io9 Roundup: June 30, 2011

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RUNNING WITH THE BIG PACK | A Bold Pair of Allosaurs Race Beside a Herd of Ultrasaurs, by dinosaur artist John Gurche.


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The 7 Types of Short Story Opening, and How to Decide Which is Right for Your Story

A short story is like a chess game: The opening is a huge part of whether you win or lose. The first sentence of a short story doesn't just "hook" readers, it also sets the tone and launches the plot. More »

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The story of Dune, recreated with Gummi worms

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Remember the great moment in the Dune series when Paul Atreides rides the giant sandworm and everybody says he's the chosen leader of the Fremen? So do the Gummi-lovers behind this stirring tableau of far-future astropolitics. More »


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The secret origin story of How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe

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To celebrate the paperback release of Charles Yu's incredible novel How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe, we're running an exclusive, never-before-seen-by-humans story that Yu wrote about the origin of the strange world where his time-traveling main character lives. More »


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Cosmic Pluralism: How Christianity briefly conquered the solar system

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By the 1700s, there could no longer be any doubt. Earth was just one of many worlds orbiting the Sun, which forced scientists and theologians alike to ponder a tricky question. More »


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What would you say to win a trip to a second Earth?

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If you had to write an essay to win a free ticket on the first spaceship going to our twin planet, what would you say? That's what this exclusive clip from the new movie Another Earth asks. More »


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Cyclopean baby shark smiles for the camera (despite being dead)

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According to the Pisces Fleet Sportsfishing blog, this one-eyed bull shark fetus was removed from a mother caught in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Apparently shark researcher Felipe Galvan Magaña is now examining this monocular specimen. More »


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Being fooled by optical illusions might mean you're more self-aware

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Not everyone reacts to optical illusions equally: some are completely fooled by them, while others just can't see what all the fuss is about. It depends on the size of your visual cortex...and that can determine how introspective you are. More »


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Short film "Plot Device" is the best thing you'll see today

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Watch as "a young filmmaker obtains a mysterious device that unleashes the full force of cinema on his front lawn," in the short film Plot Device. From zombie jerks to irritating Garden State banter, no plot device is left unscathed. More »


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10 Lessons Every Other TV Show Should Learn From Vampire Diaries

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The Vampire Diaries has only been on hiatus for a few weeks, but we're already having withdrawal symptoms from the Mystic Falls crack pipe. No other show on television quite manages to pull off the miracles that TVD accomplishes regularly. More »


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The reason for bathtime pruney-fingers and how to stop them

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After much consideration, a new theory has been advanced as to why half an hour in a bathtub makes fingers look like they're a billion years old. Finger wrinkles might not be a structural failure. More »


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The very weirdest theories about the Loch Ness Monster

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What is the Loch Ness Monster? No one knows, but that hasn't stopped legions of armchair cryptozoologists from formulating one theory after another on the subject of the world's most famous lake creature. More »


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Science shows that crows are the biker gangs of the sky

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Crows will not only remember your face and go after you repeatedly if you bother them, but they will also teach other birds to do the same. Their scolding and physical harassment can last for years, possibly for the life of the bird. More »


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Lessons from Tekken: If a post-apocalyptic cage fighter catches you staring at her, pretend to be a foot fetishist

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That's just one of the useful life lessons you'll learn from our exclusive clip from Tekken, the video game adaptation coming to DVD on July 19. You'll also learn the importance of having a Signature. More »


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Behold the movie version of The Hunger Games' District 12

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Sad that the Hunger Games movie adaptation won't be presenting in Hall H at comic con? Don't fret! We've culled a ton of excellent Hunger Games info, to feed your need for teenage slaughter. More »


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Ancient graves suggest that family didn't really matter 9,000 years ago

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Çatalhöyük is one of the world's most ancient settlements, founded in what is now Turkey around 7,500 BCE. New analysis of the village's dead reveals something strange about this ancient village. More »