Coulson’s SHIELD Agents Arrive In The Real Marvel Universe Tomorrow

Given that tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, it shouldn’t be surprising that there are barely any comics being released this week. There are a few exceptions, however — none of which should excite you more than SHIELD #1, which finally brings the TV show’s team to the Marvel comic-verse. • Abigail and the Snowman #1…

The Most Amazing Meteorological And Space Observatories Ever Built

As much as we admire the stunning images and incredible data we get from observatories, the buildings themselves are works of art in their own right. It’s hard not to admire them as they sit high above cities and nestled into mountain peaks. What a view. Sphinx Observatory, 11,716 ft (3,571 m) above mean sea…

Musician’s Recreation of Ancient Sumerian Songs Will Haunt You

These songs are examples of how art and science can come together to create something incredible. Musician Stef Conner learned to read several ancient Babylonian and Sumerian tablets written in cuneiform script, using historians’ research to figure out likely pronunciation. Just listen to the results. Conner is accompanied here by Andy Lowings, who recreates ancient…

Why The Best Fantasy Stories Include Mundane Everyday Life

Anne Leonard’s fantasy novel Moth and Spark comes out in paperback today. To celebrate, Leonard’s written us an essay about how the “mundane” and everyday things are even more important to include in a book about dragons and heroic quests — because without them, you’ll never understand the scale of magic. When Ursula K. Le…

Parasitology Student Once Tried To Kill His Roommates With His Research

Roommate disputes can have some pretty gruesome consequences, but there is one case from 1970 in which one man was accused of using his research against his hated roomies. His weapon: Ascaris suum, the parasite that he was studying in school and which he allegedly used to make his roommates very ill. Discover Magazine points…

It’s hard to determine what the WORST anti-science bullshit was over the past year, but Mother Jones has done it. In this list of the most egregious examples of climate denialism, the venerable magazine will remind you why a high school science education should be mandatory for all politicians.

What Piece Of Entertainment Are You Most Looking Forward To In 2015?

As we prepare to bid farewell to 2014, it’s time to look forward to 2015 and all of the books, movies, comics, television, and video games on the horizon. What piece of media are you most excited about devouring in the coming year? Obviously, one of the big things we’re looking forward to is the…

This World War I Soldier’s Bedroom Hasn’t Changed Since 1918

Here’s one for the history buffs: the Washington Post has some gorgeous, poignant, frozen-in-time photos of a room last occupied in 1918, by a 22-year-old soldier who died in World War I. The grieving parents of Dragoons officer Hubert Rochereau decided to keep his room in small Bélâbre, France exactly as he’d left it. When…

“Bone Marrow Donation” Is Nothing Like I Thought It Was

You’ve seen the bone marrow donation process in medical dramas, right? As I recently discovered, the needle-to-the-hip donation is pretty outdated. Here’s why modern donation is a whole different ballgame. A couple of months ago, I got a call from the National Marrow Donor Program, letting me know that someone potentially needed me to be…

Pixar’s Good Dinosaur Concept Art Is Stunning

Here is some beautiful, brand-new artwork from the totally reworked Pixar movie that was supposed to come out ages ago. Fortunately, Pixar isn’t afraid to start over, and over, until they get it right. Needless to say, we’re really excited about The Good Dinosaur. The new art came from Disney’s annual announcement of films. The…

Bitch Planet: The Feminist Exploitation Comic You Desperately Need

Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro’s new comic series Bitch Planet is billed as “Margaret Atwood meets Inglourious Basterds.” And after just one issue, we’re incredibly excited about the story of women on a prison planet — many for the crime of non-compliance. NSFW images below. Bitch Planet #1 came out earlier this month…

How To Forge Bilbo’s Sword Sting Into A Glowing Wi-Fi Detector

The tech heads at Spark might not have the blacksmithing skills of the elves of Gondolin, but they’re still capable of their own Middle Earth-inspired wizardry. On their blog, they’ve published a step-by-step guide to transforming a toy Hobbit sword into a blade that glows when unsecured networks are near. “Sting’s particular magic is that…

The Weirdest of the Weird News in 2014 

“When the going gets weird,” Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, “the weird turn pro.” As we cast our gazes back at 2014, we can all agree the year had more than its share of utterly odd moments. Needless to say, we’re all pros now. Weirdest Giant Hole Remember that 260-foot crater that yawned open in…

Why Science Fiction Is An Essential Tool For The Post-Ferguson World

Science fiction provides a unique toolkit for imagining how societies could be constructed differently — and for seeing how the structures that seem natural and inevitable to us are actually unnatural, says Walidah Imarisha, co-editor of a new anthology of radical science fiction called Octavia’s Brood. Talking to OpenDemocracy/Yes Magazine, Imarisha explains why she prefers…

The True Origins of , the Most Hated HTML Tag in History

You’ve probably seen blinking text on the internet, then clutched your head and wondered why your elders ever invented such an affront to eyeballs everywhere. Now its inventor Lou Montulli has come forward to take responsibility, and to explain why was never supposed to exist. Writes Montulli on his blog: Back in 1994 I was…

The When, Where and Whys Of History’s Most Banned Books

Banned Books Week is long over, but celebrate the people’s failure to suppress and censor literature by checking out this great infographic. It explains which country banned which books, why, and for how long. And there’s a special bonus list of the hilariously dumb reasons some classic children’s books were banned, too! Well done, Printerinks.…

Your late-night karaoke skillz have some competition. As part of a study using birdsong to help better understand human speech, scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University gave spiked juice to zebra finches. Shocker: “Once the birds were sloshed, they started to slur their songs.”

Avengers 2 Art Reveals Ultron’s New Origin Story

A bunch of new Avengers: Age of Ulton promo art has been unveiled, and with it Ultron’s new origin story. Plus, take a look at Vision in his full, caped beauty. Yahoo posted a bunch of promo art from the Avengers sequel, and with it this little biography about new big bad Ultron. For months,…

How Humanity Will Conquer Space Without Rockets

Getting out of Earth’s gravity well is hard. Conventional rockets are expensive, wasteful, and as we’re frequently reminded, very dangerous. Thankfully, there are alternative ways of getting ourselves and all our stuff off this rock. Here’s how we’ll get from Earth to space in the future. Top image: Britain’s Skylon Spaceplane. Image: Reaction Engines Limited…

John Carpenter’s Secret to Making Terrifying Soundtracks

The horror movie master himself, John Carpenter, is about to release his debut solo album, Lost Themes. Remember the ultra-creepy synth music in the movie Halloween? Yeah, that was him. The weird part is that he started out wanting to make westerns. Carpenter was a recent guest on NPR’s All Things Considered (download it or…