Masterpiece on PBS, basically printing its own currency after the success of Downton Abbey and Sherlock, will build off the success of the latter title by airing a three-part adaptation of Julian Barnes’ historical novelArthur & George later this year. Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) will star as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Alien and Aliens Remastered, $5 Blu-rays, and More Deals

Alien is probably the best science fiction film ever made. You can own it and its inferior sequel for $5/each today. – Shane Alien Remastered ($5) | Best Buy Aliens Remastered ($5) | Best Buy Here’s Sigourney Weaver Test-Firing the Flamethrower From Alien https://gizmodo.com/heres-sigourney-weaver-test-firing-the-flamethrower-fro-1680153096 It’s unusual to see a movie drop to $6 on Blu-ray…

10 Rules For Making Better Fantasy Maps

If you look at the beautifully illustrated fantasy maps on posters, in books, and across the Internet and wish that you could make such incredible pieces of worldbuilding, then you’re in luck. We have some guidelines for making your maps better, more beautiful, and easier to understand. Top image: Map of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands by…

You’ve Been Eating These Chemicals In Your Food For Years

Pyridoxal phosphate. Ascorbic and Nicotonic acids. Alpha-Tocopherol. Menadione. You’ve probably been eating all these chemicals in your food for years — and that’s a very good thing. Why? Because they’re also known by some other names: Vitamins B6, C, B3, E, and K. Over at Compound Interest, Andy Brunning has put together this chart showing…

A Huge Batch Of Unseen WWII Photos Have Been Discovered And Restored

Photographer Levi Bettweiser from the Rescued Film Project has discovered and processed 31 rolls of film captured by an unknown American solider during the Second World War. All photos: Levi Bettweiser/Rescued Film Project. They appear here with his permission. As reported in PetaPixel, Bettweiser found the rolls of film late last year at an auction…

This Week’s TV: The Venture Bros. Are Back! And In Space!

Go Team Venture! The Venture Bros. may just be back for a one-hour special, but you know what? We’ll take it. Plus, Billy Dee Williams reprises his role as Lando Calrissian on Star Wars Rebels, The Flash and Arrow are back from vacation, and American Horror Story and Galavant finish their seasons. Tonight Gotham (8…

Constantine Tries To Save His Own TV Show In Bizarre Claymation Short

The future of the Constantine TV series looks pretty bleak, but supernatural detective/exorcist John Constantine isn’t waiting around to be canceled. He’s decided to hunt for his own missing showrunners in this silly, surreal claymated short titled “John Con Noir.” As weird as it is, this thing is technically official — that’s Matt Ryan doing…

How Product Placement Took Over Science Fiction, From E.T. To Star Trek

These days, product placement is an accepted part of science fiction. We’re used to seeing big brands splashed all over every TV show and movie about aliens or the future. But it wasn’t always this way. Here’s the quick-and-very-dirty history of how on-screen advertising became a science fiction mainstay. Science fiction helped to invent product…

New York Hosts The Vampire Apocalypse In New Trailer For The Strain

FX has debuted the first trailer for the second season of Guillermo del Toro’s vampire series The Strain, and it appears the ammonia-laden Strigoi fecal matter has completely hit the fan, as the war between humans and the vampires has escalated from covert to “the city is overrun and also on fire.” If you read…

The First Demonstration Of Self-Propelled Nanobots In A Living Animal

Researchers from the University of California have developed acid-fueled micro-machines capable of traveling and delivering cargo directly inside a living creature. It’s a breakthrough that’s expected to significantly advance the field of medical nano-robotics. Scientists have developed drug-delivering micro-machines before, but these systems were only tested under in vitro conditions (i.e., cell cultures outside the…

Scream Queens Casts A Gleek, A Pop Star And A Werewolf

Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens series certainly is attracting a lot of interesting names. The horror comedy series has already landed the original Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, and now it’s picked up a whole cast of surprises. According to Variety, Glee alum Lea Michele, True Blood’s werewolf Joe Manganiello, Zombieland’s tiny dancer Abigail Breslin, and…

In 1948, Idaho Fish and Game parachuted beavers into the state’s backcountry — a novel way to transplant “problem” animals that were clashing with homeowners. Specially designed wooden boxes were used, with the help of a beaver “test pilot” named, naturally, Geronimo.

What Are You Reading?

There are so many books out there, but only a few of them are the books that you’re reading. So tell us about them. We want to know what you’re reading — both now, later, and not-so-long ago. Tell us in the comments the title, author, and what you thought of the latest books to…

Why Rescuers Die While Drowning Victims Survive

There are many terrible examples of a person coming to the rescue of a drowning victim only to drown themselves. It’s so common that there’s a name for it — aquatic victim instead of rescuer syndrome, or AVIR syndrome. But there are many reasons rescuers can drown while many of the people they rescue survive.…

First Peek At Weird Al Yankovic As The Adventure Time Game’s Evil Wizard

We can pretty much never get too much of Adventure Time, the cartoon show about a boy and a mutant dog in a cute/crazy post-apocalyptic world. So we’re chuffed to feature an exclusive first look at the villain of the next Adventure Time game — the Doodle Wizard, voiced by “Weird” Al Yankovic. Above is…

Which Version Of Green Lantern (If Any) Will We Meet In Justice League?

The new Star Wars may feature another woman in a slightly surprising role. Robert Kirkman explains why the Walking Dead spinoff will feel familiar, but also way different. Big changes are in store for Sleepy Hollow. Plus updates on Jurassic World, Blair Witch 3, iZombie, Orphan Black, 12 Monkeys and Westworld. Spoilers now! Top image:…

Thank God, It Sounds Like the Gremlins Reboot Has Been Shelved

When we last got an update on this project, Warner Bros. was going full-steam ahead with it. Now, writer Seth Grahame-Smith says the whole thing has been shoved back once again. Here’s some good news, at least: Grahame-Smith did say that it wasn’t a remake but more of a sequel/reboot: It was a completely different…

The Librarians Finale: Teamwork! 

That was what the finale brought us: proof that the team, as ragtag as they might appear, is perfect together. And also that Flynn Carson is the most annoying Librarian to ever walk the Earth. That might be just my opinion, though. Spoilers… Like last week, this week we had two episodes, one of which…

Bad News: Frank Darabont’s Off The Huntsman. But Wait, There’s Good News

The massively troubled follow-up to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman has been dealt another blow: It’s lost Frank Darabont as a director. But at least they’ve got plans for a new villain that might inject life into this thing once again. The Huntsman, which takes the place of a sequel that didn’t happen and…

Boo: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen Won’t Be In X-Men: Apocalypse

This isn’t a huge surprise, since their appearance in Days of Future Past was dependent on that film’s time travel plot, but we now have the word straight from the man himself: Patrick Stewart. Stewart’ll be on Wednesday’s episode of Larry King Now, but an early clip has Stewart addressing the question about whether he’d…