After last week's uproar over Microsoft's 2012 snooping in a blogger's Hotmail account, the company says it will no longer perform its own email snooping in criminal cases. In an official blog post today, Microsoft Executive Vice President Brad Smith said that, effective immediately, when investigations occur, "we will not inspect a customer's private content ourselves. Instead, we will refer the matter to law enforcement if further action is required." Which sounds like what should've been protocol in the first place. Read More >>

Of the many schemes to make the government more efficient, this is probably the only one that involves typography. A teenager in Pittsburgh has calculated that by simply switching the typeface used in government documents from Times New Roman to Garamond, it would save taxpayers $400 million (£240 million) in ink. Read More >>

Gravity is the sworn enemy of any cyclist. Succumb to its force while you're on two wheels, and you'll end up bloody and bruised. But like any superhero's nemesis, gravity justifies a bike's very existence, because without it, you'd never be able to steer. Strap on a helmet, this is gonna get weird. Read More >>

Surgeries, major or minor, virtually always require stitches—but they can prove uncomfortable and painful, or even become infected. Now, a spray-on film of biodegradable polymer nanofibres could replace them for good. Read More >>

For some, the path to adulthood is gradual and fluid, as if maturity could somehow seep into one's pores like steam from a warm bath. For others, the yolk of real responsibility is thrust suddenly and heavily upon their shoulders, though neither have a say in which path to maturity they will take. Read More >>

We all have DSLR-toting friends who are incredibly precious about their art. Here are ten way to irritate the hell out of your photography-snob buddies. Read More >>

When you're shuffling a deck of cards, you're trying your best to ensure everything gets as mixed up as possible. But it turns out you might not have to try so hard. In this wonderful TedEd animation, Yannay Khaikin outlines the staggering number of ways a deck of 52 cards can be arranged. Read More >>

Darth Maul has probably made you a coffee—at least if you've been to Mexico City. This is one conclusion you can draw from photographer Marcel Rius's Fanatic Wars. He's spent years documenting Star Wars cosplayers and collectors in Mexico, visiting their homes and putting together a visual answer to the question: how do you live with Star Wars? Read More >>

With all the wild stuff going on in the ocean's depths, corals and sponges don't seem like the marine life that would be most fun to watch because—do they even move? Yes! They do! Slow Life reveals a super close-up, ultra-high-resolution perspective on these delicate underwater systems in motion—and they're gorgeous. Read More >>

This is a little unsettling. A year-long investigation into alleged cheating on proficiency exams has resulted in the dismissal of nine nuclear missile commanders at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, US. The military expects to punish dozens of junior officers, as well. Read More >>

The pursuit of an absolutely minimal wallet leads some to just wrap an elastic band around their plastic cards and cash. But many of us still need a little more structure than that, and that's what the Flexy delivers, with a form factor that's just barely larger than a single credit card. Read More >>

Before the internet? Don't kid yourself. It wasn't more fulfilling or engaging; you didn't have more time to read and think and play. You just sat around in your underwear watching daytime TV instead. Read More >>

Hackers operate by the same rules of economics as we all do. Thanks to a high profile breach like the one that hit US shopping chain Target, a glut of stolen credit cards has cheapened their resale value. So you know what's a more valuable target these days? Your Twitter account. Read More >>

Artist Jim Campbell has made a career out of tinkering with LED arrays. His newest work, a series of glowing, undulating installations, are a playful mix of circuitry, motion, and pure light that will captivate any onlooker. Read More >>

Last week Samvir Thandiblew our minds with a model rocket car that hit 285 mph. But it was basically just a rocket engine with wheels that you aimed—hopefully accurately—and fired. Nick Case's remote control speed demons actually have electric motors, and his latest creation—quite possibly the world's fastest RC car—just hit 188 mph. Read More >>

Ever wondered who dreams up the otherworldly architecture and cities you see in movies like Thor 2 and Man of Steel? Meet Christian Lorenz Scheurer, the concept artist behind both movies—and many others. Read More >>