Katharine Trendacosta

Did you want to go to space camp as a child? The Guardian profiled NASA’s summer camp, how it stays current and relevant, and why children — despite the U.S. government’s historically low funding of NASA — are still inspired by space.

A Small Galaxy Gives Birth to a Surprising Number of Stars

This is an image of dwarf galaxy NGC 1140, which is ten times smaller than the Milky Way but is producing stars at roughly the same rate as our lovely galaxy. The blue stars in the image are the new ones. Via the European Space Agency: Galaxies like NGC 1140 — small, starbursting and containing…

Heaven or Hell: A Computer That Never Stops Singing Hits From the 90s

Martin Backes presents “What Do Machines Sing Of?” It’s an automatic machine that sings a number one song from the 90s and then randomly picks another. It wails the 90s into a microphone. Forever. In an added twist, the machine tries to match the emotion of the songs in its rendition. So it’s a singing…

Hugh Jackman Wants Your Ideas For His Last Wolverine Movie

Hugh Jackman has taken to Twitter to release the concept art from the upcoming third standalone Wolverine movie. He’s also asking for fifty words or less from fans about what they want to see. So go tweet “Logan using his knives to make fruit salad” — my personal hope. There have been semi-persistent rumors that…

This Seven-and-a-Half-Feet Long Baymax Bed Is All We’ve Ever Wanted

Well, this is almost as comforting as an actual Baymax would be. You can get this Bedmax from DeNA Shopping for 49,800 yen (US$398). Which is somehow a lot of money and less expensive than I’d expect. The Big Hero Six giant plushie will take about two weeks to arrive. Which is fine, I really…

The Subway Stop to the Underworld

The Subway is a slot canyon at Zion National Park in Utah. It’s the kind of natural phenomena that looks so beautiful it’s almost otherworldly. You can imagine catching a supernatural train to the underworld here. The Subway was formed by water rushing through the rock, creating not just the the tunnel-shaped but the shallow…

A Disney Channel Show Used The Dark Knight Returns As a Major Plot Point

On July 17th, Girl Meets World aired an episode called “Girl Meets the New Teacher.” The themes were literature, comics, and good versus evil. None of that would have been remarkable if they hadn’t used The Dark Knight Returns as the centerpiece. On a Disney Channel show. In burst of double-timeliness, “Girl Meets the New…

On Dark Matter, The Past Is a Minefield

For both the characters and for episode seven. There were two main plots this week, each with good bits. One was touching and the other funny. But these were not two tastes that tasted great together. Spoilers… So you know how last week, I was all about how we didn’t spend a ton of time…

The Good, Bad and Meh: Lessons From Mad Max, Terminator, and Jurassic World

There were three major attempts to resurrect old franchises this summer: Mad Max: Fury Road, Terminator Genisys, and Jurassic World. One was a critical hit with modest commercial success, one was a failure at both, and the third was a greater commercial than critical success. What lessons can we learn from them? When it comes…

It’s a Run to Danger In the 2nd Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Trailer

I mean, if Petyr Baelish (okay, really Aidan Gillen) was telling you how bad things were, would you believe him? Contact the author at [email protected].

The Opening Number of Disney’s Descendants Is Utterly Insane

Here are the first six minutes of the Disney Channel’s Descendants, a TV movie about the second generation of Disney villains being reintegrated into the happy kingdom of the Beast. It. Is. Completely. Bananapants. I have so many questions about this: Did Kenny Ortega actually clone Zac Efron for the son of Belle and the…

The Latest X-Files Teaser Asks If Scully Is Ready

The second tiny teaser Fox has given us from the return of Mulder and Scully. In it, we finally, finally, get to see our leads talk to one another. Even if Mulder stupidly asks Scully if she’s ready. Scully is always ready. The footage before that little interaction is pretty much the same as the…

Here’s a Rocket With Shark Teeth

The latest ULA rocket has a very angry face. Full photo below. Contact the author at [email protected].

Let’s Blow Stuff Up: First Promo For the Guardians of the Galaxy Cartoon

This September will see the premiere of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which will join Disney XD’s comic book-based run of animated shows. We only have fifteen seconds of it, but Disney’s definitely banking on the soul of the movie. Which can only be a good thing. Contact the author at [email protected].

Cooties Is The Funniest Horror Comedy We’ve Seen In Ages

Back at Comic-Con, we saw Cooties, the comedy horror movie set for a limited release in theaters and on-demand on September 18th. And it is a movie that rolls around in its genre’s tropes and gleefully splatters the audience with jokes and blood. It turns out that slaughtering children is amazingly fun. Cooties deals with…

An Old Man Investigates an Explosion and Finds a Nightmare

An old crop-duster makes the mistake of going towards an explosion in the Florida Everglades. You’d think someone who lives down there would know better. And then, he makes things worse by meddling with what he finds. This award-winning short comes from Ryan Gillis, who documented his whole process here. [via Vimeo Staff Picks] Contact…

The X-Files Relaunch Adds a Superhero to Its Cast!

Jamie Alexander reveals a bit about Sif’s role in Thor: Ragnarok, we learn all about the practical effects in Goosebumps, and there are new details about a major character’s return to Supernatural. Plus, we know when Pacific Rim will start filming. Spoilers now! Captain America: Civil War/Thor: Ragnarok When Jaimie Alexander spoke to The Los…

In The SPECTRE Trailer, All of Bond’s Misery Is Christoph Waltz’s Fault

We’ve finally got a good look at SPECTRE, and there are all the usual Bond trappings — Q even presents 007 with a tricked-out car and hacking skills this time — but at the root of everything? Bond backstory. Everything that’s happening in this trailer is about Bond, and less national security. Waltz’s character has…

iZombie Is Really Sorry About What Happened With Lowell

One of our favorite new shows of 2015 was iZombie, about a medical examiner whose new zombiedom allows her to see the memories of the murder victims that pass through the morgue. From many of the same people who brought us Veronica Mars, it has the same feel. At a press event, we spoke to…

Watch The Ten Muppetrific Minutes of Footage That Sold ABC on The Show

It’s just so damn fun, I want it on TV now. Right now. Ugh, the wait for fall sucks. If you saw the trailer, you know what you’re in for. It really does feel exactly like what an updated Muppet television show should be: a little meta and a lot of insanity. The Office-style mockumentary…