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Showing posts from June, 2019

New Mode Enables Four-Fold Increase in Tokamak Fusion Performance

Super-H Mode allows tokamaks to achieve higher fusion performance than previously possible. In recent experiments operating in and near the Super H-mode regime, researchers have achieved record-breaking values of fusion gain for a device of DIII-D’s size. Fusion gain is the ratio of fusion power generated to heating power. Super-H Mode works by increasing temperature and pressure in the outer region of the plasma, called the pedestal. The experiments showed – as the theory predicted – that proper tuning of the plasma cross-sectional shape and density leads to pedestal temperatures and pressures that are more than twice as high as

Attack on Titan Will End With Its Fourth Season

The giant-killing anime will slay its last when it wraps up in its fourth season. Read more...

Star Wars Battlefront II Fans Are Loving The Recently Added Droidekas

You might call them Droidekas or you might call them destroyer droids, but whatever you call them, these rolling death machines were recently added into Star Wars Battlefront II . Since being added fans have seemingly fallen in love with the new droids, posting clips of how deadly they are, how buggy they can be, how… Read more...

Samsung's Switch-Friendly 512GB MicroSD Card is Cheaper Than Ever

Samsung 512GB 100MB/s (U3) MicroSD Evo Select Memory Card | $100 | Amazon Read more...

Jeremy Renner Reveals Avengers: Endgame Once Had a Thanos Battle on Vormir

The sequence in Avengers: Endgame on Vormir is one of the most intimate, emotional moments in the film. But it wasn’t always planned that way. Read more...

A Small Update on the New RoboCop Movie, Which Is Apparently Still Happening

Last year, we got news that Neil Blomkamp, possibly as penance from the universe for not getting to make that Alien movie he was really hype for, was working on RoboCop Returns , a direct followup to the original 1987 film. Now, we’ve got an update that confirms that the movie, while moving slowly, is definitely still… Read more...

Ampaire Flies Largest Hybrid-Electric Plane

Los Angeles-based Ampaire unveiled its prototype electric-powered plane, the Ampaire 337, in a test flight above Camarillo Airport in California on June 6. This is the largest a hybrid-electric aircraft that has flown. The twin-engine plane will be able to carry seven to nine passengers and boasts a range of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers). It is based on the six-seat Cessna 337 Skymaster, which was retrofitted with Ampaire’s proprietary electric propulsion system powered by a lightweight battery system. Ganzarski, the chief executive officer of MagniX, an electric propulsion startup based in Seattle, says his company is focusing on

Tell Us Who You Would Cast in a New Version of The Matrix

So there’s this bonkers rumor going around. You might’ve heard it. It says that the Wachowski Sisters are jacking back into The Matrix , directing a reboot of the film that will star Michael B. Jordan. Read more...

Tesla Dry Electrode Batteries Will Enable Large Passenger Electric Planes

Elon Musk indicates that electric motors and batteries with over 400 Wh/kg will be able be a cross over point for electric planes against jet fuel planes. Israeli startup Eviation is making a nine-passenger all-electric regional passenger aircraft by 2021. It will take 9 passengers up to 650 miles at a cruise speed of 240 knots. Alice uses distributed propulsion with one main pusher propeller at the tail and two pusher propellers at the wingtips to reduce drag, create redundancy, and improve efficiency. Alice will cost at least four times less per passenger-mile and it can also operate as a

Which Will Be First to Space – the SpaceX Starship or the SLS?

SpaceX is talking with three companies about the first commercial launch of the fully reusable Super Heavy Starship with a 2021 target date. United Launch Alliance and NASA have been working on the Space Launch System since 2011. There was also the Constellation rocket program from 2005 to 2011. SLS and Constellation were trying to re-use Space Shuttle booster technology. However, despite spending over $20 billion (not including another $10 billion for the Orion capsule) there has not been a successful test or a live mission with SLS. NASA is still talking about a first mission with SLS in 2020

Look At This Adorable And Deadly Cougar From Red Dead Redemption 2

When you think about the cougars in Red Dead Redemption 2 , the first thing that comes to mind is probably fear. Or maybe injury? Or that scary growl that big cats do before they jump on you and rip your face off. What probably doesn’t pop into your head is just how dang cute these big cats actually are, when they… Read more...

US Restarts Trade Talks With China and Talks With North Korea

Trade talks with China and restarted. There is now a delay in any tariff increases. Huawei is getting some relief. North Korea President Trump became the first sitting President to set foot in North Korea on Sunday as he met Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, and the two agreed to restart negotiations on a long-elusive nuclear agreement. Leaving South Korea after a wonderful meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un. Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2019 오울렛

Thanks to This Cover, the Cantina Theme From Star Wars Is Going to Be Stuck in My Head All Day

Back in the day, before all the Nazis and creepy algorithmically generated children’s shows, YouTube was great for two things: old Saturday Night Live clips, and song covers. It’s honestly still pretty great for the latter. Read more...

Sunday's Best Deals: Casper Mattresses, Sony Z9F Sound Bar, Fun Dip, and More

10% off Casper mattresses , $200 off the Sony Z9F sound bar , and a variety pack of Fun Dip lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web. Read more...

When You Dip, I Dip, We Dip Into This $8 Fun Dip Variety Pack

Fun Dip Assorted Flavor Party Pack, 48-Count | $8 | Amazon Read more...

Stranger Things 3 Is Like an 8-Hour Summer Blockbuster, Here's Our Non-Spoiler Review

Almost two years after its second season debuted, Stranger Things 3 finally comes to Netflix this week . We’ve seen it, we’ve enjoyed it, and we’ll get into a lot of the specifics after everyone else has had a chance to do the same. Until then though, we thought you might be interested in some broader, non-spoiler… Read more...

This Video Proves Once and For All That Luke Skywalker is Star Wars’s Straight Man

What makes a good straight man? Keep calm and don’t know what’s going on. Read more...

Will NASA Find Life on Titan?

JoAnna Wendel is a science cartoonist and writer in Washington, DC. She loves space, planets, rocks, and her cat, Pancake. You can find her work at joannawendelcomics.com and follow her on Twitter at @JoAnnaScience . Read more...

Let's-A-Go and Save On New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | $45 | Amazon Read more...

Credit Card Sized Raspberry Pi 4 at $35-119 for Desktop Performance

The Raspberry Pi 4 offers ground-breaking increases in processor speed, multimedia performance, memory, and connectivity compared to the prior-generation boards, while retaining backwards compatibility and similar power consumption. The Raspberry Pi 4 provides desktop performance comparable to entry-level x86 PC systems. The Raspberry Pi 4 comes in three on-board RAM options for even further performance benefits: 1GB, 2GB and 4GB. This product’s key features include a high-performance 64-bit quad-core processor, dual-display output via two Micro HDMI ports, up to 4K resolution, hardware video decoding at up to 4Kp60, up to 4GB of RAM, dual-band 2.4/5.0 GHz wireless LAN, Bluetooth 5.0,

Ingrid Michaelson and Artist Nicola Scott Create a Pretty Tribute to Stranger Things

If you’ve never heard of Ingrid Michaelson, she’s a pretty fantastic indie pop folk artist. Her newest album is a long tribute to Stranger Things , and the newest video released for the project is lush. Read more...

Daisy Ridley Has a Funny Memory of That Hug Scene With Carrie Fisher That's Going to Be in The Rise of Skywalker

The late Carrie Fisher is known for bringing sharp humor to her time working on film sets. The scenes of hers used in The Rise of Skywalker are no different. Read more...

Comics Writer Sina Grace Talks the Lack of Support He Received From Marvel While Writing Iceman

In 2017, writer and artist Sina Grace had a historically significant run on Iceman , a book we covered as it came out , in which the powerful mutant struggled as much with superheroic shenanigans as he did with the lived experience of life as a gay man, work for which he was nominated for a GLAAD award. According to its… Read more...

The Producer Of Pokemon Sword & Shield Issues A Statement About National Dex Controversy And Confirms No Plans To Change Decision

After weeks of fan outrage and anger, the producer of Pokemon Sword & Shield, Junichi Masuda, released a statement yesterday addressing the decision to not have all Pokemon move forward into Sword & Shield . The statement is fairly short and the main takeaway is simple: They hear all the anger and disappointment, but… Read more...

Saturday's Best Deals: Weighted Blankets, Natural Deodorant, Samsung 4K TV, and More

A bunch of weighted blankets , a natural deodorant gold box , and the Samsung Q60 QLED 4K TV lead off Saturday’s best deals from around the web. Read more...

This Video Dives Into the Bizarre, Complex History of the Muppet Babies

I learned a lot about the Muppet Babies recently. The Henson-created cartoon, which I watched in syndication as a kid in the ‘90s, has a fascinating history. Read more...

Sleep Your Stresses Away With a Bunch of Weighted Blankets That Are Under $42

Anjee Weighted Blanket, 20 Pounds, 60" x 80" | $42 | Amazon | Clip coupon and use promo code 7ZNLC2B3 Read more...

Hybrid Quantum-Classical System from D-Wave and Where Quantum Computing Could Be Used

D-Wave Systems announced the availability of D-Wave Hybrid™, a simple open-source hybrid workflow platform for building and running quantum-classical hybrid applications. D-Wave Hybrid is part of the Ocean software development kit within D-Wave’s Leap™ quantum cloud service and is available today for download. Quantum and classical computing will work together. Classical computers are easy and best for simple work and quantum is only needed where it is superior to classical. We waste classical computing resources for ease of use. Most people do not use GPUs to solve computationally intensive problems 10X to 100X faster. Quantum computers will be for ultra-hard

France and Europe Have Hot Days And Some Predict More Frequent Heat Waves

Hot days in France are a big concern because the country does not have much air conditioning and 15,000 people died in a heatwave in 2003. The French national weather service activated its highest level heat danger alert for the first time. School and many other events were canceled. Temperatures in Paris, France are forecasted to drop to the low 80F by Sunday. The South of France is where the record temperatures are occuring (reaching 115F). Gallargues-le-Montueux has the highest temperatures but those have eased in the 90F and will drop to daily highs of 88F in one week. 🌡️🏆Chaleur

What's Up, Danger? Oh, Just an Into the Spider-Verse Tribute Art Show

The best movie of 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , is now on Netflix and—whether by coincidence or not—an art show celebrating its brilliance is about to open too. Read more...

Hellraiser, Which Already Has a Movie Reboot in the Works, Now Has a TV Series on the Table Too

Hellraiser is having a renaissance. In the grand tradition of Child’s Play , not only is the long-running horror franchise possibly getting a movie reboot , it’s also now being considered for a new TV series. Read more...

Open Channel: What 'Normal' Franchise Would You Like to See Go Full Sci-Fi?

The Fast & the Furious franchise has fully embraced science fiction with the upcoming Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw , which features Idris Elba as a genetically altered super-soldier who actually refers to himself as “ Black Superman .” Now I have to know: What other non-genre movies and TV shows could do with a… Read more...

Disney's Live Action Little Mermaid May Have Found Its Ursula

With Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King all being released this year, you might think Disney would slow down with its modern remakes of classic animated films. You’d be wrong. The Little Mermaid, which has long been rumored , is reportedly started to speed up—and none other than Melissa McCarthy may be playing Ursula. Read more...

Our Readers' and Editors' Favorite Shower Caddies

simplehuman cleaned up in our shower caddy Co-Op , taking over half the reader vote. Check out what you had to say about the winner below, plus the runner-up pick, and an editor’s choice option. Read more...

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: The Kotaku Review

Genre is mostly bullshit. It’s useful for discussion and for imagining where a certain game exists on the continuum of innovation and progress. These discussions are important, and for them, we need genre. But genre doesn’t do a lot for games, especially once they start to borrow from each other, forcing us to come up… Read more...

Time to Chop Those Nuts With This $9 Chopper

Chef’n NutZoom Nut Chopper | $9 | Amazon Read more...

Danny Boyle Reflects on Making Beautiful Music With Yesterday, His Beatle-Less Alt Universe Story

Even though he’s won an Oscar and made a ton of hugely popular films, Danny Boyle still auditioned to make his new film, Yesterday . However, it was his choice to do so and a technique he learned from a very unlikely source. Read more...

A Familiar Face is Returning to Headline Netflix's Haunting of Hill House Follow-Up, The Haunting of Bly Manor

Nell Crain lives! Well, sort of. Victoria Pedretti, who starred as the tragic future ghost in Netflix’s horror hit The Haunting of Hill House , will return to play a different role in the anthology series’ second season, The Haunting of Bly Manor . Read more...

The Action-Packed Final Hobbs & Shaw Trailer Avoids the Swears But Not the Stunts

Be prepared to ask yourself “How the hell did they do that?” at least 10 times over the course of the next two minutes. The final trailer for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a non-stop powerhouse filled with impossible stunts, cool cars, and Dwayne Johnson awkwardly failing to flirt. I guess not every stunt… Read more...

Friday's Best Deals: Marmot Outdoor Gear, Final Fantasy VII Remake, J. Crew Factory Sale, and More

Discounted Marmot hiking and backpacking equipment , 50-70% off at J. Crew Factory , and Final Fantasy VII: Remake lead off Friday’s best deals from around the web. Read more...

Fossilized Teeth Suggest Some Ancient Crocodiles Were Vegetarians

Alligators and crocodiles are some of the scariest carnivores on Earth today, but new research suggests their ancient relatives developed a preference for plants. Read more...

Post-Production on The Orville: Communication, Kombucha, and a Dog Named Bruce Wayne Jr.

When most sci-fi fans think about their favorite TV shows, the first creators that spring to mind are usually the writers, producers, designers, and actors—the high-profile names that make the series soar. But there are also quiet heroes who steadfastly keep the quantum drives humming from the back of the ship: the… Read more...

Riz Ahmed's Star Wars Celebration Chicago Appearance Was Canceled Because Homeland Security Wouldn't Let Him Board His Flight

On the first day of Star Wars Celebration Chicago this past April, it was suddenly announced that Riz Ahmed—who played Imperial courier-turned Rebel hero Bodhi Rook in Rogue One —had to cancel his appearance at the convention. Now, the actor’s revealed why, and it’s another reflection of being a minority attempting to… Read more...

Preorder and Save Up to $24 On Final Fantasy VII Remake

Final Fantasy VII: Remake (PS4) | $42 | Amazon | Clip the coupon on page Read more...

Spider-Man: Far From Home: The Totally Spoiler-Free Video Review

Did you read our review of Spider-Man: Far From Home and think, “This is good, but what do other writers on the site think?” Did you also think “I’d prefer to hear those thoughts with a visual accompaniment?” If so, my friend, today is your lucky day. No spoilers lie ahead! Read more...

NASA Is Officially Sending an Aerial Drone to Titan and It's a Dream Come True

With its oily black seas, hazy golden atmosphere, and electrically charged sand, Saturn’s moon Titan is one of the most intriguing objects in the solar system. Earlier today, NASA approved an exciting new mission that will send a tiny aerial drone to soar above Titan’s alien surface. Read more...

New Updates From Black Widow, Enola Holmes, and More

Black Widow set pictures continue to give us a look at the film’s mysterious new villain. The game is afoot for Henry Cavill and Enola Holmes . Margot Robbie plans to produce a sci-fi hacker horror flick about implants. The Hello Kitty film has found its writer from a surprising source. Plus, what’s to come on iZombie ,… Read more...

Get Over Here! And Pick Up Mortal Kombat 11 for $35

Mortal Kombat 11 ( PS4 and Xbox One ) | $35 | Amazon Read more...

Future Elon and SpaceX Domination Will Be Like Rockefeller and Standard Oil

John D Rockefeller created Standard Oil, which built up the modern oil and refining industry. Standard Oil created massive price advantages and scale beyond its competitors. It grew by increasing sales and through acquisitions. In 1868, the Lake Shore Railroad, a part of the New York Central, gave Rockefeller’s a transportation rate of one cent a gallon or forty-two cents a barrel. This was a 71% discount for a promise to ship at least 60 carloads of oil daily. Smaller companies could not produce enough oil to qualify for discounts. SpaceX already has a price advantage for rocket launch. They

Kieron Gillen's Star Wars Run Put a Fascinating Spotlight on One of Rogue One's Most Interesting Legacies

When Darth Vader writer Kieron Gillen joined Marvel’s main Star Wars title, many perhaps would’ve expected a continuation of the themes he had explored there. But over the course of his run alongside artists Salvador Larroca and Angel Unzueta—which concluded with last week’s Star Wars #67—a far more interesting… Read more...

We're Going to Mistake the Drones of the Future for Annoying Flying Insects

Harvard’s robotic flying bee has been in development for well over a decade now. And despite its incredibly simple design, over the past few years, its creators have improved Robobee’s capabilities, adding abilities such as the ability to hover and even steer itself down a pre-determined flight path. It’s too tiny to… Read more...

Games Are Better With Double Jumps

Last night, after hours exploring Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night , I unlocked the ability to double jump. It was such a simple thing—one jump, another jump—but I suddenly felt a rush of possibility hit me. That’s because of all the video game-y tricks, double jumps might just be the best. Read more...

Michael Chabon Will Showrun Star Trek: Picard

Well, Alex Kurtzman can’t singlehandedly manage every damn one of these Star Trek series himself. Read more...

8 Memorable Movie Murders, All Committed By Killer Dolls

Scary dolls are a common device in horror movies. But the dolls don’t always kill people—remember, that hideous clown in Poltergeist may have sparked plenty of nightmares, but somehow it didn’t actually murder anyone. However, there are still plenty of maniacal Toys “R” Us escapees running around out there, racking up… Read more...

Miir's Excellent Drinkware Is 30% Off For the Fourth of July, Just For Our Readers

From growlers and howlers to tumblers and camp cups , Miir makes some of our favorite drinkware around, whether you’re hauling it into the backcountry, or sipping from it at home. Read more...

Mysterious Cosmic Radio Burst Detected in a Completely Unexpected Region of Space

For years, astronomers have struggled to understand the source of fast radio bursts, powerful split-second pulses of energy that originate far outside our galaxy. In an astonishing technical feat, astronomers have finally managed to pinpoint the galactic origin of a one-off FRB—but its unexpected location in space… Read more...

The Predators Have Gone Too Damn Far in This Exclusive Look Inside Archie vs Predator 2

Murdering a bunch of Riverdale’s finest during the events of Archie vs. Predator , one of the most delectably silly crossovers in Archie Comics history? Fine, comes with the vs. Predator territory. But going after the Opportunity rover!? A line must be drawn ! Read more...

This Fun Spider-Man: Far From Home Scene Was Cut, But You'll Still Get to See it (and Its Star Wars Connection)

After you see Spider-Man: Far From Home next week you’re bound to wonder what happened to a few scenes from the trailers . One in particular, of Spider-Man messing with the NYPD, isn’t in the movie at all, so director Jon Watts told us what happened. Read more...

Make Life Difficult For Mosquitoes With This Discounted Insect Repellent

Bugs and mosquitoes are undefeated in the summer, but you can at least make yourself a difficult target with this discounted OFF! Deep Woods value pack . $9 gets you two bottles of 25% deet spray, down from the usual $10-$11. Read more...