These Birds Really Do Use “Spanish Fly” To Get Laid

Spanish fly isn’t just a mythical drug. It’s a real thing, and these male birds use it to get females to mate with them. Learn how spanish fly works, but only when males take it. https://gizmodo.com/why-spanish-fly-only-works-on-men-and-is-deadly-5983275 Spanish fly should be called “Spanish beetle.” The name of the drug came from beetles that men used to…

A Short Comic About The Time New York Outlawed Pinball

Pinball may seem today like one of the most innocent of pastimes, but in 1942, the game was banned in New York City. Why? And what happened to all those machines? This short comic by Julia Wertz has the answer. Over at the New Yorker, Wertz explains New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s vendetta against…

Archer Gang Gets “Dr. Shrinkered” On What Could Be Their Last Mission

Archer’s sixth season is almost over, with the first of a two-part finale seeing the blundering super spies and assorted hangers-on being miniaturized and injected into a comatose scientist. “Drastic Voyage: Part One” (blorp!) mixes high-stakes danger with goofy references … a classic Archer recipe for success. Spoilers. Seriously! We open, as almost always, at…

Tropical Regions Are Getting Wetter Thanks To Bigger Thunderstorms 

Climate scientists are reporting that increasing rainfall in the world’s warmest and wettest regions are being fueled by a recent surge in large, well-organized thunderstorms. Top image: Change in precipitation by end of 21st century, inches of liquid water per year. The dark blue regions in the Pacific represent projected increases of up to 60-inches…

Which “Lovable” Villain Is Actually Terrifying When You Think About It?

Science fiction and fantasy are full of straight-up scary villains. But then there are the lovable ones, who are too quirky and goofy to seem really threatening. They start to become part of the gang, even. But they’re still horrible people. Which “lovable” villain is actually horrifying if you think about him or her? Please…

Transformers To Become Marvel-Style Connected Movie Universe, Sigh

Everyone wants to copy Marvel’s multi-layered, money-making set-up. Now Deadline is reporting that Paramount has hired Akiva Goldsman to “ramp up” Transformers output, which means if you thought the Transformers franchise was already stretched to the breaking point, hold on to your hat. Goldsman will join up with Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and Lorenzo di…

The 12 Plot Ideas That Every Single Classic TV Show Did To Death

Making a TV show is a terrible grind — especially back in the day, when shows were entirely made up of standalone episodes. So it’s no wonder that so many classic shows reached for the same handful of plots, over and over. Here are 12 storylines you’ll find in every old science fiction and fantasy…

The Walking Dead spin-off has an official (dumb) name. Creator/producer Robert Kirkman tweeted it will be call Fear the Walking Dead, in case, you know, you thought it might be Annoy the Walking Dead, Hug the Walking Dead or even Be Ambivalent About the Walking Dead. Contact the author at [email protected].

Listen To Every Single Musical Genre, Ever

If you’ve ever wanted to hear the difference between traditional funk and Memphis soul, or understand where they fit in the context of more than 1300 musical genres, you might want to clear your schedule. An interactive project called Every Noise at Once is about to devour the rest of your day. According to project…

An FBI Profiler Explains The Psychology Of Breaking Bad‘s Walter White

In the latest episode of Vanity Fair’s “Psych of a Psycho” YouTube series (previous subjects include Game of Thrones’ “hideous and vile” juvenile criminal King Joffrey), host Candice DeLong, a former FBI profiler, breaks down the psychology of Breaking Bad’s Walter White. As anyone who’s seen the show can attest, Walter’s evolution from cancer-stricken chemistry…

This Is Your New Star Wars Canon… So Far

With the Expanded Universe obliterated, the Star Wars canon is looking a little thin at the moment. Still not sure what goes where? Here’s a new official infographic that shows you where the books, movies, and TV series all fall. The new timeline, the first we’ve seen since the Disney “Everything Matters” universe came into…

Watch Today’s Historic Launch To The ISS, Live Right Now!

Today at 12:42 p.m. PDT/3:42 p.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is scheduled to begin his year-long journey to the International Space Station — a voyage which, if successful, will surpass the U.S. record for longest-duration human spaceflight by more than 100 days. Above: Scott Kelly sits inside a Soyuz simulator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut…

io9 March Madness Final 4: Trek vs. Doctor Who, Marvel vs. Star Wars!

Today are the semifinals for io9’s March Madness: Movies vs. TV. That means it’s time to make picks for the grand showdown on Monday. So who’s going to be? Star Wars or the Marvel movies? Doctor Who or Star Trek? Time to vote! Image and bracket by Jim Cooke After many rounds of voting, we’ve…

A.I. Pilots Are Not The Solution To Preventing Airline Disasters

We’re still trying to understand the horrific Germanwings tragedy. But already, some people are suggesting it could have been prevented if a computer had been flying the plane. But that’s not the solution. We spoke to an expert about why an A.I. pilot would open up an entirely new set of risks and complications. Airbus…

Terminator: Genisys Reveals A Brand New Terminator

You got your evil cyborg T-800s with their metal skulls from the first Terminator movie, then you have the liquid metal T-1000s of Terminator 2 and 3. But this new Genisys TV spot appears to showcase a new Terminator model that young Sarah Connor and her elderly reprogrammed T-800 will have to deal with. Watch…

7 Real Life Forms That People Once Believed Were Hoaxes

The history of science has its share of biological frauds, cases where people fabricated an imaginary organism and passed it off as real, or lied about an organism’s behavior. Every now and then, however, a creature that is suspected of being a hoax turns out to be real. Top image: Berlin Aquarium mural of a…

This Is What Happens When Dark Matter Collides With Itself

What happens when dark matter crashes into itself? Some new Hubble observations show that it’s not what researchers thought — and that may have some implications for telling us just what dark matter really is. Using shots from the Hubble Space Telescope and from the Chandra X-ray observatory, NASA scientists studied dozens of collisions of…

Home Is The Cutest Vision Of Colonial Domination You’ll Ever See 

In the new kids’ animated movie Home, some unbearably cute aliens come to Earth and take our planet away from us, imprisoning the humans in, basically, reservations. And in the process, the movie manages to use cuteness to tell kind of a thoughtful story about imperialists who think of themselves as victims. Spoilers ho… So…

io9 Newsstand: The Best Stories from the Week of March 22 – 28

This week’s stories are all very personal and focused on a single character’s inner life. They vacillate between sweetness and despair and hope and pain. The Salt Mosquito’s Bite and The Goddess’ Sting By J Mehentee | Strange Horizons There was the faintest brushing against skin: the Salt Mosquito wheeling itself into position. And then…

This Real Estate News Could Be A Massive Walking Dead Spoiler

I know it sounds crazy, but I promise it’s true. It’s difficult to explain without discussing the spoiler itself, so please consider this your spoiler warning. Don’t click if you don’t want to know. Actor Norman Reedus is selling his home in Atlanta, where The Walking Dead has filmed since its inception. It doesn’t necessarily…