Lauren Davis, Author at Gizmodo

New Game of Thrones trailer features more Joffrey-slapping action!

As if we weren’t sufficiently excited for April, HBO has released a new Game of Thrones Season 2 trailer that amps up the drama. In this trailer, we get a little Sansa Stark, some Tyrion and Shae, and fiery Daenerys — plus Cersei raises a hand to King Joffrey. [via Tor]

Trailers Lauren Davis

Fanciful photos reveal the whimsical secret lives of ants

We may think of ants as industrious little creatures constantly toiling for the sake of the hive. But Andrey Pavlov’s photographs imagine how ants might spend their free time, in lightly fantastical scenes. Although his photos are obviously staged, he uses real ants. I’m not sure if the ants in question are dead or manipulated…

io9 Lauren Davis

Portrait casts Peter Dinklage as Wolverine. Do we smell a reboot?

Fact: at 4’5″, Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage is actually closer to Wolverine’s height than Hugh Jackman is. Brandon Bird’s latest pop culture portrait (appropriately titled “Reboot”) casts the Emmy-winner as the beer-swilling, claw-wielding mutant. Maybe Bird is on to something.[jump] Of course, we would never want to pull Dinklage away from his Game…

io9 Lauren Davis

When you go through security dressed as the Joker, be sure to empty your pockets first

This Joker fan got all dressed up for Purim and tried to pass through security at the Western Wall, only to realize that he’d left all of his plastic weaponry in his pants. He’s lucky that he didn’t try this with TSA, or else he could have quickly found those purple hands zip-tied behind his…

io9 Lauren Davis

NASA explains all the ways the world won’t end in 2012

Just in case you’re not 100% convinced that we won’t meet our death from above on December 21st, 2012, Don Yeomans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab is here to explain why the Mayan calendar, solar storms, the planetary alignment, and pole shifts won’t bring the world to an end — at least not any time…

io9 Lauren Davis

Step up, get your Panem name, and find out how you die in the Hunger Games

Always wondered how you’d get yourself killed in the Hunger Games? This fun little time waster gives you Panem-style name, assigns you to your district, and thinks up an appropriately brutal or melancholy manner for your death. This makes me want to see an Oregon Trail-esque Hunger Games video game, where you and your allies…

io9 Lauren Davis

The real reason Neil deGrasse Tyson wanted Pluto demoted

Oh sure, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says that he wanted Pluto downgraded from planet to dwarf planet because he wants to give similar objects similar classifications. But artist Burton Durand has revealed the real reason for Pluto’s reclassification — he’s in cahoots with famed physicist. And Pluto is patient. [Burton Durand via It’s Okay to…

io9 Lauren Davis

Superman battles the Hulk in this fan-made CG grudge match

Who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk? Perhaps the answer to that question is less interesting than how the fight would play out. Fortunately, amateur animator Michael Habjan has put the superstrong characters on the same playing field so we can watch them duke it out. Habjan is learning animation by…

io9 Lauren Davis

Somewhere there exists an R-rated version of Galaxy Quest

Galaxy Quest isn’t exactly a movie you’d expect to attract an R rating. After all, the parody of scifi TV shows and their fandoms is already pretty perfect with its innocent aliens and a nod to female eye candy who looks particularly stellar in a tight military uniform. But somewhere out in the universe, there…

Movies Lauren Davis

Photos from a reconstructed Sarajevo play out the apocalypse in reverse

As much as we enjoy poking through modern ruins and imagining how the world might look after we’re gone, there’s much more to celebrate when people rebuild after disaster strikes. These photos show how the people of Sarajevo did just that, reconstructing their city after the ravages of war. Photographer Jim Marshall took these photos…

io9 Lauren Davis

The most detailed map of the Game of Thrones world yet

We’ve seen a lot of fan-made maps that try to capture the geography of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but none have been quite so detailed as this monstrous map by one serMountainGoat — a map so thorough, it’s impressed Martin himself. This fan scoured the pages of Martin’s…

io9 Lauren Davis

Joss Whedon confirms no Skrulls or Kree in his Avengers

Here’s one Avengers rumor we can finally put to bed. Joss Whedon has confirmed that the villains backing up Loki in his Avengers movie won’t be the shape-shifting Skrulls or the Kree. So who were those sky-diving minions? Whedon is still being mum on the identity of Loki’s army, but he has decided to finally…

Movies Lauren Davis

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Journey beneath the seas in an ostrich submarine

We’re headed underwater in this week’s concept art writing prompt, journeying into the deep in a beautiful biology-inspired submarine. As always, we invite you to write a piece of flash fiction inspired by this painting and to please post it in the comments. This week’s concept art is “Ostridge Submersible” by Tucker Cullinan, who kindly…

io9 Lauren Davis

What has Angel been up to since his show was canceled?

What happens to TV characters after their shows are canceled? With a cardboard cutout of Buffy’s second-greatest vampire with a soul and a little creativity, the Tumblr “Angel does stuff” imagines the post-Wolfram & Hart years of the vampire investigator. In reality, we know that, between the Buffy, Angel, and Angel & Faith comics, he’s…

Television Lauren Davis

Genital-filled Princess of Mars comic shows off the full-frontal natives of Barsoom (NSFW)

If your biggest problem with Disney’s John Carter movie is that it didn’t contain nearly enough Martian wang, then James Killian Spratt’s graphic (in more ways than one) adaptation of A Princess of Mars might be up your alley. Spratt is creating his own comic version of Burroughs’ classic pulp, where the action is set…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Of course it is: Walking Dead social game coming to Facebook

If you’ve ever wanted to shoot your Facebook friends in the head, this is your chance. AMC and Eye Wides Games are releasing The Walking Dead Social Game next month, so you and your friends will team up to defeat the Walkers, and then turn on each other as one of you inevitably goes zombie…

io9 Lauren Davis

Watch an ant colony take up residence inside a scanner over five years

Most people try to keep ants out of their electronics equipment, but François Vautier isn’t most people. He encouraged an ant colony to nest inside an old scanner, and then scanned the bed once a week for five years, showing the colony’s gradual takeover of their metal and plastic home. Vautier explains the purpose behind…

io9 Lauren Davis

Read the jealous letter Dr. Bunsen Honeydew wrote to the Mars Rover team

The Muppets’ Dr. Bunsen Honeydew considers himself the foremost pioneer in crazy scientific endeavors. So when NASA landed the Rovers Spirit and Opportunity on Mars, Bunsen was understandably miffed. Still he was classy enough to send a letter of congratulations to the team, along with his offer of help. Letters of Note uncovered this letter,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Meet Ratatouille, the adorable snowboarding opossum

Ratatouille may perhaps be the first opossum featured on Sportcenter. That’s because this little guy has done what few possums dare to dream of: become a star snowboarder. He rides the slopes at the Liberty Mountain Resort in Carroll Valley, PA, where he has his very own lift pass. It’s a good thing, too. Wouldn’t…

io9 Lauren Davis

Webcomic Athena Wheatley flings a pre-Civil War inventor to the wacky year 9283

When time travelers find themselves in a distant future era, they’re usually time travelers from our own time — or from the (Edit: later) Victorian or Edwardian eras, if we’re feeling particularly steampunk. But Sylvan Migdal’s webcomic The Adventures of Athena Wheatley, or, Warp & Weft sends a time-traveling scientist from 1841 Baltimore to Earth’s…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Lauren Davis

New Game of Thrones trailer features more Joffrey-slapping action!

Fanciful photos reveal the whimsical secret lives of ants

Portrait casts Peter Dinklage as Wolverine. Do we smell a reboot?

When you go through security dressed as the Joker, be sure to empty your pockets first

NASA explains all the ways the world won’t end in 2012

Step up, get your Panem name, and find out how you die in the Hunger Games

The real reason Neil deGrasse Tyson wanted Pluto demoted

Superman battles the Hulk in this fan-made CG grudge match

Somewhere there exists an R-rated version of Galaxy Quest

Photos from a reconstructed Sarajevo play out the apocalypse in reverse

The most detailed map of the Game of Thrones world yet

Joss Whedon confirms no Skrulls or Kree in his Avengers

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Journey beneath the seas in an ostrich submarine

What has Angel been up to since his show was canceled?

Genital-filled Princess of Mars comic shows off the full-frontal natives of Barsoom (NSFW)

Of course it is: Walking Dead social game coming to Facebook

Watch an ant colony take up residence inside a scanner over five years

Read the jealous letter Dr. Bunsen Honeydew wrote to the Mars Rover team

Meet Ratatouille, the adorable snowboarding opossum

Webcomic Athena Wheatley flings a pre-Civil War inventor to the wacky year 9283

‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1

Amazon Clears Out Netflix-Licensed Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector at 32% Off, Dolby Audio Home Theater for Less

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

The New ‘Supergirl’ Trailer Is Filled With Krypto, Lobo, and ’60s Soul

Vaping Comes With a Cancer Risk, Review Finds

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset