Drones and Apple Watches . drop off planet and lurking bedlam . The truth about dogs and cats . Star Wars — lots of Star Wars . Behold , our favored narrative from the retiring 364 sidereal day .
We need all the Gizmodo contributor to air along their preferred story from 2015 . ( If they were too baseborn to comply , we picked our favorites . ) These stories stand for our deepest reportage , our most personal topics , and some damn fine piece of writing . Thank you for reading them . We ’ll see you back here in 2016 .
Why America’s Internet Is So Shitty and Slow
At the close of the day , America ’s broken internet is n’t going to fix itself . Monopolistic job merit capitalist solutions . In this case , it ’s competition — virgin and simple-minded . The choice is n’t just frustrating . It ’s dysfunctional .
Why it ’s our pet : When he is n’t spending the majority of his timetelling us what not to do , Adam Clark Estes acts as our resident consumer guard dog , explain why we should not bear the status quo when it comes to the engineering science that affects our daily lifetime .
How the Vietnam War Brought High-Tech Border Surveillance to America
The US military machine sought to make a practical fence split up North and South Vietnam . And in the process they help to invent the modern electronic battlefield , whose technology come back to the US in the early 1970s , where they were quickly deploy against drug cartels , moon curser , and anyone else attempt to cut across the border from Mexico . Igloo White also formed the bedrock of a border surveillance gyration that ’s ongoing today . At the US - Mexico border , drones stalk the sky and electronic sensors alert Border Patrol federal agent to anyone trying to cross into the United States .
What happen to Igloo White is not unlike the tech transfer from battlefield to border that we see today , as the machine used by American military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq find their way to American street . And as the refugee crisis proceed across Europe , the Middle East , and the rest of the world , it ’d be a good bet to say that we can expect more high - tech practical fences in the future .
Why it ’s our favorite : This is Matt Novak at his very best . Matt report this story for the good part of a class — and it evince . It will change the way you think about drones , surveillance , and the increasingly complicated fashion we patrol our borders .
Here’s How Planet Hunters Are Going to Find the Next Earth
“ attend , ” said Didier Queloz , an exoplanet researcher at the University of Cambridge , “ it took the human species ten thousand years to spread out across the Earth . When I arrive here , it took me eight hour by plane to get across the Atlantic Ocean . perchance we need another hundred , or a thousand long time , but it does n’t seem so crazy to think we ’ll be send probe to these nearby planet . There is no profound limitation but the metre . ”
Why it ’s our favourite : “ Here ’s one I ’ve been specially fond of referencing all year — a report on an event I attended on the search for inhabitable worlds beyond our solar organization . ” — Maddie Stone
I Love CES Again
After a day of abrade me - too smart domicile conception and yet another curved TV , I reached the breakage gunpoint . There were so few really innovative product to be found , I was mentally already checked out of next year ’s show . The LVCC was a race . CES was a barren . I was never coming back .
It turns out I was just looking in the ill-timed place .
Why it ’s our favourite : In his usual witty and data-based mode , Andrew Liszewski reminded us what it felt like to be excited about widget blogging again .
There’s One Thing I Totally Hate About The Force Awakens
Let me clarify : I do n’t actually hate Star Wars : The Force Awakens . I watched the movie three time in four days , and will for certain see at least twice more before it leave theaters . But even though I love the moving-picture show , there is one major vista of it that distresses me immensely .
Why it ’s our favorite : We ca n’t really say without unwrap spoiler , but with this incredibly emotional essay , Rob Bricken says what we all were recollect . It was only issue last workweek but is already one of the most popular posts of the year .
Stop Drinking Bottled Water
Boycotting bottled water means you support the idea that public access to clean , dependable water is not only a basic human right , but that it ’s a goddamn technical victory deserving protect . It means you consider that ensuring public accession to this resource is the only manner to guarantee it will be around in a few more years .
Why I Bought the Apple Watch Even Though It Makes No Damn Sense
The Apple Watch has obvious problems . It ’s licitly confusing . You might need to hold an in - computer memory seminar at the craze offices just to learn how to tell time . It decidedly wo n’t be as wanton as the iPhone but the strange matter is , I in reality do n’t want it to be . I desire to be lost . I desire to twirl that infernal knob and imperativeness that uncanny button and hard tap that tiny screen just to see what happens . Because I honestly have no idea what will happen .
And that ’s basically what I ’m buying . The unsung . It ’s been a long fourth dimension since that ’s been for sale .
Why it ’s our ducky : After a billion appliance writers try and fail to tell us why they wanted an iPhone for their wrists , Casey Chan deal to explicate exactly what ’s so darn attractive about this new gimmick .
Astronauts Have Done So, So Much With Duct Tape And Electrical Tape
Even when an astronaut knows the solution to their job is tape measure , the question remains : which tape measure should they use ? Two types of tape are specially common in astronauts ’ toolboxes . The first is grey tape , which is just cosmonaut - cant for canal tape . The second is Kapton mag tape ( aka polyimide tape ) , which is fundamentally electric tape but better . you’re able to find either type of tape for sales agreement at computer hardware stores here on Earth , but the taping that spaceman bestow to space are tested extensively to secure they do n’t produce any off - gas pedal ( problematic , if you ’re in an enclosed outer space ) , or degrade in the harsh exterior of the habitat .
Why it ’s our favorite : One of the most incredible stories from our Space Habitats Week was not about a Mars colony or an intergalactic metropolis , but this thoroughgoing , MacGyver - like list from Mika McKinnon of everything that astronauts have done with tape in space , from eat to — gulp!—spacewalking .
How Police Body Cameras Were Designed to Get Cops Off the Hook
As a test subject for the theorise societal benefit of the engineering there could n’t be a more symbolically - loaded city than Los Angeles . Nearly 25 age ago , four LAPD officer were exculpate for the savage beating of Rodney King , despite a damnatory camcorder video that captured the ravishment . Since then , civilian video has proven largely unable in convict police of viciousness — or even indict them for possible crimes . And yet many citizenry trust that civilian footage shows law despoil the civic rights of multitude on the ground . Eric Garner ’s death is the perfect model of this job . Garner ’s champion catch video of the police choke him to decease , but the officers were never indicted , as if video did n’t exist at all .
Body camera , we ’re narrate , will change the plot . But if you count back at how this technical school has been used in America so far , we already know what ’s function to happen to the officer who shot Charly Keunang in Los Angeles : Nothing .
Why it ’s our favorite : After the riots in Ferguson , everyone was talk about how consistence tv camera could prevent constabulary brutality and work criminals to DoJ . Mario Aguilar astutely discovered that a gadget design for and marketed to cops actually has some pretty serious problems when it comes to public condom .
Why Are Dogs So Insanely Happy to See Us When We Get Home?
accord to [ Gregory ] Berns ’ research , dogs that are presented with sure smell in image scanner can clearly tell the deviation between dog and humanity , and also discern and recognize familiar and strange odors . In particular , the olfactory property of a intimate homo evokes a reward response in the mental capacity .
“ No other scent did that , not even that of a intimate dog , ” Berns narrate io9 . “ It ’s not the font that they see us as ‘ part of their pack as dogs , ’ they know that we ’re something different — there ’s a special plaza in the brain just for us . ”
capital of Switzerland stresses that dogs are social with us not just because of their scavenging leaning .
“ What we ’re line up with the imaging work is that dogs love their humans — and not just for food , ” he sound out . “ They love the company of humans simply for its own saki . ”
Why it ’s a favorite : This is a signature George Dvorsky small-arm . A smart , entertaining , and instructive take on an incredible new explanation for an everyday phenomenon .
This Is The One Thing That People Never Understand About Cats
The truth is that cats are marauder . Really , really cute predators , but predators withal . For millions of class , they ’ve acquire to hunt and kill small animals , and phylogeny did its chore middling well . From their eyes to the crest of their tails , qat are lean , mean , entirely adorable hunting machines . Instinct drive Arabian tea to hunt , whether they ’re stalking and pouncing a toy mouse or a real one . If cats are indoors , they ’ll be much happier if they can pretend - chaff birds through a window or have lots of prey - simulating plaything to attack . Of course , if they ’re outdoors , with access to genuine , live prey , they ’ll go on safari .
That ’s not a tap against computerized axial tomography . It ’s just biology . At the remnant of the day , our pets will be happy , and so will we , if we see them as they really are , love them for it , and give them a good way to indulge their wild sides . As it turns out , the environment may be better off , too .
Why it ’s a favorite : We still do n’t know how Kiona Smith - Strickland found all these study about CT , but we admire her power to meander them together into a compelling argument for keep your kitties indoors .
Bulletproof Coffee: Debunking the Hot Buttered Hype
The job is that Bulletproof Coffee , the company behind the trend , is claim that drink in a physiognomy of fatty joe every morning alternatively of eating breakfast is a secret crosscut to weight loss and genial superpowers , and now the butter coffee has developed a cult of highly caffeinated , bright - lipped adherents . So now we have to speak about it .
Why it ’s our favorite : “ While I would very much care to say my best oeuvre was the beginning of my year - in - a - van projectConnected States(click that and read it and followonsocialmediak thanks ! ) , rather I ’m state my takedown ofBulletproof Coffee . In a yr full of very stupefied weight - red ink schemes , this had to be one of the stupidest . I went down the inquiry coney - trap and found that there was virtually nothing to back up any of Bulletproof ’s claim , and then I took them asunder one at a time . It was really fun and hopefully it saved a few people from contract hypertension or gout . ” — Brent Rose
Everything We Know About Star Wars’ Post-Return of the Jedi Future
There ’s still so much more to discover about the time period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens : the Journey to The Force Awakens material released in the last few mean solar day has only covered a handful of years immediately after the Battle of Endor , and there ’ll be enough more to take in the coming month . But we know much more than we did — give us a surprisingly clear picture of just what the Galaxy far , far away looks like as we head into The Force Awakens .
Why it ’s our favorite : “ As someone who systematically endeavour to detest everything I ’ve ever written because it ’s my god - give right as an Englishman to dwell in accustomed self - odium , I ’m weirdly proud of a lot of stuff I ’ve done this year because I conceive it ’s slowly evolve from ‘ not objectively terrible ’ to ‘ kind of okay ? ’ in my own opinion , which is exceedingly hard to permit myself .
But the kind of okayest ? My ended guide to everything we short ascertain about Disney ’s Star Wars canyon between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens following the first official merchandise release on September 4th . I ’d been in a pretty rough personal spotlight so I had the time and the desire to just completely make myself into research — raven 5 book over a weekend , essay to get everything together into a logical flow , last arcminute checking of some new comics that came out the day it was meant to go up . I ’d thrown everything I could at it and amazingly , no one else had tried to do anything particularly similar in the intervene twosome of 24-hour interval . It did ridiculously well , and weirdly enough still does — I tend to usually check io9 on Twitter just to see public reaction to what we do as an jobless habit , and after The Force Awakens get along out there were so many the great unwashed pointing acquaintance and followers to that post go “ hey this answer a short ton of questions about the backstory of the film that I care was in there ” and whatever . It did n’t change the humans , but I ’m glad it was of use to a caboodle of people ” — James Whitbrook
Bingewatching History: I Relived 16 Depressing Years Of The Daily Show
I start see the watercourse upset that Jon Stewart was leaving The Daily Show . I ended it feeling like he was well off going .
Why it ’s our pet : Amidst the flood of weepy nostalgia that followed Stewart ’s exit , Katharine Trendacosta conducted her own comprehensive analysis that break the show was not what we remember — and sadly , almost too good at predicting the future tense .
Star Wars Merchandising Is Even More Absurd Outside the US
Human culture has reached a point of no return . The overwhelming barrage of Star Wars merchandise has pulverized the last stay crumbs of our consumer dignity . take this intersection and cry with us : Star warfare Chicken Hot Dogs with Built - in Ketchup . And it gets bad .
Why it ’s our favourite : When our Budapest - based contributor Attila Nagy share some of the more bizarre Star Wars - themed food on Hungarian supermarket shelves , we ordered him to not only go out and document these foods , but to purchase and eat them . He delivered .
Inside the Fiery Workshop of a 21st Century Swordmaker
The dungeon - esque workspace is like an eccentric house of horrors with whirring grinding wheels and blast - breathing forges next to a Ricky Martin posting , a Ludwig drumkit , guitar , amp , and various Christian iconography . It ’s far take away , what some would call “ the middle of nowhere , ” but that ’s how Lundemo like it . thing lean to get noisy .
Why it ’s our favorite : Um , keep - like workspace ? Swords ? Ricky Martin poster ? Need we say more ? For a flavour at how C - previous technology adapts to advanced - day realities , go no further than Darren Orf ’s unbelievable peek inside the Upstate NY shed of an dependable - to - good swordmaker .
Why Japan’s Bullet Train Will Finally Bring High-Speed Rail to America
From personal experience , I have it off that riding the shinkansen is a slightly out - of - body experience that borders a Jetsons episode . Fun and futuristic outlandishness apart , it ’s also improbably commodious . It has none of the hidden fees , surety rigamarole , uncomfortableness , or endless taxi times that flying has . The always on - time shinkansen ’s dependability and engineering adjust the aureate standard . And — most importantly — the safety stats speak for themselves .
Why it ’s our favourite : “ Shinkansen is my favorite mode of transportation in the world , and when I found out there are plans to work up one in the US process Houston — where my parents live — I knew I wanted to write a story about it . I was thrilled with the 100 of answer the story got . There are a lot of mass on both sides of the public debate as to whether high - upper rail is right for America , and I was really happy to write something that ignited that conversation on Gizmodo . ” — Bryan Lufkin
How America’s Most Useless Crop Also Became Its Most Commonly Grown One
While corn whiskey was busily get ahead the farm , lawn were winning the base . Corn may be the apex predatory animal of the farm , but lawns are our housecats : modest , sizeable , exceptionally demanding , and everywhere . In the end , lawns did n’t call for the farm to survive — instead they just made farmers of us all .
Why it ’s our favorite : “ Kill your lawn . ” — Ria Misra
Some Slimy Clickbait Dickhead Stole My Identity to Blog for Elite Daily
My on-line report has the digital equivalent of an STI . A few weeks ago , I found out I was getting impersonated on the internet .
Why it ’s our front-runner : This is a groovy clause , but how do we even cognise it ’s drop a line by the real Kate Knibbs ?
Dark Star Offers A Melancholy, Intimate Portrait Of Artist H.R. Giger
There ’s a sure amount of biography , but this is in the main a doc about what it intend to be a massively democratic artist at the death of one ’s life , too infirm to make fine art anymore — a process as crucial to existing as breathing .
Why it ’s our favorite : Most of Cheryl Eddy ’s excellent writing focalize on True Crime , but she also shines in her stories about pop culture . This review of a moving-picture show about the heartrending living of the creative person who created the rubric creature in Alien is as beautiful and nuanced as the documentary itself .
Why Cities Are Better at Fighting Climate Change Than Countries
As the second week of worldwide mood negotiation gets afoot , the world waits for national loss leader to make meaningful dedication to save the planet . But it ’s become absolved that cities , not country , are conduct the direction in the fight against climate change .
There ’s a good rationality for that : the world ’s city calculate for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions . presently just over one-half of the Earth ’s universe populate in urban areas , and that figure is set to rise to 70 percent by 2050 . Cities play a huge role in the existence of climate modification . But they ’re also vital in terms of its moderation : their hard density of services and universe present an awe-inspiring opportunity for huge efficiency savings , without compromise on productivity or quality of life .
More and more , cities are act on that opportunity while national governments founder . And nowhere is this more obvious than at the climate talks .
How the Hell Is This JPG of Han Solo Worth $225?
It only took a few mean solar day . Star war : Card Trader quickly took over my living . I download it on my iPhone , iPad , I have mules friends who have accounts just to get wit for me and — at times — I’ve scheduled days around the vent of particular cards . One time I forget my telephone set and I call my mom from another telephone set to grab my phone and open packs for me . It was painful ( “ momma , now press Boba Fett ” ) and embarrassing , but it ’s on-key . And some citizenry out there altogether understand where I ’m fare from . The same kind of person who ’d pay $ 225 for a photograph of Han Solo .
Why it ’s our favourite : “ One of the great thing about writing for a website like this is you get to write about thing you are obsessed with . So when I find myself obsess over this crazy young app , and visualize the dumbfounded look on people ’s faces when I explain it , I knew I had to dig up into why .
When it was at long last done and posted first I got multitude intrigued , and then I started to get people hooked . To this day I have buff of the app who charge me for get them abstract , or blowing up the app to such a storey of popularity , I ruined it . ‘ That io9 clause ’ is now a common phrasal idiom among users in the app . I feel famous . And whether I made the app better , defective or neither , I was just flattered I had anyimpact at all . ” — Germain Lussier
A Robot From The Future Reviews Tomorrowland
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Why it ’s our favorite : “ I cerebrate this is the best thing I syndicate from a automaton from the futurity this year . ” — Matt Novak
Physicists Discover “Hidden Chaos” Lurking Everywhere
Imagine four shining Christmas bulbs stack into a pyramid . If you endeavor to track the light particles ( photon ) that reflect off those spheres , most will follow clean , predictable trajectories , but every now and then one will get trap inside the pyramid , bouncing back and onward . That photon ’s course is extremely disorderly , but you might not pick up on it using the usual equality . You have to sleep together where to look to feel the hidden chaos .
Why it ’s our favorite : The addition of Jen Ouellette as our audacious science editor has changed the secret plan when it comes to reporting complex subject . A news feature about finding “ hidden chaos ” physicists had miss also function as a very piquant and accessible explainer on chaos theory in cosmopolitan . With a Jurassic Park denotation , of course !
Mork and Mindy Was One of the Most Unlikely Miracles in the History of Television
“ Robin was losing faith in the character , and was afraid it made him look stupid , ” tell Kelly . “ He commence thinking that instead of being childlike , Mork was childish . And he resent it . ” Kelly say Williams started referring to Mork as “ Morko the Pin - Headed Boy . ” “ When you start hating the grapheme you ’re make for , or second - guessing it , the role hurt . ”
Why it ’s our favorite : “ I spent five or six months traverse down the writers from Mork and Mindy , plus the guy who send 59 episodes of the show , and talked to them on the phone about what it was like to forge on this land - breaking show . But I was n’t set for just how point-blank they were going to be . ” — Charlie Jane Anders
The Complete History Of Ceres, The Planet (?) Between Mars And Jupiter
Von Zach follow up on the approximation in September of 1800 , tack a super group of Europe ’s leading astronomers in Germany : Johann Hieronymus Schröter , Karl Ludwig Harding , Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers , Freiherr von Ende , and Johann Gildemeister . They call themselves the Celestial Police , and invited an additional eighteen stargazer to aid them in their search .
Why it ’s our favourite : Who does n’t make out a rollicking 18th century astronomic arguing ? Andrew Liptak ’s heavy reported feature explore the discovery and eventual demotion of this forgotten planet ( ? ) . He also pen an awesomebiography of another recently demoted planet , Pluto . Basically Andrew is our expert on alldemoted satellite .
Badass Historical Chemists: The Woman Behind Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier is deservedly considered one of the majuscule chemists in history . We might not live of his experiments if it were n’t for his married woman . She became a singular , if unconventional , apothecary herself and had one of the unearthly life in account .
Why it ’s our favored : Esther Inglis - Arkell’sBadass Historical Chemistsseries has been a highlighting for io9 and now Gizmodo . Like all her bring out stories about the odder corners of skill , Esther tackle her depicted object with a cutting optic and dry wag that hold us follow back for more .
We Tested Waterproof Down By Jumping in a Frozen Lake
So , I came up with the most barbarous existent - world torture test I could think of : I would jump into a frozen lake wearing a hydrophobic down jacket , stay in there for a few minute , skip out , and see if I get hypothermia . scientific discipline .
Why it ’s our favorite : “ Suffering for service journalism . ” — Chris Mills
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