MoviePass Almost Ruined My Night Because It Needed $5 Million to Keep the Lights On
MoviePass failed me last night—and now I know why.
What Scientists Can Learn From New York City's Freakiest Residents
In a way, cities are giant science labs, providing an environment for organisms that’s unlike anywhere else on the planet. Even though cities have been around for thousands of years, the way that humans are urbanizing our planet in recent decades has become radically transformative for entire ecosystems. Urban living…
The American Museum of Natural History's New Climate Exhibit Delivers on Science But Avoids Solutions [Updated]
A new interactive climate change exhibit will open at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) this week, becoming the museum’s first permanent installation dedicated to modern day, human-caused climate change. It’s replacing a climate-centric portion of the museum’s Hall of Planet Earth, which features a ton of…
Instagram Now Lets You Mute Posts, a Gift to Frenemies Everywhere
They’re a bit late to the party, but Instagram has finally answered our prayers by adding a mute feature to its main feed. According to an announcement made by the company this morning, users will be able to hide posts in their feed from accounts that they still want to follow but don’t want to see any content…
Please Enjoy These Non-Groundhog Rodents
As you’ve probably heard, it’s Groundhog Day, the one day a year where it’s fine for everyone in the country to obsess over a big ol’ rodent.
WTF Is a Finsta?
Welcome to WTF, Emily?, the column where the Lifehacker staff’s closest thing to a teenager explains what the hell the teens are doing online. Every other week, recent college grad Emily Lipstein will take a deep dive into something teens are up to, breaking it down beyond a moral panicky segment on the 11pm news.
I'm Begging You Emoji Overlords, Rescue This Adorable Animal Horn Section
Newly proposed guidelines under consideration by the Unicode Consortium, the non-profit group that maintains Unicode as the international standard for symbols across software platforms, could soon radically change the way we use emojis. Yes, I mean that Unicode may finally update emoji standards to let your favorite…
How to Host a Great Thanksgiving Without Ruining the Planet
For many, the holidays are one of the more stressful times of year. Between cooking for a motley crew of relatives, having to deal with that one uncle who doesn’t believe in climate change, and figuring out how to stay sane through it all, Thanksgiving isn’t the laid-back day with friends and family that Nicole…
Your Good Boy Can Be an Eco-Friendly Good Boy
Dogs and cats are the best and I just can’t get enough of them. For months, my Facebook feed has been chock full of posts from every cat and dog-oriented page you could possibly dream up. It’s been a great way to pretend that the world isn’t burning down around us! There’s no better coping strategy for 2017 than…
Why the Creator of 'Feminist Taylor Swift' Twitter Wants Her Idol to Speak Out Against White Supremacists
“Speak now/if the white supremacists are using you as a symbol for hate” would be a good way to sum up the thread tweeted out yesterday morning by Feminist Taylor Swift, a parody Twitter account launched in 2013 which rewrites Taylor Swift lyrics to correlate them with feminist topics such as rape culture and the wage…
Fiona the Hippo Is Pivoting to Video
Fiona the Hippo is about to become a STAR!
Fieldwork Fail Shows How Science Is Sometimes a Hilarious Trainwreck
After long years of research, your efforts have paid off: the archaeological site you’re digging in has turned up a stash of rare, striking bones, no doubt the beginning of a groundbreaking discovery. Only then, you find the KFC wrapper, revealing that this “ancient burial ground” is just the leftovers of someone’s…
Oh Great, Another Way Humans Are Screwing With Pollinators
On Monday, the USDA brought us some much needed good news, when it reported data suggesting that honeybees might finally be bouncing back from colony collapse disorder. Today, a team of scientists countered with some seriously bummer pollinator news. A new study published in the journal Nature indicates that…
I Don't Care About Your LaCroix Problems
Chicago just became the latest American city to start charging consumers a penny per ounce of any sweetened drink they buy in a “pop tax.” Chicagoans are upset about this, but not because taxes like this have been demonstrated to target lower-income communities. According to DNAinfo, a number of Walgreens locations…
Here's All the Weird Shit You Missed in Charli XCX's 'Boys' Music Video
Charli XCX released a music video for her new single “Boys” on Wednesday and in the time since, I have not been the same. For one, I must contend with the fact that I now know what Charlie Puth looks like—and that I think he’s attractive, god help me. I must also grapple with my (totally plausible) queer-girl…
Update: Millennium the Tortoise Is Home Safe and Sound
Last week, we covered the kidnapping of Millennium the African-spurred tortoise from an environmental center in Queens. I’m happy to report that he’s made it back home unharmed, according to the Alley Pond Environmental Center’s Facebook page!
A Tortoise Has Been Kidnapped, But Not By Me
Tort-heist!
Emily's Teen Diary: 'Um... So... Casey Anthony.'
Having just moved back into my childhood bedroom in my parents’ house after graduating college, I’m in a whirlwind process of going through all of my old stuff. I was always the kind of person to start a diary, write in it for maybe a week, and then give up, which is why I’ve come across a bunch of barely-used…