The Pope Plans To Rally The Faithful Against Climate Change

Pope Francis has made an ambitious New Year’s resolution for 2015: the Vatican has announced his intention to push for decisive action against climate change. The Pontiff will issue an encyclical to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, address the UN general assembly and convene an interfaith summit. According to Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the…

What Real Historical Figure Is Portrayed The Least Accurately Onscreen?

Sometimes stories like to let their very fictional characters mingle with real historical figures. When that happens, though, the details of that person’s life tend to get blurred or even completely rewritten. Today, we want to know which real historical figure matches up the least with their onscreen portrayals. Tell us in the comments now…

These Are the 20 Most Pirated Movies of 2014

As 2014 draws to a close, it’s time for us to look back on another year’s worth of gratuitous movie pirating. And surprisingly enough, this year’s most torrented movies weren’t actually all that terrible. You’ve got taste, ya thieves. Of course, that’s not to say that all 20 were winners. But according to Variety’s data…

I Think Vin Diesel May Just Be In The Inhumans Movie

Why? Well, because he keeps posting shit like this on Facebook: Of course, he could just be campaigning for a part in the movie. Or he could be trolling fans again — remember how hard he hinted he would be playing the Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron? But let me put forth another theory:…

The Black Plague Came To Norway In The Creepiest Way Possible

In the 1300s, the Black Death sprang up in central Asia, and marched steadily over the Old World. As it claimed Europe from the south, people in the northern countries thought they might be safe from it. Then it came, in the form of a classic horror movie trope. We know of a few of…

Do We Finally Know What The Star Wars Spin-Off Movie Will Be About?

Plus, read a possible description of Max van Sydow’s Force Awakens character. Roberto Orci talks clears up some Star Trek rumors, Mark Ruffalo hints at a big mistake from Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Robert Kirkman trolls us with a possible huge death in The Walking Dead. Spoilers now! Top image: Star…

This Lego Version Of The Force Awakens Trailer Is Amazingly Well Done

As we come to the end of 2014, year of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, we head into 2015… year of the mashups of said Star Wars trailer. We’ve featured some good ones here on io9, but this Lego-ified take might be one of the best. Youtuber Zach Machias over at Mind Game…

This Cyberman Feeder Turns Squirrels Into The Doctor’s Deadly Foes

Doctor Who fan Emma Young made this Cyberman feeder for her backyard. Forget any other plan the baddies have ever had in canon, the Cybersquirrel is by far the scariest. Where would you even hide from a hundreds of upgraded squirrels? Young said, “My whole family love Doctor Who so I decided to create a…

Damman, Saudi Arabia as seen from the International Space Station. This photoof a glittering, opalescent city was taken by ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who couldn’t remember where she took it. You can help identify all the photos taken from space at the Cities at Night project. Image credit: ESA/NASA

The Surprise Hero of The Librarians Is John Larroquette

This episode cemented more than anything that this show’s true hero is John Larroquette. Both the actor and his character. Seriously, no one is funnier on this show than Larroquette and this week we learned that he’s the Big Good to Matt Frewer’s Big Bad. There are worse people to rest your show on, I…

In The First SHIELD Comic, Coulson and Crew Meet All the Marvel Heroes

The characters of Agents of SHIELD will join the Marvel comic book universe on December 31st, in the first issue of S.H.I.E.L.D. And the variant covers have the team meeting everyone. Yes, including Deadpool. The comic book isn’t a tie-in, it’s the comic versions of the Agents of SHIELD characters showing up as canon immigrants…

Somebody Remade Raiders Of The Lost Ark With A Dog And It Is Perfection

Produced and Directed by Zach King and Jadon Gauthier, the five-minute remake is called Raiders of the Lost Bark (naturally), stars a Boxer puppy named Indiana Bones (of course), and the villains are kittens (OBVIOUSLY). Via the film’s website, here’s the official poster by designer Josh Kenfield: [Indiana Bones]

Watch The First Teaser Trailer For Thunderbirds Are Go!

Here’s your first good look at Thunderbirds Are Go!, the forthcoming reboot of the 1960s British scifi series Thunderbirds. While it won’t use marionettes like the original series (a la Team America), Thunderbirds Are Go! will use live action sets overlaid with CGI by the folks at Weta Workshop, the special effects studio behind The…

This Math Equation Is Also A Limerick

This week’s Sunday Puzzle looks like a mathematical equation. Well, it is a mathematical equation. But hidden in that equation is a poem. Can you recite it back to us? We’re traveling again this week, so we’re going with something a little more straightforward than usual. I say “straightforward,” but I’ve seen this equation stump…

Watch Anthony Hopkins Try On Creepy Bite Masks For Silence of the Lambs

Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of The Silence of the Lambs’ Hannibal Lecter is among the most consummate in cinematic history. So complete was his personation, about the only thing that could elevate his chilling performance was the addition of a sinister-looking bite mask. The question filmmakers grappled with: Which bite mask is best? Earlier this year,…

Making A Trip To Mars Cheaper & Easier: The Case For Ballistic Capture

When sending spacecraft to Mars, the current, preferred method involves shooting spacecraft towards Mars at full-speed, then performing a braking maneuver once the ship is close enough to slow it down and bring it into orbit. Above: Artist’s depiction of the Mars Curiosity Rover starting its line of entry, descent, and landing on Mars. A…

This Optical Illusion Tricks Your Brain With Lego And M&Ms

Created by Mary Coffelt and her colleagues at the Barrow Neurological Institute, this version of Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s “Bulge” illusion uses strategically placed white and purple M&Ms to warp your perception of a checkerboard built from legos of the same color. (Hit the jump to see a video of the Bulge illusion in action.) [SciAm bwo…

Watch A Pair Of Tank-Mounted Fighter Jet Engines Extinguish An Oil Fire

Pretty much what it says on the tin, folks. “The Big Wind” is a colossal, roving fire-extinguisher of Hungarian design that combines one part T-34 Soviet tank with two parts MiG-21 turbine engine. Bring it all together, add a trio of operators, and you’ve got a Mad-Maxian chimera that can gush water at a rate…

We Hold People’s Opinions Against Them Even if They Have No Choice

Dictators who conduct show trials, and people who force public confessions know what they’re doing. We believe our eyes, even if we have been told that we can’t believe them. People think that they make allowance for circumstances, but much of the time they are mistaken. We tend to reserve our exceptional understanding and compassion…

Awake, Online, And Sleep-Deprived – The Rise Of The Teenage ‘Vamper’

About three years ago, a teenage girl was talking with me and other students about using her cell phone late at night. She told us how she waited until her parents were asleep, then spent at least four hours every night texting with her friends. Her parents thought she was asleep in bed. “I’d sleep…