Automata Is Brilliantly Original Science Fiction, Ruined By Cliches

We all cry out for original genre movies that aren’t just cashing in on existing franchises. But it’s sad when an original film comes out, and it just rehashes the classics, even more slavishly. It’s even more heartbreaking when you get a movie like Automata, which has a clever, original idea. And smothers it in…

These Stunning Illustrations Restore Awe And Wonder To The Wizard Of Oz

Yes, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been interpreted and reinterpreted over the decades, but you’ve never seen it quite like this. Rice Boy creator Evan Dahm has gone back to the book’s text and is illustrating a new edition of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel. Dahm recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for his new…

We’re Getting A LEGO Movie Spinoff About Batman! Darkness! No Parents!

Cue up the Bat-metal! Will Arnett will be reprising his role as the self-important Batman from The LEGO Movie for his very own plastic adventure. And the script is being penned by the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Chris McKay, who served…

FakeScience.org – and its affiliated tumblr – is a spoof science site dedicated to asking tough questions about science and its practice, including: Should you follow your passion, or should you follow that trail of slime in the hallway?

Watch as a Hawk Knocks a Drone Out of the Sky

While flying his quadcopter earlier this week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Christopher Schmidt experienced firsthand the problem that confronts drone-delivery startups: raptors don’t like sharing their airspace. What happened to Schmidt is a portent of what could happen to that package you’re waiting for if companies like Amazon begin flying the not-so-friendly skies. As bird expert…

Oh, if only this Doctor Who Paternoster Gang comic was real

Doctor Who’s Victorian trio of Vastra, Jenny and Strax have had fans begging for a spinoff since they first appeared in 2011’s A Good Man Goes To War – but while such an idea seems to remain an unlikely possibility, what if we could have the Paternosters starring in their own Comic adventures? This delightful…

Should You Really Be Blowing Your Nose Like That?

Your options are to blow or to snort ‘n swallow. Unless you prefer to let the snot just sort of dribble out and pool in your philtrum, giving your upper lip a damp, sickly glisten. Which, no – what are you, seven? It’s time you learned to get rid of mucus like a well-informed adult.…

io9 Newsstand: Best Stories of the Week for October 6 – 11

Last month, Nebula award-winning author and editor Eugie Foster passed away at the way too early age of 42. Eugie was, and is still, one of the most impressive people I’ve ever known. She was a prolific writer (over 100 stories published) but literature wasn’t the only artistic endeavor she engaged in. She danced, she…

Our BPRD Preview Shows How To Sell Coffee In A Town Full Of Monsters

No matter what horrors have been unleashed on earth, no matter how dangerous life gets, one truth will remain constant: we all need coffee. In our preview of BPRD: Hell on Earth #124 (due out October 15th), one Santa Fe coffee shop worker tries to live among the monstrous Ogdru Hem as best he can…

Dracula Gets a Makeover for the ISIS Age in Dracula Untold

Almost every modern Dracula retelling includes some kind of flashback to the vampire’s origin, which is more or less tragic depending on whether he’s the hero of the story. Now, with Dracula Untold, we’ve finally got an entire movie devoted to the undeath of Transylvanian prince Vlad Tepes — and it’s cheesy as hell. Probably…

Deals of Future Past, Scott Pilgrim Heads to Humble

Days of Future Past is the first X-Men film to be a Great Film in its Own Right. Grab some deals. Out Tuesday. Amazon-exclusive Collector’s Edition with Magneto Helmet, down to $70 3D Edition, down to $23 Best Buy-exclusive 3D Edition, down to $23 Standard Edition, down to $18 The Humble Oni Press Comics Bundle…

Archaeologists Make Stunning Discoveries at the Antikythera Shipwreck

The international team of divers and archaeologists who are investigating the site of an ancient Greek ship that sank more than 2,000 years ago off the remote island of Antikythera have not been disappointed. Not only is the site bigger than they thought, it also contains a treasure trove of artifacts. First, an explanation for…

How Robin Might Have Looked In Tim Burton’s Aborted Third Batman Film

Tim Burton was originally going to helm a third Batman movie after Batman Returns, but the studio bumped him from the director’s chair in favor of Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher. But this concept art gives us one possible look for Burton’s version of Robin. Originally, Burton had intended to debut Robin in Batman Returns,…

Marvel Plans Biggest Comic Event Ever With Return Of Secret Wars

Marvel is declaring war. More than 30 years after its arguably most popular comic crossover, Secret Wars, the publisher has declared a new comice vent that will engulf the Marvel universes — pitting Captain America against Captain America, Thor against Thor, and so forth. Details are of course sketchy — we know it’s being written…

10 TV Shows That Are Really Creepy If You Think About Them Too Much

Television is a medium that requires bizarre things to happen every week, like clockwork. So the most successful TV shows are often the ones which engineer recurring weirdness the most smoothly. And this can result in some… odd premises. Here are 10 classic TV shows that kind of creepy if you think about them too…

A 19th Century Math Genius Taught Us The Best Way To Hold Pizza

We’ve all been there. You pick up a slice of pizza and you’re about to take a bite, but it flops over and dangles limply from your fingers instead. The crust isn’t stiff enough to support the weight of the slice. Maybe you should have gone for fewer toppings? No. There’s no need to despair.…

Whoa, Driving Around In Nazi Germany Was Super Intense

Archivists at the Library of Congress recently discovered a “Nazi Driver Education Film.” It shows German society just a few years before the war, along with the rather bizarre — and frightening — driving culture of the times. It might seem like a slapstick silent film, but it’s a bona fide instructional video. Aside from…

In a new study on the sandwich-eating habits of Americans (the results of which are currently attempting to be replicated in my kitchen), at least half of us eat a sandwich on any given day. While this may be good news for our tastebuds, they also account for 20% of our daily sodium, say researchers.…

The Legalization of Marijuana Could Reduce Alcoholism

Across the U.S., people are indulging in a drug that is imposing huge costs on themselves and society. It’s called alcohol, and its excessive use has led to approximately 88,000 deaths per year. A growing body of research suggests marijuana could lower that number, since people who smoke pot tend to drink less. Or, put…

What Vikings Knew About The Sky That You Don’t

The sky above us is more complicated than it looks. As the sun moves across the sky, it creates a complicated pattern of polarized light. The Vikings could even use this phenomenon to navigate (so do bees, for the record). Are you gonna say they’re wrong? The Clear Blue Sky The blue sky is the…