The Biggest Tech Fails Of 2019

Data breaches, bad devices, and other tech fails impacted customers in 2019. (Photo Credit: Google Play Store) The march of progress continues ever onward, but it’s not always smooth. Our tech overlords definitely let their reach exceed their grasp in 2019, as just about every major company had a goof-up or two this year that saw stock prices drop. Whether it be a result of faulty hardware, clueless business practices, or incompetent leadership,...

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Toy Tuesday: The Best Toys Of 2019

It’s been a hell of a year for toy collectors, and we’ve worked to bring you the best and the brightest week after week on Toy Tuesday. In this final installment, we’re looking at the releases from all of our favorite manufacturers around the world and picking eleven toys that stood above the rest. No matter what your fandom, we’ll bet you’ll find something to take home here. And if not, well, 2020 is right around the corner and we’re not slowing...

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When Greta Met David: Thunberg, Attenborough Talk Climate Crisis

Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough (via BBC Radio 4) Greta Thunberg has had one hell of a year. From Nobel Peace Prize nominee to Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2019, the Swedish schoolgirl has inspired an international movement to fight climate change. And she just met Sir David Attenborough. The broadcaster and naturalist (and British national treasure) has brought the outside world into homes for nearly seven decades. He is perhaps best...

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Sharon Stone’s Bumble Dating Account Reinstated After Confusion

Sharon Stone (via Getty Images) Celebrities, they’re just like us: Golden Globe winner Sharon Stone was blocked on dating app Bumble because users thought she was a fake. The actress, known for leading-lady roles in Basic Instinct and Casino, tweeted on Monday that her account was temporarily closed. “Some users reported that it couldn’t possibly be me,” Stone said. “Hey [Bumble], is being me exclusionary? Don’t shut me out of the hive.” She followed...

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Netflix Wins Its Own 2019 Popularity Contest

'Stranger Things' season three is one of Netflix's most popular releases of 2019 (via Netflix) Netflix, like the rest of the digital world, is ringing in the new year with a look back at the previous one. The streaming service this week revealed the most popular releases of 2019, and—spoiler alert—they’re almost all made by Netflix. “Happy almost 2020,” the company tweeted on Monday, kicking off the shameless self-promotion of its original content. Look...

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Kennedy Assassination Bullets Digitized For Public Viewing

One of those fragments from the bullet that fatally wounded JFK is illuminated beneath the microscope's lens as it is scanned (via T.B. Renegar/NIST) Conspiracy theorists, rejoice: You’ll soon not have to leave your underground bunker to view the bullets that killed John F. Kennedy in 1963. Fragments from the slugs used in the presidential assassination have been digitized for the web. Usually preserved in a controlled vault at the National Archives...

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‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Falls 59% in Second Weekend

Dark Rey in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.' (Photo Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s domestic earnings are down over $100 million as it exits its second weekend at the box office, from $177.38 million on release to $72 million now. Over its first 10 days, that gives it a $361.8 million total, slightly under Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s $368 million ten-day-cume. That movie infamously also took a massive dip between weekends,...

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The Best Movies of the Decade

'Iron Man 3,' 'Warrior,' and other films that audiences loved in the 2010s. (Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal / Marvel) There is no such thing as a correct Best Of List. Oftentimes we strive for that nonexistent perfection when writing them, attempting to create the version of that list that will speak to a collective sentiment, the version most agreeable to those familiar with the subject. While appealing to as wide a readership as possible with these...

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These Were Barack Obama’s Favorite Books, Movies of 2019

Barack Obama shops for books in Washington, D.C (via Pete Souza/The White House) The nation’s dad, Barack Obama over the weekend revealed his favorite books, films, and TV shows of 2019. What began as a White House ritual in 2015 has continued post-presidency, offering the country (and the world) insight into the former Commander in Chief’s cultural life. “This has become a fun little tradition for me, and I hope it is for you, too,” Obama wrote...

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Scientists Who Genetically Altered Babies Receive Prison Sentence

(Photo Credit: The He Lab/YouTube) The scientist who claims his lab made the world’s first genetically edited babies has been sentenced to three years in prison. One of a trio of defendants charged with illegal medical practice, ringleader He Jiankui received the most serious punishment: three years behind bars and a 3 million yuan ($429,000) fine. He made headlines last year when his lab allegedly used CRISPR technology to alter the DNA of sisters...

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‘Swamp Gas’ Phosphine Could Be Sign of Extraterrestrial Life

Clara Sousa-Silva looks for biosignatures that might prove beacons of extraterrestrial life (via Melanie Gonick/MIT) One planet’s toxic gas is another’s life-sustaining biomarker. Phosphine—a molecule known for its putrid, toxic nature on Earth—may be a sign of extraterrestrial life on distant worlds. Produced only by oxygen-averse anaerobic organisms, the compound serves as a sign of life—”at least of a certain kind,” according to the Massachusetts...

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