, she is back for this version, which debuts…Read more...

Researchers in Massachusetts say they’ve discovered a second patient who seems to have completely defeated an HIV infection without the help of antiviral treatments or a bone marrow transplant. The case of the Esperanza patient, as the woman is now being called, suggests that more people can naturally clear the viral…Read more...

In Star Wars’ galaxy far, far away, we’re often told that the unlikeliest of heroes can come from nothing to save the universe, to battle for light against dark. But now, we cast aside prophesized chosen ones and destined bloodlines to truly celebrate the most important, lowliest of heroes in the best way Star Wars…Read more...

After simmering tensions between studios and one of the biggest unions in the industry that threatened potential strike action last month, IATSE has ratified a new union contract after months of negotiations. But the vote also exposes just how divided IATSE’s members were over the new deal, which critics say doesn’t…Read more...

For a brief moment in time, the rumor mill had us holding out hope that Google had a foldable Pixel on the horizon. But all that blind faith was for naught, as the never-announced Google Pixel Fold is reportedly not happening.

As befitting its title, Doctor Who: Flux has had its ups and downs so far, but chances are the highlight of the show’s abbreviated 13th season will be Jo Martin, who came back as the Fugitive Doctor in last night’s episode, “Once, Upon Time.” We’ll take any screentime we can get of her, even if it’s just this fun…Read more...

InfoWars blowhard Alex Jones has lost another set of defamation lawsuits brought by the targets of his bogus conspiracy theories about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, this time in Connecticut.Read more...

Amazon at long last has introduced a native macOS app for Prime Video, which includes support for offline downloads, in-app purchases, and movies and TV show rentals for you to enjoy on your brand new 16-inch MacBook Pro (or an older Mac, as long as it’s running Big Sur or later).

Doctors say they’ve documented an unusual case of gonorrhea in an 11-year-girl from Austria, one with no evidence of sexual transmission. As near as they can tell, the girl caught it from swimming in a communal hot spring while vacationing in Italy. Thankfully, the infection was successfully treated with antibiotics…Read more...

Apple TV+ series Fraggle Rock: Rock On—a series of short videos starring the franchise’s signature Fraggles navigating their subterranean, cave-dwelling lives in the era of social distancing—worked as a way to introduce to characters and their imaginative world to a new generation. Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock might…Read more...

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but last night’s Doctor Who was a bit of a mess. Plotlines appearing and vanishing thick and fast, mystery upon mystery, questions fired as quickly as they were left unanswered—and the show’s quickly running out of time to prove it can pick up what it’s putting down. But here’s a…Read more...

Get ready to meet Halo’s iconic hero all over again.

Which federal appeals court will rule on the numerous lawsuits brought by conservative groups against Joe Biden’s plans to roll out an employer vaccine mandate will come down to what amounts to a raffle.Read more...

As if extreme weather wasn’t terrifying enough already, this weekend one city reported a literal plague of scorpions that came in the wake of some major storms ripping through the region.Read more...

That Jason Reitman, the co-writer and director of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two Ghostbusters, might seem like a clear-cut case of nepotism. But in reality, that relationship made the younger Reitman’s decision to make a new Ghostbusters film even more complicated. If…Read more...

There’s a lot of great fight scenes in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but the most striking (pun not intended) is also its first. Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) are simply trying to take a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority—or “Muni” to locals—bus to their jobs as…Read more...

The old adage that what goes up must come down seems to apply especially to drones, and during an unplanned descent, their exposed spinning propeller blades can be quite dangerous. As a safer alternative, NTT Docomo, a Japanese mobile carrier, has proposed a camera-equipped blimp that navigates an indoor space using…Read more...

Every horror fan instantly knows Tony Todd—most famous for playing the malevolent yet elegant title character in 1992's Candyman, but also the star of the Final Destination series, Tom Savini’s remake of Night of the Living Dead, and dozens of other films. He’s also had numerous TV roles, including appearances on The…Read more...

All seven astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station are having to take shelter inside their respective spacecraft owing to the sudden appearance of a debris cloud in orbit, the source of which remains unclear.

After years of stories about Facebook’s foibles, which include prioritizing profit over safety, artificially inflating ad numbers, burying its competitors, struggling with moderation, failing to stop data breaches, and wanting to catapult us all into something called the metaverse, maybe you’ve come to the conclusion…Read more...

Samsung dropped support for headphone jacks on its flagship phones back in early 2020, while retaining them on its more affordable budget and mid-range handsets. But if recent leaks are true, that might be about to change starting with the new Galaxy A33.Read more...

Dust and dirt are the enemies of all electronics. Even if your smartphone or keyboard can survive a dunking or trip to the desert, using a filthy device can be unpleasant and annoying. Nitecore, a company best known for its super-bright LED flashlights, is introducing a new device that promises to make dust and dirt…Read more...

Cowboy Bebop—Shinichiro Wantaname’s seminal anime—is a melody that Netflix’s new live-action adaptation from André Nemec knows well. This 2021 version sets out to remix the ‘90s classic with a story that both echoes and riffs on the original series. The new show’s reverence for its predecessor is palpable, and the…Read more...

After Google pushed out Android 12 last month, Samsung is now following up with the official release of its One UI 4 software tools for the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra today.Read more...

One of Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s new ghosts gets a voice. Some familiar faces return for Chucky’s TV show. Andy Samberg and Josh Mulaney talk about their Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers reboot. And everyone’s shirtless and sawing logs on Riverdale! Spoilers now!

The U.S. has slipped in the international covid-19 vaccine rankings to 55th place, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University vaccine tracker. And while it’s good that other countries have massively scaled up their vaccination efforts in 2021, other nations are leaving the U.S. in the dust.

It’s no secret that Apple can be a control freak about, well, pretty much everything. The company’s attitude apparently extends to the states it’s signed contracts with to roll out digital IDs on the Wallet app, even though you would expect governments to push back on that sort of thing.Read more...

Instagram is purportedly looking to give creators a helping hand when they do live video broadcasts on the platform and also give them an extra boost by adding another way for users to engage with stories.Read more...