Fast Company

The four new man-made elements are the first to be added since 2011.

Chemistry buffs and scientists rejoice: Four new elements have been added to the periodic table, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has announced, completing the seventh row of the iconic chemistry chart. The new elements were discovered by teams of researchers in Japan, America, and Russia. All four elements are man-made radioactive superheavy elements with slightly longer lifetimes than previously discovered superheavy elements, leading to hope of eventually discovering “a so-called ‘island of stability’ where elements with longer half-lives will be found,” according to RIKEN researchers, one of the teams who are credited with discovering one of the new elements.

Read Full Story

Unlike leaders in the early computer revolution, today’s digital tech firms employ far fewer workers—and that’s worrisome for the future.

The rise of sites like Facebook and Airbnb as enabled a few people to get very rich. That Mark Zuckerberg has $45 billion to give away shows the sort of numbers we’re talking about. But how much are these gains percolating down to the rest of the economy?

Read Full Story

Users just kept on coming back.

If the Facebook app were down, would you keep checking it every few minutes?

Read Full Story

CES 2016 begins this week in Las Vegas. Fast Company‘s Daniel Terdiman will be bringing you live updates from the event.

If Christmas wasn’t enough to stoke gadget geeks’ fires, the first week of the year brings even more good cheer in the form of the annual CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics show, in Las Vegas.

Read Full Story

Unlike most rockets, the Falcon 9 did not fall into the ocean.

SpaceX made a major step forward in its quest to reuse the rockets it sends into orbit.

Read Full Story

The much-anticipated VR product will come with a couple of free games and experiences.

Oculus, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company, today announced that its signature product, the Rift, will start taking pre-orders on Wednesday, January 6, at 8 a.m. (PST).

Read Full Story

Amazon’s Pay Monthly initiative lets shoppers in the U.K. pay for large orders in installments.

When Amazon shoppers in the U.K. go to pay for their orders, they’ll now see a new payment choice on the checkout page: Amazon Pay Monthly. The new option lets customers pay for more expensive items in installments, a move that could position the online retailer to further disrupt brick-and-mortar stores.

Read Full Story

John Cleese is the latest actor to reprise a beloved role for a brand.

Over the last few years we’ve seen it happen again and again—brands diving head first into our endless appetite for TV and movie nostalgia by bringing back classic characters in a completely transparent, yet still pretty fun, move to use the halo of a still-strong popularity to distract fans from the fact they’re actually watching an ad.

Read Full Story

Two years after a group of investors announced $1 million in grants for new, safer gun technology, nothing is on the market—yet. Here’s why.

Late in 2013, a group of investors and entrepreneurs sat onstage at Fast Company‘s Innovation Uncensored event and announced a new initiative: The Smart Tech Foundation would put $1 million toward spurring innovation to create safer gun technologies. The goal would be to sidestep the political gridlock surrounding gun safety and look instead to “free market alternatives.” If government couldn’t solve the problem, maybe innovation could.

Read Full Story

The Chrome extension called “Just Not Sorry” warns you when your messages contain wishy-washy language like “I’m no expert” or “sorry, but.”

Look back at the last few emails you sent. Do you see phrases like “I’m no expert” or “does that make sense?” or words like “actually” or “sorry?” If so you might want to download a new Chrome extension called Just Not Sorry, a free plug-in that taps into Gmail and warns you when you are using words and phrases that undermine your message.

Read Full Story