Shakespeare coined new words when he needed — or merely wanted — them. Can you guess which words were invented by the Bard?

English heading into the sixteenth century was a makeshift, cobbled-together thing. No fewer than eight conquering peoples had added to our vocabulary and shaped our syntax. But the Brits were doing more than just borrowing, swiping and outright stealing words from other languages. Versifiers like Chaucer let newfangled words from … Read More → "16 common words and phrases originally invented by Shakespeare"

Will the human race be wiped out by honeybee extinction, nuclear armageddon, bioterrorism, loss of topsoil, a natural pandemic, a combo-pocalypse, overpopulation, nano-weapons, climate change, flawed super AI, underpopulation, a geo-engineering fail, a grey goo disaster, post-humanity, rising sea levels, a supervolcano, methane release, an asteroid impact, an alien invasion, the Venus syndrome, an unknown unknown, a gamma ray burst, the Matrix scenario, a rogue black hole, the … Read More → "Which apocalyptic threats are most likely to wipe out Earth’s population?"

Are you killing it on amateur night at the comedy club? It’s more likely that the audience is about to kill you. That’s why the Laugh Track Jacket may save you. Becky Stern of Adafruit developed this comedy aid. It’s an audio soundboard with a thin 4-button keypad. When you need some support, click the appropriate button. Stern selected canned laughter, crickets chirping, … Read More → "The Laugh Track Jacket encourages people to laugh at your jokes"

There aren’t many chocolates that are as fun to look at as they are to eat. Then, there aren’t many chocolates made by famous design studios, either.

Renowned Japanese design house Nendo created this singular box of goodies for Maison & Objet, a fancy furniture show in Paris. The idea was to experiment with one of the lesser explored aspects of the chocolate experience: texture.

… Read More → "Chocolates whose intricate architecture is designed to tweak taste buds"

Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a genetic “glue” that forms gels useful for 3D printing organic tissues. The key is using custom-designed, complementary DNA strands that bond just the way you’d like them. This flexibility would let hospitals and labs create organs that grow in a specific way, and take on specific structures. In short, it’d be relatively easy to print the exact organ you need, … Read More → "Genetic ‘glue’ helps make 3D-printed organs"

If you’re not wearing stormtrooper armor right now, you must have a death wish. Scott Loxley was on Wednesday and that’s why he’s still alive.

Loxley is currently walking across Australia in stormtrooper armor to raise money for a children’s charity. Last week, he had just departed the town of Yalboroo, Queensland when a King Brown snake tried to bite him. … Read More → "Stormtrooper armor saves Star Wars fan from deadly snake bite"

The batteries inside our smartphones and laptops are fighting a losing battle when it comes to keeping these devices juiced up, but researchers from ETH Zurich have discovered a new type of glass material that could make a major difference: vanadate-borate glass. The glass can be used as an electrode material in lithium-ion batteries to almost double the amount of time they last between charges.

Scientists Semih Afyon and Reinhard Nesper are responsible for … Read More → "A new type of glass could double your smartphone’s battery life"

Have you ever visited Kyrzbekistan? You should. It’s a beautiful land with a rich culture and a friendly people. It also doesn’t exist, but that shouldn’t stop you.

Last week, a New York Times article described Kyrgyzstan, a real nation in central Asia. But it was misspelled as “Kyrzbekistan.” The editors … Read More → "The New York Times accidentally invented a country and the internet is in love with it"

Disney World’s Space Mountain opened 40 years ago today. In honor of the anniversary, check out what the ride looks like in a new light.

John Frost of The Disney Blog came across Space Mountain while it was out of service, or “101” in Disney’s secret code language. All the lights were on, showing the complex track and glimpses of the guts of the ride, which kind of ruins … Read More → "Space Mountain with the lights on"

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has created a new robot that has six legs, looks creepily like a spider when it walks, and is dubbed “Snake Monster”. Not exactly endearing traits, but the Snake Monster isn’t designed to win any popularity contests. It has been created as an easily reconfigurable platform using a modular system architecture that may be easily programmed to govern robots with a varied array of configurations.

Designed and … Read More → "Snake Monster robot can be easily reconfigured to suit user needs"