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Inside the International Space Station
Being an astronaut is hard — but now you don't have to worry about doing all that work. Google now gives you a Street View look at the entire International Space Station. From hallways to windows and even the bathroom, you can experience life 249 miles above the Earth.
Keychain-Sized Game Boy
Sure, you can always pass the time playing games on your phone but that won't give you the same dose of nostalgia as a classic Game Boy. For those of you wanting a more authentic experience, Vincent Buso has made the already portable gaming console even more portable by shrinking it down and making it into a keychain. The best part is you can build it yourself.
Lego Beach Roller Coaster
Part sand castle and part roller coaster, this Lego City 9v train takes you on a mini vacay to the Outer Banks. The gravity-powred ride travels through a castle, a seashell forest, and a series of underground tunnels for a one-of-a-kind ride along the North Carolina coast.
The Fight Against Superbugs
A 2016 report estimated that around 700,000 people die each year from antibiotic-resistant "superbugs". A large part of the blame goes to our massive overuse of antibiotics — from farm animals to overprescription. But Andrew Roberts is developing new tools to fight bacteria, by taking research out of the lab and crowd-sourcing swabs from filthy places.
DIY Miniature Apple II Replica
Owning a miniature Apple II could be as easy as rounding up your spare change. Using a $9 CHIP computer, game developer Chris Larkin has created a working replica of the vintage computer. All of the components are housed in a 3D printed model with a custom paint job to match the original hue and is completly self-contained thanks to a 12V drone battery. Larkin shows how he made his and shares the plans to build your own.
The Machines Are Coming
Automation used to mean dumb robots performing narrowly defined work. Now machines can learn, and the massive pools of data generated by everything humans do teaching them how to it better than we ever could. Kurzgesagt looks at what the future of work might be, and how humans fit into the coming brave new world.
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Indochino Suits
Built with top quality components and thoughtful construction, you can't go wrong with a made to measure gray or blue suit from Indochino's Premium Collection. All their suit jackets are half canvassed, with fully fused fronts, for greater versatility and excellent shape for your body. Each jacket also features fully canvassed lapels, bullhorn buttons, lightweight shoulder pads and high-quality collar felts. Just choose your fabric, customize your suit, and submit your measurements. The result is an investment-quality suit that's far more attainable than bespoke options and fits better than off-the-rack options. You can wear them year round, and you get the most bang for your buck as each suit is under $400.
Presented by Indochino.
Care/of Personalized Supplements
If you're trying to be your healthiest this summer, vitamins are a good call. But figuring out which ones to take can be pretty tough, especially when you're sorting through rows of mysterious bottles in the supplement aisle. Care/of is taking the guesswork out of it by offering personalized supplement packs, curated for you based on your diet, lifestyle, and health goals, whether you're looking to improve your focus, boost your energy, or just be a little healthier. At Care/of, you take a quick survey to share details about your diet and habits, and they recommend the best supplements for you based on an algorithm that combines scientific research and input from doctors. They make their own line of supplements, including the basics like Fish oil and Vitamin D as well as herbal and specialty products like Rhodiola, which boosts focus and energy. Your supplements arrive in a convenient, travel-friendly daily pack, easy to grab and go.
Presented by Care/of.
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Jupiter
Because a trip to Jupiter will probably never happen in our lifetime, here's a stunning flyby of the fifth planet from the sun. The video started when Mathematician Gerald Eichstaedt took still shots taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft and spent 60 hours editing them together. As if this wasn't enough, animator Seán Doran then spent another 12 hours smoothing each frame, all 2,400 of them, resulting in this awe-inspiring tribute to the gas giant. Time well spent.
Human Evolution in 1,000 Years
Evolution never stops — the timeline for evolution is usually measured in hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. But in just over a century, the height of the average American male has increased three inches and there have been adaptations to disease in the span of decades. Some of the most radical evolutionary shifts may come from our own doing, as gene editing technologies like CRISPR allow for extreme fine-tuning of the human genome, and the growing potential for interfacing our biological selves with computers. And in 1,000 years, we might not be living on Earth at all.
IHMC Planar Elliptical Runner
The most elegant solution is often the simplest. Making robots walk requires lots of hardware — in the form of motors, servos, gyroscopes, and the structure of the robot itself — and software to process those data points and translate them into movement. The Planar Elliptical Runner is a prototype bipedal robot that uses mechanical design to ditch much of the hardware and all of the software required to make it move, using only a motor and remote control.
Robots at the Wheel
Professional drivers — people that drive the UPS trucks, big rigs, courier services and many others — are one of the biggest employee groups in the US. With the self-driving car revolution already under way, they stand to be hit hardest in the first salvo of automation. WIRED looks at the current state of the technology, how it will affect drivers and whether autonomous vehicles are really ready for the road.
The End of Light
Everything must die. Death isn't limited to just the living things here on Earth — it will come to the stars and even the universe itself. White dwarfs are star corpses, what remains of a star's core after it sheds its outer layers. Far in the future, finding a suitable white dwarf to inhabit will be necessary for life as we know it.
The Boring Company
Elon Musk hates Los Angeles' infamously terrible traffic as much as anyone. While you might think his electric car company Tesla and his dream of fully autonomous cars might solve that problem, there isn't much that satisfies a supervillain. Now he wants to disrupt the construction industry with The Boring Company and build tunnels underneath cities to transport cars on electric sleds at speeds of up to 124 MPH. This demonstration video shows Elon's idea to relieve congestion in cities once and for all.
The Moderators
This short film contains graphic images. Facebook, dating sites, forums — moderators are keeping watch over all of it. With an estimated 150,000 people employed in scrubbing offensive content from the web's social media and other sites, more people work in this area of the tech sector than any other. Field of Vision follows a group of new recruits at a firm in India that scrolls through 2,000 pictures per employee per hour, weeding out what doesn't meet the guidelines — and alerting authorities when the images depict illegal acts.
Cassini's Grand Finale
20 years ago, the Cassini spacecraft left Earth on a journey to Saturn. The probe has explored Saturn's icy moons, sending back evidence of the building blocks for life and diving between the planet and its famous rings. But now, Cassini's mission is almost over. It's running out of fuel, and to protect the purity of Saturn's moons, Cassini will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere and burn itself up in a spectacular end to a successful mission.
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Building an iPhone From Scratch
In China, there are entire markets devoted to cell phone parts — not surprising when nearly every component is manufactured and assembled there. Formerly a programmer from Silicon Valley, Scotty of Strangeparts wondered if he could build an iPhone 6S from parts found at the market. It took a while to finish, but finish he did — with a working iPhone made from about $300 in second-hand and refurbished components.
Biometrically Controlled Ride
Daniel de Bruin has taken rides to the next level. With a biometric sensor implanted in his forearm, Daniel's own body controls the motion of this 2-foot tall tower, designed and built by Daniel himself. As the motion of the ride produces changes in the rider's biometric data, the biometric data changes the motion of the ride.
Flippy Kitchen Robot
Slave over the griddle no more. The Flippy Kitchen Robot can handle the cooking, leaving you free to dream up new dishes. Using a robotic arm, cameras, and artificial intelligence, this mechanical assistant cooks perfect burgers and chicken breasts, toasts buns, fries, and even builds sandwiches, all on its own. It installs in minutes, is controlled via a simple touchscreen interface, and can even move out of your way when needed, making it an ideal addition to many a professional kitchen, or the private kitchens of the very, very lazy.
3D-Printed House
It's more a proof-of-concept than an actual home, at least by Western standards. But Apis Cor's innovative solution to on-sight 3D building printing shows how construction might take place in the future. In 24 hours, this 400 square-foot mini-house was built for about $10,000 — around 70% less than the average cost of about $1,000 per square foot in the United States. In addition to reduced costs, 3D printing allows for much more creative architecture, making the ubiquitous square house a thing of the past.
Introducing Handle Robot
Boston Dynamics has taken the wraps off its latest autonomous robot. Called Handle, it looks like it was inspired by a horse walking on its back legs — making it slightly more creepy than the company's previous designs. Despite the strange looks, Handle can definitely perform — tackling uneven terrain, steps, 100-pound loads, and even jumping over concrete barriers with impressive ease.
Wolverine's Claws Vs. Hydraulic Press
Made from adamantium, Wolverine's claws are nearly indestructible. They've taken down Lady Deathstrike, Silver Samurai, and an alternate version of himself. But they may be about to meet their ultimate foe: the hydraulic press.
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iPhone Repair School
Repairing any modern device looks impossible. Thousands of tiny components, all soldered onto multiple boards tightly layered on top of another — it's something only a robot could do. But Jessa Jones wants you to know that it isn't impossible — and to teach you how to do it. Jessa's background is in molecular genetics, and she used that to found the Practical Board Repair School, where she teaches the art of replacing microscopic parts.
The Future of Construction
LA-based Binishells is reinventing the construction business. The balloon-shaped structures are formed using low air pressure to create reinforced concrete shells. Using less labor and materials, the company can cut costs in half and build three times faster than traditional methods, while using less waste. They currently offer six systems that can be utilized for anything from homes and resorts to schools and public housing.
Real-Life Rocketeer
Jetpacks: They aren't just for secret agents and movies anymore. JetPack Aviation has brought fiction to reality with their self-contained personal flight systems. Devin Supertramp went to California to capture this epic demonstration of JetPacks' amazing technology.
Rights For Robots
With artificial intelligence getting more and more advanced, determining between humans and our robot friends could soon become difficult. So at what point do robots deserve fundamental rights? The answer revolves around consciousness. Until we begin programming them to experience pain and suffering, there's no need for rights. So let's just keep robots the empty, emotionless beings that they are.
Trappist-1 Exoplanet System
Just 40 light-years away, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has just discovered seven rocky Earth-like planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1. Of the seven, at least three appear to be in the habitable zone — meaning liquid water could be found on the surface. If any of these planets also carry oxygen and methane in their atmospheres, the presence of life is highly likely, making your alien dreams closer to a reality. In 2018, NASA plans on launching the James Webb Space Telescope to futher measure the chemical fingerprints of these exoplanets.
Ehang Drone Taxi
Chinese company Ehang is bringing the first unmanned aerial taxi to Dubai this year. The massive drones can carry 100 kgs and have a compartment for a small suitcase. Navigation is provided by a passenger-controlled tablet, for selecting your destination. While pricing isn't yet available, you can expect it to be a little more expensive than a cab ride across town.
Stop Memorizing Your Passwords
123456. Qwerty. Password. These are just a few of the easiest to remember passwords, and hackers love them. Technology has made juggling the massive amount of logins required to function in our modern world much easier with password managers. Vox has some helpful tips to keep your information as safe as possible — at least from people looking to criminally profit. We have enough things to remember in the course of a day, so take passwords off that list.
The ACLU Dash Button
Amazon Dash Buttons have been making our lives easier by restocking our paper towels and laundry detergent at a moments notice. Now, those handy buttons can do more than just order your pantry essentials. Using the company's customizable IoT Button, programmer Nathan Pryor linked one up to directly donate money to the American Civil Liberties Union. Stick it on your desk or laptop, and every time you see our current president's latest terrible tweet, you can ease your tension by pressing the button and sending five dollars to support the ACLU.
