Russians mock Elon Musk’s inventions with lifehack memes

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While the rest of us have been scrambling to keep up with whatever just went down between Grimes, Elon Musk, and Azealia Banks, Russian Twitter has been roasting the Tesla CEO with these truly incredible memes.

According to Twitter user @andromedamn, the meme shows off “super bootleggy lifehacky” inventions, often captioned with “and how do you like this, Elon Musk?” 

SEE ALSO: Azealia Banks posted more screenshots. Let’s unpack this mess.

The lifehacks include a lightbulb secured by a bike lock and a pipe, a guy wearing a toilet seat around his neck to carry his beer, and a washing machine modified to be a stove.  Read more…

More about Memes, Elon Musk, Science, and Web Culture

Yikes, the reviews for ‘The Happytime Murders’ are absolutely savage

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Puppets, murder, Sesame Street lawsuits—that’s what summer blockbusters are made of… right? Well, according to critics, not so much.

SEE ALSO: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is getting its sequel – and it’s great news for one fan-favorite character

Reviews for The Happytime Murders aren’t looking so happy. Despite its star-studded cast — led by Melissa McCarthy — the puppet-heavy film noir/comedy isn’t doing so well in the court of public opinion. 

Directed by Brian Henson (son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson), The Happytime Murders parodies traditional puppet storytelling in a human- and puppet-inhabited Los Angeles. From drug abuse to graphic sex scenes, the Happytime trailer makes it clear that this isn’t your average visit with Kermit the Frog. And yet, while the naughty puppet trope has certainly worked in the past, it doesn’t seem to be singing (or miming) quite like it used to.  Read more…

More about Melissa Mccarthy, Review Roundup, The Happytime Murders, Brian Henson, and Entertainment

Watch as NOAA storm hunters enter the stadium-like eye of Hurricane Lane

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Hurricane scientist Lisa Bucci took a jarring ride through the strengthening Hurricane Lane Tuesday evening. Eventually, her plane emerged from the swirling clouds into the vast, stadium-like eye of the storm.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane hunter plane comes out of the clouds at about the 20-second mark in the video. At around 45 seconds, Bucci points the camera down, at the churning Pacific Ocean below.

SEE ALSO: Why Trump’s EPA wants to kill the nation’s most ambitious climate change plan

Hurricane Lane poses a considerable threat to Hawaii and is currently projected to skim the volcanic islands beginning on Thursday. NOAA is flying through the storm to take measurements of the cyclone’s wind, pressure, and temperature, to better understand exactly where the storm might go. Read more…

More about Science, Extreme Weather, Noaa, Hurricanes, and Hurricane Hunters

This plastic fishing company is making office furniture out of plastic waste

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Plastic Whale is a professional plastic fishing company that offers boat trips during which tourists — while sightseeing — will pick up plastic from Amsterdam’s canals. The plastic bottles that are being collected get turned into office furniture, in collaboration with Vepa. Read more…

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IPVanish review: A VPN that gets the job done

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IPVanish
$6.49 a month (1-year plan)
View Product
The Good

Minimalist • intuitive design • P2P availability • Does not keep user logs

The Bad

Slow download speeds • No Netflix • Lacks advanced security features

The Bottom Line

IPVanish is a passable VPN service, but its speed isn’t great and it doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd.

Mashable Score3.25
Cool Factor3.0
Learning Curve4.0
Performance3.0
Bang for the Buck3.0

How does a VPN (virtual private network) stand out from the crowd today? With privacy concerns and a sheer number of quality options, even great VPNs may not get the attention they deserve. Read more…

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Forget sun signs: Your zodiac sign is whoever won Best Actress the year you were born

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The people of Twitter read their horoscopes religiously and map their birth charts meticulously, so it’s no wonder that zodiac memes are having a moment right now. 

The fascination with astrology prompted the recent “fuck your zodiac sign” meme, and now it’s birthed another one.

It’s pretty simple: the meme posits that whoever won the Academy Award for best actress the year you were born is your true zodiac sign — and people can’t stop sharing their results. 

SEE ALSO: Yes, your dog has a horoscope. So does your gerbil.

Whoever won Best Actress the year you were born is your real Zodiac Sign.

— Tess ✧ (@isabeIIehuppert) August 20, 2018 Read more…

More about Twitter, Memes, Astrology, Culture, and Web Culture

Scientists thought ‘Steve’ was a new aurora. Turns out it isn’t.

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Named “Steve,” the swathes of purple light filling skies over Regina, Canada, spurred plenty of intrigue when discovered by citizen scientists.

The lights, the likes of which locals had never seen before, were understood by scientists to be a new aurora. Or so they thought.

SEE ALSO: YouTube’s women of STEM make learning about science fun

Turns out “Steve,” which stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, is no aurora. It’s an entirely new celestial phenomenon, with a different atmospheric process to an aurora.

The conclusion was made by researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada, who authored a study which was published in Geophysical Research Letters.  Read more…

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Verizon explains why it throttled a fire department’s data during wildfire

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Earlier this summer, the Santa Clara County Fire Department sent a team to fight the largest wildfire in the history of California. 

The problem? During the fire, Verizon throttled the department’s “unlimited” data once it reached its limit. 

As part of its emergency services, the department “relies upon Internet-based systems to provide crucial and time sensitive public safety services,” Fire Chief Anthony Bowden wrote in an addendum added this week to a lawsuit fighting to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality repeal.

SEE ALSO: Verizon accused of lying about rural coverage, stifling 4G LTE expansion Read more…

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Accio, wand! The 10 most popular ‘Harry Potter’ spells revealed

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Everyone who’s read Harry Potter will have fond memories of practicing their wand twirling action in front of the mirror, muttering “Expelliarmus” over and over again in the vague but undying hope that something will actually happen and that magic is indeed real.

Even though our Hogwarts letters may have never arrived, though, we’ll always have the memories. And the spells.

SEE ALSO: 15 Magical Harry Potter Cocktails to Charm Your Palate

Harry Potter readers recently voted on their favourite spells as part of a world-wide survey by Bloomsbury Children’s Books — you can probably guess which Harry Potter spell got the top vote, but there are still a few surprises in here… Read more…

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Facebook’s role in anti-refugee attacks outlined in shocking study

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Facebook bubbles are dangerous. 

Not in an abstract, immeasurable way. They actually make communities more prone to racial violence, claims a disturbing new study from the University of Warwick. 

The New York Times reported a lengthy piece outlining the study from Altena, Germany, where a man attempted to light a refugee house on fire after sharing racist messages with friends on Facebook. Like many other cities in Europe, the community is home to refugees fleeing violence from countries including Syria and Afghanistan. 

SEE ALSO: How to completely delete Facebook from your life

Even in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it’s a shocking study. The researchers studied every refugee attack in Germany over two years (3,335) and considered factors such as wealth, political views, and the number of hate crimes and refugees.  Read more…

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