Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Gizmodo Australia

REGULARS

10 Hidden Secrets In Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BRYAN MENEGUS15 APRIL 2016 7:30 AM

As one of the most beloved franchises of all time, The Force Awakenswas scrutinised to a degree usually reserved for Pynchon novels by grad students (a treatment Rogue One is already getting as well). As a result, there’s a lot we now know about even the most minute details from the film, and Screen Rant points out ten of the best in a new video.

ENTERTAINMENT

Has It Really Taken This Long For Lightsaber Pool Noodles To Exist?

ANDREW LISZEWSKITODAY 12:00 AM

You’re supposed to use them for lazily floating around a pool on a hot summer’s day, but in no time at all those long foam noodles quickly become a sword you can safely swing around like a samurai, ninja and now a Jedi, thanks to Swim Ways.

SOFTWARE & DESIGN

Visual Effects Reel Reveals How They Make A Dog Attack A Person

CASEY CHANYESTERDAY 10:30 PM

Video: Dogs are friendly, loveable best friends. They don’t want to hurt anyone! So how do movies get dogs to attack people? With visual effects. A special effects team basically creates a digital double of a real dog and then makes it so that the CG-created dog attacks the actor in the way that the movie wants. In this VFX reel of German movie Look Who’s Back, it shows how that whole process works.

ENTERTAINMENT

Story Of Your Life Could Be One Of The Year's Most Magical Films

GERMAIN LUSSIERYESTERDAY 9:30 PM

A linguist and a theoretical physicist are the stars of the latest movie from the director of Sicario and the upcoming Blade Runner 2. The movie is Story Of Your Life, based on the short story by Ted Chiang, and this Amy Adams/Jeremy Renner movie looks awesome.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

The Real Reason You Wouldn't Want To Live On An All-Local Diet

RIA MISRAYESTERDAY 8:30 PM

An investigation into several locavore restaurants revealed that what was written on the menus wasn’t at all what was showing up at the tables. But the underlying reason for the problem is much bigger than just the restaurants: it’s the all-local diet itself.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Oh Great, Another Reason To Worry About Seafood

MADDIE STONEYESTERDAY 8:00 PM

It’s a well-known fact that some of our favourite seafoods come with an unsavoury dose of heavy metals like mercury. But there’s another group of chemicals that sometimes lace our tuna steaks, and the latest findings on them are anything but appetising.

CAMERAS

Video Shot From Fighter Jets Will Melt Your Face

ANDREW LISZEWSKIYESTERDAY 7:30 PM

Video: To help Saab Defence and Security capture some spectacular footage of its Gripen fighter jet, a Swedish-based company called Blue Sky built a custom gyro-stabilised camera system that can ride along at speeds of over 555km per hour.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Trees Are Even More Amazing Than We Realised

MADDIE STONEYESTERDAY 7:00 PM

Trees, is there anything they can’t do? Doubtful. Let’s see: producing half the world’s oxygen, providing habitat for millions of species, creating the soil and timber resources we depend on. Not bad. But all that’s just scratching the surface. As new research shows, there’s a lot more going on beneath the forest floor than we realised.

GADGETS

A Tiny Death Star Is The Only Reason You Should Buy A Levitating Speaker

ANDREW LISZEWSKIYESTERDAY 6:30 PM

An unknown breakthrough in consumer levitation technology has led to an influx of floating speakers that don’t sound any different, but look kinda cool — were this the mid-’80s. Before you write them off completely, someone has managed to find a way to make these novelties genuinely worthy of your desk space, as a tiny Death Star replica.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Solar-Powered Aeroplane Solar Impulse 2 To Continue Round-The-World Flight

JAMIE CONDLIFFEYESTERDAY 6:00 PM

Over a year ago, the solar-powered aeroplane Solar Impulse 2 started its audacious round-the-world trip — but it became so damaged that it had to pull up short in Hawaii. Now, it’s ready to fly again.