These Paper Sculptures Disappear At Certain Angles

Korean artist Ho Yoon Shin makes these paper sculptures by hand, achieving works that look completely solid from some angles and nearly vanish from others. Shin sees his work as a microcosm of Korean society, saying: I am interested in social phenomena and approached the essence of it. I realized that the closer I approached…

Oldboy‘s Park Chan-Wook Has His Next Science Fiction Project

Park Chan-Wook, director of the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and who just produced Snowpiercer, has been tapped to direct Second Born. Photo Credit: AP Images Second Born sounds like a great fit for Park, as it takes place in a “futuristic” world where neural microchip implants store…

What Dating Is Like In A City Plagued By A Giant Rampaging Kaiju

All cities have their problems, but this city is perpetually dealing with a fire-breathing monster that forces people to change plans, ignore relationship problems, and—oh yeah—run for their lives. This short comedy follows a group of self-centered 20-somethings navigated life in the shadow of Gammatar. Running the Gammatar was written and directed by Joe Kramer.…

On today’s Science Times Podcast, Mike Mason talks with NYT science writer James Gorman about the fascinating work of computational neuroscientist Larry Abbott. A former particle physicist, Abbott became a neuroscientist when he “realized that the complex mathematics of physics came in quite handy for trying to understand the brain.”

This Medical Device Is a Major Gamechanger for Kidney Patients

This device could improve the lives of tens of thousands of people who visit kidney dialysis centers. Using this 10-pound, miniature portable dialysis machine, they can cleanse and monitor their blood constantly, with minimal effort. The FDA has just put the device in its new “fasttrack program.” David Russell Schilling highlights the new technology over…

We Just Had A Pretty Major First For The Green Lantern Corps

And it’s not a death, resurrection, or a zombie. Also, I think many of you are going to find it somewhat annoying, if that helps narrow it down at all. Spoilers for Green Lantern Corps #36, which just came out yesterday. It seems like nowadays the members of the Green Lantern Corps, the Sinestro Corps,…

What’s The Craziest Scheme In All Science Fiction Or Fantasy?

One reason we love speculative fiction is the crazy, out-of-control storytelling. And one of the best things about science fiction and fantasy is the wild schemes that both heroes and villains come up with. But what’s the most wild, impractical scheme that anybody’s ever cooked up? Please include a picture, poster, clip, book cover, comics…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Four Horsemen Of The Modern Apocalypse

The Horsemen of War, Famine, Death, and Pestilence get a makeover for the modern age in this week’s Concept Art Writing Prompt. What story can you write inspired by this reinvented apocalyptic foursome? The Four Horsemen is by artist Keith Thompson, who has also done the remarkable illustrations for Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series. If you’re…

What Do This Dragonfly’s Prehensile Mouthparts Have To Do With Its Anus?

STOP LAUGHING THIS IS NOT A JOKE. This is a serious question about this larval dragonfly’s grabby-grab face-appendage (technically, it’s called a “labial mask”) and its b-hole. And the answer is: “Way, way more than you think.” Here’s Gwen Pearson, entomologist and Wired’s resident bug expert: The ability of a dragonfly nymph to successfully snatch…

These Six-Word Stories Are Dispatches From A Strange Alternate Reality

Drawn from the stories you submitted to us today, these tales rewrite The Sound of Music as a horror flick, give us some etiquette tips for how to behave in front of a black hole (hint! VERY WELL), and, most alarmingly, show a timeline where our attempts to land a comet turned out very differently…

Quite Possibly the Worst Analysis of NSA Spying You Will Ever Hear

In a bizarre application of the old “blame the victim” idea, the Guardian’s James Ball has decided that ordinary people with nosy neighbor syndrome are the fundamental cause of government spying. It’s a classic example of confusing the cultural problem of gossip with the political problem of surveillance. This comes in the wake of that…

American Horror Story Threatens Our Favorite Freaks, NOT COOL

Last night, American Horror Story: Freak Show teased around with a lot of our favorite characters and it was not cool. Not cool at all. But on the plus side, Jessica Lange went full-Lange this episode, and it was fantastic. The Big Top came down on Elsa last night and there was so much scenery…

Holy @#$%! Underoos Are Back, Adult-Sized, And Better Than Ever!

Today is a good day. Oh, I’m sure there’s plenty of terrible things going on in the world right now, but today is the day that Underoos, the incredible t-shirt-underpants-minimalist cosplay underwear returns to stores! For adults even! And with awesome characters to choose from! Right now, Hot Topic is selling seven sets — Superman,…

The 100 Is Much More Interesting When It’s Building Its World

With the Ark gone, the only corners of The 100 left to explore are on (or under) the Earth. And the show becomes much more interesting when it spreads out beyond the “Sky People” and Grounder factions. Although “Many Happy Returns” did, in fact, feature a few significant returns and reunions, a good deal of…

Dogs Playing Poker Just Got Owned By Dogs Playing Dungeons & Dragons

Hey, “Dog’s Playing Poker,” you’re great and all, but “Dogs Playing Dungeons and Dragons” is the best dog painting in the history of all dog paintings. The end. Created by Johannes Grenzfurthner along with game designer and artist Heather Kelley, this delightful work give the original Dogs and Poker series by C.M. Coolidge a run…

Aerial Photographs Reveal Mysterious Faces Etched into the Landscape

We see faces everywhere – on our morning toast, in a field full of flowers, or on Mars – thanks to a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia. But there are hundreds of faces on Google Earth, too. Here are some of the most amazing ones. Abraham Lincoln without his hat (via Pictzz) The Badlands Guardian in…

It Turns Out That “Longevity Genes” Don’t Exist

Very few people live to be 110 or older. Incredibly, many of these “supercentenarians” do virtually nothing to stay healthy or fit, leading scientists to speculate that certain genes are responsible. But recent analysis of the human genome suggests this is an oversimplification. The genetic underpinnings of aging are far more complex than we thought.…

The Difference Between Good Worldbuilding And Great Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is the bedrock of science fiction and fantasy. We obsess about it constantly, because characters and plots are often only as compelling as the worlds they inhabit. We’ve decried bad worldbuilding before — but what makes worldbuilding great? Here’s one key factor. So I’ve been obsessing about worldbuilding a lot lately, and trying to…

Cosmonauts Used to Carry Insane Machete Guns In Space

For decades, every Soyuz rocket crew packed a sidearm in their emergency kits—even after joining the International Space Station partnership. This “survival gun,” the TOZ 82, had three barrels and a swing-out machete. But nowadays, the guns stay at home. Of course, the “official” purpose of the gun—which could fire rifle bullets, shotgun shells and…

In This Short Film, The Robot Uprising Starts With Our Military Drones

In the future, the US government has removed human oversight from its drone missions, leaving unmanned military operations and surveillance to an AI. But the folks behind the project regret that decision when the AI starts targeting humanity at large. I.R.I.S. is another fun and stylish scifi short from director Hasraf HaZ Dulull, who also…