BEHOLD WESTEROS AND BEYOND | The most detailed map yet created of the continents in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Learn more about it here.
https://gizmodo.com/the-most-detailed-map-of-the-game-of-thrones-world-yet-5892140
Teacher’s Job in Jeopardy for Reading to Kids from Ender’s Game
https://gizmodo.com/teachers-job-in-jeopardy-for-reading-to-kids-from-ender-5893478
A middle school teacher who read to his students from Ender’s Game is on “administrative leave” because a parent complained to the school that Orson Scott Card’s classic novel is “pornographic.” The parent also went to the local police, who have not yet pressed criminal charges against the teacher. More »
A Tribute to Legendary French artist Moebius, the man who made The Abyss, Alien, and Tron even weirder
https://gizmodo.com/legendary-french-artist-moebius-the-man-who-made-the-a-5892148
It’s pretty hard to overstate the hand Moebius had in some of science fiction’s most phantasmagoric cinema. You know his work even if you’ve never realized it. More »
Artist suspends real clouds in the middle of the room
https://gizmodo.com/artist-suspends-real-clouds-in-the-middle-of-the-room-5892356
That’s not photoshop; that’s an actual cloud hovering inside an actual room. Artist Berndnaut Smilde merges art and science to create small man-made clouds. More »
A map of the United States, drawn in the style of Lord of the Rings
https://gizmodo.com/a-map-of-the-united-states-drawn-in-the-style-of-lord-5892354
Have you ever wondered what a map of the continental U.S. might look like if it were subjected to the stylings of Christopher and J.R.R. Tolkien, who, together, illustrated the world encompassing LotR? More »
We already have the technology to send trains into space, at a fraction of the cost of rockets
https://gizmodo.com/we-already-have-the-technology-to-send-trains-into-spac-5892333
This is Startram, a proposed launch system that would use magnetic levitation trains, a 1000-mile tunnel, and a superconducting cable to reach low Earth orbit. More »
10 Ultra-Weird Science Fiction Novels that Became Required Reading
https://gizmodo.com/10-ultra-weird-science-fiction-novels-that-became-requi-5892742
You want a really weird ride? A science fiction or fantasy epic that stretches your brain like taffy and ties it into strange irregular shapes? Forget television or movies: books are where the really off-kilter stories are told in speculative fiction. More »
Has the housing crisis finally infected horror movies and television?
https://gizmodo.com/has-the-housing-crisis-finally-infected-horror-movies-a-5892968
Over the past several months, we’ve seen the release of two high profile haunted house movies (Dream House, Woman in Black), and two indies (The Innkeepers, Silent House). More »
The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is history’s most startling mental disorder
https://gizmodo.com/the-jumping-frenchmen-of-maine-is-historys-most-startli-5893214
In the 1870s, something very strange happened to the French-Canadians working as lumberjacks in Northern Maine. When startled, they would jump in the air, imitate those around them, and even obey random commands. More »
Yes, Cabin In the Woods is that f-king good
https://gizmodo.com/yes-cabin-in-the-woods-is-that-f-king-good-5892557
Do you miss the biting dialog and clever characters that filled the Whedonverse of Buffy, Firefly and Angel? Then Cabin In the Woods, which premiered at South by Southwest this past weekend, is the movie for you. More »
Absolutely mindblowing video shot from the Space Shuttle during launch
https://gizmodo.com/absolutely-mindblowing-video-shot-from-the-space-shuttl-5893615
Drop whatever you’re doing and watch this. NASA has released videos shot from onboard the Space Shuttle’s Solid Rocket Boosters in the past, but you’ve never seen one prepared as masterfully as this. More »
What’s classier than J.R.R. Tolkien telling off Nazis? Absolutely nothing.
https://gizmodo.com/whats-classier-than-j-r-r-tolkien-telling-off-nazis-a-5892697
Why is there a picture of Smaug up there? Well, that was one time J.R.R. Tolkien delivered the burns. Here’s another occasion. In 1938, Tolkien was in talks with Berlin publishing house Rütten & Loening to release a German-language edition of The Hobbit. More »
NASA releases infrared map of the entire universe
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-releases-infrared-map-of-the-entire-universe-5893755
After fourteen years of preparation and three years of collecting data, we now have an atlas of the entire infrared sky. This image is just the capstone for a cosmic map that contains 18000 images and 560 million different objects. More »
How Not to Be a Clever Writer
https://gizmodo.com/how-not-to-be-a-clever-writer-5881386
Many people dream of being clever wordsmiths. Masters of fizzy, quotable dialogue. Creators of plots that are full of cool twists and nutty-but-brilliant ideas. More »
Is this a picture of UFOs shooting laser beams at an airplane?
https://gizmodo.com/is-this-a-picture-of-ufos-shooting-laser-beams-at-an-ai-5893017
The UFO world has been buzzing about this picture, which the photographer says is an image of a UFO that flew close to a flight from England to Cyprus last month. More »
The Most Disturbing Hunger Games Merchandise
https://gizmodo.com/the-most-disturbing-hunger-games-merchandise-5893608
Most of the Hunger Games tie-in merchandise we’ve come across is a nice mixture of enticing archery-inspired accessories, clever t-shirts and the classic Mockingjay pin. More »
First Dark Shadows Trailer: Tim Burton’s Most Ridiculous Movie Yet?
https://gizmodo.com/first-dark-shadows-trailer-tim-burtons-most-ridiculous-5893731
Check out the first ever trailer for Tim Burton’s swinging 70s vampire epic Dark Shadows. And it looks like Burton is taking it to the max – not a single bit of 70s shtick is left untouched by Johnny Depp’s fluttery dance steps (someone literally tries to kill him with a giant disco ball). More »
The Physics of Pixar’s Hair
https://gizmodo.com/the-physics-of-pixars-hair-5893046
How is a curling hair like a long-range oil pipeline? And what two groups are working on the physics that apply to both? Learn about the science of engineering mop-tops. More »
Major Spoilers for the End of the World, the Solar System, and the Universe
https://gizmodo.com/major-spoilers-for-the-end-of-the-world-the-solar-syst-5893978
This sure is a nice planet we have here – but we shouldn’t get to attached to it. Nothing lasts forever: Not our planet, not our solar system, not even the entire universe. More »
This post-apocalyptic short animation deserves its own movie
https://gizmodo.com/this-post-apocalyptic-short-animation-deserves-its-own-5894011
Oh, this is rather impressive. Behold Ruin, a cryptic 8.5-minute short film by the folks at Oddball Animation. In the post-apocalypse of Ruin, nature has reclaimed entire cities. More »
