Katharine Trendacosta

How Close Was The Simpsons To Figuring Out the Mass of the Higgs Boson?

Given the time it happened and, you know, that he’s a cartoon, the answer is that Homer Simpson did come pretty close to figuring out the mass of the Higgs Boson before scientists did. Screencap from Springfield! Springfield! This is from the episode “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace,” which aired on September 20, 1998. The…

If They Can’t Move Their Abdomen, Mantises Can’t Jump

This slow motion clip of a jumping praying mantis is by Gregory Sutton, one of the authors of a study on how these insects manage to precisely target and hit their jumps. They need to be able to move their abdomen, hind legs, and front legs. Just one immobilized, like in the clip, and things…

RIP Harve Bennett, Who Resurrected Star Trek On the Big Screen

Harve Bennett, who produced four Star Trek movies, The Mod Squad, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman died on Wednesday at the age of 84. It was because of Bennett that Wrath of Khan became a classic, and he should be remembered forever as one of heroes of science fiction. Bennett was…

Disney’s Live-Action Beauty and the Beast Gets A Beast And a Gaston

Yeah, yeah, Dan Stevens (Downtown Abbey) is supposedly going to be the Beast opposite Emma Watson’s Belle. But the important question is really “Who is going to be Gaston?!” Both of these casting announcements come with the usual “in negotiations” caveat, butThe Hollywood Reporter says that Stevens will play the Beast. No word on whether…

It Takes Very Little to Take an Owl From Menacing to Goofy

That is one disapproving owl. If he had glasses, he’d be peering at us over them. This is a photo of a Ninox strenua, or “Powerful owl.” And yet, with one head movement, this same species becomes an instant clown. Ready? Here we go: Just a raised head and opened eyes, and the “powerful owl”…

Welp, Lions Can Open Car Doors. Humans Are Screwed.

Look, I don’t want to promote fear of lions, which are amazing creatures. But they can open car doors, and that’s just terrifying. While at a safari park in South Africa, a family got a bit of a shock when a lioness casually wandered up to the car and opened the door with her teeth.…

Latest Batch Of Terminator Genisys Rumors Are The Most Bonkers Yet

What in the world is going on in Terminator Genisys? A script leak — therefore plenty unreliable, so grains of salt and all that — has revealed a pile of possible plot details. If they’re true, this movie is going to be completely banana pants. Possible spoilers ahead. Among other, smaller things — a reference…

Jeff Goldblum and Liam Hemsworth Will Fight Aliens In Independence Day 2

And that’s not all. A relatively unknown name — Jessie Usher — has been cast to take over for Will Smith as his son. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jessie Usher (Survivor’s Remorse) will play the son of Will Smith’s Captain Steven Hiller — presumably the actual son and not his wife’s kid from the…

NBC’s Magic and Martial Arts Show Warrior Has Leads

Holt McCallany (Lights Out) has been tapped to play a former prize fighter and gym owner in Warrior, a show that mixes martial arts and magic in the hunt for an international crime lord. This show’s description does not really explain the “magic” part, but we have some guesses. McCallany will play Andriv Vorobin —…

The Latest Weird Use Of CGI: Adding Pubic Hair to Fifty Shades of Grey

CGI appears even in the most unlikely of places. The latest is in hiding a cover-up on star Dakota Johnson with digital pubic hair. There are huge space battles and fully digital characters and this. The news comes from a story in theNew York Times about the trials and tribulations of filming sex scenes. Seamus…

It Took 3 Instruments To Create This Image Of The Small Magellanic Cloud

When we see photos of space, the data doesn’t always come from one place. This photo of the Small Magellanic Cloud comes from the European Space Agency’s Herschel’s Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE), Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS), and NASA’s Spitzer’s Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). Image Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI From theEuropean Space Agency: The…

Yet Another Attempt To Turn Moon Is A Harsh Mistress Into A Movie

No sooner did the rights to The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress reverted back to Robert A. Heinlein’s estate than another studio has come along to snatch them up. This time, Fox is bringing some A-List names to the project. Fox has brought Bryan Singer on board — he’s listed as a producer along with…

How much better at explaining your research would you be after learning improv from Alan Alda? The New York Timeshas a profile of one of the classes at Stony Brook’s Center for Communicating Science, and how improv has gone from being a quirk to an essential class.

What Marvel Characters End Up Being Called In Other Languages

Along with the actual text and words of superhero tales getting translated abroad, the names of these characters also gets changed. Some are pretty literal and others, like Loki above, are a bit more descriptive. We’ve seen this kind of work from James Chapman, who tackled the translated titles of TV shows. Now, he does…

Northern Light Sky Meets Sea In This Stunning Photo

Taken on March 1, this shows the always-gorgeous aurora casting its spell over the crashing waves of the Reykjanes Peninsula Sea Stacks in Iceland. Image credit:Northern Lights over Reykjanes Peninsula Sea Stacks, Iceland by Diana Robinson/flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0

Jane Lynch Will Play A Guardian Angel on CBS’ Angel From Hell

Now that Glee has wrapped its final season, Jane Lynch has officially signed on for her next project: She’ll play a maybe-guardian angel on CBS’ new half-hour comedy Angel From Hell. The showsounds a bit like a mash up of Touched By an Angel and Cupid: Lynch will play Amy, a “brassy and flamboyant” woman…

Batman Is Way Kinkier Than You Remember In Fifty Shades of Wayne

Combining the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer and the Dark Knight trilogy is way funnier than it has any right to be. I’ll admit that “cave diving” and “potent hallucinogens” made me laugh against my will. This is somehow much more entertaining than expected. However, let’s be clear: this is an internet mashup video of…

A one-in-a-billion perfectly spherical egg has sold for £480 on eBay. Kim Broughton found the egg from her hen, now called Ping Pong. The money from the auction will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. [BBC News]

A Successful SpaceX Launch Arcs Over the Night Sky

SpaceX has successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver the ABS 3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B satellites, with the ABS 3A delivered 30 minutes after launch and the EUTELSAT 115 West B delivered 35 minutes after launch. Image: SpaceX The mission launched from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force…

Learn How to Do Your Cooking In Darth Vader’s Head

Anyone can have a regular wood-burning stove. Want to put a stamp on your backyard? Then you can customize it to look like your favorite metal-based characters. Instructables user doddieszoomer has a variety of these how-tos available: Witch King of Angmar, R2-D2, two different Darth Vaders, Stormtrooper, and Iron Man. The instructions for all of…