ByteDance, the parent company behind TikTok, admitted this week a handful of its employees, some based in China, inappropriately accessed TikTok data of U.S. users and two journalists when conducting an investigation attempting to snuff out the source of a damning leak.
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Woman King's Thuso Mbedu Is Heading to Comics for a Gorgeous Afro-Fantasy
The Woman King and The Underground Railroad actor Thuso Mbedu is joining Stranger Comics to pen a new tale in the publisher’s Tales of Asunda afro-fantasy series, and io9 has your first look.
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Arctic Blast to Send U.S. into Dangerous Deep Freeze, Imperiling Holiday Travel
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Arizona Considers Water Pipeline From Mexico to Combat Drought
In an effort to avoid drawing more water from the drought-stricken Colorado River, Arizona officials are looking as far as Mexico for reliable water supply.
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Colleges Move To Ban TikTok on Campus
Some colleges are now restricting TikTok access on campus following a government crackdown in several states. Lawmakers have accused TikTok of reporting user data to China, and in recent weeks have moved to ban the app on state-issued devices. South Dakota was the first state to pass the ban with 13 other states soon …
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Dragon Age: Absolution's Creators on Making Its Connections Matter
With Netflix’s Dragon Age: Absolution, BioWare’s fantasy-RPG franchise makes a gradual return after having been previously in a bit of franchise limbo since 2015. The series hasn’t completely gone away thanks to comics and some books, but Absolutionmarks a real sense of change for the series ahead of the release of…
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Judge Tells 30-Year-Old SBF to Move Back in With Parents on $250 Million Bail
Failed crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried heard the news no young man wants to hear Thursday: “sorry son, you’re moving back in with your parents.” For all the young people who lived with their folks into their 20s, let’s just hope for his sake that the old man didn’t get rid of his old childhood bed.
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Biden Signs Tiger King Bill Into Law
Remember March 2020, when we were all stuck inside watching a kooky gay big cat owner do battle with another kooky tiger-print-wearing big cat sanctuary owner? One of those catty characters just scored a big win in Washington.

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The Arduboy Mini Is a Hackable Gaming Platform That's About As Big as Two Quarters
The original Arduboy made headlines as a credit card-sized handheld you could keep tucked away in your wallet for gaming emergencies, but it was also a great way to get started coding through the Arduino platform. The Arduboy Mini offers the same experience—8-bit gaming and portability—in an even smaller device. It’s…
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Severe Strep A Is Rising in U.S. After 24 Child Deaths in UK
Severe cases of strep A appear to be climbing in parts of the world outside of the UK, where the surge was first reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as several children’s hospitals in the U.S. have documented an increase, while doctors in Montreal, Canada recently reported a possible rise…
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Christmas Classics You Can Stream This Holiday Season
As we cozy up beside a roaring fire for some quality family time, or opt to just stay home to avoid the crowds and arctic temperatures spreading across the country, we’ve rounded up some of the more classic oldie but goodie Christmas films that can keep you company.
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The Best Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy, and Superhero Movie Moments of 2022
Even bad movies can have good moments—a standout scene, a big reveal, something impactful that sticks with you. In 2022, movies (some bad, but mostly good) were filled with unforgettable moments. We’re talking animals jumping out of trucks, pirate ships flying through the air, John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic being…
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Google Opens Up Tool to Make Your Privates Private
On Friday, Google announced its machine learning tool called Magritte was going open source. According to information sent to Gizmodo, the tool detects objects inside images or video and automatically applies blur when they appear on screen. Google mentioned the object does not matter, and blur can be applied to, for…
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Europe Has Few Options to Reach Space After Vega-C Rocket Crash
Earlier this week, Arianespace’s Vega-C rocket suffered a fatal anomaly that resulted in the loss of two satellites. The rocket, which debuted a few months ago, was meant to fill a major gap for the European space industry, but is now grounded pending an investigation.
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The FBI Says You Need to Use an Ad Blocker
The Federal Bureau of Investigation took a break from hunting serial killers this week to post a public service announcement: if you’re not using an ad blocker, what are you doing?
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A Software Glitch Forced the Webb Space Telescope Into Safe Mode
The Webb Space Telescope’s instruments have been in safe mode intermittently since December 7, but scientific operations resumed earlier this week, NASA said in a press release on Wednesday.
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What Andor Gets Right About Espionage
Much has been written about Tony Gilroy’s excellent Star Wars series Andor, available on Disney+. It’s being rightly praised for its complex characters and its multilayered plot. However, what jumped out at me, as a veteran of the intelligence business, was its knowing depiction of the role and execution of espionage.…
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NASA Tests Upgraded Megarocket Engine Ahead of Future Moon Missions
The crewed Artemis 5 mission to the Moon won’t happen until 2028 at the earliest, but the mission and those that follow will benefit from upgraded RS-25 engines, which NASA will use to power future iterations of its gigantic Space Launch System rocket.

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Don't Get Scammed by Fake Job Postings on Sites Like LinkedIn and Indeed
Scam job listings and fraudulent recruitment efforts abound in email inboxes and on sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Zip Recruiter, according to a new report from the Washington Post. Under the guise of fake employment offers and opportunities, internet grifters are angling to take advantage of jobseekers, and collect…
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‘Lightning Lynx’ Strange World Deleted Scene
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Google Is Working Behind the Scenes to Protect Search From ChatGPT
Google is reportedly ramping up work behind the scenes to close the technological gap with OpenAI’s ChatGPT model, an advanced chatbot capable of churning out conversational answers which some critics warn could pose the most significant threat to Google’s treasured search dominance in years.
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