Gizmodo

A collaboration between physicists and citizen scientists has led to the discovery of a previously unknown form of Northern Lights. Dubbed “the dunes,” the spectacular auroral form is providing new insights into Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Over 55 scientists have signed an open letter rebuking Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that the climate plan rival contender Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders supports, the Green New Deal, isn’t supported by anyone in the scientific field.

We take it you’ve heard the news about the Doctors Who?

Daniel Radcliffe could’ve sailed into early retirement after the Harry Potter films, but his career has kept going at a brisk pace. He’s done rom-coms, action flicks, and regular ol’ dramas, but he’s also quite clearly committed to keeping it weird whenever possible. Here are six examples—the good, the bad, and the…Read more...

As an outbreak of coronavirus that reportedly originated in Wuhan, China continues to spread, U.S. airlines are beginning to be impacted by travel advisories and a decrease in demand for flights to China.Read more...

Every September, Apple reveals a new iPhone. And every year, Apple watchers wonder if this will be the new iPhone to which consumers say, “Nah, we’re good.” 2019 was not that year. With a little help from the iPhone 11 lineup, Apple made a $22.2 billion profit on $91.8 billion in revenue over the holiday quarter. (In…Read more...

Journalist Felicia Sonmez was suspended from The Washington Post Sunday for nebulous reasons, allegedly stemming from her Twitter activity following the death of NBA giant Kobe Bryant. Hours after news broke that Bryant died in a helicopter crash—which killed eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter—Sonmez…Read more...

On Tuesday afternoon, a major magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Jamaica. The shaking could reportedly be felt on land and tsunami warnings went up for Belize, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, and Jamaica.Read more...

When we talk about Facebook’s myriad foibles and fuckups, we’re usually laying the blame on things that happen within the Big Blue App, or, increasingly, the social network’s CEO. What’s less discussed are the company’s ties to the potentially millions of sites and services using its software—but now, thankfully, we ca…Read more...

The number of people wearing face masks in public (and at the Gizmodo office) has ballooned in recent weeks—a highly visible sign of the fears sparked by the coronavirus that’s hit China hard and has the potential to spread far and wide. But while masks may offer a comforting feeling of protection, just how useful…Read more...

In this week’s episode, “Fugitive of the Judoon,” the BBC’s Doctor Who made history by casting a Black woman, Jo Martin, as the Doctor for the first time in the series’ 57-year history. Let’s talk about it.

The Galaxy Fold was the pioneer for Samsung’s first efforts in making foldable phones, and now thanks to a massive leak, we’re getting a detailed look at Samsung’s second foldable handset—the Galaxy Z Flip—weeks before its expected official debut.Read more...

The aptly named City Roads project is simple: Just go to the site, enter the name of your city, and software creates a map that exclusively shows roads. With no text or topography at all, the results are really quite beautiful.

A newly proposed House authorization bill would push back NASA’s deadline to land humans on the Moon to 2028 instead of 2024, while also calling for a crewed landing on Mars in 2033. Reactions to this proposal have been mixed, with NASA’s chief Jim Bridenstine unhappy about the way the agency is supposed to roll out…Read more...

In what can only be described as an incredible dunk, the Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to Gojo Industries, maker of Purell hand sanitizer, warning that the company is violating federal rules by saying its products can kill “99.99% of most common germs that may cause illness in a healthcare setting,…Read more...

You can get comprehensive lists of everything coming to streaming services anywhere. But half of those titles you don’t care about, and the other half are terrible. Where’s the good stuff? io9 is here to help.

As more and more major players wade into the streaming wars, companies are likely looking for ways to diversify their offerings either through bundles or acquisitions. According to two reports, both Apple and Netflix may be looking to tap MGM’s catalog to beef up their respective streaming services.Read more...

Television shows come and go, and now a fresh crop of potential fall shows are upon us. We’ve got some promising new series, a backdoor pilot hitching off the end of a popular show, and of course a few along the lines of “what if [insert science fiction thing] had more cops?” Here are the ones that stood out to us the…Read more...

Today, the UK has announced new legislation aimed at protecting consumers who buy connected devices from hacking and other types of security risks. The law would require makers of Internet of Things devices to adhere to three security requirements, which frankly should be no-brainers but somehow aren’t.Read more...

Dyson has made a name for itself by meticulously designing products that typically far outperform its competitors’ offerings, but that extreme attention to detail and innovation often comes at a steep price. That’s the case with the company’s new Morph lamp: It manages to improve on Dyson’s Lightcycle lamp in many…Read more...

Back at the launch event for the iPhone 11 last fall, the developers of Filmic Pro got on stage and showed off a new app that allowed iPhone users to record videos using both the front and rear cameras on their iPhone simultaneously. And today, that app finally made its official debut in the form of Filmic’s new …Read more...

Bushfires are still scorching Australia and the crisis is far from over.Read more...

Smart rings have a few advantages over more common wrist-worn wearables. For starters, they can be more discreet, fashionable, and comfortable to wear while sleeping. The main issue is there aren’t as many of them out there—much less ones that offer the same breadth of features as wristables. That’s why it’s nice to…Read more...

A task force organized by the American Institute of Physics, a not-for-profit organization made up of other American physics societies, has released the results of a study into why African American students are persistently underrepresented in receiving undergraduate degrees in physics and astronomy.Read more...

The workers of Mechanical Turk, Amazon’s on-demand micro-task platform, say they have encountered mutilated bodies, graphic videos of botched surgeries, and what appeared to be child pornography. They say they have been asked to transcribe Social Security numbers and other personal data. Sometimes their temporary…Read more...

The tropics are the most biodiverse part of the world. Some tropical rainforests are home to more species than entire continents, and tropical coral reefs are believed to have the highest biodiversity of any marine ecosystem on the planet. But thanks to human action—specifically, the actions of the fossil fuel…Read more...

One small step for a startup, one giant leap into finally launching the filthy rich into space: NASA announced on Monday that it has selected Houston-based startup Axiom Space to build the first commercial destination module for the International Space Station.

An organized campaign against the use of biometric surveillance at universities and colleges in the U.S. is ratcheting up pressure on institutions it believes are currently using—or are likely soon to adopt—face recognition technology.Read more...

Computer Gold Box | AmazonRead more...

Germany, Japan, and Taiwan have all reported the first cases of a new SARS-like virus in people who haven’t recently visited China. The announcements, made on Tuesday, come as the number of confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV worldwide reached 4,587 and the death toll hit 106.Read more...

Lake County, Florida deputies arrested a former contributor to Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory hellhole InfoWars, 73-year-old Wolfgang Halbig, on Monday after he waged a relentless campaign of online harassment against the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Monday announced that its research into the Ring app’s Android version identified several embedded third-party trackers sucking up “a plethora” of personal information.

There’s rarely as satisfying a moment on TV as watching someone strike it rich on Antiques Roadshow when a random item turns out to be worth a fortune. That’s exactly what happened on this evening’s episode when an Air Force veteran learned a rare Rolex he’d never worn was worth upwards of $700,000.Read more...

The State Department has urged U.S. citizens to reconsider traveling to China amid an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus there that has killed at least a hundred people and has begun to spread across the globe, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Authorities are also considering implementing stricter screenings at borders and…Read more...

Doctor Who’s latest episode was full of surprises—to the point where a major cast member making their long-awaited return wasn’t even the biggest part! The actor behind one of the coolest cameos this side of the TARDIS is sharing details about that fateful Chris Chibnall phone call, what his codename was on set, and…Read more...

Convicted securities fraudster Martin Shkreli is facing fresh allegations that he and his company purposely and illegally inflated the price of the drug Daraprim, a life-saving medication used to prevent malaria and treat deadly diseases caused by foodborne illness.

As a newly discovered pneumonia-causing virus threatens to engulf China and spread far beyond its borders, governments and researchers are scrambling to create a preventive vaccine. But will it arrive too late to help people? And is it possible that we missed having a head start on its development?

Intel on Monday announced the third in a series of patches meant to address processor vulnerabilities. The latest is closely related to issues addressed in November known as ZombieLoad 2, or TSX Asynchronous Abort. A fix will be available in the near future, an advisory notice said.

Air pollution is expensive. Like, really freaking expensive. That’s why it’s worthwhile to keep our air clean. A study out recently has found that reduced air pollution levels between 1993 and 2013 saved the U.S some $24 billion a year looking only the benefits to elderly people and early deaths related to the air…Read more...

If you spend your life living under a rock you might have missed one of the recent obsessions amongst the young’ns: sequin-covered pillows, plush toys, and even clothing that change color when you rub your hand across them. It’s a completely pointless experience, but also an incredibly satisfying one that’s actually…Read more...

The climate crisis is changing all aspects of human life, from the communities we live in to the air we breathe to the food we eat. Thinking about it is terrifying. It makes me want a glass of wine to soothe my nerves.Read more...

With credits that include Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Superman, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Home Alone, everyone knows that composer John Williams can do it all. But whoever thought he could win a Grammy for a theme park?Read more...

In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft Edge is back: The rebooted, revamped, and rebuilt program is now based on the same Chromium engine as Google Chrome and a variety of other browsers, and Microsoft has taken the opportunity to streamline and tidy up the application at the same time. Here’s how to give it a trial…Read more...

Google Drive and Google Docs are down...at least for some people. According to Downdetector, the popular cloud service and software suite appeared to crater out of existence at 12:57pm Eastern Standard Time today.Read more...

Astronomers have documented a bizarre cycle of molecular destruction and rebirth on an ultra-hot, Jupiter-like exoplanet where surface temperatures exceed 7,750 degrees Fahrenheit.

Last night’s Doctor Who was meant to be, like much of season 12 so far, a reminder of its more familiar self of the past few years in the wake of last season’s bold experiments with the tone and scope of the show. Familiar aliens stalking familiar Earth streets, a monster-packed romp just like the good old days. And…Read more...

If you want to describe how an infectious disease spreads, one handy number is what epidemiologists call R (“R naught”), the disease’s basic reproductive number. Right now, scientists are trying to figure out the R for the new coronavirus from Wuhan, China. So far, it seems to be a little bit higher than for the…Read more...

Vine 2.0 is officially live, and it’s already crawling with users thirsty for those follows.Read more...

NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Smart Managed Plus Switch | $17 | AmazonRead more...

The Witcher continues its trek across the countryside. The popularity of the Henry Cavill-led show has led to a spinoff anime called Nightmare of the Wolf, a soundtrack featuring Jaskier’s tunes, and even a 500,000-book reprint of the original series. We reached out to Andrzej Sapkowski, creator of The Witcher, to get…Read more...