A Map Of Where You’ll See The Strongest Lightning Displays In The World

Predicting where lightning will strike may be pretty tricky, but what about where lightning will flash? This map from NASA’s Earth Observatory takes data from 1995 – 2013 to show us the global hotspots for lightning. As you can see, lightning rates over land are much higher than over water, with the heaviest areas seeing…

We’re Living In The Golden Age Of Star Trek Webseries Right Now

You probably already knew this, if you’re a Star Trek fan. But it’s really true. YouTube is just bursting with original Star Trek content lately, from damn near spot-on recreations of the Original Series to continuations of the TNG/DS9/Voyager era. This is the golden age of Star Trek web productions. Top image: Star Trek Continues.…

This 10 Years Of Doctor Who Tribute Video Makes Us All A Little Weepy

If ever there was an argument for Doctor Who being the most emotional, jovial, weepy, maddening television series, this video is it. Visual FX artist John Smith created a tribute to the past decade of Doctor Who (the Ninth Doctor regenerated into our lives in March 26th, 2005) centering around the last couple of Doctors…

The Science Of Spontaneous Healing

A person comes down with a terrible disease. The doctors give up all hope. Then, suddenly, the disease is gone. It’s a great soap opera plot, but it can actually happen in real life. The question is, how? What Is Spontaneous Remission? Spontaneous remission, also known as spontaneous healing, is downplayed by the medical community.…

What Book Did You Change Your Mind About After Re-reading?

Revisiting a favorite, or even-not-so favorite, book is never an exact replication of the original read, but sometimes it changes what you think of the book entirely. Today, we want to know about the books that you re-read, and never saw the same way after. Tell us in the comments what the book was, when…

Low Gravity Seriously Messes With An Ant’s Ability To Explore Space

Experiments aboard the International Space Station with common pavement ants have shown just how badly microgravity impairs the insects’ ability to search unexplored areas. Remarkably, however, tumbling ants demonstrated an uncanny ability to regain contact with the surface. There are over 20,000 species of ants on Earth, each perfectly suited to its environment. But there’s…

Tons Of Game Of Thrones Hints, Plus A Rumor That Would Change Everything

Simon Pegg talks Star Trek 3 rumors. An unlikely mutant has joined the cast of Deadpool. Plus, the latest on Constantine, and what’s next on Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD and iZombie. Behold, Spoilers! Top image: Game of Thrones. Avengers: Age Of Ultron Here’s Elizabeth Olsen discussing Scarlet Witch’s costume and powerset: Is that pretty…

Definitely the correct choice.

A Haunting Tale of a Sinking Island, From Its Last House’s Point of View

This animated short by Lynn Tomlinson goes through the history of the last house on a sinking island in the Chesapeake. It functions almost like the house’s life is flashing before its eyes, before it goes under the waves. It’s like an even more depressing version of The Giving Tree Tomlinson’s technique is unique: each…

Among the Many Items Joining King Tut In the Afterlife … Four Socks?

There are all sorts of questions that spring immediately to mind when you think about King Tut: What killed him? Are curses real? What on earth is going on with his penis? One question not asked enough is what he planned to wear in the afterlife. Photo Credit: AP Images It really was a question…

When Is a Spiral Galaxy Just a Disc? When It’s Viewed From the Side.

The Hubble Space Telescope shows us the edge-view of galaxy NGC 5023. Even though NGC 5023 is a spiral galaxy, its orientation to the Hubble means that we can’t see its arms, only a side view which shows us a disk. Image credit: ESA/NASA NGC 5023 is located over 30 million light years away and…

There’s a Modern TV Hidden Inside This Classic 1950s Philco Predicta

There’s nothing quite as retro-futuristic as the Philco Predicta television from the late 1950s. That bubbly, detached picture tube. The metal frame. It’s gorgeous. Unfortunately, the iconic TV set is also notoriously unreliable—and what good is a broken Predicta TV? Well, it turns out it makes a pretty bitchin’ monitor frame. Redditor Imapm (or “ModularDuck”…

You’ve Never Read A Book About Magic And Loss Like Signal To Noise

Plenty of books use magic to talk about coming-of-age stories and the secrets that people bury… but few of them are as sad, or as evocative, as Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s new novel Signal to Noise. Her story of three friends in Mexico City and their musical obsessions feels true, as well as truly sad. Spoilers ahead……

Journey to the center (ahem, “centre”) of the earth, with this interactive applet created by the folks at BBC Future. It’s… surprisingly engaging. Contact the author at [email protected].

Amidst The Field Of Hieroglyphics 

Dr. Bulygin hadn’t just found human writing among the broken monoliths. He’d discovered a Rosetta Stone, humanity’s linguistic gateway to the community of the cosmos. Concept art by Shahab Alizadeh. You can follow Alizadeh’s work on deviantART and Facebook, and you can purchase prints from his INPRNT shop. Alizadeh’s gallery is filled with luminous, often…

Is A Kilobit 1,000 Or 1,024 Bits?: A Mathematical Debate Explained

What is a kilobit equal to? The answer is 1,000 bits, but some people say it should really be 1,024. The debate over how many bits are in a kilobit has popped up many places (including in our comments section today), with some people championing 1,000 and others 1,024. So what’s the answer? Well, today,…

Must Watch: 12 Monkeys‘ Amazing Coke-Fueled Himalayan Mummy Dance Party

Even apart from its many other delights, Syfy’s decision to make a TV series of 12 Monkeys will have been worth it just for this weird-ass scene where businessmen wheel out a thousand-year-old frozen corpse in a Japanese nightclub. Now THAT’s a party! Watch for yourself. Spoilers ahead… I love the coke-snorting and 80s references…

Hawkgirl Is Joining The Arrow/Flash Spinoff

If it wasn’t obvious already that the CW’s new spinoff of the Arrow and Flash universe was an attempt tocreate a Justice League for TV, it is now. The show has revealed the first of three DC heroes joining the roster alongside Sara Lance, Ray Palmer and Martin Stein: Kendra Saunders, better known as Hawkgirl!…

Stunning New Images Of Rhea Herald More Photos Of Saturn’s Icy Moons

For nearly two years, the orbital path of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has limited the mission’s encounters with Saturn’s moons. These newly released photos of the icy moon Rhea mark the spacecraft’s return to the planet’s equatorial plane, realm of the ringed world’s frozen satellites. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Sez NASA: Cassini’s orbit will remain…

Absolutely Incredible Cosplay From Emerald City Comicon: Day 3!

The cosplay does not stop! Emerald City Comicon was just bursting with beautiful recreations of costumes from comics, movies, television and books. And to prove it, here’s one last batch of the best ECCC cosplay! Top image: Doctor Doom from Fantastic Four. Photo by Bronson Le/Photosassin. Once again, we’re stoked to feature some cosplay photos…