A drum full of radioactive waste exploded at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico last February, sparking serious safety concerns about the U.S.’s only longterm nuclear storage site. A yearlong government investigation has officially fingered the long-suspected culprit: kitty litter. Read more…
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It’s Official, Kitty Litter Caused a Drum of Nuclear Waste to Explode
This beautiful satellite image shows one of the most saddening long-term natural disasters on Earth. The black patch in the upper left corner is the remaining body of the Aral Sea, located on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia—which has lost around 90 percent of its water volume since 1960 because of Soviet-era irrigation schemes. Read more…
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The Dying Aral Sea Is Like an Abstract Depiction of Human Stupidity
Promising public access legislation FASTR (Fair Access to Science & Technology Research Act) has been re-introduced by a bipartisan coalition in Congress. Lawmakers now have an important opportunity to strengthen and expand rules that allow taxpayers to freely read articles resulting from research their tax dollars support. EFF continues to encourage legislators to pass this bill as an important step forward—though there are still some measures to improve. Read more…
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A Re-Introduced Bill May Unlock Published Scientific Knowledge
Remember that no-stick ketchup bottle of the future an MIT professor made a few years ago? Well, the MIT team created a company to sell the super slippery technology, and Elmer’s recently signed an exclusive license to use it in their glue bottles. Pretty slick! (Sorry.) Read more…
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Crazy No-Stick Coating Is Coming to a Bottle of Glue Near You
Construction teams around the world rely on bitumen—an incredibly sticky by-product of crude oil production—as the main binding agent for asphalt. But a team of scientists reckon that a compound found within plants could help replace it, making road-building a greener, more sustainable practice. Read more…
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A Compound From Plants Could Replace Bitumen to Make Roads Greener
Close to a decade ago a clever inventor came up with a safety feature for power tools that could detect when a blade made contact with human flesh and instantly retract it to prevent injury. Unfortunately, it destroyed the tool in the process. Read more…
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Flesh-Detecting Table Saw Instantly Drops the Blade Without Destroying It
Microsoft has announced that it will give be giving free upgrades of Windows 10 to anyone who uses Windows right now—even if they’re currently running pirated copies of the operating system. Read more…
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All Windows 10 Upgrades Will Be Free—Even Pirated Copies
Facebook Messenger now lets you send payments to your friends —exactly as you would with Venmo or Paypal. Except it’s way easier, because just about EVERYONE already has Facebook. Read more…
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You Can Send Money To Your Friends Through Facebook Messenger Now
Humans have been putting technology on their wrists for a long time—and not just to tell the time. The Apple Watch is just the latest in a long line of wrist-borne devices, so here’s a brief history of watches that were smart for their time, too. Read more…
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The Fantastic Vintage Wrist Gadgets That Came Way Before the Smartwatch
Biometric security is a feature already found on lots of mobile phones and tablets and it’s getting better and better , but Microsoft wants to bring the tech front and center on Windows 10, using fingerprint, faces, and even your irises to completely kill the password once and for all. Read more…
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Windows 10 Could Mean Never Typing a Password Again