12 Biggest Blunders That Evil Wizards Make

There’s nothing more awesome than an evil wizard. Commanding the forces of darkness, chewing the scenery, wielding objects of terrible power… it’s a great gig. But it’s not one with a lot of job security. Here are 12 terrible mistakes that evil wizards always end up making, which prove their downfall. Note: For the purposes…

Turkish Forces Enter Into Syria To Save A Sacred 780-Year-Old Artifact

In an effort to rescue 38 soldiers and the remains of Suleyman Shah — the “grandfather of the Ottoman Empire” — from ISIS forces, Turkey yesterday dispatched hundreds of soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and drones to a tomb in Syria. According to Article 9 of the Treaty of Ankara signed between Turkey and France in 1921,…

Are These Mountains On Mars Hiding Ice Just Beneath Their Surface?

The pictures of Martian mountain range Phlegra Montes look characteristically dry and dusty. But not so fast, say researchers at ESA. Just 60 feet below the surface, they think there’s something buried: Ice. So what makes scientists so sure? Basically, the latest data coming in from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter included a much more detailed…

This Week’s TV: Why Sleepy Hollow Is Must-Watch TV Again

There is a lot of intriguing villainy happening this week, with Gotham in pursuit of the Red Hood gang, and a trio of Disney villains joining forces on Once Upon a Time. Plus, Sleepy Hollow’s season finale looks immensely fun, and Agent Carter’s enemies make their big move as the first season closes. Tonight Gotham…

Joss Whedon Explains Why Ant-Man Isn’t In The Avengers

According to Joss Whedon, “Of all the heat I’ve ever taken, not having Hank Pym [in the Avengers] was one of the bigger things.” However, Whedon contests that it didn’t make sense to bring in Ant-Man into Earth’s mightiest movie heroes. In an long interview with Empire Magazine, Avengers: Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon…

This Rat Experiment Will Haunt You, But Not For The Reason You Think

This experiment, done on lab rats, isn’t terribly cruel. It will still probably keep you up at night when you’re thinking about hiring an exterminator. Rats are nearly universally disliked, but they are useful — their physiology isn’t that different from our own, so studying how their bodies react to drugs gives us clues to…

Rick Grimes is The Walking Dead‘s Newest Villain

It’s true. No, Rick hasn’t lost his mind again, nor has he suddenly started murdering people. But with the arrival of Aaron, the mysterious fellow who’s come with smiles, supplies, and a promise of a safe place to live, Rick and the others suddenly find themselves in the position of being the bad guys for…

The Remains Of A Stone Age Couple Found In A Spooning Embrace

Archaeologists working at the Alepotrypa Cave in Greece have discovered a rare 5,800-year-old double burial in which two well-preserved skeletons were found in what appears to be the spooning position. This excavation site is one of the largest Neolithic burial sites in all of Europe. The cave has a huge interior, with some of its…

What Scientific Fact Transformed The Way You Look At The World?

Sometimes facts are just little pieces of trivia that we stack up, one atop the other. But sometimes a piece of knowledge comes along that shakes up all our preconceived notions about the ways of the world. Whether it was a fact that made you finally understand a concept or a fact that contradicted a…

Skye Is Feeling A Little Inhuman In New Agents Of SHIELD Promo

Not that there was any doubt that Agents of SHIELD was laying the groundwork for the appearance of the Inhumans into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this new promo for the show’s return on March 3rd finally has Skye the “I-word” out loud… as well as showing off her new powers. As this new trailer…

The Harmonious Ecosystem That You Destroy To Make Bread 

A loaf of bread isn’t fluffed up by chemistry alone. It’s slowly built up by colonies of yeast, which you heartlessly extinguish when you bake the dough in the oven. There’s an ecosystem in every loaf, and a special kind of loaf, sourdough, is built by a special kind of ecology. If you make bread…

We May Already Know The Opening Scenes Of The Force Awakens

Steven Spielberg wants to direct Chris Pratt as Indiana Jones. Joss Whedon explains how Avengers 2 is totally different. Game of Thrones could send Sansa in a surprising direction. An Agents of SHIELD villain might show up on Daredevil. Plus Doctor Who set photos, and how Supergirl gets her costume. So many spoilers! Top image:…

A forgotten fossil from the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery has just now been shown to be a wholly new species of ichthyosaur. The fossil, brought to the museum in the 80s, was thought by the museum to be a plaster cast, until 25-year-old paleontologist Dean Lomax realized it was real in 2008. It’s been…

This Time-Lapse Proves That Cats Are Solar-Powered

I think we all knew this, but watching it in time lapse form is pretty astonishing. Watch as a strip of sunlight moves across the floor during a day, and packs of cats move with it. It happens so slowly in real life, that at the end of the day, I can tell my cats…

Lighting Can Completely Change How You See a Face

This tweet shows just how important lighting really is: as the light changes, this face completely changes. It’s disorienting and is why film and theater are so dependent on professionals to work with lights. It’s almost as disorienting as the hollow face illusion, only instead of the mask rotating and your brain turning a concave…

Birdman Inspired Hugh Jackman to Play Wolverine “Until I Die”

If we see a dozen more movies with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, we’ll have this year’s best picture, Birdman, to thank. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado, Jackman spoke from the perspective of watching Birdman as an actual actor with an iconic superhero role. And the movie may have struck much closer to home for…

Academy Award Winners Round-Up: Birdman, Birdman, Birdman!

After hours and hours of songs, heartfelt speeches, and Neil Patrick Harris doing a magic trick about Oscar predictions, we are officially done with the 2015 Oscars. And congratulations to Birdman, a movie we thoroughly loved, for its Best Picture win. The winners are bolded below. Best Picture American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest…

Watch The Oscars’ “Everything Is Awesome,” With Will Arnett As Batman

If you missed the epic performance of “Everything Is Awesome” by Tegan and Sara and the Lonely Island, then you also missed Will Arnett, who voices LEGO Batman, making an appearance as the very dour Batman. “Darkness. No parents,” indeed. In another bit of nerdy coolness, according to Chris Miller Arnett’s Batsuit was the Val…

Why It’s Amazing News That Takashi Miike Is Adapting This Scifi Manga

Well, this is exciting: cult-beloved Japanese director Takashi Miike is planning a live-action adaptation of popular manga Terra Formars, described as “a crazy, bloody, adrenaline-pumped action-sci-fi-horror series.” Yes. We like that. All of that. The manga is set in the year 2577, when the first six humans land on Mars … which has spent the…

Drug-Resistant Malaria Is On The Verge Of Spreading Into India

In Southeast Asia, the malaria parasite has been steadily building resistance to the drug that’s used to treat it. This scary news, but even worse: the resistance is on the verge of spreading into densely populated India. This data comes from a new study in infectious diseases publication the Lancet (read the scientific paper here).…