The New Horizons spacecraft might already be heading for a Kuiper belt object farther than Pluto, but it continues to give us a closer view of the dwarf planet. Some of the latest photos it sent back taken during the probe's closest flyby in July 201…
Technical
Penthouse drops print magazines to deal with internet porn
Internet porn just claimed another casualty. Penthouse has announced that it's dropping its print magazine after 51 years of publication — from an unspecified point in the future, you'll have to go online to get those articles and racy photos (okay,…
‘Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening is in talks with Netflix
Netflix will spend a ton of money on original series to double its output this year, and some of that could be heading Matt Groening's way. Variety and Deadline are reporting that the creator of Simpsons and Futurama is in talks with the streaming ne…
SpaceX successfully fired up its returned Falcon 9
Elon Musk and the folks at SpaceX aren't only preparing to return another rocket from space back to the Earth this weekend, they're also running tests on the one that already safely came back. Of course, firing up a Falcon 9 that made the trip to spa…
Watch Tim Peake become the first Briton to spacewalk
At 12:55pm GMT (7:55am ET, or 4:55am PT) British astronaut Tim Peake will step outside the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time. He'll be accompanied by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and together they'll perform some crucial repair work. T…
Self-checkout concept makes your phone the cash register
Even with modern self-checkout machines, every quick shopping trip comes to a screeching halt when it comes time to pay — every single item needs to be scanned all at once, consecutively. This is why you have to wait in line at the grocery store, bu…
You can stop Microsoft bugging you about Windows 10 upgrades
One of the great things about the days of the doorstop salesperson is that you could slam the door in their face if you weren't in a buying mood. It's not a hint that Microsoft was willing to take, constantly harassing Windows 7 and 8 users to make t…
Netflix and E4 team up for ‘Kiss Me First’ gaming drama
Netflix is a proven producer of top-tier TV shows, so it should come as no surprise that traditional broadcasters now want to collaborate on new projects. Today, Channel 4 announced that it's teaming up with the streaming giant for a show called Kiss…
Watch SpaceX staff erupt as Falcon 9 nails the landing
"The Falcon has landed." With that pronouncement, the SpaceX ground crew shares hugs and high fives, while a huge crowd of employees explodes in celebration. Sure, the new video of December's mission is an overproduced PR effort from Musk & crew,…
YouTube gives three Asian countries their own homepages
YouTube hasn't officially been a thing in Pakistan since 2012 when the country blocked the video sharing service over its refusal to remove Innocence of Muslims, a low-budget schlockfest that depicted the Prophet Mohammed. However, that could soon ch…
Alton Towers to open ‘Galactica’ VR roller coaster in April
Virtual reality headsets can trick your eyes and ears into thinking you're someplace else, but what about the rest of your body? Alton Towers thinks it has the answer and, unsurprisingly, it involves a massive roller coaster. The British theme park t…
Twitter reportedly plans to embed users’ tweets alongside ads
According to Digiday, Twitter is working on a new form of advertising that would connect tweets from normal users with a company's own advertising. The new service would be able to collect together related tweets and promote them in tandem with ad ca…
Gamma ray map offers best view yet of our galaxy’s energy
Space is full of gamma rays and other intense forms of energy, but you've only ever had a partial picture of it. Ground-based telescopes can only see so much, and even the Fermi space telescope (designed to catch these energies) has missed out on a l…
Oyster and contactless cards now stretch to Gatwick Airport
If you live in London and regularly take the train to Gatwick Airport, we've got some good news: starting today, you can use your Oyster card to travel to the station just outside departures. That applies for contactless cards too, negating the need…
Birth control for men comes down to flipping a switch
Birth control for men still tends to be divided between condoms (which aren't always fun or reliable) and more drastic surgical procedures like vasectomies (which are frequently permanent). Not exactly ideal, is it? However, inventor Clemens Bimek…