-
io9
Why Needle And Thread Is Still Some Of The World’s Most Incredible Tech
If you’re compiling a list of the most important technologies of our age, you may start with the personal computer, phones, maybe a nod towards the highway system. But, hey, how about a needle and thread? Should that be in there, too? Yes, it should. Here’s why. io9’s comment of the day comes from commenter … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9
Is That A Massive Stripe Streaking Across Pluto’s Surface?
The latest image of Pluto taken by the New Horizons spacecraft may have yielded the dwarf planet’s first prominent surface feature — a dark diagonal stripe that stretches from one side to the other. New Horizons took these two images 15 seconds apart on June 6 at a distance of 45.8 million kilometers. The images … Continued
-
io9Books
First Exclusive Look At The Mortification In My Brother Is A Superhero!
Imagine if your older brother was a superhero. Sounds cool, right? But not if said older brother was a total dork, who had no notion that with great power comes great style. Check out an exclusive excerpt from the new book My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons! Here’s the official synopsis for My … Continued
-
io9
What Would the American Version of Hogwarts Be Like?
Yesterday, author J.K. Rowling let it slip that there’s a U.S. school for wizards and witches in the world of Harry Potter, and it will be featured in the upcoming movies Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This has us wondering: Given American’s various educational issues, what will it be like? Have the students’ … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
io9Comics
The New Batman Has Another, More Batman-y Costume
The identity of DC’s new Batman, making his official debut in today’s Batman #41, isn’t his most controversial aspect: It’s the hulking new “BatMech” outfit, which is a little less Dark Knight, and a little more Iron Avenger. But it turns out he has an alternate costume out of the suit that’s much more like … Continued
-
io9
Ackbar’s 11 Is The Ocean’s 11/Star Wars Mashup We Didn’t Know We Needed
It’s been 18 years since Kevin Rubio combined combined Star Wars and COPS to give us the classic Internet video TROOPS. Now he’s back in the Star Wars mashup game, this time replacing the audio from the plot to destroy the Death Star with dialogue from the 2001 remake of Ocean’s Eleven — and it’s … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Comics
Repairmen Show Up At A Mad Science Lab The Night The Experiments Escape
Tessa Stone’s violently funny webcomic really does have the perfect title: Not Drunk Enough. Because that’s certainly how repairman Logan feels when he and a coworker show up to a corporate lab for what should be a simple job — and find the place overrun by nightmarish monsters. In fairness, Logan’s night wasn’t going well … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Movies
Alec Guinness Stars In The Best Science Fiction Movie You’ve Never Seen
No, not Star Wars. A full quarter century before he played Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alec Guinness starred in one of the purest, most science-focused science fiction films ever made. The Man in the White Suit is about scientific progress, and the law of unintended consequences, and it’s brilliant. The Man in the White Suit is an … Continued
-
io9
The Synchronous Fireflies Of The Smokies Are A Sight Unlike Any Other
Earlier this month, I visited the Smoky Mountain National Park in hopes of capturing the annual firefly “light show” on camera — but it took some seriously creative thinking to make it happen. Above: At the lower left-hand corner of my image, a female firefly seems to be rhythmically flashing while walking around a single … Continued
Paige Brown — From the Lab Bench -
io9Movies
Is the New Power Rangers Movie Trying to Be Absurdly Gritty?
The villain of the Power Rangers reboot movie may have been revealed. This comes from an unconfirmed source, but if it’s true, it may indicate that the filmmakers may be trying to take the Mighty Morphin heroes to a darker place — and even if it’s not true, it’s hilarious. So according to Heroic Hollywood, … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
io9
EPA To Establish Rules For Airplane Emissions
The New York Times reports the Environmental Protection Agency will soon establish emissions rules for airplanes, as it has for motor vehicles and power plants, to limit airlines’ contributions to global warming. The announcement represents the latest of Mr. Obama’s major initiatives to combat global warming. Next week, the agency is expected to propose new … Continued
-
io9
A Scientist Responds… To Deep Impact
In our new series, A Scientist Responds, we’re dredging up the great and terrible disaster flicks of days past—and we’re making scientists watch them. Today’s movie: 1998’s asteroid thriller, Deep Impact. The scientist: io9’s resident geophysicist, Mika McKinnon. The Movie: Deep Impact Deep Impact is a tale of comets, politics, total destruction, and the increasingly … Continued
Mika McKinnon and Ria Misra -
io9Movies
First Look At The Animal Heroes Of Disney’s Next Animated Movie Zootopia
We’ve seen two-dimensional artwork from Disney Animation’s next feature Zootopia, but now we’re finally getting a look at the mismatched pair of critters at the heart of the film. Meet Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a con-artist fox, and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a rookie rabbit cop hoping to crack a major case. USA Today snagged … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
10 Animal-Plant Mash-Ups That Would Be Unstoppable Killers
If we can mash-up a tarantula with a volcano (in fiction, at least) we should be able to combine animals and plants into terrifyingly deadly combinations. Let’s look at animal-plant hybrids that would leave the world awash in blood and wonder. 10) The Bearungus Say what you will about grizzly bears, you generally know whether … Continued
-
io9
Woman Gives Birth Using Ovarian Tissue Frozen In Childhood
In a medical first, a woman has given birth to a healthy baby boy from a transplant of her own frozen ovarian tissue preserved when she was just 13-years-old. It’s a remarkable breakthrough that’s poised to benefit young people who lose their fertility because of cancer treatments. As reported in The Telegraph, the unnamed 28-year-old … Continued
-
io9Comics
The Sinister Force Who Will Destroy The Valiant Comics Universe Revealed
It’s going to be a bad summer for the heroes of the Valiant universe. In the publisher’s new event Book of Death, a mysterious villain wants to destroy the world — and according to the future, he’s already won. We have the exclusive reveal of the mastermind, an interview with the creators, and a special … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
io9Television
How The BBC Brought The “Unfilmable” Strange & Norrell To TV
The much-anticipated adaptation of Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is finally coming to US shores this weekend. But how hard was it to bring this Regency world of magic and moral ambiguity to television? We sat down with series writer Peter Harness to learn more about making Strange & Norrell. io9: Have you … Continued
-
io9
Which Image Best Explained A Scientific Idea To You?
Scientific explanations can in all kinds of forms: spoken, written, a demonstration. But sometimes the best words for the job are actually pictures. Tell us (and show us!) in the comments about a picture — whether an infographic, photograph, data visualization, or a sketch — that made you finally understand a scientific concept. Be sure … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9
Even Wild Chimps Like To Get Drunk Now And Then
Turns out that African apes and humans have more in common than previously thought. Observations made in the jungles of Guinea show wild chimps sipping alcoholic tree sap from leaf sponges, followed by some characteristically drunken behaviors. A 17-year investigation led by Kimberley Hockings from Oxford Brookes University and the Centre for Research in Anthropology … Continued
-
io9
Check Out These Amazing Videos of Gecko Foot Fibers Sticking to Walls
We know that geckos stick to walls because of the van der Waals force, but these are the first videos that let us see the power of a single “hair” on a gecko’s foot. We can see the fiber stick on, increase its grip, and drag an object. The van der Waals force appears when … Continued