Gizmodo

With its helicopter babysitting duties all wrapped up, Perseverance can finally get down to the serious business of searching the Martian landscape for signs of former life.

Star Wars loves few things more than it loves clones. From grand armies to wars and a certain scrupulous senator from Naboo, cloning is as intrinsic to the saga as X-Wings, blaster pistols, and even the Force itself. But as we’ve delved further and further into the franchise, the mixing of this fascination with the…Read more...

Two former Australian reality TV stars have been arrested amidst a global FBI operation that targeted organized crime and its use of encrypted communication devices.

Welp, I can kiss that $3.99 goodbye.

For 30 minutes this morning, Netflix opened the floodgates of information in terms of its high-end animated content. There was news about Masters of the Universe, Mobile Suit Gundam, Resident Evil, Transformers, Godzilla, and more. If you missed it, don’t fret, we’ve got you covered.Read more...

Earlier this week, Apple flipped on the switch to enable Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos in Apple Music. But while turning on the setting is relatively easy, it can be confusing as to what devices will support which format—and whether you really need AirPods to enjoy the experience.Read more...

Colorado wildlife officials on Wednesday confirmed the existence of a litter of gray wolf pups—the first thought to be seen in the state in decades. The discovery is also noteworthy in light of a voter-passed initiative last year to reintroduce wolves to Colorado by 2023.

While Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings series has been a hot topic for conversation for some time, the future of J.R.R. Tolkien’s franchise has never been bound to just one new project. Get ready for something big: an anime film set in Rohan called The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.Read more...

If you haven’t logged in to LinkedIn in a while, it might be the time to recover your password to go rubberneck on what the oil and gas bigwigs are up to. In response to a Dutch court curb-stomping Royal Dutch Shell last month over its weak climate plan, the company’s CEO took to LinkedIn to write a response. And he’s…Read more...

The adventures of the Mighty Nein might have just recently come to a conclusion, but Critical Role rolls on with a brand new adventure that takes viewers into the future of the smash-hit actual-play tabletop show’s fantastical world. We’ve got the lowdown from veteran game master Matt Mercer, and newcomers Robbie…Read more...

I have been very wary of Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation for two reasons. The biggest one is that Smith kept calling it a “continuation” of the original 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, which seemed impossible because the original was completely episodic, meaning there was never…Read more...

Chinese authorities are upping their crackdown on all things crypto by arresting more than 1,100 people suspected of using these digital tokens for money laundering. The news comes courtesy of a Wednesday Wechat post from China’s Ministry of Public Security, which oversees law enforcement throughout the country.Read more...

No more presents from Bill Gates.Read more...

A review of literary and oral history suggests Polynesians, and not Europeans, were the first to explore Antarctic waters and possibly even spot the frozen continent itself.

There’s a moment near the end of Infinite (it’s in the trailer so not really a spoiler) where Mark Wahlberg drives a motorcycle off a cliff, lands on a airplane mid-flight, and stops his momentum with a samurai sword. After it happened I said to myself “Well, I haven’t seen that before,” which is certainly the…Read more...

Full disclosure: I slept through this morning’s solar eclipse, which is a real shame because watching the Sun rise over the horizon while being partially blotted out by the Moon is objectively one of the coolest things anyone is likely to see this year. I mean, I paid actual money to see Cruella, but I couldn’t get…Read more...

You’re probably familiar with Spot, Boston Dynamics’ highly advanced, nightmare-inducing robot dog. And while it went on sale last year, few of us have an extra $74,500 lying around to buy one. However, Chinese firm Unitree Robotics has a similar quadruped bot that’s not only a fraction of the size, but it also starts…Read more...

The 2021 San Diego Comic-Con be shrunk down to a virtual event again, but the Eisners—the most prestigious awards in the comics field, named after pioneer and creator of The Spirit, Will Eisner—must go on. This year’s crop of nominees is surprisingly light on Marvel and DC Comics titles, instead highlighting a diverse…Read more...

Electronics makers are always trying to miniaturize components whenever they can, and with its new Isocell JN1 sensor, Samsung claims it has created an image sensor with the world’s smallest photo pixels yet.Read more...

Swappable batteries mean your rechargeable gaming controller isn’t knocked out of commission for a few hours when the battery dies, but that also means you’ll have to disconnect from a console for a few moments to pop in a fresh one. Or does it? OtterBox’s new Power Swap Controller Batteries can be swapped in and out…Read more...

YouTuber ‘Shank Mods’ is a master at turning consoles into handheld portables by trimming down and miniaturizing their original electronics. They’ve gone as far as squeezing a functional Nintendo Wii into an Altoids tin, but their latest creation turns the clunky Nintendo Virtual Boy into a slick handheld that…Read more...

It’s been just a week since NASA announced its two Venus missions, and now there’s another one to look forward to. The European Space Agency today announced EnVision, its own Venus-bound spacecraft, slated to launch in the early 2030s.

The less you actually question anything that happens in this two-and-a-half-minute chunk of Shawn Levy’s Free Guy is probably for the best, as the moment you attempt to apply any form of coherent logic to it, it threatens to fall apart as spectacularly as its video game NPC hero’s life does.

With pandemic restrictions lifting in several parts of the world, many are excited to get as far away from home as possible, leading to a renewed interest in recreation vehicles. As a result, the RV industry is starting to deliver some truly luxurious homes on wheels, with amenities making them seem more like pricy…Read more...

Netflix’s weird Edgar Allen Poe crime film has found its iconic author. Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly return in a new teaser for Chucky. Plus, a look at the final season of The Walking Dead, and what’s coming in The Handmaid Tale’s season finale. To me, my spoilers!

Mass extinction and the climate emergency each pose an existential threat to life as we know it. A new landmark report shows they must be tackled in tandem to give nature—and by extension, us—the best shot at survival.

Ahead of Microsoft’s big Xbox and Bethesda E3 showcase on Sunday, Microsoft is announcing some news about Xbox Game Pass Ultimate including upcoming official support for streaming games directly in web browsers.Read more...

Protests against Enbridge’s Line 3 have been ramping up in Minnesota—and so has the response from authorities. A video went viral this week of a Department of Homeland Security helicopter sandblasting protesters following mass arrests. But some police tactics are far less visible while causing long-term hardship.

A Texas man has pleaded guilty to a plot to blow up an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in Ashburn, Virginia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. The 28-year-old man, an apparent supporter of former president Donald Trump, bragged about attending the January 6 insurrection…Read more...

The U.S. Product Safety Commission has recalled 1.6 million non-contact voltage testers made by Klein Tools, according to a press release from the government agency. Not only can the voltage tester fail to work, it can also be a potential shock hazard.

Earlier this year, Sony teased the development of its first-ever drone, and today that drone is finally getting an official debut. Say hello to the $9,000 Airpeak S1. Yes, that’s right: $9,000.Read more...

If you’re still upset about Netflix’s horrendous USA Today front-page Sweet Tooth ad last week—and you should be—this might help you calm down a tiny bit. Netflix has released a short blooper reel for the show, adapted from the comic by Jeff Lemire, and if you thought the series was cute, well, you haven’t seen…Read more...

There’s no faster way to win the hearts and minds of the people than by bringing them fast, reliable internet on an airplane. Elon Musk knows this, and that’s maybe why his space company, SpaceX, is reportedly in talks with “several” airlines in a bid to provide their crafts with WiFi via the company’s growing …Read more...

Back when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—and therefore, because it’s a Star Wars movie, its oodles upon oodles of merchandise—was coming out, Hasbro had yet to introduce its game-changing “photoreal” face-printing technology, which meant your action figures of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and pals didn’t perhaps look as…Read more...

Facebook is reportedly developing a smartwatch to take on Apple, and while those of us who have been paying attention to Facebook’s shenanigans for several years now are cringing, clearly there’s a market for Facebook hardware—look at the success of its smart display, Portal.Read more...

The Biden administration just struck a deal with Pfizer to buy 500 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine from the pharma giant, with plans to donate the doses to countries that need them, sources familiar with the pact told the Washington Post on Wednesday.Read more...

Apple TV+ has made a very interesting choice for the first trailer for its 10-part alien invasion sci-fi drama, simply—ever so simply—titled Invasion. Instead of showing anything about the titular extraterrestrial attack, the trailer is mostly focused on people almost entirely going about their individual lives, which…Read more...

A dose of laughing gas may just help some people with hard-to-treat depression, suggests a new, small clinical trial published Wednesday. The study found that people who inhaled nitrous oxide reported improvements in their depression symptoms afterward. It also found that people felt similar improvements with a…Read more...

Life has found a way and fans are going to get their first look at next year’s Jurassic World: Dominion very soon. Universal Studios will debut a “special extended preview of the film” exclusive to IMAX theaters attached to the upcoming film F9, and it’ll bring us to a time we’ve never seen in the Jurassic franchise:…Read more...

This week, ProPublica released a massive scoop—a treasure trove of financial records showing how some of the U.S.’s wealthiest billionaires scamper off with virtually no tax burden. And the U.S. government knows exactly what to do in response: find whoever released those embarrassing records and incarcerate the shit…Read more...

NFTs are either over, or NFTs are forever; it can only be one, so the only safe thing to do right now is mint everything you own. Fortunately, you’ll soon be able to fire off a doodle, mint it, and put it up for auction within minutes. Mint mint mint!

Tech workers at the New York Times are officially fed up with the company’s union busting behavior.Read more...

Donny Cates’ God Country graphic novel is coming to the big screen. Blue Beetle could be headed to HBO Max. Netflix gives a little tease for Umbrella Academy’s third season. Plus, what’s next on The Flash and Superman & Lois. Spoilers, away!

As Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference continues, through the individual sessions we’re slowly getting more details about all the new features coming to iOS 15 that weren’t revealed during Monday’s keynote address, including some updated functionality for gamers who like to share gameplay highlights online.Read more...

Last year, Motorola released its first phone ever with an included stylus. The company says the G Stylus has become so popular that even after refreshing the lineup earlier this year, Moto is giving it some extra special attention with the new Moto G Stylus 5G.Read more...

Having two displays hooked up to your computer instead of one can seriously boost your productivity and open up all kinds of new options for gaming, web browsing, and creative tasks—but you don’t necessarily need to go out and buy yourself a new monitor. From Apple’s Sidecar to Google’s Chromecasting, you’ve got a…Read more...

El Salvador has become the first country in the world to recognize the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal currency, according to President Nayib Bukele in a tweet on Wednesday. Citizens will be able to pay taxes in bitcoin and, perhaps most importantly for bitcoin diehards, bitcoin won’t be subject to capital gains taxes…Read more...

If you thought the deal couldn’t possibly get sweeter for the influencers that flock to Facebook and Instagram to simultaneously bolster their social media followings and line their pockets, think again: On Tuesday, both platforms announced that they’ll be stepping up their respective games in the coming weeks by…Read more...

Loki takes Tom Hiddleston’s shapeshifting god of mischief out of his usual friend (and frenemy) circle and transposes him into a strange new world at the Time Variance Authority, filled with equally strange new characters. So what happens if you’re one of the few arbiters of the MCU’s goings-on involved? If you’re Tom…Read more...

Whether it’s the classic ‘60s bop, the ‘90s heavy metal guitar wails, or the pop-rock goodness of Spectacular Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s animated adventures have always had some pretty banging theme songs. His latest animated show, aimed at younger audiences, is no exception, thanks to Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick…Read more...