WEEKEND ROUNDUP: "I Don't Like to Look at Him, Jack. It Makes Me Think of that Awful Day on the Island" by Walton Ford. Via.
Chemical dumping turns Chinese waterway into river of blood
No, this wasn't the work of Vigo the Carpathian or a bunch of overzealous Slayer fans. In the city of Luoyang, illegal manufacturing workshops dumped chemical dye in the Jian River. More »
On Saturday Morning Cartoons, Professor X waxes romantic and Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos!
Generator Rex and company head to Egypt, Professor X's past is picked through, a stalwart of the edutainment industry meets her death, and Gandalf makes a stellar appearance on Robot Chicken this week. More »
Left 4 Dead fan film goes from zero to crazy in the last act
When it comes to fan films, people love making movies A.) based on Valve properties; and B.) fairly nonsensical character mash-ups. This movie by Adrian Picardi and Northern Five Entertainment slaps these two flavors together. More »
What Daft Punk would look like if they played cellos
Awww yeah, you thought we forgot about Saturday morning dance party here at Radio io9 (also known as "Radio9")? Hell no, we've just been disco-napping off the last one. Today's offering is the 1981 single "La Serinissima" from the Italian orchestral group Rondò Veneziano. More »
Father and son lunch box comics make everything in this world better
Every day Rob Kimmel starts half of a mini-comic for his 8-year-old son Ben. He then slips it into Ben's lunchbox, for Ben to finish at school. The end results are pure wonder, mostly due to the fact that Ben has impeccable taste (he's a lover of both Tom Waits and Star Wars). More »
In this time-lapse portrait, Darth Vader materializes in under four minutes
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics, here's an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how artist Chris Scalf digitally illustrated the upcoming cover of Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead #3. Watch as the Sith Lord and the carnage he's wreaked appear right before your very eyes! More »
Space travel survival supplies to harness your inner Spaceman Spiff
Being an imaginary astronaut doesn't require much in the way of materials goods - just an unerring love of the cosmos and occasional access to a cardboard box. More »
By far the strangest naked ladies you'll see all day (NSFW)
In this curious video reel by graphic designers Sense Titol, a number of disrobed models pose against an all-white background. We're not going to spoil what happens, but it feels very David Cronenberg...and one of them has the face only a foot fetishist would love. More »
And now, the cast of Community as Batman villains
I have no idea how to explain this, other than to simply state that Community tends to inspire oodles of fan art. If you've ever wanted to see Greendale's most irrepressible study group as Batman foes, here's your chance. More »
Supernormal Stimuli: Using Nature To Destroy Itself
Supernormal stimuli make birds ignore their eggs (and then their chicks), cause fish to fight dummies (while live competitors go uncontested), and can drive humans back to sugary snacks. More »
Democracy needs ignorant people, says science
You might think that democracies work best when people care and know about the key issues. But a new study argues that for a democracy to function at all, you need lots of ignorant people blindly siding with the majority. More »
Ninja attack engagement photos add much-needed katanas to marriage
We've seen zombie apocalypse family portraits and undead assault engagement photos. Now, a couple from Queens, New York have illustrated the Ashford-And-Simpson-like sturdiness of their pending nuptials with a photo series depicting a shinobi attack in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. More »
The exact formula for writing Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked
For today's installment of Crackpot Movie Review, we've recruited the expertise of Professor Horus X. Lomax, Vice-Director of Cultural Preservation at the Svalbard Dross Vault, the sister organization of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Spitsbergen, Norway. More »
NASA has discovered the tiniest, most pathetic black hole in the universe
A couple weeks ago, astronomers spotted black holes that were ten billion times more massive than our Sun, setting new records for the biggest black holes ever found. NASA has spotted another record-setting black hole...although it's not quite as impressive. More »