Ria Misra

Butterfly-Collecting Was The Perfect Cover For This Historic Spy

We love real-life spy stories. The gadgetry! The clandestine meetings! The coded messages! But thus far, most spy stories have glossed over the role of butterfly-collecting. That was a terrible mistake. Commenter spagornasm shared this real history of a spy working in the early 1900s — and the unexpectedly important role that butterfly-collecting and birdwatching…

“Zombie Stars” Might Be Causing The Weird Glow At The Galaxy’s Center

Deep in our galaxy’s center, there’s a strange glow made up of high-energy x-rays — and the probable cause sounds straight out of the greatest B-grade horror flick ever made: Zombie stars. NASA spotted the x-ray glow with its NuSTAR telescope array. X-rays in the area aren’t uncommon, but this particular patch was different: stronger,…

Which Real Historical Story Would You Most Like To See Onscreen?

History is full of untold stories — only some of which eventually find themselves mined for stories at the box office. So which one would you most like to see next? Tell us in a historical story in the comments that you’d like to see onscreen, whether as a movie or perhaps part of a…

Missouri Owes Its Odd State Shape To Just One Guy

The shape of Missouri mostly makes sense: It’s bounded by straight lines and river routes, except for one deviation, where suddenly the state’s shape juts out randomly. It’s called Missouri’s bootheel — and it owes its creation to just one guy. In response to our question about fascinating stories hidden in our maps, commenter jtwood…

That ‘60s-era, one-of-a-kind NASA tele-lens that appeared on Ebay out of Germany has found a buyer for $33,500. Among the specs for the 180-lbs. lens (which the seller claims was part of the Saturn V mission) is the vaguely Faustian detail that the original cost to the buyer was “1 family home.” Dark.

What’s The Greatest Space Photograph You’ve Ever Seen?

Space is not just an incredible scientific and travel destination, it’s also a site for some killer photoshoots. Today, we want to know about the most incredible space pics you’ve ever encountered. Will it be a close-up view of some far away galaxy? An astronaut selfie? A GIF of a comet behaving rather unusually? A…

The Reason Batman Has The Greatest Villains Is Their Lack Of Superpowers

The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze. Batman has always had the most compelling set of criminals for our hero to fight against — and if you look at them all as a group, the reason why they’re so much more interesting than any other villains out there becomes pretty clear.…

How does evolution work? One way to get a real sense of how the process has unfolded is with this videogame from NOVA Labs, which lets you build an evolutionary tree of how different species emerged. The best part is their “Deep Tree” which maps relationships between 70,000 different species. For instance, above you can…

Which Stand-Alone Book Do You Most Want A Sequel To?

One of the hardest parts of writing is knowing exactly where to stop. But which book do you think stopped just a little too early? Today, we want to know about the books that left you needing to know a little more. Whether you were waiting for a full sequel or just a bit of…

This Hybrid “Knork” Utensil Was Also An Important Medical Invention

Knife, fork, spoon: This is the holy trinity of silverware and (while the occasional spork may jostle for inclusion), in general, these are all you’re likely to see. There is, however, another hybrid utensil you may not know: The Knork. And its creation owes as much to modern medicine as to dining habits. Commenter Brightmotor…

A Chart Of Which Foods In California Will Make It Through The Drought

California grows a pretty significant part of our food supply, both in terms of sheer numbers and in terms of different varieties. But as the land out there gets drier and drier, not everything is going to make it. The USDA’s Economic Research Service put together this chart of which crops depend on various water…

The Science Fiction Tech That Will Never, Ever Become Reality

Science fiction has a pretty good track record of telling us what kinds of technologies (submarines, credit cards, cellphones) we should be expecting years, sometimes many decades, before they actually show up. But some technologies never make it out of our imaginations. Tell us in the comments about the science fiction technology that you never…

No, William Shakespeare Did Not Really Invent 1,700 English Words

One of the many pieces of popular lore attributed to Shakespeare (and there are a lot) is that he invented up to 1,700 of the words we use today. But can he really claim all of those words, or is something else going on here? In the comments of this post on words with fascinating…

Two Pictures That Show How The Hubble Telescope Changed The World

Happy Birthday, Hubble! The space telescope with an incredible eye for the weird and wonderful is turning 25 — and to look back over the past 25 years, NASA has put together an album of the best Hubble picture of the year, every year, since 1990. What’s really delightful about this album is that you…

Attention, GIFs! Please Join Your Party Inside

There’s no time to waste, GIFs! This party is happening now. How was your week? Do you have any upcoming plans or new things to share? Detail your own very recent past and tell us what the not-too-distant future will hold for you using our language of both choice and necessity: interpretative GIFing.

Why Even Magic Needs To Play By The Rules In Fiction

Sometimes magical events and characters can really push a story into a much more interesting place, but sometimes their appearance seems to stop things in their tracks. What makes the difference? Remembering that even magic has to follow the rules. Author V.E. Schwab joined us today to take questions about her latest novel, A Darker…

Author V.E. Schwab Is Here To Talk To You About A Darker Shade Of Magic

In April, the io9 book club read V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic. Today, from 11:00 – am – noon (Pacific time) she’ll be here to answer your questions about writing about magic, imagined cities, and anything else you want to know. Start asking Schwab your questions in the comments section right now and…

What Invention Would Finally Make You Feel Like You Live In The Future?

Whether you’re stuck on a jetpack, looking out for a superhighway of flying cars, or just waiting for a battalion of homicidal robots to do battle with in the depths of a megacity, we want to know about the technology that would make you feel like the future had finally arrived. Tell us in the…

This Map Shows The Places Farthest Away From Every Coastline On Earth

Summer will soon be upon us, and with that season will come a question: Where is the nearest beach? As this heat map of distance from a coastline from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group shows, for some of us that answer is quite close, while many of us are nowhere near our closest coastline. Of…

Which Word Has The Most Fascinating Backstory Behind It?

We use words to tell stories, but words often have their own stories behind them that can be just as interesting as anything we can come up with. Today, we want to know about the word with the best story behind it. Maybe it’s a word that changed its meaning throughout the years, or a…