The Ultimate Breakdown Of The Hobbit‘s Battle Of The Five Armies

You know that the third movie in The Hobbit trilogy is subtitled The Battle of the Five Armies, but how much do you really know about the titular battle? This infographic from Shirts.com not only explains the strength and armaments of the various combatants, but reveals each armies’ tactics, step-by-step. Interestingly, this is slightly more…

This Clothing Store Features an 18th Century Haunted Well

A New York City outpost of clothing store COS has a 200-year-old well tucked into its men’s department. The structure is a remnant of the building’s 18th-century past … and it’s where a woman’s strangled body was discovered in 1799. Scouting NY (a fascinating, wonderfully detailed blog written by location scout and hidden history enthusiast…

The 10 Most Insignificant Wars in History

Some people see war as a glorious and terrible struggle over important issues. Some see it as a bloody breakdown of rationality. But everyone saw these ten wars as huge wastes of time. Learn about tantrums over pork, and battles that were over after a single shot. 10. The Dual Occupation of San Juan Island…

Pay What You Want for Doctor Who Audiobooks, and More Deals 

This Doctor Who Audiobook Bundle is bigger on the inside. Pay whatever you want for Dalek Empire 1.1-1.4 and 2.1-2.4 audiobooks, plus a free Doctor Who: Legacy Android app. Plus, there are more audiobooks available if you hit certain price tiers. Everything’s DRM-free as well, so you can listen anywhere. [Doctor Who Audiobook Bundle] Save…

Scarlett Johansson Will Star In Ghost In the Shell Live-Action Movie 

Anime fans, rejoice — Scarlett Johansson has officially signed on to star in the live-action movie adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Fan art creators, your time is now. A few months back, rumors swirled that the enviable lead for the beloved 1995 anime movie Ghost in the Shell would go tonewcomer Margot Robbie. But…

A helium balloon fitted with six telescopes is currently floating over Antarctica. It’s called SPIDER, and it could show what happened during the Big Bang. Scientists will use it to search for patterns of polarization that could have only been made in primordial light in the fractions of seconds after the birth of the Universe.

This Week’s TV: Iron Man’s Dad Is Framed For War Crimes And Yoda’s Back

Oh, television, how we missed you. Not only have many of our favorite shows returned from winter break, the long-awaited Agent Carter premieres, as does the sixth season of Archer. Neil Patrick Harris joins American Horror Story and Firefly’s Morena Baccarin turns up in Gotham’s Arkham Asylum. Tonight Gotham (8 PM, Fox) Morena Baccarin joins…

Syfy Is Making A “Hackers” Reality TV Show

Syfy is diving back into the reality TV biz, and this time it’s with a hackers show, naturally called Hackers. Honestly, we’d be more into a Hackers movie remake than a show about actual “hackers” but okay, sure. Why not? In a press release, Syfy announced that they would be teaming up with Relativity Television…

Archaeologists Have Uncovered The Tomb Of An Unknown Egyptian Queen 

Czech archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered the tomb of a previously unknown queen. Named Khentakawess III, she is thought to have been the wife of Pharaoh Neferefre who reigned 4,500 years ago. The discovery was made by Miroslav Barta and his team from the Czech Institute of Egyptology, reports Agence France-Presse. The tomb is…

Fans Give Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman A Much Better Superhero Outfit

There’s a lot to look forward to in Batman V. Superman, and the movie debut of Wonder Woman — played by Gal Gadot — is near the top of the list. However, her outfit isn’t one of them. Luckily a group of dedicated artists have taken it upon themselves to give the new Wonder Woman…

Show Us What You’re Working On!

What projects have you been together in your spare (or not so spare) time? Perhaps a 3D-printed “working” Stargate as pictured above, a quilt stitching together your favorite fabric-printed deep space shots, a cordless charging device you’re testing in your lab? We want to see what you’re working on! Show us pictures of your completed…

Every Time Carl Sagan Said Millions, Billions And Trillions In Cosmos

Some enterprising soul decided to go through the classic Cosmos TV series and collect every single instance of beloved astronomer Carl Sagan pronouncing an “-illion” word in his unique, inimitable way in one, amazing supercut. There are infinitely worse ways to start the work week. [Via Geeks Are Sexy]

You Could Have This Inside You And Not Know It

What the hell is that? (Besides a good example of a throckmorton sign.) The object the arrow is pointing at was first discovered by doctors in 1974. It has been subsequently discovered by a few very surprised patients. That right there is a “pelvic digit.” It’s not a growth, or a bone spur. Most doctors…

Get A Look At Iron Man’s latest Armor. Plus What’s Next For Ichabod!

An action figure gives us a close-up look at Age of Ultron’s Iron Man suit, plus a better look at Ultron. Learn more about Agent Carter’s mythology. And take a good look at Powers’ cast. Plus, has Doctor Who started hiring directors for season nine? Spoilers now! Top image: Sleepy Hollow Masters of the Universe…

We Finally Get Some Answers on Resurrection

At least where Grandma Margaret and the Langstons are concerned. Of course, the show can’t let us learn anything without immediately throwing it into question. Spoilers… In terms of actual plot movement, not a ton happened this week. Marty got custody of his Returned sister and Dr. Maggie’s finished the disease cure, so I guess…

Here’s What Earth Looked Like At the Start of the New Year

NASA tweeted out this photo taken by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-East on January 1, 2015. This photo the Americas was taken at 9:45 EST, making it one of the first shots of the Earth in 2015. Image credit: NASA/GEOS-East [via ABC News]

Of Course Fairy Tales Come to Life and Endanger a Town On The Librarians

This week’s episode was pretty simple “magical artifact of the week” deal, but, as usual, was completely entertaining. It was like cotton candy: It doesn’t need to be super-unique or substantial if it’s delicious and exactly what you expected when you bought it. Let’s start with a question I’ve been getting a lot: Do I…

The Completely Different Version Of Gotham We Could Have Had

Voices From Krypton has the treatment for a wholly different Gotham show, which was about to be pitched to Warner Bros., but the current Gotham was greenlit before they could do so. The failed project wasn’t the prequeliest of prequels, like the show we have now, but instead took place concurrently with Batman roaming the…

Not Every Griffin Has Lush, Feathered Wings

Artist James Doyle has the perfect name for his flightless griffin creature: Old Chicken Wings. Doyle is a sculptor and digital artist who has more glorious creatures up at his Facebook page. You can also see some progress shots for Old Chicken Wings up at his blog. He physically sculpted the figure in Chavant and…

Supercut Proves That Doctor Who‘s Favorite Phrase In 2014 Was “Shut Up”

The Tenth Doctor had “Allons-y!” The Eleventh Doctor had “Geronimo!” And Twelve? The Twelfth Doctor spent a great deal of Series Eight telling people to shut up. And he wasn’t the only character prone to shushing everyone. Blogtor Who put together this supercut of every “Shut up,” “Shush,” “Be quit,” “Hush,” and “Shhh” from Series…