Doctor Who Is Finally Getting Its First Female Writer In 7 Years

Doctor Who’s been bringing in a lot of new writers in the past couple years, with some excellent results (notably Jamie Matheson and Neil Cross). But as Neil Gaiman recently pointed out, the show hasn’t had any female writers since 2008. Luckily, it looks like Torchwood veteran Catherine Tregenna is writing for season nine. https://gizmodo.com/doctor-who-really-does-need-more-female-writers-461257152…

We Can Thank Saturn for Helping Life to Evolve on Earth

Models show that if the ringed planet’s orbit was just 10% closer in, or even just slightly tilted, its mass would have tugged the Earth into a wildly elongated orbit, causing it to spend part of each year outside the habitable zone. But it’s yet another factor that could explain the apparent dearth of life…

Over 16,000 of Darwin’s Papers On Evolution Are Now Available Online

Since 2007, the American Museum of Natural History and the Darwin Manuscripts Project have been digitizing Charles Darwin’s writings on evolution, and putting them online. Today, on the 155th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, the project is more than 50% complete. According to AMNH: The 16,000 [16,094, by my last…

It’s Official: Michelle MacLaren Will Direct The Wonder Woman Movie

After months of speculation Warner Bros. has finally announced who will direct the long-awaited, live action Wonder Woman movie. And thankfully they picked someone great. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones director Michelle MacLaren will direct the Wonder Woman movie, slated to premiere on June 23,…

A billion points of light. A gorgeous imageof the dwarf galaxy UGC 1281, which is just 18 million light years away in the constellation of Triangulum. This side view is perfect for studying the distribution of gas in galactic halos.

Which Long-Awaited Project Was Actually Worth The Wait?

Anticipation can be a dangerous thing. Sometimes you wait and wait for a book, movie or comic to materialize, and it’s bound to be a letdown. But every once in a while, all your patience actually pays off. Which project did you wait years for… and it was totally worth the wait? Please include a…

Why Sweet Potatoes Are About to Become Astronaut Superfood

Although astronaut cuisine has improved considerably over the decades, this year’s Thanksgiving menu aboard the International Space Station still consists mostly of freeze-dried and dehydrated dishes. But future missions will likely have access to one fresh vegetable: sweet potatoes. Image: Erez Shaked NASA is researching and developing ways to extend the shelf life of food…

Did This Medieval Sword Actually Belong To Ivan The Terrible?

Ever since this 12th century blade was discovered under a tree in 1975, archeologists have wondered how it got all the way from Sweden to Siberia. A controversial new theory suggests it belonged to none other than Ivan the Terrible — one of history’s most notorious figures. The German-built sword was accidentally discovered buried in…

Everyone In Hollywood (Even Spielberg) Wants To Remake Last Starfighter

Rumor has it, everyone in Hollywood has tried to remake or (even better) make a sequel to the 1984 scifi cult classic The Last Starfighter. But, so far, everyone has failed. And this quirky little Twitter exchange kind of explains why. Earlier this week, a wonderful “modern” trailer for The Last Starfighter hit the internet,…

This Beautiful Glass Dish Proves that Ancient Rome Traded with Japan

Over 1600 years ago, this deep blue glass dish made its way from a Mediterranean workshop, across Central Asia, to its final resting place in a 5th century Japanese grave. The journey may have taken over a century, and gives us a glimpse of what trade was like in the early days of the Silk…

Electric Shock Study Shows We’d Rather Hurt Ourselves Than Strangers

How much money would you pay to prevent a complete stranger from being administered an electric shock? And how would that compare to what you’d give up to prevent your own pain? A fascinating new experiment suggests we may be more altruistic than we think. When it comes to experiments involving electric shocks and moral…

Why Do We Force Weather Forecasters to Lie to Us?

Ever hear of “wet bias”? It’s the tendency of forecasters to over-estimate our chances of feeling the wrath of the weather gods. Why do they do it? Basically, we force them to. Ever notice that when the local weather channel predicts a 15% chance of rain, you can plan on there being, essentially, no chance…

The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Star Trek Season 2

No matter how much you already know about the original Star Trek, there’s still undiscovered territory out there. And just like with season one, the new book series These Are The Voyages by Marc Cushman uncovers loads of surprising secrets. Here are a dozen things you probably never knew about Star Trek’s second season. Season…

X-Men: Apocalypse Has Found Its Titular Villain

The third installment of the trilogy begun in X-Men: First Class has found its Apocalypse — it’s Oscar Isaac, who’s just finished filming another possibly villainous role in Star Wars: Episode VII. Clearly, Isaac is pretty good at being bad. Apoclaypse is of course also known asEn Sabah Nur, the blue-lipped, 5,000-year-old mutant who is…

After The Sun Incinerates Earth, Life Could Evolve On Titan

In about 4 billion years, our sun will become a red giant star, engulfing the inner planets and basking the outer planets in its ebbing heat. When the happens, according to a NASA scientist, Saturn’s moon Titan, which resembles a frozen version of Earth billions of years ago, could evolve its own indigenous life. In…

Behold The Real-Life Goosebumps Monsters For The Insane Goosebumps Film

The Goosebumps movie stars Jack Black as real-life Goosebumps author R.L. Stine. Apparently, Stine’s books were also magical prisons that keep his monsters out of the real world. Ha! Take a look at the classic monsters from the series that have been recreated for the film. The Goosebumps movie released a meme maker or something,…

Holy Crap! It’s a Gold Spider! But Why?

Here’s a picture that’s beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. It’s a spider coated in a very fine layer of gold. We’ll tell you why people have made this gorgeous monstrosity, and what happens next. This is actually a preparatory step to creating an even more incredible image. This spider, put on display as it…

Constantine Should Team Up With Papa Midnite More Often

We had a glimmer of a more interesting, more bastardly John Constantine last week, but this week, it was his rival Papa Midnite who got to be the morally complex character. There is something fun about watching these two characters work together to solve a supernatural problem and insult each other all the way. Even…

Confirmed: Batman And Superman Are Off-Limits For Arrow And The Flash

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but The Flash and Arrow producer Andrew Kreisberg has confirmed that the Emerald Archer and the Scarlet Speedster won’t be stopping by Gotham City or Metropolis anytime soon. Just like the Smallville TV series wasn’t allowed to incorporate Batman or Wonder Woman, but had full access to the…

The 3 newest crew members have gotten safely aboard the ISS — and, as is traditional, that new crew came bearing some gifts, including some New Year’s caviar, and the very first space-compliant espresso machine. In other news, your housewarming gift idea of a potted plant is officially unimpressive.