Even Below Ground, Winter Temperatures Are Rising

The temperatures have been steadily rising here on the surface, but what about below ground? Temperatures are going up there as well, as you can see in this map of changes over the last several decades in ground conditions. And it has something troubling to tell us about our water. NOAA took a look at…

Syfy’s Dark Matter Is Lost In Space But With Deadly Amnesiacs

The first trailer for Stargate TV veterans Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie’s Dark Matter, based on their Dark Horse comic of the same name, is here and we’re cautiously optimistic. Meet the enigmatic, dangerous, memory-deprived passengers in a mysterious spaceship drifting through the cosmos. Here’s Syfy’s synopsis for the show: In Dark Matter, the crew…

Ex Machina Proves Science Fiction Movies Can Be Smart AND Kick Your Ass

Ex Machina is one of the smartest, most thought-provoking science fiction movies in ages. And that probably conjures images of a slow, introspective Sundance-y film — but actually, Ex Machina moves at a ruthless pace, and kicks your ass up one all and down the other. Minor spoilers ahead… (And here, “minor spoilers” means that…

The First Ever Sketch Of Wonder Woman Is Going On Sale (UPDATED)

So many of comics most iconic heroes are so old at this point, items from their genesis are hard to come by. So when H.G. Peter’s first sketch for William Marston’s new female superheroine Wonder Woman goes to auction, it’s a rare glimpse into the history of one of the most iconic female superheroes ever.…

This Exclusive Helix Finale Clip Features An Immortal Baby In A Jar 

Get a sneak peak into tonight’s finale of the second season of Helix with this clip featuring zombies, tears and an immortal baby that lives in a jar. Spoilers! The clip reveals the prisoners of Steven Weber’s secret baby-making factory — or at least that’s what we’re guessing, because they look like they’ve been kept…

The Writers For The Avengers: Infinity War Movies Are Awesome, Too

We know that the Russo brothers the guys who brought us the fantastic Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will be directing Infinity War Parts I and II, and that this is a good thing. But now the screenwriters may have chosen, and we should be equally excited about them. According to Badass Digest, Christopher Markus…

This Asteroid Has Been Named In Honor Of Malala Yousafzai

As the discoverer of Asteroid 316201, NASA’s Amy Mainzer had the right to name the object under the rules established by the International Astronomical Union. So her choice to name the asteroid after Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai is a truly generous and beautiful gesture. 316201 Malala (2010 ML48), as it’s now formally called, is…

Release The GIFs! It’s Time To Party

Gather up your best party tricks, GIFs! Another Friday has arrived. What were you up to this week? Call up the GIFs that best express your current state of affairs (cheerful? sleepy? snacky? a vague but sinister sense of dread?) and commence their mingling in the comments — because this party begins now!

This Computer Program Can Tell Authentic Paintings From Forgeries

The image above looks like an uninspired digital reworking of a beautiful painting, but it’s something more. The technique, called wavelet decomposition, shows us the different brushstrokes that make up a painting, and let us see a painter’s style in a new way (or an imposter’s). Analysis of style is very complicated, which is why…

One Game Of Thrones Character Is Getting A Bold New Costume… But Why?

Do we finally know the name of the Flash/Arrow spin-off? Take a blurry look at Star Wars’ Kylo Ren, and a great look at Age of Ultron’s Vision. Could the new Agents of SHIELD spinoff be bad news for Agent Carter? The Flash may be introducing a new DC hero to TV. Plus hints for…

How Doctor Who Helped Scientists Figure Out Why We Fear Spiders

In order to figure out if our ability to spot — and be distracted by — stimuli had an evolutionary biology reason or was simply learned, researchers checked to see if people were more distracted from a task by spiders or by Doctor Who. The things we are afraid of get our notice more easily…

The Millennium Falcon’s Iconic Look Was a Last-Second Design

This little featurette reveals the secrets behind the Millennium Falcon — how the model changed between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, how an intellectual property issue forced a change in design, and that the asteroids are literally potatoes.

A Real Close-Up Look at Ant-Man Facing the Villainous Yellowjacket

Marvel may have its most stylish villain since Loki in Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll), now that we have a shot of Darren Cross, in his suit, looking very much like he’s about to squish Ant-Man. The image was released by Entertainment Weekly, and it does everything it can to make Scott Lang look outmatched: While Ant-Man’s…

Here’s What The Night Sky Would Have Looked Like 10 Billion Years Ago

Our sun has only been around for 4.5 billion years — which means it missed the cute early years of the Milky Way galaxy. If you were standing on a planet 10 billion years ago, when the Milky Way was relatively young, the night sky would have looked very different. Top image: NASA/ESA/Z. Levay (STScI)…

Finally a Look at Jared Leto’s Suicide Squad Joker Hair

It looks like keeping Jared Leto out of yesterday’s image was a purposeful omission on the part of David Ayer, because he’s tweeted a solo shot of Leto. He’s got the full-on green hair and the photo is very much a recreation of this Killing Joke cover. Note the artful blurring:

CSI: Cyber and the Crowdsourced iPad Internet Addiction Bomb 

We open in a movie theater, where two guys are arguing about cell phone etiquette. This discussion is perhaps the only vaguely realistic element of tonight’s episode, which is by far the dumbest CSI: Cyber installment yet, and yes, I am aware that is a bold statement. The offending screen light isn’t coming from a…

Are LEGO Minifigs Actually Living In A Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland?

The life of a minifig seems pretty sweet: You’ve got a rotating cast of cool gigs to choose from, a decent selection of shrunk-down monuments within easy walking distance, and all the cube houses you can snap together. But is there a darker side to minifig life, that we’ve failed to see? Consider the evidence,…

Still confused about this year’s Hugo nominations controversy? Kameron Hurley wrote a great rundown of how it happened, and why it matters. Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin has written three blog posts about this issue in the past 24 hours or so, all worth reading.

Godzilla Is Literally Going To Hell In His New Comic Miniseries

Godzilla’s visited some strange locales over the last half-century of Kaiju shenanigans, but now IDW Comics is taking him someplace entirely new: Hell itself. Aptly titled Godzilla In Hell, the miniseries will see writer and artist James Stokoe return to the character for the first time since 2012’s Godzilla: The Half-Century War. The premise is…

Skull Embedded In Italian Cave Yields Oldest Neanderthal DNA Sample

The oldest samples of Neanderthal DNA have been extracted from remains embedded in a cave in southern Italy, confirming that the so-called Altamura Man was a Neanderthal who lived around 150,000 years ago. Above: Only the skull and part of a shoulder are visible on Altamura Man. The rest of the body is incorporated into…