Here’s Sigourney Weaver Test-Firing the Flamethrower From Alien 

Your spirit animal is a honey badger? That’s nice. My spirit animal is Sigourney Weaver in a jumpsuit unleashing a plume of hot death over what looks like a dry, potentially disastrous, patch of grass. Xenopedia, the AvP Wiki, has a wonderfully informative entry on the “M240 Incinerator Unit,” and the backstory on this photo:…

Can You Crack One Of Car Talk‘s ‘Toughest Puzzlers’?

For years, the radio show Car Talk challenged its listeners with a weekly “Puzzler.” According to the show’s archives, this is one of the toughest Puzzlers to ever air. Can you solve it? Today’s post marks the sixteenth installment in io9’s Sunday Puzzle series. That means we’ve been at this for about four months now.…

Humanity Is In The Existential Danger Zone, Study Confirms

The Earth’s climate has always changed. All species eventually become extinct. But a new study has brought into sharp relief the fact that humans have, in the context of geological timescales, produced near instantaneous planetary-scale disruption. We are sowing the seeds of havoc on the Earth, it suggests, and the time is fast approaching when…

80% Of Americans Support Mandatory Labels On Foods Containing DNA. DNA!

A recent survey conducted by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics found that 80.44% of respondents supported a government policy mandating labels on foods containing DNA. Not GMOs. DNA, the genetic material contained in every living thing known to science and practically every food, GMO or otherwise. Update: In light of responses to…

Fox Wants To Bring Back The X-Files, David Duchovny And Gillian Anderson

Fox has confirmed that it is in talks to revive its iconic supernatural horror procedural, The X-Files. Speaking Saturday at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, Fox TV executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman said they’ve been in talks not only with series creator Chris Carter, but stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, about…

Only A Time Traveler Could’ve Predicted Syfy’s 12 Monkeys Would Be Good

It seemed like a totally preposterous idea: turn Terry Gilliam’s weird, clever movie 12 Monkeys into an ongoing TV show. This seemed clearly doomed to suckitude. But in a totally implausible twist, the Monkeys show is actually surprisingly terrific. Spoilers ahead… So as readers of our interview with showrunner Natalie Chaidez will already know, this…

Akira Kurosawa’s 100 Favorite Films

Few filmmakers have left as indelible a mark on cinema as iconic Japanese director, screenwriter, and producer Akira Kurosawa. The following list reveals which films had a lasting impact on him. “I have learned more from him,” Steven Spielberg has said of Kurosawa, “than from almost any other filmmaker on the face of the earth.”…

“Tim is patient, Tim is kind. Tim does not envy, Tim does not boast, Tim is not proud. Tim is not rude, Tim is not self-seeking, Tim is not easily angered, Tim keeps no record of wrongs.” Some Guy Named Tim Edits The Book Of Corinthians To Replace All Instances Of “Love” With “Tim.” Image…

Watch The First Trailer For Batman vs Robin

Warner Bros. has just released the first look at Batman vs Robin, the upcoming feature-length direct-to-DVD sequel to last year’s Son of Batman. https://gizmodo.com/damian-lives-in-dcs-next-direct-to-dvd-movie-son-of-ba-1505711607 Here’s the trailer debut, courtesy of IGN: THR has the full voice cast. Some highlights: Jason O’Mara, the Terra Nova star who also plays George Washington on History’s Sons of Liberty,…

The Alien-Abduction Plot Line That Could Have Been The Simpsons Movie 2

In a recent interview, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean estimates there’s a “50-50” chance we’ll get a sequel to 2007’s The Simpson Movie. He also revealed that January 4th’s alien abduction episode – ‘The Man Who Came to Be Dinner” – almost provided the plot line for said sequel. EW got the details from Jean:…

The ultimate villain lair? A supervillain stands at the center of a great machine of destruction, in this awesome concept art from Emanuel Shiu.

Still Not Reading Bitch Planet? Watch The Comic’s Grindhouse Trailer

We’re already loving Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro’s comic Bitch Planet, set in a space prison for women who have been “non-compliant,” and this live-action trailer for the comic explains why. It perfectly captures the mix of exploitation and future dystopia. https://gizmodo.com/bitch-planet-the-feminist-exploitation-webcomic-you-de-1676515865 [via The Mary Sue]

Don’t Make A Hippo Angry! You Wouldn’t Like It When It’s Angry!

A hippo in Botswana, apparently quite annoyed by the paparazzi, made its feelings well known when it thundered after a boatload of tourists. The result, captured in the video below, is kinda like Jaws meets Moby Dick meets the “Must go faster!!” scene in Jurassic Park. Discovery News reports: Members of a tour group on…

Laura Palmer Will Return To Twin Peaks, Just Like She Said She Would

More original Twin Peaks cast mates are joining Special Agent Dale Cooper and co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost for the 25th anniversary series return of Twin Peaks. This is awesome. Actress Sheryl Lee (whom we all know and love as the famous Laura Palmer AND Maddy Ferguson) announced with additional cast member actor Dana…

Why The World War Z Book Succeeds Where The Movie Fails

Zombies have been tearing apart our fictional worlds for some time now, on-screen, on the page, and sometimes both, like in World War Z. Even when they share a story, though, the versions aren’t always equally successful. But what made the World War Z book work while the movie failed? In response to this post…

An Urban Fantasy Novel That Shows Cities In A Way You’ve Never Seen

The urban fantasy genre isn’t just set in cities — it’s one of the main places that genre fiction engages with our urbanized existence, picking up the baton dropped by cyberpunk. But you don’t often see cities depicted the way Daniel José Older does in his new novel Half-Resurrection Blues. https://gizmodo.com/why-do-so-many-former-cyberpunk-authors-now-write-dark-5795217 Image via Daniel José…

Here’s How Close SpaceX Came To Landing A Rocket On A Barge In The Ocean

On Saturday, SpaceX tried to land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. But the rocket came in a little too hot, and the touchdown was more impact than landing. Now, SpaceX has released footage of the landing attempt, as shot from the landing barge. Read our…

Yep, 2014 Was The Hottest Year In Recorded History

Two independent analyses by NASA and NOAA have both concluded 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded on Earth – hotter, even, than 2010, the previous record-holder in a field of contenders stretching all the way back to 1880. “This is the latest in a series of warm years, in a series of warm decades.…

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Knows The Meaning Of Life

There aren’t many people I would trust to have a valid answer to the question “What is the meaning of life?” but astrophysicst Neil deGrasse Tyson would have to be on top of the list. Which is why it should surprise no one that, when asked this question by an inquisitive six-year-old, he had the…

So Many CG Films Look Alike—But This Will Transport You To A Dream World

Small Garden is just a beauty of a short film, one that feels like a surreal painting mated with an indie video game and had a strange and lovely baby. Let it pick you up and sweep you away to an alien world filled with moving plants and luminous landscapes. Shunsuke Saito used hand-drawn animation…