Best of the Week: May 5-May 11, 2012

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COSMIC RECKONING | Could this be what the end of our world will look like? Scientists who've studied four white dwarfs wreaking havoc on their surrounding planets think it might be. Find out more here.


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Could this photograph change the future?

A few weeks after Google announced the completion of their paradigm-warping technology Google Glass, this picture appeared in the G+ account of Google VP Sebastian Thrun. More »


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10 Best Comic Book Movies of All Time

Comics are among the most dynamic and immediate forms of storytelling. And movies have been trying to capture some of the energy and imagination of comic-book worlds for decades now. More »

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425-year-old map offers new clues to the disappearance of the lost Roanoke Colony

The fates of the Roanoke colonists, who vanished from the banks of what is now North Carolina in the late 16th century, have never been fully settled. More »

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Why the Avengers don't say their most famous catchphrase in The Avengers

The Avengers was big, loud, beautiful - but it was missing one very important thing. Where was the famous catch phrase? Why didn't anybody say, "Avengers Assemble"? More »

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This well-known Egyptian symbol is actually an early math problem

Chances are you've seen this symbol before, because it's one of the most well-known Egyptian symbols. It's called the Eye of Horus. It's been in the background of plenty of mummy movies, and been turned into a lot of necklace charms. More »

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Behind-The-Scenes snaps from Ridley Scott's Alien reveal the real Xenomorph

We're totally mesmerized by this collection of behind-the-scenes images from Ridley Scott's Alien - especially the photo of the original occupant of the Xenomorph costume! More »

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This guy hand-forged his own wedding ring. OUT OF A METEORITE.

That's it. Game over. You will never have a wedding ring cooler than that of redditor laporkenstein. Not only did he fashion the band himself, in the formidable fires of... well... his garage - he forged the damn thing out of a chunk of meteorite. (A Gibeon meteorite, to be exact.) Laporkenstein... you, sir, are a DIY luminary. More »

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Neil deGrasse Tyson's most astounding fact adapted as a comic

We've already seen a video interpretation of physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's most astounding fact about the universe. Cartoonist Gavin Aung Than offers his graphic version of the famous quote, illustrating it in a single, beautiful webcomic. More »

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Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can't Afford to Miss in May

May brings lots of amazing science fiction and fantasy books - including new titles from China Mieville, Kim Stanley Robinson and Charlaine Harris! More »

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If you collected all of Earth's water into a sphere, how big would it be?

Imagine the Earth in your mind's eye. Now round up all the water on the planet into a sphere (we're talking oceans, icecaps, atmosphere, everything - even the water bound up in you and me). How big do you think that sphere would be compared to the Earth? More »

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Easily the most insane animal footage ever caught on an undersea camera

If you thought those submersible videos of swordfish and sperm whales were something special, here's something right out of The Abyss. More »

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The Most Messed Up Book About Robot Consciousness Ever

Madeline Ashby's new book vN is inevitably going to be compared to Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and its movie adaptation, Blade Runner. More »

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Holy heck, these Japanese hobbyists are building a 12-foot-tall pilotable mech

Microsoft Kinect has been used for some novel hacks, but this is straight out of Ghost In The Shell. Meet Vaudeville, a twelve-foot-tall, five-ton mecha that's manipulated using Kinect, or that XBox peripheral commonly known for its embarrassing dance party games. More »

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This is the oldest Maya Calendar Ever Discovered

For years, archaeologists have referred to an ancient set of texts known as the Maya codices to study that ancient civilization's relationship with astronomy and time. More »

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10 Things You'll See in Almost Every Tim Burton Movie

We all know that Tim Burton loves pancake white makeup, black eyes, spirals and stripes - but those are not the only things he loves to feature over and over again! More »

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Retro Science Fiction Movies that Everybody Should See

The greatest science fiction movies don't just have cool ideas or an unforgettable story - they also have a distinctive visual style. And a lot of our favorite films reach back into the past, for retro visions of the future that look even cooler than ever, because they've become classic.Fantasy Novels That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity More »

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Could Helium-3 really solve Earth's energy problems?

If you watched the movie Moon, you remember Helium-3 as the substance Sam Bell was sending back to Earth, during his onerous three year tenure on the Sarang lunar base. More »

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Fantasy Novels That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity

Everbody loves a good dark, horrible fantasy. A misanthopic adventure, in which everybody is morally compromised, and we all live and die in the dirt. More »

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Could an IUD be the best emergency contraceptive around?

The use of intra-uterine devices (IUDs) never took off in the USA as contraceptives, the way they did in the rest of the world. But a new study might change that. More »

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