Ingenious Gifts for People Who Love Science

For the people on your list who love doing science projects — or just contemplating the wonders of human knowledge — these gifts are sure to delight, educate … and be seriously badass. Hydrophobic Aerogel Of course you want to own a little piece of the wonder substance that’s 90% air, waterproof, and is also…

Jeff VanderMeer’s Next Book Will Explore The Strange History Of SF

Jeff VanderMeer’s done a couple of big nonfiction books about genre storytelling lately: Wonderbook and The Steampunk User’s Manual. But his next project sounds like the most ambitious yet. Space Oddities & Super Freaks: The Secret History of Science Fiction and Fantasy sounds like it could be a mind-warping read. VanderMeer, who’s also the author…

Woman Sleeps Next to Mummified Mother for Five Years

A suburban Munich woman was recently found to have been sleeping in the same bed as her elderly mother’s mummified body. The older woman, as it turns out, died five and a half years ago, which seems like a rather long time to hide a corpse without anyone becoming suspicious. Eventually, building management contacted social…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Astronaut Lights A Candle

In this week’s Concept Art Writing Prompt, we invite you to spin a story inspired by a simple but mysterious image. Why is this helmeted astronaut holding up a candle? And where are they that the candle remains lit? “Astro” is by artist Buren-Erdene Altankhuyag, and there’s something ominous about it. If this illustration inspires…

California’s Ongoing Drought Is Its Most Severe in 1,200 Years

A recent study published by the American Geophysical Union concludes California’s ongoing megadrought is the worst the state has seen in more than a millennium. Photo Credit: Robert Couse-Baker | CC BY 2.0 “While 3-year periods of persistent below-average soil moisture are not uncommon,” geoscientists Daniel Griffin, of the University of Minnesota, and Kevin Anchukaitis,…

A Hauntingly Sad Look At Brooklyn Under The Flood

Brooklyn is a trendy place to live right now — but what about after the ocean level rises and the ocean floods in? In the new story “King Tide” by Alison Wilgus over in Vice’s science fiction magazine Terraform, we get a sad, contemplative look at a flooded New York. Top image: Art by Koren…

The Most Stable Way To Store Data For The Future

Is the most stable way to store data for the far off future just old-fashioned pen and paper, or set adrift out there somewhere in the cloud, locked into a series of backup hard drives, or is there another system that’s even more secure and long-lasting? In response to a post asking which of our…

This Timelapse Shows How Napoleon Nearly Conquered All Of Europe

From 1802 until his exile in 1815, Napoleon embarked on several massive campaigns across virtually all of Europe. This new video shows the changing front lines from his position as Consul for Life to his historic defeat at Waterloo. This timelapse was put together by Emperor Tigerstar. The changing frontlines are shown in two-week intervals,…

Art That’s Made with Snow and Ice

Here’s a gallery of beautiful and unexpected artworks, created with snow and doomed to melt away in spring. A work dedicated to the memory of all those affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011, by Simon Beck Lac Marlou, with the Bellecôte in the background, Graian Alps, France, by Simon Beck, 2012 Snowflake,…

These Magnified Bug Parts Are Super Gross and You Should Look at Them

We try to be as accepting of weird bugs and their freaky body parts as possible around here, but a newly published study features pictures so vile, even people whose jobs revolve around insects think they’re gross. So, naturally, we’re going to show them to you. We were tipped off to these images by a…

Charts Show When We’re At Our Most Miserable During the Year

Our moods ebb and flow with the seasons. They also change quite dramatically over the course of a single week. These visualizations show exactly when we can expect to be depressed, anxious, and stressed. These visualizations were put together by Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post, and he calls them the index of misery. Using…

All The Details You Might Have Missed In The Terminator Genisys Trailer

The brand new Terminator Genisys traileris out,and you’re not going to believe all the insanity we found when we went through it frame by frame. Start up the HK-Aerials — we’re going to the future, or past, or both, who knows? The trailer opens on Los Angeles. With three HK-Aerials scooting around the sky. SKYNET…

NOW It’s Official: Benedict Cumberbatch Is Playing Dr. Strange!

We’ve been hearing for months that the Imitation Game and Sherlock star, Benedict Cumberbatch, was in line to play the Sorcerer Supreme in Marvel’s big movie in 2016. But now it’s really official. Marvel has announced that Cumberbatch will be playing the surgeon who suffers an accident and gains mystic powers. The movie comes out…

To Combat Global Warming, We Have To Eat Less Meat. Period.

If you believe in global warming, and that people should take measures to limit its destructive effects, then you should also believe in eating less meat. Not no meat, necessarily (nobody is demanding you become a vegetarian), but less meat. Photo Credit: Streetwrk viaflickr | CC BY-ND 2.0 The reason for this is abundantly clear:…

Holy Chimichangas! Ryan Reynolds Will Star In The New Deadpool Movie

It’s almost official! It looks like Ryan Reynolds will be reprising his role as the Merc with a Mouth in the upcoming Deadpool solo movie. Let’s hope he’s perfecting the art of talking to himself and breaking the fourth wall. Deadline reports that Fox is closing a deal with Reynolds to play Wade Wilson, a.k.a.…

Why Are These Wormy Amphibians Attacking Their Mother?

Caecilians look like worms, but they’re actually amphibians. Like most other animals, they’re born hungry. And they have quite possibly the grossest feeding system in the entire world. Caecilians are popular pets for people with a high tolerance for things that look like worms roaming around their house. The limbless amphibians are, some biologists believe,…

Krysten Ritter Will Play Marvel’s Superpowered Detective Jessica Jones

We’ve been wondering which actress would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the lead in the Netflix series Jessica Jones. Now reports say Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad, and Don’t Trust the B— actress Krysten Ritter will be playing the superhero turned private eye. While there’s no official word from Marvel, Deadline is reporting that…

Would you watch a scifi movie made by the Saw and Insidious co-creator? In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Leigh Whannell (set to make his directorial debut in 2015 with Insidious: Chapter 3) said: “If I had to pick one genre next, I’d love to make a scifi film. I grew up in the ’80s, going…

Stop What You’re Doing And Watch This Owl Swim Lake Michigan Like A Pro

There is something fascinating about watching an animal behavior that we don’t normally witness. After two Peregrine Falcons forced this Great Horned Owl down into Lake Michigan, the owl managed to escape with a few strokes of butterfly. Birder and photographer Steve Spitzer captured this video at Loyola Park Beach in Chicago after he and…

Which Subplot Was Missing From The Adaptation Of Your Favorite Book?

Sometimes when you adapt a book or a comic for the screen, sacrifices have to be made. Stories have to be streamlined, stuff has to be cut. But which subplot did the adaptation of your favorite story leave out, and you felt like it was a mistake? Please include a poster, picture, clip, book cover…