A Man Desperate to Get to Mars Runs Afoul of the Space TSA

In the animated short “The 4th Planet,” a man is desperate to get onto a spaceship headed for Mars, but he meets with some resistance. From his run, we get a look at a shiny departure terminal contrasted with the sorry state of Earth, giving us a bit of a clue as to why this…

Eerie Chalkboard Drawings Show Life in Oklahoma Schools 98 Years Ago

Contractors doing construction at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City unearthed chalkboards from 1917, showing classroom life from 98 years ago. In making way for new white boards, the contractors removed chalkboards only to find another set of chalkboards — with the preserve writing and illustrations — underneath. It looks like the 1917 lessons were…

Kelpies at the airport! If you’re traveling in Scotland for the next month, check out these miniature versions of Andy Scott’s Kelpie statues at Edinburgh Airport. (The full size versions sit in Helix Park.) Just don’t get too close: They probably bite. Photo via Edinburgh Airport. Contact the author at [email protected].

Maps Show Where And When UFO Sightings Occur, From 1925 To 2014

Where in the U.S. are UFO sightings most common? What shapes do these unidentified objects usually take? What time of day do we typically notice them? Datavisualization expert John Nelson combined census data with nearly 90 years of statistics, compiled by the National UFO Reporting Center, to find out. “Of course, as is the case…

Even Robotic Construction Workers Take A Break For Lunch

Artist Fredy Wenzel gives the classic photo “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” a futuristic makeover, imagining a city that rises into the sky thanks to android construction workers. Even though they’re robots, we still worry that these workers could fall off that girder. “We Built This City – 2015 Remake” is featured with the artist’s permission…

Robert Krulwich is blogging again! You probably know Krulwich as the co-host of Radiolab, but for many years he also wrote excellent posts for NPR. Last year, they pulled the plug on his blog, but it was recently given a new home—and a new name—by National Geographic. Go check out “Curiously Krulwich,” at once! Contact…

Construction begins today on Washington state’s highly anticipated wildlife overpass. Measuring 150-feet long (45 meters), the bridge will allow bears, cougars, elk, and lizards to cross over the busy I-90 highway. It’s a “critical connective link” that’s expected to dramatically reduce collisions between vehicles and animals.

This 45-Minute Blade Runner Cut Is Made Of Footage Not In The Final Film [Updated]

There are already multiple official versions of Ridley Scott’s classic film Blade Runner, but Charles de Lauzirika and his production team managed to make a completely different cut using just the B-roll from the film and takes that ended up on the cutting room floor. Check out their 45-minute version of Rick Deckard’s journey. No,…

“Meat Glue” And Other Icky Stuff In The Imitation Food Items You Eat

You already knew that the crab in your lunch roll wasn’t really crab — but you probably didn’t know about all the other kinds of imitation foods you eat all the time. From faux wasabi to milk and olive oil that’s partly made up of additives, these are the weird ingredients in the fake foods…

A Complete Guide to the Mythical History Of Westeros

Long before the events of Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin’s fantasy books, Westeros was home to magic and strange, sinister creatures. We’ve only just started to glimpse this backstory on the show, but the books contain lots of hints. Here’s our complete guide to the fantastical past of this grim world. A…

Why This Strange-Looking Animal Has A Nose Like A Penguin’s Foot

This weird-looking thing is a Sichuan takin. It’s what happens when you let a bunch of sheep loose on the mountain ranges of Tibet for a few thousand years. It has a huge schnoz for the same reason the penguin has a unique set of feet. Find out what these unique animals have in common.…

A Collection Of Otherworldly Six Word Stories You Can Read Now

In this story collection, you’ll find a surprisingly crowded (but perhaps indifferent?) solar system, a very systematic weather system, and an ingenuous system to return your unwanted online shopping purchases — and the whole bunch of very short stories is ready to read right now. You shared over a thousand of your shortest, spookiest, strangest…

Here’s Why The New Horizons Spacecraft Won’t Be Stopping At Pluto

In less than five weeks, New Horizons will zip past the Pluto-Charon system in a brief but historic encounter. Given the huge interest in Pluto, it’s fair to ask: Why won’t mission planners let the probe hang out a while? Above: Our first glimpse of Pluto and Charon in color (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied…

No, Tomorrowland Isn’t Really An Optimistic Movie

There’s a meme going around that Tomorrowland underperformed at the box office because people weren’t ready for its message of optimism. There’s just one problem — Tomorrowland isn’t an optimistic film at all. Warning: Major spoilers ahead… So, some people have been claiming that Tomorrowland’s relative failure is because it was too optimistic. (One such…

Static Shock Is A School Teacher On A Mission In This Heartfelt Fan Film

Electrogenesis may not have the slick production values of some of the fan films we’ve seen, but what it lacks in budget, it makes up for with its story of Virgil Hawkins as a teacher who has left Static behind. But when a student comes to him for help, Virgil realizes the world may still…

Why Franklin Richards Is The Most Ridiculous Character In All Of Comics

Franklin Richards, the son of the Fantastic four’s Reed Richards and Sue Storm, isn’t just a young hero-in-training, but one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe. And chief among those powers is being completely insane, as these facts will prove. Franklin is 47 years old. Not in actual years, of course. But…

Jon Bernthal Will Play The Punisher In Daredevil Season 2!

Ever since Daredevil’s second season was confirmed, we’ve been speculating as to who from Marvel Comics could show up alongside Matt Murdock. While everyone wondered about Bullseye and Elektra, instead Marvel have revealed that another anti-hero is headed to Hell’s Kitchen: Frank Castle himself! Jon Bernthal, whom io9 readers might be more familiar with as…

The Boy Who Built A 500 Million-Degree Nuclear Fusion Reactor

The following excerpt is from The Boy Who Played with Fusion by Tom Clynes. The book, released today, tells the story of science prodigy Taylor Wilson, who by age 14 had built a 500-million-degree nuclear fusion reactor. Taylor toggles another switch, energizing the vacuum pumps. He and Brinsmead and Phaneuf watch the gauge as the…

A Little Number Theory Makes The Times Table A Thing Of Beauty

Most people will probably remember the times tables from primary school quizzes. There might be patterns in some of them (the simple doubling of the 2 times table) but others you just learnt by rote. And it was never quite clear just why it was necessary to know what 7 x 9 is off the…

Head Transplants: Science or Science Fiction?

Valery Spiridonov of Russia wants a new body. His body’s muscles are wasting away from a rare disease called Werdnig-Hoffman disorder, which kills most people by age 20. Dr. Sergio Canavero of Italy is expected to announce at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons (AANOS) in Annapolis, Md., in…