io9 | Page 2775 of 5931 | We Come From the Future

Groot Was Inspired By James Gunn’s Dog—That Explains A LOT

Did you wonder why it was so wondrously easy to open your heart to the lovely sort-of-talking tree creature Groot? Because he’s an amalgam of everything that is adorable in this world, including director James Gunn’s dog, Dr. Von Spears. We spoke to Gunn about the secret origins of the movie version of Groot: You…

io9 Meredith Woerner

The Biography Of Christopher Plover From Lev Grossman’s Magicians Books

One of the most notable elements in Lev Grossman’s Magicians trilogy is Christopher Plover, the author of the Fillory books which turn out to be a real magical place. But who was Christopher Plover? At long last, Andrew Liptak (with Grossman’s assistance) uncovers the biography of this mysterious figure. The Magical World of Christopher Plover’s…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

What If Doctor Who Became A Saturday Morning Cartoon?

What if the Twelfth Doctor and Clara got their own animated adventure series? Artist Stephen Byrne created this cartoon intro, complete with animated versions of a Dalek, a Weeping Angel, and good old Handles the Cyberman head. [via The Mary Sue]

io9 Lauren Davis

What’s Wrong With Survival Television

What’s wrong with learning to start a fire with sticks or drinking your urine in an emergency? Stuff like that makes great TV, but piss poor survival advice that’s misleading and potentially downright dangerous. They aren’t realistic survival scenarios: On Discovery’s popular show “Naked and Afraid,” moderately attractive people take their clothes off, then spend…

Television Wes Siler

Back In 1909, They Were Already Trying To Define Science Fiction

There are so many competing definitions of “science fiction”that we could be here all day arguing about which one is correct. But back in 1909, a writer named Maurice Renard wrote an essay explaining the nature of the “scientific marvelous,” a genre that he traced to H.G. Wells, and before him Edgar Allan Poe. Renard…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Everyone On Extant Is Improbably Stupid

Well, we’re nearly halfway through this season of Extant, and one thing is clear: Molly Woods is dealing with the world’s most inept conspiracy. And the show just decided to spend an entire episode revealing things to its characters that the audience already knew. Between Comic-Con and post-Comic-Con hijinks, I missed a couple of weeks…

io9 Lauren Davis

Flower-Shaped Buildings Turn Cities Into Artificial Gardens

Amidst the more conventional towers soaring over city skylines, these flower-shaped buildings blossom, adding a bit of nature-inspired grace to their urban surroundings. The Lotus Temple (A Bahá’í House of Worship), New Delhi, India, opened in 1986, designed by Fariborz Sahba, composed of 27 free-standing marble clad petals. (via Wikimedia Commons, Dinudey Baidya andJoy Banerjee)…

io9 Vincze Miklós

Images of Charon Orbiting Pluto Guide A Spacecraft To Its Destination

An animation of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, was created using a series of images captured by the New Horizons spacecraft as it continues its long journey to the distant planetoid. Taken from a distance of 422-429 million km, the images are not for scientific study, but for optical navigation between worlds. Think of…

io9 Mark Strauss

New Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Cover Is Horrifying

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Penguin decided to create a new cover for the Roald Dahl work. What resulted was both confusing and terrifying. Run, kids, run. Penguin’s website called the edition part of their New Modern Classic series and justified the new Valley of the Dolls meets actual…

io9 Meredith Woerner

What Is The Worst Change A Film Adaptation Has Ever Made?

Movie adaptations always require a few changes from their source material. Sometimes those changes can result in a totally new and wonderful experience—and sometimes they’re just plain terrible. Which alteration is the very worst? Include the title of the film (and the source material, if it has a different title), the change the filmmakers made,…

io9 Lauren Davis

And Now, A Giant Turtle Made Of Metal

Not since stegobeetle has a massive metal animal this breathtaking graced our screens. Photo Credit: Gina Sanderson | More here Indonesian artist Ono Gaf crafted this massive sculpture by welding together springs, cogs, coils, rotos and various other bits of metallic junk. The level of detail here is really something else. Check out more photos…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Chemistry Of Fake Tan Lotion Could Ruin Your Appetite For Bacon

Have you ever wondered how fake tan lotion manages to turn people’s skin brown without subjecting them to UV radiation exposure? Actually, it’s a chemical reaction that you observe all the time…whenever someone is cooking meat. Writing over at his blog, Compound Interest [rimshot], British chemistry teacher Andy Brunning has put together this nifty infographic…

io9 Mark Strauss

How Pigeon Bones Forced Us To Rethink Neanderthal Cognition

We may think of pigeons as “flying rats,” but research published today in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that their wild counterparts were an important source of nutrition for some Neanderthals. Header photo: Ashik Musicroom/Wikimedia Commons

io9 Jason G. Goldman

An Oscar-Nominated Short Film About The World’s Unluckiest Undertakers

This Way Up was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short Film, but if you haven’t yet gotten a chance to see this fun short, give it a watch. A pair of undertakers try to deliver a body to a graveyard, but everything goes wrong along the way. This Way Up was directed…

io9 Lauren Davis

Why You Always Wake Up Early After A Night Of Drinking

Lots of people have a little booze before bed to help them get to sleep — but while a night cap may help in the dozing-off department, too much alcohol can actually do a number on the overall quality of your shuteye. Let’s take a look at some of the important differences between drunk sleep…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Flash Trailer Shows Barry Allen’s Powers In Action

Want to see what Barry Allen’s going to look like zipping around town with his new superpowers? This latest trailer shows every single Flash-in-action camera angle available—including what can only be called a Flash Cam POV angle. See what it’s like to be the Flash!

io9 Meredith Woerner

TMNT Movie Makers Reveal Ninja Turtle Easter Eggs You Should Look For

We sat down with TMNT director Jonathan Liebesman and producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form to talk turtles, and uncovered a whole lot—just a ton—about pizza product placement, baby turtles and which non-turtle mutants are in the film. Plus, find out what TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman himself contributed to the new film. Why is right…

io9 Meredith Woerner

What’s The Difference Between Epic Fantasy And Sword-And-Sorcery?

As an editor at Pyr Books, Lou Anders has published tons of fantasy novels of all stripes. But now he’s crafted his own fantasy novel, Frostborn, in the sword-and-sorcery tradition that goes back to Conan. But what’s the difference between “epic fantasy” and “sword and sorcery”? Anders explains. Nothing will land you an ax in…

io9 Lou Anders

New Book Of Life Trailer Makes Us Want To Live In The Afterlife

Seriously, we’d like to crawl inside the Day of the Dead-inspired movie Book of Life, even if it means occasionally being pursued by giant skull boulders. Both the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten look simply stunning. Directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro, Book of Life looks…

Trailers Lauren Davis

Deals: Fox Searchlight 20th Anniversary Collection, MST3K XXX

The Fox Searchlight 20th Anniversary Collection packs in 20 critically acclaimed movies in one pretty package. All Blu-ray, a few special editions, and an Amazon-exclusive inclusion of Once. It’s also $170 off MSRP today with your preorder, bringing the set down to $130, or $6.50 a movie. [Fox Searchlight 20th Anniversary Collection] 127 Hours 28…

io9 Shane Roberts

Groot Was Inspired By James Gunn’s Dog—That Explains A LOT

The Biography Of Christopher Plover From Lev Grossman’s Magicians Books