Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones season 7, episode 6, “Beyond the Wall” Thanks to several of Littlefinger’s manipulations, Arya is on poor terms with her sister Sansa in Game of Thrones’ latest episode. Afraid that Arya might take an incriminating note back to the Northern lords, whose loyalties spin like weathervanes, Sansa tries to retrieve the note from Arya’s room, and instead discovers a bag with flattened faces. It seems like Arya’s building her own traveling House of Black and White, and making a collection of disguises for herself. Sansa pulls out one young bearded man’s face, then another face that’s more identifiable as Walder Frey, whom Arya murdered in season 6. But who does the first face belong to? Looking at the different Freys Arya killed in season 6 and the start of season 7, there are several possibilities. … [Read more...]

The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones Season 7 was a doozy: One of Dany's dragons is dead — and resurrected into a gnarly ice dragon — at the Night King's frosty hand, but Westeros' Magnificent Seven (now six; sorry Thoros) still succeeded in capturing a wight, which means Dany and Jon are taking their loveboat south to King's Landing for a meet-cute with our other favorite incesty power couple, Cersei and Jaime.  HBO has released a first look teaser trailer for the Season 7 finale, which kind of sees Dany fulfilling a prediction that Robert Baratheon made back in Season 1 — that the Mad King's daughter would lay siege to King's Landing with "a horde of Dothraki screamers," and they would be powerless to stop her.  The meeting — which will theoretically allow Jon to prove that "there is only one war that matters, and it is here" — includes Jon, Dany, Tyrion, Cersei, Jaime, Davos, Brienne, Jorah, Theon, Pod and Bronn, just based on the … [Read more...]

So tonight I learned that my worst nightmare was watching a dragon spiral to his death while spewing fire (and a boatload of blood) like a falling star before sinking down into his icy grave. Oh, only to then have his carcass dragged out and touched inappropriately by a White Walker. To those still in shock and horror at the death from Game of Thrones' "Beyond the Wall," we're here to help. Because we suffered much more than just the death of a CGI reptile. In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, we lost a (literal) beacon of hope in the otherwise hopeless war to come. But all is not lost.  SEE ALSO: Did 'Game of Thrones' seriously just spear Drogon then go LOL JK? The night might look darker and more full of terrors than ever before. But there are definitely more surprises to come in terms of dragons. And, in all likelihood, they won't be nearly as devastating. First, let's dig into the logistics of what took down a legend. er to awkaen those stone dragons. That's probably what … [Read more...]

Dany didn't speak the Terminator catchphrase Sunday night on Episode 6 of Game of Thrones, but did she really need to?  The outstretched hand pretty much says it for her. Image: hbo Of course that's Emilia Clarke in the 2015 sequel Terminator: Genisys, swooping in and saving the day from a relentless foe at our hero's most desperate moment. Granted it's a truck and not a dragon, but for the dozens of people who saw Genisys, it was a funny (and probably not intended) callback. SEE ALSO: Emilia Clarke shared the best Instagram post before that last 'Game of Thrones' episode The Terminator franchise, which we know is really just a bunch of catchphrases stacked up in the shape of a metallic exoskeleton, is more deliberate. It hasn't dared leave its precious chestnut of a quote, "Come with me if you want to live," on the cutting room floor since its establishment in 1984. Genysis added this bit of emphasis, which probably wouldn't have gone over well with the King in … [Read more...]

Spoilers are below. About Game of Thrones. That show you watch. Spoilers for that are below. Tonight's episode, "Beyond the Wall" gave some real sh*t to Game of Thrones' dragons.  The final scenes, in which Dany literally swoops in on Drogon, flanked by her other dragon Viserion, rescues the GAG-nificent seven as they are backed into a corner by the white walker horde. While she was the undoubted hero, Jon Snow's bewildering detour from getting on Drogon caused some real pain to inflict the mother of dragons.  SEE ALSO: 'Game of Thrones' just scored its highest ratings yet after episode leaked online Some people saw it coming. Some people freaked out as it happened. Most people reacted on Twitter.  So let's see how the drama unfolded.  I'm convinced that Daenerys will somehow blow a 3 dragon lead — Kofie コフィー (@KofieYeboah) July 15, 2017 The Night King is about to dominate the next Olmypics.#GameofThrones … [Read more...]

I guess Drogon wasn't the dragon we needed to worry about this season. 😭😭😭 After the Loot Train Attack of episode 4 proved the sheer destructive force of just one of Dany's dragons in battle — enough to make even Jaime Lannister reassess his sister's chances of winning the war — episode 6 served to level the playing field, as the Night King managed to kill one of the massive beasts with seemingly no more effort than it takes to lob a softball. (Sidebar: Who knew that the leader of the White Walkers was a world-class javelin-thrower? Still, he's clearly no match for Gendry, who's a lock for the gold in the men's decathlon at this year's Westerosi Olympics.)  The dragon's fall was a horrific moment, made all the more visceral by the incredible visual effects, which rendered the death with near photo-realistic believability (or as realistic as a dragon can look, anyway), and arguably more blood than we've ever seen on the show — at least … [Read more...]

Spoilers, y'all. Don't act like I didn't tell you.  The greatest love story in Westeros has only grown in strength past its meet-cute. Yes, Tormund Giantsbane and Brienne of Tarth have not yet had their love fully realized, but that has not stopped the internet from flipping out every time that the red bearded member of the Freefolk lifts his eyebrow when talking about his tall knight in shining armor.  SEE ALSO: Peter Dinklage wants 'GoT' fans to stop buying direwolf-like puppies Tormund got another chance to fuel fans' fire Sunday while walking north of the wall in search of a wintry zombie to take back to Cersei. There, Tormund was only too glad to talk about Brienne, his belief that sexuality is a spectrum, and the hope that the mis-matched pair can have large, ginger babies.  The Hound didn't seem too into it, but it was enough to make the internet freak the f*ck out.   The prevailing wisdom was to get you a guy who looks at you like Tormund looks at … [Read more...]

A new study has shown that one of the most common fixes to a stock smartphone ailment can be used to steal your data, and compromise your device. In the newly published paper, researchers from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reveal how a replacement screen can easily be altered to override your mobile. By embedding a malicious integrated chip within a third-party touchscreen, the research team were able to manipulate the communications system on a Huawei Nexus 6P and LG G Pad 7.0. This essentially allowed them to record keyboard inputs, snap pictures of the user and forward them via email, install apps, and direct the user to phishing websites. A second class of attack also saw them exploit vulnerabilities in the handset's operating system kernel. Scariest of all, the researchers claim these hazardous screens can be made to look identical to the real thing -- meaning even handset technicians may … [Read more...]

HBO’s Game of Thrones is a dense series with a huge weight of history behind its story, so in practically every episode, something happens that could use a little explanation. So every week, The Verge will be diving into a scene or event from the latest installment of the series and explain how we got here. Whether you’re basically a Game of Thrones maester or you need a little reminder about previous events, we’ll try to help you keep your history straight. The first few seasons of Game of Thrones focused on the intricate web of politics in the battle for the Iron Throne, to the point where it gave the show its name. But the action-packed events of this week’s episode, “Beyond the Wall,” demonstrate that the squabbling over who sits on the throne in King’s Landing has only been a petty sideshow. The real threat is in the North, so it’s time to talk about the show’s big boss: The Night King. Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones … [Read more...]

The USS Indianapolis played an important role in WWII history, including the delivery of parts for the atomic bombs that would eventually drop on Japan. However, it met a grim fate: not only did a Japanese submarine sink it near the end of the war, but its wreck has remained elusive despite multiple expeditions over the past 72 years. Technology just provided some resolution, though. A team piloting Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's research vessel, the R/V Petrel, has found the wreck of the Indianapolis at the bottom of the Philippine Sea. The discovery was helped by a mix of better information and the equipment aboard the Petrel itself. Historian Dr. Richard Hulver had determined that the Indianapolis final resting place was west of the presumed original position. Confirming his belief, however, required some special hardware. The Petrel relied on an autonomous underwater vehicle (the Hydroid Remus 6000 … [Read more...]

Elon Musk, Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, and 114 other leading AI and robotics experts have joined together to ask the UN to ban the use of so-called killer robots in an open letter published today. The group is concerned about the potential use of lethal autonomous weapons and how they might be applied in the future, and they penned a short note released by the Future of Life Institute. The text was made public to kick off the opening of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2017) in Melbourne, Australia, according to a press release. "Lethal autonomous weapons" refers to the drones, autonomous machine guns, tanks, and other forms of weaponry controlled by AI on next-generation battlefields.  Musk, for one, is famously wary of AI's potential to go bad, recently calling it "the greatest threat we face as a civilization," above even nuclear weapons — but the open letter is the first time a group of AI and robotics companies have … [Read more...]

It's eclipse eve and it's getting weird. NASA Laramie, Wyoming, the least populous state in the US, is about to see its population double, literally overnight, as eclipse fans flood the college town to see the solar eclipse that will sweep across the nation Monday -- and Laramie's not even in the path of totality.State officials are expecting over half a million people to visit Wyoming for the historic coast-to-coast eclipse, a figure roughly equal to the permanent population there.It's possible that those visitors could bring a little weirdness with them -- one rumor going around Cheyenne tells of a group of international tourists staying at a resort in the city with plans to head north to an unknown location within the path of totality on Monday. That location will see couples attempt to conceive a child during the eclipse. Apparently, the belief is that it's good luck for a … [Read more...]

In a letter (PDF), the acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that the agency doesn't use its Stingray mobile call-intercepting devices while enforcing immigration laws. It does deploy them when pursuing criminal suspects, however, and individual agents might use them while acting in a joint task force with other federal officers. "However, such use must be conducted in a manner that protects rights afforded by the United States Constitution, and in compliance with applicable statutory authorities, DHS policy and ICE policy," wrote acting ICE director Thomas Homan.Homan penned the letter in response to an inquiry by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). He confirmed that ICE uses Stingrays in accordance with the DHS's October 2015 directive on cell-intercepting tech, which require a warrant before deploying the devices. Wyden similarly reached out to the US Attorney General's office to … [Read more...]

We live in a special time, at least when it comes to space.  On Monday, a total solar eclipse will pass over a 70-mile-wide swath of the United States, stretching from Oregon to South Carolina.  But don't take it for granted. We won't always have the chance to experience total solar eclipses from Earth.  SEE ALSO: How to watch the total solar eclipse from anywhere on Earth According to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, eventually, we won't be able to see these kinds of total eclipses from Earth at all.  In about 500 million to 1 billion years, the moon will be too far from our planet to totally blot out our closest star in the sky.  "There will be a day where the moon will never in its orbit be large enough to completely cover the sun," Tyson said in a new video.  Ever since its formation billions of years ago, the moon has been progressively getting farther and farther from Earth in its orbit.  In fact, according to Tyson, the moon was about … [Read more...]

The Xbox One S is getting a limited-edition Minecraft makeover, and it's going up for pre-order right now. The Xbox One S Minecraft Limited Edition Bundle, announced today, reimagines the Xbox One S (a step up from the original Xbox One) as the iconic grass block from Minecraft and the controller as an enemy Creeper. Pre-orders are up now, but be warned: it's the most limited edition product the Xbox team has made, thanks to its status as apparently the most complex console the Xbox team has created. SEE ALSO: 'Minecraft' community heartbroken after the Pokémon Company shut down their favorite mod Xbox's Monique Chatterjee and Mojang's Lydia Winters were both involved with the bundle's design process and shed some light into just how much work went into the console and controller. Image: microsoft Seen in the video above, the back of the console is clear (the first Xbox One console to have a clear case, Chatterjee said) with red stone circuitry that runs both inside and … [Read more...]

The Xbox One X is now available for pre-order. Sort of. Microsoft is doing a special limited pre-order for Xbox One X, a so-called "Project Scorpio" edition that's a reference to the technologically beefy console's codename. It is the same price as the standard Xbox One X ($499) and will launch the same day (Nov. 7) but has unique design elements. SEE ALSO: Everything we know about the next Xbox, called Xbox One X For starters, the Project Scorpio name will be accented on the console as well as the controller in a green font, and the whole box will be done up with a unique premium paint finish. Apparently, there is also an easter egg on the back of the console for the ultra Xbox fan. The insides of the Project Scorpio edition will be the same as those of the standard One X, which has some pretty intense specs capable of running games in 4K resolution and making even Xbox One games that haven't been patched for 4K look a little shinier. Microsoft announced that more than 100 games … [Read more...]

Dave Grohl is one of the coolest, most accomplished musicians in rock history — and he can now add "Master Rickroller" to his long line of awe-inspiring titles, right below "Literal Rock Royalty."  The Grohl-fronted Foo Fighters interrupted their set at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan to bring out a surprise guest: none other than Rick Astley, the crooner best known for his late '80s jam, "Never Gonna Give You Up." If you've used the internet over the past decade, you know that song, and exactly what it means.  That's right. The Foo Fighters Rickrolled an entire music festival, live.  SEE ALSO: 1,000 musicians played Foo Fighters' 'Learn To Fly,' and it was epic Thankfully, someone was recording the whole performance and quickly uploaded it to YouTube, because this is exactly what the internet is all about.  Astley was clearly into the performance, screaming at the crowd and bopping around the stage and addressing the audience (and by extension, all of … [Read more...]

There's not much to this post, and yet it is perhaps the most important thing I have ever written. Here is what I know: there is a dog, somewhere (perhaps the Bay Area, California), and that dog is pushing a shopping cart around in a grocery store. The dog appears to be a German Shepherd, and the grocery store appears to be well-stocked. SEE ALSO: Extremely excited pup just can't wait to catch the bus to doggy school I'm still shook pic.twitter.com/TPYLRNHDP0 — ashleen🌺 (@ashleenn_) August 20, 2017 You may be thinking, "So what? It's a fluke, the dog just happened to jump up on the cart." Wrong. Exhibit B: Saw him too 😂😍 pic.twitter.com/vJ09aHxfFS — ariii... (@AriannaCoria) August 20, 2017 Look, that's it, okay? That's all I have for this one. The dog is pushing a shopping cart. It is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life and more than 70,000 people have faved the dog. I wish I had more information to give you about this dog and yet, at … [Read more...]

You can call Elon Musk any number of things, but you can't claim that the multi-hyphenate CEO billionaire can't take feedback on his company's work — especially on his one-of-a-kind Twitter profile.   Musk took a break from posting (then deleting) weird videos on Twitter for a round of crowdsourced ideas this weekend, replying to fans' suggestions and requests to improve the Tesla owner experience. This is far from the first time Musk has interacted with the public on the social platform for product feedback and ideas for new features, notably asking his 11.6 million strong follower base to help name his Boring Company's tunneling machines earlier this year. He responded to suggestions published in a newspaper too, back in 2014 — so if you put an idea in front of him, he might just listen.  SEE ALSO: Tesla's autonomous trucks will move in platoons, report says Musk answered a whole slew of questions and comments, but request in particular sounds like it will make … [Read more...]

We are pleased to present to you the new coolest 14-year-old in America: this Junior League World Series player who just made the best catch in JLWS history. Jack Regenye of Pennsylvania leapt over the outfield fence to catch a would-be home run in his team's game against Chinese Taipei, flipping upside down and popping up with the ball still in his possession. SEE ALSO: 9 ways the MLB can make baseball more exciting Take a look at the insane catch below, and see a Regenye highlight before he's drafted by the Yankees in two weeks. Image: espn It's time to renegotiate your contract, kid.  Maybe the greatest catch ever made in the LLWS just now pic.twitter.com/2zZQQIrbTH — Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) August 20, 2017 The catch was first called an out, then the ruling was changed to call it a home run, and finally, it was switched back to an out. We will update this post if the umps decide to change their minds again. The awesome play is already beginning to net Regenye … [Read more...]