Google News - Gizmodo

Uh, Those 'Death of iTunes' Rumors Are Starting to Look More Real

Apple appears to be giving us even more indication that those rumors about the death of iTunes may hold water. As noted on Reddit and reported by MacRumors, Apple’s iTunes pages on Facebook and Instagram have been scrubbed of their content just days ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), its annual event at which the company is reportedly planning to announce it’s killing the 18-year-old app (and not a moment too soon, in our opinion). The Instagram account for iTunes currently directs visitors to its Apple TV page, while the page’s link directs to Apple TV+. MacRumors not...

GizmodoYesterday

E-Cig Giant Juul Is Considering Opening Its Own Vape Shops

Photo: Gizmodo Vape giant Juul is looking into opening its own vape shops, according to reports, and may already be exploring ways to squash arguments that doing so would grant greater access to its products to teens amid intense scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that the company has not made a definitive decision on whether to open the retail locations. CNBC separately cited a source as saying that Juul was weighing the decision, and both outlets said that Juul is planning to soon open a retai...

GizmodoYesterday

Justice Department Is Reportedly Looking Into an Antitrust Investigation Into Google

Photo: AP The Justice Department may be preparing to launch an antitrust investigation into Google, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the department has been in talks with the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust task force about launching a probe into the tech giant’s search and business operations. Following discussions over which should proceed with a new antitrust investigation—the FTC previously investigated Google but closed the case in 2013—the Journal said the two have agreed to the Justice Department leading any new probe into the company. Separatel...

GizmodoYesterday

There's One Deleted Scene Captain Marvel's Directors Wish Had Made the Final Cut

Jude Law in Captain Marvel. Image: Marvel Studios Deleted scenes are often moments that, in isolation, are good ideas. But in the broader framework of the movie, where it’s going, how much time it has to get there, they just don’t work. But some deleted scenes deserve their due. Talking to Cinema Blend, Captain Marveldirectors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck reveal a deleted scene that they wish they had found a way to include in the final cut. “I think the scene where Jude visits his Supreme Intelligence is really fun—I think it’s on the deleted scenes—and it’s just one of those delicious after ...

GizmodoYesterday

Underland Reimagines Nature Writing About an Increasingly Unnatural World

Traditional nature writing explores the majesty of earth’s topographies—its fields and streams and mountains—those sunlit places bursting with blues and greens. Such writing reminds us of the beauty of pristine nature and evokes a desire to get out of our concrete cities and into the wild. In the extraordinary Underland: A Deep Time Journey, Robert Macfarlane offers a different view of earth. He goes where sunlight can’t—into the interior of the planet —to excavate our relationships with darkness and the unknown. What he reveals is both chilling and wondrous. Written with a powerful lyricis...

GizmodoYesterday

These Little Silica Hexagons Are Like Super-Advanced Lego Bricks

The big atoms, or silica hexagons.Image: Smalyukh lab The problem with atoms is that they’re small. Too small. Don’t you wish they were... bigger? There’s an entire field of research, known as colloidal science, that attempts to study atoms by making larger analogues for them. Scientists create particles suspended in some liquid or gas that are like atoms but larger and more controllable. One team at the University of Colorado, Boulder has unveiled its own such particles that they can control with ambient light. They’re useful not only for getting a better understanding of atoms themselves ...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Chelsea Manning's Lawyers Ask Again For Her Release, Say She'll Never 'Betray Her Principles'

Attorneys for Chelsea Manning on Friday have once again asked the court to release the activist and whistleblower from her confinement in Virginia on the basis that she cannot be coerced to testify in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. “She is suffering physically and psychologically, and is at the time of this writing in the process of losing her home as a result of her present confinement,” the lawyers said. “She has made clear she prefers to become homeless rather than betray her principles. Her intransigence, at this point, is n...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Microsoft Warns of BlueKeep Vulnerability in Older Windows

You Need to Patch Your Older Windows PCs Right Now to Patch a Serious Flaw

Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty) If the idea of someone running Windows XP in 2019 makes you laugh, I urge you to maintain that blissful naïveté. Just leave now. Are they gone? Okay, so, Windows XP, Vista, and the rest of those old and unsupported operating systems are still extremely real—and they’re everywhere. The ancient software is still active in important places, like the U.S. Defense Department and inside the nation’s critical infrastructure. For those of you still handling old Windows machines, Microsoft has a serious message: Update as soon as possible. Microsoft is warning that a r...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Apple Patent Hints at Haptic Feedback For Project Titan Car

Freshly Published Patent Keeps the Dream of an Apple Self-Driving Car Alive

Graphic: Gizmodo Bumpy car rides suck and a newly published patent reveals Apple has fairly recently been exploring a “fully-actuated suspension system” using variable pressure air springs and a haptic-feedback system to create a smoother ride. The patent was originally filed in March 2016 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and originates from Apple’s Project Titan division. It was finally published this week. The filing features a lot of technical gobbledygook, but in essence, it describes a suspension system that can “compensate for vehicle oscillations at frequencies below the pri...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Closing the West's Largest Coal Plant Will Leave the Navajo Nation With $40 Million in Missing Revenue

The Navajo Generating StationPhoto: AP The Navajo Generating Station in Arizona is closing, and that’s terrible news for the Native American communities that rely on the coal plant for their income. A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) is calling on the federal government to step in for this major economic disruption the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe are preparing to face. The report, released Thursday, highlights how dramatic losing the power plant and the Kayenta Mine located on Navajo land that supplies it with coal will be for the tribes. In...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Punctured Skulls Suggest Saber-Toothed Cats Fought Amongst Themselves

The fang of a saber-toothed cat fitting perfectly into the puncture wound of a fellow saber-toothed cat.Image: Nicolas R. Chimento An analysis of two punctured saber-toothed cat skulls suggests these extinct creatures engaged in intra-species combat. It’s further evidence that the exaggerated fangs of saber-toothed cats were strong enough to penetrate bone. Saber-toothed cats disappeared around 11,000 years ago, but these fearsome predators dominated Pleistocene landscapes for millions of years. The purpose of their iconic fangs, however, is the subject of a longstanding debate, with some s...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Workers Came Up With a Brilliant Plan to Use Postmates' Exploitive Platform Against Itself

Postmates CEO Bastion Lehmann, who once told a customer, personally, to “fuck off”Photo: John Phillips (Getty) Food and beverage delivery platform Postmates has been hard at work making enemies, mainly out of its own contractor workforce. “I used to talk them up as far as being the most reputable company,” courier Chris Palmer told Gizmodo. He says he’s been delivering with Postmates for a year and a half in the greater Seattle area, and working gig economy jobs more broadly for close to half a decade. But the work he used to be able to make a reasonable living from has become untenable, he...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Tourist Infected by Brain-Invading Parasite After Eating Slug on a Dare in Hawaii

Photo: Simon Cope (Flickr) Hawaii health officials are warning residents and visitors to avoid slugs, snails, and rats after the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that three travelers visiting the state were recently infected with rat lungworm disease. One visitor got the disease because the individual ate a slug. The notice, issued last week, warns people to inspect produce and wash fruit and vegetables that could have small slugs or snails. These gastropods get the rat lungworm parasite (also known as an Angiostrongylus Infection) by eating rat feces, and rats eat the infected slugs ...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Pokémon Game References in Detective Pikachu's Final VFX Battle

How the Pokémon Games (and Even Avengers: Infinity War) Influenced Detective Pikachu's Wild Climax

It’s super effective!Image: Warner Bros./Legendary Detective Pikachu is already a pretty weird movie—it’s a noir film for kids starring outlandish creatures, one of which wears an incredibly adorable deerstalker hat. But it takes an even weirder turn for its climactic third act. A turn that required VFX studio MCP to explore not only the games for inspiration, but one of Marvel’s biggest blockbusters. After Bill Nighy’s seemingly benevolent benefactor Howard Clifford reveals himself to be not quite as benevolent as we’d been led to believe—by hijacking Mewtwo’s body with his mind and going ...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Apple Reportedly Plans to Limit Tracking in Kid’s Apps

Photo: Michael Short (Getty) Sometimes I lose track in Silicon Valley. Apple is supposed to be the privacy company, right? That’s what the billboards and TV commercials keep saying. Yes, Tim Cook jumps over the low bar on privacy set by his Silicon Valley competitors but it’s becoming clear Cupertino still has work to do — and it seems like they know it. Apple will reportedly introduce new third-party tracking limits on kids apps, according to the Wall Street Journal citing an anonymous source. The most likely time for such an announcement will be starting next week at the company’s annual ...

Gizmodo2 days ago

More Than Half a Million Corals Died to Bring Bigger Ships Into Miami Port

All these corals died near the Port of Miami—all to expand the channel and allow in bigger ships.Photo: Getty Off the coast of Miami, corals are dying. Why? Because of a 16-month-long project to expand the harbor channel. A new study shows how the project killed over half a million corals between 2013 and 2015. Published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin Thursday, the study involved on-the-ground observations of the corals coupled with satellite images to see how much sedimentation the project’s dredging threw into the water—and how all that sediment ultimately affected coral health....

Gizmodo2 days ago

California Man Becomes the First ‘Death With Dignity’ Patient to Undergo Cryonic Preservation

A row of dewars in Alcor’s Patient Care Bay.Photo: George Dvorsky A terminally ill patient who opted for assisted death has undergone cryonic preservation at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. This preservation—the first of its kind—signifies an important milestone for cryonics advocates, who argue that the right to death, paradoxically, is a potential pathway to an eternal life. On October 30, 2018, Alcor performed its 164th cryopreservation. It was an otherwise unremarkable moment for the nonprofit organization, save for the way Norman Hardy of Mountain View, California met his demise. ...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Internet Providers in Maine Will Soon Have To Get Consent Before Selling Customer Data

Photo: Getty Internet service providers gobble up a disconcerting amount of information about you—your browsing history, your geolocation information, your financial information, and a lot (a lot) more. There have been many attempts to pass state-level bills that prevent ISPs from selling this type of data—since Republicans in Congress eliminated federal protections in 2017—but nearly all of them have failed, which makes the passage of a bill in Maine a significant milestone for privacy advocates. The Maine Senate voted unanimously in favor of the bill, LD 946, which requires ISPs to get co...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Review: The Good, Bad, and Incredible

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Is Here: The Good, the Bad, and the Incredible

Everywhere you look in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, there’s something to see, something to explore, or something to do. Even though it’s not 100 percent complete, the land itself is a star. You walk in, and you instantly feel like you’ve left Disneyland in Anaheim, California and become immersed in the Star Wars universe. Though the one ride open so far is not a home run, for me, just looking at the Millennium Falcon parked there is worth the price of admission. Easter eggs from not just the films, but the books, TV shows, and more, are scattered in every nook and cranny. All the Disneyland cas...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Man Suffers 9-Day Erection After Bruising Taint in Moped Accident

A man pops a wheelie on a scooter, a type of motorcycle that is similar to but distinct from a moped.Photo: Getty A man’s fall from a moped caused him much stranger trouble than anyone could have imagined. According to his doctors, a bruise near his genitals left him with a days-long erection—one that eventually required a trip to the emergency room to treat. Thankfully, doctors were able to resolve his awkward complication, and the patient had no lasting damage. The bizarre tale was described by the UK doctors who treated the man, in a case study published last month in the journal Case Re...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Think HBO's Chernobyl Is Brutal? Check Out This Haunting Animation That Aired on TV in the 1950s

GIF GIF: BFI/YouTube HBO’s new miniseries Chernobyl has gotten a lot of attention for its gory realism. Radiation from a nuclear power plant disaster is brutal for the human body, to say the least. But the explicit nature of Chernobyl almost pales in comparison to some of the things that were shown in the 1950s. Like this British short film that was played for parents and kids alike in 1956. The film is titled “A Short Vision” and has been preserved by the British Film Institute on YouTube. But this isn’t just an artifact for the Brits. This short film first played for American audiences on...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Developers of Purged Apps Put Pressure on Apple Ahead of WWDC

Purged App Makers Want Apple to Prove It's Serious About the App Store Being Open to Competitors

Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo) Last month, Apple removed or put restrictions on several apps meant to limit screen time in the App Store. Now, the New York Times reports that 17 affected by that purge have proposed Apple create an API so their apps can return to the store without violating the company’s strict privacy guidelines. The proposed API would allow third-party app makers to use Apple’s own technology to monitor how much time you spend on your phone. “In the most minimal form, the API only gives access to App and Device usage data, but no App data is exposed,” the proposal reads. Acco...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Watching Someone Restore a Filthy Game Boy to Its Original Pristine Condition Is Soothing For the Soul

GIF GIF: YouTube It was a tragic day when, after being dropped on the floor, my original Game Boy was left with a bunch of dead lines on its screen. But it lived a good life, and has the scars, knicks, and scratches to prove it. However, it wasn’t quite as abused as this Game Boy that YouTube’s Odd Tinkering purchased and managed to painstakingly restore back to perfect condition. I’ve watched countless videos on how to clean up the plastics on old video game consoles that have yellowed over the years, but Odd Tinkering goes so much further in this 15-minute video that condenses over 20 hou...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Five Years After Surgery, Face Transplant Recipients Experience Significant Improvements

Facial transplant surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Image: Brigham and Women’s Hospital A five-year follow-up of six face transplant patients has found significant improvements in their sensory and motor functions, along with reported improvements to their quality of life. Much progress has been made since the first partial face transplant was performed at a French hospital in 2005. This cutting-edge procedure offers a much-needed option for individuals with severe facial disfigurements, typically the result of traumatic injuries. The operation involves the transfer of faci...

Gizmodo2 days ago

Canadian Wildfires Are Already Turning Sunsets Red in the US

Pyrocumulus clouds above a wildfire near High Level, Alberta, Canada.Image: Pierre Markuse (Flickr) The calendar hasn’t turned to summer yet, but skies in Canada and across the U.S. already look like August. Smoke from massive Canadian wildfires has made the sun disappear in Edmonton and turned Friday’s sunrise blood red as far east as Vermont. More than 900,000 acres of Alberta has gone up in flames, the latest symptom of our overheating planet. Wildfire risk continues to be high in the province as well as neighboring British Columbia where a heat wave has temperatures climbing into the 90...

Gizmodo2 days ago