A Clever Plastic Brace Turns Long-Stemmed Flowers Into Their Own Vase

Florists around the country, pay attention. If you're looking for a value-added reason for people to buy a dozen roses from your shop, then find a way to get this brilliant Crown Vaseput into production and include one with every bouquet.

Designed by Lambert Rainville, a student at the Royal College of Art, the Crown Vase works as a support allowing flowers to stand via their own stems, like a simple shelter crafted by an experienced outdoors person. A shallow dish or bowl full of water is still needed to keep the flowers alive for more than a day, but when they eventually die everything can be composted and recycled, making cleanup an eco-friendly affair. More here.

Why the HTC One Lacks a Micro SD Slot

According to technical reasons, the version of the HTC One sold in the US lacks an SD card slot due to internal space restrictions. Because of something to do with mobile radio frequencies. That’s what HTC says and we're powerless to argue.

The explanation comes from HTC’s Jeff Gordon, the company’s Senior Global Online Communications Manager. Jeff told Techradar: “Because the Chinese version of the One is designed specifically for the smaller Chinese radio bands, we do have additional space inside the device we were able to use for the microSD slot. That space isn’t available in the global version.” They could, of course, just made it a bit bigger, though. So we’re not entirely sure we believe them. More here.

Microsoft Has Two New Mice for Windows 8 Multitasking

Microsoft has a couple new mice coming out today with some simple features that make using Windows 8 a little bit easier.

First up on the the fancier end is the Sculpt Comfort Mouse, which will be on sale in June. It's $40, connects to your computer or tablet via Bluetooth, and is the first Microsoft mouse with a blue, touch-sensitive Windows button that gives you a couple of shortcuts. Press it and it'll take you directly to the start screen, or use this button to swipe through all the apps you have open.

The more basic model is the Sculpt Mobile Mouse. Available later this month, it costs $30 and features four-way scrolling, meaning you can tilt the scroll wheel up down, left, or right. We played with both of the new mice and found that they were comfy and responsive, giving you that little extra something you want out of an accessory. Plus, they're a nice match to multitasking on Windows 8. More here.

This 1.5TB Laptop Drive Is the Most Memory-Dense You Can Buy

While SSDs are blisteringly fast, they still can't offer the capacities that the humble hard disk provides. Especially this one, because with 1.5 TB squeezed into its tiny little frame, it's the most memory-dense drive you can buy right now.

The 2.5-inch Travelstar 5K1500 is just 9.5mm deep. Packing 1.5TB, that means the drive offers 694Gb per square inch—comfortably making it the densest HDD on the market. It draws just 1.8W, but there is one downside: it only spins at 5,400 rpm, so it's not the fastest drive you'll ever use.

Still, if your laptop's heaving under the weight of video, music and whatever else you choose to fill it up with, then this little guy could provide just the shot in the arm it needs. There's currently no pricing information, but it will be available in June. More here.

China Has Their Own Stealth Drone

This is China's stealth combat drone, an airplane that seems very similar to the American Northrop Grumman X-47B. The unmanned combat air vehicle was photographed while performing taxiing tests. Given the development speed of China's other military airplanes, it wouldn't be surprising to see this in flight in the next few weeks.

According to China Defense Blog, it was initially labeled to be a project by "college students" for the 601 Aircraft Design Institute/Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. Clearly, it's much more than that.

It seems obvious that China's military complex is advancing at a higher pace than many in the West would like to believe. It is not comparable to the United States yet, but the technology matching may be a matter of years and not decades. And it has already happened in the cyber war front. More here.

This Rinsing Bowl Cleverly Includes a Colander

Isn't this an ingenious design? This bowl has a moveable colander piece that folds in and out so you can wash and serve your fruit in the same piece.

The combination strainer/bowl is $15 from Umbra. It rolls two steps of meal prep into one smart kitchen gadget, while solving one of life's most grating—albeit boring—problems. Ever been rinsing off some fresh fruit and dropped a plump strawberry into the nasty depths of your sink's drain?  It's the small things, really. More here.

The New Kinect Is So Sensitive It Can Read Your Heartbeat

Microsoft claims that the new Kinect is so sensitive that it can see the slightest movement of your wrists and fingers, the tension of your muscles and, amazingly enough, even your heartbeat.

So next time you exercise in front of the TV, it will be able to tell how much you are really working out. But I bet there will be a lot more to this feature, like a first-person shooter reading your heart beat and muscle tension to spook you at the right moment. And kill you for real. More here.

Why Brushing Your Teeth Makes Orange Juice Taste Bad

If you're going to have a glass of orange juice and brush your teeth (a good idea), there's only one order in which to do them. It makes sense that your minty toothpaste-mouth would make OJ taste weird, but why so down-right heinous?

As Bytesize Science explains, it's because your tongue gets coated with a particularly troublesome foamy oral detergent.

YouTube Turns Eight Today

The youtube.com domain name was activated on February 14, 2005, and the first public preview of the site went live eight years ago today. So...birthday!

More than 100 hours or about four days-worth of video is uploaded to the site every minute now. Which is pretty staggering. On average, 1 billion people, almost half of worldwide internet users, visit YouTube every month. And yes, fine, we get it, there are adorable animal videos on YouTube. They are great. But at this point it's kind of gone beyond that.

How to Make Your Own Anti-Venom without Poisoning a Horse

The Iocane Powder trick really does work! As this slick educational short from the SciShowexplains, you've got two choices when it comes to treating deadly, deadly snake bites: you can either hopefully make it to a hospital in time to counter the toxins with dozens of expensive vials of delicate anti-venom, or you can slowly inoculate yourself against their effects—effectively turning yourself into a poison-immune mobile anti-venom factory. Where do I sign up?

Earth's Atmosphere Is Slowly Escaping Into Space

Take a deep breath. You're lucky to be able to. Without a handy blanket of atmosphere gases to swaddle us all, we'd be no more than a twinkle in evolution's eye. But that wonderful blanket of gas is slowly escaping, molecule by molecule, and there's not much we can do about it.




As MinuteEarth explains, the process is very slow, and chances are we'll be long gone before its ever complete. But someday, our blue-green wonderland will probably be just another barren rock like its neighbor, Mars. So enjoy this whole life thing while it lasts. Happy Friday!

Someone Finally Designed a Folding Chair That's Easy to Store

They're light, they're cheap, they're marginally comfortable, but ironically, folding chairs are rarely easy to stack and store. They're supposed to be, but their random curves and bulges make it a task that's frankly just not worth it—especially knowing that Folditure's ultra-flat hanging Tilt chairs are about to hit the market.

The hinges and supports on the Tilt that allow it to fold are designed so that when collapsed, the chair ends up being as flat as a pancake. So when stacked, the risk of avalanche is slim to nil. But stacking isn't your only option. The tilt also features an integrated hanger so a whole mess of them can be easily hung up like a closet full of clothes. There's no word on pricing or availability just yet, but Folditure has put crazier designs into production, so there's a good chance these will be too. More here.

Watch a Caterpillar Transform Into a Butterfly From Inside the Cocoon

If you ever stared at a chrysalis as a kid, patiently waiting for a beautiful new butterfly to emerge, you were probably left wondering just what was going on inside there. Was the caterpillar reconfiguring itself like a Transformer? Was it morphing like a Terminator? Nobody knows—except now everyone does thanks to these fascinating micro-CT 3D x-ray scans of the process.




Two research teams used the cutting edge imaging technique to routinely scan a chrysalis during its metamorphosis and generate 3D models of its organs and other internal structures changing over time. Smaller details—like details of the brain—are unfortunately still left out with the limitations of the technology. But as they improve, so will our understanding of this unique process. Not to mention, kids won't have to wait weeks to see a butterfly finally emerge—they can just hit fast forward.

What Your Body Will Do in the Next 30 Seconds

You might think 30 seconds is pretty short. Your body doesn't though. In order to keep everything running, there's a lot of things going on in those 30 seconds. Like you'll make 72 million red blood cells! And shed 174,000 skin cells! And have 25 thoughts. The human body, what a wonderful thing.

Windows "Blue" Is Officially Called Windows 8.1 and Free

Microsoft just announced on a call with shareholders that the Windows Blue update will officially be called Windows 8.1, which will be a free update. It'll be available for both Windows 8 and Windows RT.

A preview will be available to the public after the Microsoft Build conference. Windows 8.1 is expected to fix a lot of the biggest concerns users had with the Metro interface, without completely abandoning the concept. More here.

Costco UK Will Happily Sell You This Awesome $115,000 F1 Simulator

What do you rely on your local Costco for? Gigantic boxes of diapers? Bulk packs of chicken fingers? In the UK, when you're stocking up on bangers and mash, you can also go home with a full-size $115,000 Formula One simulator. Although, sadly, they're not sold in bulk packs for bigger savings.

The simulator is powered by a reasonably well-equipped Intel Core i7 processor gaming PC with 16 gigs of RAM and a fast SSD hard drive. And the pseudo-wraparound display is composed of three 23-inch TFT LCD displays, accompanied by speakers on either side that complement a full built-in 5.1 surround system.

But when you crunch the numbers, the electronics don't come anywhere close to breaking the ten grand mark. So the $115,000 price tag is mostly covering the ultra-realistic Formula One car chassis the simulator is housed in. It doesn't actually move, but it's made from similar materials as the actual racing vehicles, including composites like carbon fiber which help sell the simulated experience.

Of course given Formula One isn't quite as popular in the US as it is around the world, don't expect your local Costco to start carrying this anytime soon. But a Nascar version could be the perfect Father's Day gift. More here.

Leaked Pics of Nokia's New Aluminum Lumia Are Totally Gorgeous

We're already pretty into Nokia's just-announced Lumia 928, but here's what's coming next. Evleaks, who has a pretty great track record with these things, just showed the world Nokia's new phone, which seems to be the codename "Catwalk" phone we've been hearing about.

Details are scarse, but it's apparently very similar to the 920, just thinner, lighter, and with a better camera (no word on if this is the Xenon flash found in the 928, or something else). More here.

How to Stop Time With a Ceiling Fan, Two Flashlights and a Camera

Remember the now ubiquitous bullet time effect in the Matrix? That technique requires dozens of cameras and other expensive gear, but JPL engineer,inventor and Gizmodo friend Mark Rober, figured out how to do it for just a few dollars.

He managed to achieve the same effect using a ceiling fan, some card board, two flashlights and one single GoPro Hero Black camera filming at 240fps. And while you can't film yourself jumping and dodging bullets, the results are truly awesome.

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Solar-Powered Cat Toy Taunts Your Feline Forever

If you'd rather your cats weren't shredding the furniture to pieces while you're away at work all day, you need a steady source of distraction to keep them occupied. And as long as you've got at least one window in your home, this solar-powered cat toy will keep them entertained and out of trouble. Mostly.

Just suction cup the toy's base to a window so that the solar cells can soak up as much light as possible, and it will do the rest by animating a dangling plastic ball and feathers. Your cat won't be able to resist it, unless, you know, it sees a flicker of light on the wall, or happens upon a dustball. But it's still $40 well spent if it helps preserve your expensive leather couch for even a day longer. More here.