Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Gizmodo Australia

REGULARS

All Hail Juno, Our Record-Breaking Solar-Powered Emmissary To Jupiter

Juno broke the interplanetary distance record for solar-powered spacecraft on Wednesday morning. The Jupiter explorer is close to half a billion miles from the Sun, setting a new standard for using solar power for deep space exploration.

ONLINE

Report: The Pope And Google Boss Eric Schmidt To Have An Unusual Meeting

CHRIS MILLSTODAY 7:30 PM

According to The Guardian, leader of the online advertising world and CEO of Alphabet Eric Schmidt will have a ‘brief conversation’ tomorrow with Pope Francis. Presumably not about moving the @pontifex Twitter account to Google+. Our guess: Self-driving pope-mobile.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

SpaceX, Orbital ATK, And Sierra Nevada All Just Booked Space Taxi Contracts With NASA

RIA MISRATODAY 7:00 PM

NASA announced that it has booked three private companies to ferry supplies up to the International Space Station through the next eight years — and the new contracts will allow them to add one new astronaut to their roster.

MOBILE

Free Games Friday: StarDroid, Cryptica, Catapult King

HAYLEY WILLIAMSTODAY 6:45 PM

The weekend’s almost here, so you have time to relax and check out a free game (or three) on your smartphone. Here are the highlights from the last week.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Deliciousness Of Kansas City Barbecue

CASEY CHANTODAY 6:30 PM

Video: Like any respectable eater of meat, I pretty much like every kind of barbecue that exists. There are few things that taste better than something cooked long and slow with smoke and over indirect heat. Texas style, Kansas City style, Carolina style, Korean barbecue, char siu, it’s all delicious.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Mixing Glow Sticks With Ferrofluid And Magnets Basically Breaks The Visible Spectrum

CASEY CHANTODAY 6:00 PM

We know the chilling magic that is using magnets to control ferrofluid, it’s the closest thing we have to the black arts. But when you add the the chemicals inside a glow stick to the mix, it becomes something so visually awesome that you feel like you’re seeing things move and pop and react in ways and colour combinations you’ve never seen before. So cool.

ONLINE

Netflix Just Bought Its Very First YouTuber

KATHARINE TRENDACOSTATODAY 5:30 PM

Following in the same vein as the PewDiePie announcement yesterday, today Netflix announced that it was ordering a series based on a YouTuber. This is the future of entertainment, everyone.

ONLINE

Friday's Biggest Stories

HAYLEY WILLIAMSTODAY 5:00 PM

Every evening, we wrap up the day’s biggest stories in one place for you to easily check out. If you’ve been off the grid all day, jump in here and catch up on current events.

A Mysterious Mammoth Carcass Could Change Human HistoryThe carcass was remarkably well preserved, but something was clearly wrong.

Infographic: Who Owns What Media In Australia?Currently, Australian Law doesn’t allow any one media player to own a radio, TV and print operation.

Damn, Netflix Is Cracking Down On VPNs And ProxiesIf you use a proxy to access another country’s version of Netflix, you may be screwed.

Also on Gizmodo:

• Netflix’s Movie Libraries In Every Major Country, Compared • The LA Gas Leak Is Scarier Than We Thought • What Is The Most Powerful Weapon In Sci-Fi History?

SCIENCE & HEALTH

The LA Gas Leak Is Scarier Than We Thought

MADDIE STONETODAY 4:30 PM

Since a gas leak erupted outside LA on October 23rd, over 83,000 metric tons of methane have escaped to the atmosphere, prompting public officials to evacuate the neighbouring community of Porter Ranch. But as a disturbing new analysis shows, a much broader swath of LA is now drowning in methane.

CARS

Everything You Need To Know About Obama's Autonomous Car Plan

ALISSA WALKERTODAY 4:00 PM

In his final State of the Union, President Obama hinted about building a “21st century transportation system.” Now we know he was actually sitting on a plan to dramatically change the way Americans get around.