Wish your spork also had a knife? Meet the Tritensil
Stick a fork in the spork ... It just might be done, thanks to the Tritensil, which improves upon the design and adds a knife. Just stick to certain foods, and there will be more room in your picnic basket.
In Spain, restaurants and residents take their leftovers to a communal fridge
Got leftovers? Instead of letting them sit in the fridge for weeks, one town in Spain's Basque region has a communal fridge, where residents can leave and take whatever they want.
This map shows every US power plant and where states get their electricity
You might not know exactly how your electricity is generated, but the EPA created maps to give homeowners a better sense of what keeps the lights on.
This Mythbuster’s tool station is a model of efficiency
Mythbusters star Adam Savage wants all his tools right where they should be, which is why he built himself this handy DIY shelf.
Want to close the blinds but they’re so far away? These gizmos make them smart
Automated blinds like Move and iBlinds are a great feature, because you never have to worry about overheating your home during the hottest part of the day.
Science, not civets: You can now buy fermented coffee that’s poop-free
If you've always wanted to try kopi luwak, the coffee made from beans found in civet poop, get thee to Kickstarter. Cultured Coffee is fermented, so it mimics the less-bitter brew.
This is the 52-room mansion 50 Cent spends $72,000 a month on
During a recent court appearance, 50 Cent laid out the details of his 52-room mansion. Between the grotto, the basketball courts, and the casino, it's no wonder he claims he spends $72,000 a month maintaining it.
Sleeping on the ceiling: This apartment’s bed raises up when not in use
If you prefer an apartment that's uncluttered, check out the Yo! Home. Everything can be hidden away, making its 430-square-feet very efficient.
This guy hacked his pet feeder to reward his cat for finding ‘prey’
Worried your cat isn't getting enough exercise? You could hack an automatic pet feeder to dispense food when your cat finds an RFID-tagged toy.
Cooling down the house: A new smart glass could block both heat and light
This smart glass can block 90 percent of near-infrared rays and 80 percent of the sun’s visible light, which should help keep homes cooler.
What does the American dream home look like? Depends on your age
What does your dream home look like? It depends on whether you're a Millennial, Gen-Xer, or Baby Boomer, according to a recent study from Trulia. All three groups do have some wants in common, though.
What’s the frequency? Making a map of IoT devices using drones
Information security company Praetorian created a drone with a tool that tracks IoT devices’ communications to collect their data and identify trends.
Wish you could bring your AC into bed? The BedJet both heats and cools your sheets
BedJet claims it can make your bed the perfect temperature by blowing hot or cool air. It's available for Kickstarter now for $199.
GE’s new industrial cloud will power planes, trains, and hospitals
GE is getting into the cloud game with Predix. Unlike Amazon Web Services, this is aimed at industrial customers. It fits in with GE's manufacturing business, which makes equipment like jet engines, locomotives, and health equipment.
Where there’s smoke, there might not be fire, so this device detects heat instead
In order to detect potentially devastating fires in houses with open-flame cooking or kerosene lamps for heat and lighting, the Lumkani senses when the temperature rises instead of smoke.
This couple remodeled their kitchen to look like The Simpsons’
Do you love The Simpsons? Sure you do, but not as much as this couple, who just recreated the TV family's kitchen, right down to those corn-cob curtains.
Want to sleep in your office? Co-living puts everything under one roof
Services like Pure House help find like-minded people and put them together in fully furnished apartments with 30-day leases.
Pre-fabulous: These prebuilt luxury homes are super swanky
Prefab homes are faster and cheaper to build, but while many are lower cost, Huf Haus decided make luxurious, prefab mansions that can cost millions.
Are you gentrifying your neighborhood? Slate’s calculator will tell you
Slate created a calculator that puts some numbers behind whether or not you're a gentrifier based on your income and the ZIP code you live in.
Architects design homes and schools for camps refugees can build themselves
The Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan houses tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in prefab houses and other structures created by Re:Build.
Like a smarter George Foreman, this electric grill knows when your food’s done
How do you know when to flip your burger? Eyeball it? The Bright Grill is a smart grill for under $200 that uses temperature sensors and your smartphone to let you know when your food is done.
No garage? No problem. Encapsulate your car in the shape-shifting GazeBox
Not having a garage means a car covered in leaves, ice, bird droppings, or worse. The Gazebox wants to solve your woes; it's a structure you can put on your property that doubles as a gazebo when you're not parked in it.
Attention, hipster foodies: This $47 machine makes yogurt, quinoa, and rice
Short on kitchen space but have a passion for specialty foods? The Mini Tim3 Machin3 makes rice, quinoa, and yogurt, and takes up very little counter space.
Blogger gets backlash for not loving this appliance you’ve probably never heard of
Have you ever heard of a Thermomix? It's a multi-function appliance that supposedly does the job of 12 machines. It costs about that much, too.
Sick of waiting for the dryer? In a few years, new technology could dry clothes in minutes
Ayyoub Momen of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has come up with a new technology that dries clothes extremely quickly while using very little energy. He's working with GE to get the technology to consumers in about four years.
Looking to rent a nice summer home? There’s a site for that
If you want to rent a summer home, you've likely been to sites like VRBO and Homeaway. Tripping.com aggregates all these listings in one place.
Yo, you can now own Jesse Pinkman’s house for $1.6 million
Good news: Jesse Pinkman's house from Breaking Bad is on sale. Better news! There was never actually a meth lab in the basement. That's probably why it will cost you $1.6 million.
Turn that lukewarm beer frosty faster with this flash chilling trick
On a hot day, you don't want to wait around for a couple hours while your fridge chills your beer or soda. This method works in about five minutes and requires everyday items.
A little girl shows off all the cool features of Japanese bathrooms
Bathrooms in Japan are far more partitioned than in the U.S., which means you don't have to wait for someone to get out of the bath to use the toilet.
This automated house’s climate control goes way beyond a smart thermostat
The Great Gulf Active House can control its internal climate by automatically opening and closing windows and skylights based on the weather.
Could you live in a tiny house? Now you can find out for $99 a night
Curious about the tiny-house movement but don't want to jump in blind? Getaway is a startup out of Harvard that will rent you a tiny home for $99, so you can get a feel for the experience.
Target can now scour your Instagram photos to help decorate your dorm, if you want
Target wants to use college students' Facebook and Instagram profiles to determine how to decorate their dorms based on their own personal sense of style.
How many George Washingtons would it take to buy Mount Vernon and other presidential homes?
If you're going to shell out some big bucks, why not buy a presidential home ... besides the fact that they're mostly owned by the National Park Service. Here are the current market values of a few of the more famous examples.
John Oliver would probably approve of this 3D-printed milk cap that detects spoilage
UC Berkeley researchers have made a 3D-printed cap that detects when milk has gone bad, rendering the old sniff test obsolete.
The Mother hub now sounds like running water when you need to take a drink
How much water did you drink today? It's not always easy to keep track of the ounces on your Nalgene bottle, so Sen.se created an app that uses its Mother Motion Cookies to keep tabs on your hydration.
Sweltering through the summer? Researchers say reflective paint on roofs cools homes
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology found a reflective paint used on roofs cools buildings by about 36 degrees Fahrenheit.
Skysphere is a solar-powered, panoramic mancave in the sky
To call Jono William's Skysphere a man cave doesn't quite do it justice. It's 33 feet in the air and offers 360-degree views, thanks to its polycarbonate windows that go all around the circular structure. It's also solar-powered and voice-controlled.