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First Click: all hail the new rocket scientist

April 13th, 2015

Calling someone a “rocket scientist” used to be the highest form of technical flattery. It was reserved for that rare person capable of harnessing lightning bolts to launch humanity into the future. The phrase "it's not rocket science" even became embedded in the colloquial lexicon to describe tasks that anyone could do.

By the turn of the century, however, the idea of a rocket scientist possessing an unfathomable intellect seemed quaint, carrying the patina of an old Tomorrowland attraction. A Luddite with a fondness for space-age technologies like vacuum tubes and Tang. That’s set to change later on today.

Starting at 4:33PM ET, Elon Musk’s rocket scientists at SpaceX will make another attempt to land the Falcon 9 here on Earth. Vertically. On a barge. Floating in the sea.

What kind of mad genius even thinks of this, let alone pulls it off?

Five stories to start your day


  1. Spotify wants you to spam Twitter with its new ads

    Spotify is rolling out a new feature designed to get users to spam Twitter. The Tweet the Beat feature started appearing on the weekend, and it automatically displays a fullscreen pop-up ad for mobile Spotify users with pre-populated text and a button to tweet Rihanna with a thanks for her "Bitch Better Have My Money" single.

  2. Find out why the Hulk is smashing Iron Man in the newest Avengers: Age of Ultron clip

    We know that the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron pits the Hulk against Iron Man — appropriately wearing his supersized Hulkbuster armor — but until now, we didn't know why the two colleagues were fighting. Tonight, in a new clip from the movie aired at the MTV Movie Awards, we learned the answer.

  3. Sprint will now send people to your house to deliver and set up your new phone

    Direct 2 You is a mix of home delivery service and customer support. It’s designed in part so that people no longer have to go to a Sprint retail store or wait for a UPS or FedEx delivery, but it’s also a personal customer service experience that will walk you through setting up your new device.

  4. Watch MTV's first stab at turning Scream into a TV series

    The Scream TV series doesn't feature any of the actors from the original movies, but keeps the post-modern approach of its filmic predecessors: 15 seconds into the new trailer, someone straight-up says "you can't do a slasher movie as a TV series," because "slasher movies burn bright and fast."

  5. LG's leather-clad G4 revealed in leaked images

    Thanks to the leak, we get to see the G4 from all angles, but you'll be forgiven for thinking it looks a whole lot like the LG G3 before it. Other than some cosmetic tweaks — like an optional real leather back and a pseudo carbon-fiber weave on the front — the core of the device certainly does seem very familiar.

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