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SciencePhysics & ChemistryAntimatter Looks Surprisingly Like Regular Matter
Scientists learned something crazy about antimatter this morning: it turns out, as far as we can tell, it looks like an exact mirror image of regular matter. But okay, what does that even mean? Physics theory says that every particle has an antiparticle, so for each negatively-charged electron there’s a positively charged positron, and for … Continued
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io9
The Best Handmade Ornament Ever Celebrates the Best Christmas Movie Ever
A Christmas Story? Christmas Vacation? Scrooged? All memorable holiday films, but none of them can hold a candle, or a Zippo lighter, to the greatest Christmas movie of all time: Die Hard. Which means that by default, this handmade ornament featuring John McClane crawling through a heating duct is also the best possible way to … Continued
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Reviews
Apple AirPods Are Too Simple for Their Own Good
When they were first announced in September, it was obvious that AirPods were Apple’s attempt to distract everyone from the iPhone’s lack of a headphone jack. At $160, AirPods are Apple’s version of truly wireless earphones, a gadget lots of companies have been trying to perfect with varying degrees of success. No one disagrees that … Continued
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Tech News
The Biggest Science Setbacks of 2016
Scientific progress doesn’t always move in a straight line. In fact, as we’ve seen this year, sometimes things just turn around and move backwards. Take climate change. This past November, the landmark Paris Agreement went into effect, with 195 nations signing on to combat the threat of Earth’s changing environment. And then just four days … Continued
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Tech News
Did Nintendo Blow It With Super Mario Run?
After tons of hype, Nintendo finally released Super Mario Run, its first Mario game for a mobile platform. In its first 24 hours, the game was downloaded more than 5 million times, according to app tracking companies, and made between $4 million and $8.3 million worldwide, depending on who you believe. These aren’t Pokémon Go … Continued
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io9Movies
Let’s Talk About the CG Characters in Rogue One
With the opening weekend of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story finally behind us, there are a great many things to talk about. On the internet, though, one conversation has seemingly risen above them all: the movie’s CG characters. Star Wars is no stranger to computer generated characters, obviously—Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace … Continued
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Tech News
Sex Robots May Literally Fuck Us to Death
At the Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots (a real thing) Swiss researcher Oliver Bendel cautioned an audience of prospective robot-fuckers that “If the machine over-exerts the human, it reduces the possibility of human sex.” In other words, sex bots are coming. And one way or another they’re going to fuck us … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
The Search For High-Tech Metals Could Doom This Adorable Octopus
Earlier this year, a very Pokémon-esque octopus was discovered in deep waters off the coast of Hawaii. Researchers are learning more about this previously unknown species, and how its fragile reproductive cycle could be threatened by deep-sea mining ventures. Dubbed “Casper” for its ghostlike appearance, this colorless and nearly translucent species of incirrate octopus (i.e. … Continued
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io9The OA Is Bullshit, But It’s Beautiful Bullshit
The OA is supposed to be a surprise. The existence of Netflix’s eight-part series was a stealth announcement last week, with none of the months-long fanfare that accompanies its other shows. The air of mystery is part of the show, too, resulting in an experience you’re either going to love or hate. Personally, I can’t … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
New Star Trek Comic Imagines a World Where the Romulans Made First Contact With Earth
Unsurprisingly, it does not lead to the prosperous and peaceful Federation that we got when the Vulcans first introduced themselves to humanity in the original timeline. Who could’ve possibly expected that with those sneaky Romulans? Earlier this year, IDW did a wave of alternate story one-shots called Deviations, which imagined several of their series in … Continued
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Tech News
Proposed Law Would Block Porn in South Carolina, Unless You Pay a $20 Fee
A new bill in South Carolina would make it illegal for anyone in the state to sell a computer, tablet, or smartphone without a porn filter. But the bill’s sponsors aren’t entirely unreasonable men. You can petition to buy a computer without a porn filter—but it’ll cost you $20. The anti-porn bill, called the Human … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9MoviesA New Hunt for Replicants Begins in the First Footage from Blade Runner 2049
Some things look familiar, some things look really different, and few things have changed a lot in this first tease from the sequel to Blade Runner. The beginning of this footage, which premiered on Entertainment Weekly, seems to show the gloomy and neon Los Angeles we saw in the original movie. And then, things change—everything’s … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidCelebrate the Holidays With a Hydraulic Press and Exploding Glitter
There’s an infinite number of ways the internet has improved our lives, but at the top of the list is the fact we all have easy access to videos of things getting crushed by a hydraulic press. And what better way is there to celebrate the holidays than by crushing a mountain of glitter and … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
The Curiosity Rover’s Drill Has Been Out of Action for Weeks
NASA is working to resolve an increasingly frustrating problem with the Curiosity Rover’s drill, which has stalled, leaving the Martian explorer out of action on the slopes of Mount Sharp for more than two weeks. On December 1st, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory learned that the Curiosity Rover failed to execute its latest drilling … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
io9MoviesHere Is Your First Look at the Power Rangers Movie’s Take on Goldar (Also: Bleh)
He’s… well, he’s certainly gold. At this point, it almost feels like we’ve seen more of the Power Rangers movie from its merchandising than we have from the actual movie itself. We’ve yet to see the Megazord outside of its toy form, and the toys have given us our best looks yet at the individual … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Treasure Trove of Newly Discovered Species Includes a Newt That Looks Like a Klingon
Biologists working in the Greater Mekong area have identified a staggering 163 new species, including a horned lizard, a rainbow-headed snake dubbed “Ziggy Stardust,” and a newt that looks like a Klingon from Star Trek. Each year, scientists comb the jungles, swamps, and caves of the Greater Mekong in search of new plants and animals. … Continued
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Tech NewsThis Towering 65-Foot Robot Arm Weighs Less Than a Puppy
The robot arms designed to build cars in a factory setting have a limited reach, but still manage to weigh several tons. The Giacometti Arm, however, can extend over 65-feet,weighs just two-and-a-half pounds, and can easily squeeze into the trunk of your car. Have researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Suzumori Endo Lab managed … Continued
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Tech News
The Biggest Scientific Discoveries of 2016
2016 was an insane year across the board, and the world of scientific discovery is no exception. Science saw some serious setbacks this year, but also some major breakthroughs, from the groundbreaking detection of gravitational waves to the discovery of an Earth-sized exoplanet less than five light years away. These, dear readers, are the science … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
io9TelevisionJennifer Lawrence Wants to Reprise Her Role as Mystique… But Not in an X-Men Movie
Don’t expect to see Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin outside of Daredevil just yet. Josh Boone talks about his aspirations for New Mutants and beyond. Peter Capaldi discusses his Doctor Who future. Plus, new footage from A Monster Calls and Z Nation. Spoilers Now! Guardians of the Galaxy/X-Men After a year of back on forth as to … Continued