The Most Hilarious Proofreading Mistake in a Scientific Paper Ever

This is an actual quote from a scientific paper, published recently — and clearly without editing. Apparently the authors didn’t think much of one of the papers they were citing. And their publisher didn’t bother to edit out their pre-publication snark. Ugh, this is not the kind of thing you want to see in a…

A New Blu-Ray Release Of Gravity Will Let The Space Scenes Be Silent

I was already kind of traumatized by watching Sandra Bullock hurtling through the vast nothingness of space in Gravity; the idea of seeing the movie without its score, where space is as audibly empty as it is visually, sounds chilling. And that’s exactly what we’re going to get in a new special Gravity Blu-ray. The…

Inside The Doomsday Bunkers Of The Rich And Famous

When the world ends and most doomsday preppers will be hunched in cramped dwellings, fighting off hungry mutant freeloaders, a select few will be enjoying the high-end amenities of a luxury survival condo, buried 174 feet underground in a decommissioned missile silo. The Survival Condo complex, current under development, can house up to 75 people,…

China Could Outspend U.S. On Science Funding By 2020

China is on track to overtake the United States on research & development spending by the end of the decade, according to a report issued yesterday by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Above: A technology demonstration of China’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission launches on October 24th, 2014. Credit: Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing. The…

Biologists Have Named A New Tree Frog Species After Ozzy Osbourne

When Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat in a 1981 concert, he never could have imagined that the event would be commemorated decades later by metalhead scientists, who discovered a weird frog while on an expedition in the Brazilian Amazon. “As soon as I heard its call, I knew it was a new…

​Why Does Fox Keep Fucking Up The Fantastic Four?!

I got so many good questions this week — well, and maybe a few good questions from the week before, which I’d accidentally stuffed in one of my boots for some reason and just found again — that this week’s “Postal Apocalypse” is super-sized! Get comfortable! Get a snack! Say goodbye to your loved ones!…

Supernatural‘s Snarky Love Letter To Fans Becomes A Defense Of The Show

Last night, Supernatural aired its 200th (!) episode, and instead of going big, the show went meta. We visited a girls’ school where a group of (mostly) fans are putting on a Supernatural musical, featuring robots and aliens. But all of the “Destiel” jokes morph into a defense of Supernatural as great storytelling. Spoilers ahead……

ESA Mission Controllers: “We Are On The Comet!”

For the first time in human spacefaring history, a robotic probe has been placed on the surface of a comet. Earlier today, ESA mission controllers confirmed that the Philae probe made touchdown on the comet. But because its harpoons didn’t fire, Philae may not be entirely stable on the surface. The announcement was made At…

A Webcomic About Two Cosmic Scoundrels By A Creator Of Homestar Runner

When Homestar Runner co-creator Matt Chapman teams up with Samurai Jack artist Andy Suriano, magic happens. Space magic. Their webcomic Cosmic Scoundrels follows a pair of futuristic rogues and their ludicrous adventures on the wrong side of the law. Plus, expect plenty of Easter eggs. Love Savage and Roshambo are the titular pair of space-faring…

Night At The Museum 3 Trailer Is A Bittersweet Bit Of Magic

The Night at the Museum franchise channels a lot of magic, mostly thanks to the team of actors that make up the historical models from the Museum of Natural History, especially Robin Williams. Which is why the trailer for the third film, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is so bittersweet. The Night…

What West Point Cadets Learned By Studying A Classic Scifi Novel

When Chris Moseley, an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, decided to teach a “special topics” course on general relativity, he opted for an unusual supplementary textbook: Larry Niven’s 1973 novel Protector, which vividly depicts a battle between spaceships moving at relativistic speeds. Moseley writes in a paper that he had expected…

Bette Midler Confirms All Hocus Pocus Witches Are Ready For A Sequel

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy are all down for a sequel film to Hocus Pocus. Hey, Disney — get a shovel because it’s time to resurrect Thackery Binx in cat form! During a Reddit AMA, Bette Midler told the world the she and all her Sanderson Sister witches are ready for the…

What Common Mistake Drives You Crazy?

Whether it’s a grammatical error, a scientific misconception, a misattributed quote, or a piece of historical trivia that’s more legend than fact, now’s your chance to set the record straight. Tell us in the comments about the common errors that bother you the most and don’t forget to include the correct version. Then settle in…

The Cat Petting Simulator is choose-your-own-adventure game that allows you to role-play being a cat owner. I played this while my actual cats watched me, perplexed. [via Metafilter]

Watch Philae Make Its Historic Landing On A Comet, Live On io9!

After 10 years of anticipation, the ESA’s Philae lander has finally detached from the Rosetta satellite and is currently making its descent to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko where it will land later today. Watch the events as they unfold live right here. Above: ESO simulation. UPDATE 11:29 AM ET: Success! The lander has made touchdown. For ongoing…

Rumor: Lex Luthor’s Batman V. Superman Scheme Is Bigger Than We Thought

Plus there are hints about even more comic-book characters that might show up. Plus what do early reviews say about Mockingjay? And all the Grant Ward news from Agents of SHIELD. Spoilers now! Top image: Batman v. Superman Batman v. Superman An extra claims that there are at least two funerals in the film: one…

The Time Travelers Hidden In Thrift Store Paintings

We’ve mentioned a love for altered thrift store paintings before, and now we have a set that integrates science fiction travelers into the bland pastoral scenes. The only better would be if they were sold back to thrift stores for unsuspecting buyers to come across. These are works by Rochester-based Dave Pollot, whose work can…

On Forever, It’s Time to Tie Henry Up and Beat Him. For Sexy Reasons.

Welcome to the obligatory dominatrix episode! Do you think she’ll have chemistry with Henry and have titillating scenes involving whips and chains? OF COURSE SHE WILL. Forever’s not the kind of show to mess with that formula. I kid, but I actually kind of wanted the dominatrix to stick around and be Henry’s sweetly besotted…

C’mon, Lego, Just Make These Doctor Who Sets

Lego revealed that two concepts for the show were recently under review. They haven;t yet made it out of that process, but let’s hope. Lego Ideas member recently said: This review period featured two Doctor Who concepts, and the LEGO Review Board is evaluating them. We’ll let you know when we decide whether or not…

Of Course Hollywood Is Making a Playmobil Movie Now

As they say in Hollywood, “if at first you do succeed, try and try again with the exact same premise.” So hot on the heels of the incredibly successful Lego movie, Paris-based ON Entertainment has revealed it will produce an $80 million animated featured based on the Playmobil toy line. The movie is expected to…