888,246 Ceramic Poppies Will Fill The Moat At The Tower Of London

The Tower of London will mark the 100-year anniversary of the First World War with an installation created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins. The Tower’s famous dry moat is being slowly filled with red poppies — each representing a British or Colonial fatality during the war. Volunteers have already begun planting the ceramic flowers for…

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

This is an uncommonly beautiful image of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, captured by photographer John Purvis on a clear night. It’s a rare gem, because M101 is especially difficult to photograph, being so far away and so faint. It requires long exposures, and a lot of patience. As Purvis explains on his Flickr page: The…

Why Is International Shipping So Expensive?

If you’ve ever shipped an item across national borders, you’ve probably experienced a moment or two of sticker shock. But just what’s included in the high price of sending something across country lines? Commenter (and ops manager for an international freight forwarder) Ruthless, if you let me filled us in on just some of the…

True Blood Sent Me A Box Of REAL LIFE Vampire Props And Now I’m Dead

Earlier today, I received a box marked “TRUE BLOOD” that caused me to weep uncontrollably and I just had to share it with everyone who has been pro and conning True Blood with me for the last 87 years. A few weeks ago, I received a note from a lot of good people at True…

Queen Of The Tearling Is Pure Tasty Fantasy Candy

Writers like Joe Abercrombie have done a lot to bring dirty realism to fantasy books, while people like Jacqueline Carey have added dark sexuality and complex politics. But sometimes you just want an upbeat fantasy where women kick ass. And The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen is the perfect sunny fantasy book. Some…

Robert Downey Jr: “Avengers 2 Has The Best Bad Guy Plot I’ve Ever Read”

We got up close and super personal with the cast of Avengers: Age of Ultron and attempted to ask them questions that would reveal the inner soul of this apocalyptic action movie. And they struggled to answer everything, because spoilers. But Robert Downey Jr. still knows how to work a crowd. Robert Downey Jr. How…

Behold These Incredible Works Of Architecture Made Out Of Living Trees

Now these are the ultimate tree houses. Living trees are guided into the shapes of towers, cathedrals, and pavilions, creating wooden structures that continue to grow and bud and bloom. Vegetal Cathedral (La Cattedrale Vegetale), designed by Guiliano Mauri, grounded in 2001, completed in 2010, in the woods of the Sella Valley, Trentino, North Italy.…

Three Teens Take A Drug That Sends Them To A Deadly Lovecraftian World

When a group of bored teenagers decide to try a new drug, they expect they’ll see fun hallucinations. But instead, they’re thrust into a world of unimaginable horrors, where their hallucinations can kill. Hank Friedmann directed Black Sugar, a perfect little nugget of horror to kick off your weekend. Don’t do Chthonian drugs, kids. [via…

Crowdfund A Robot Insurgency Film From The Writers Of Feast

The writers of Project Greenlight’s Feast have written a screenplay about a robot insurgency—and the team needs your help bringing the film to life. You can also help fund some wonderful comics, a Mouse Guard board game, and a documentary about working visual artists. Imperfect – Comic Book Series Ever wanted to be another person?…

io9 Newsstand: Stories for the week of July 28 – August 1

The last of the July short stories put a nice pin in the month. A couple of long reads, a few recurring characters — and a dinosaur, just to spice things up. Monthly magazines will start putting out their new fiction this weekend as well. It’s a smorgasbord of prose! image credit: Wesley Allsbrook for…

What’s The Best (Or Worst) Voiceover Monologue At The Start Of A Movie?

Some movies just drop you in the deep end, and let you figure out what’s going on. And some movies talk you through it. Opening voiceovers are a major component of science fiction and fantasy movies (see 50 of them here) and they can be wonderful. Or just god-bananas-awful. But what are the best? And…

Since 1976, Ebola outbreaks have materialized in no fewer than 10 disparate regions of Central Africa. Is there any order to the virus’ pattern of emergence? According to science writer David Quammen, two prevailing schools of thought have arisen: The wave school and the particle school.

Tour The Dark Side Of L.A. With Sandman Slim Author Richard Kadrey

Few fantasy series have as strong a sense of place as Richard Kadrey’s L.A.-set Sandman Slim books. And here’s your exclusive first look at a video where Kadrey takes you to the real-life locations where his books take place, filmed by Brady Hall. Plus read a chapter of the next Sandman Slim Book, The Getaway…

These Librarian Reviews Of Children’s Books Are Awesome

Amid the many hidden treasures in the New York Public Library is a huge collection of hand-typed reviews of children’s books. Librarians wrote the reviews to assess the quality of the book collection—and, since they were exclusively for internal use, their opinions were brutally candid. As Jenni Avins at Quartz reports, one of the staffers…

This Baby Armadillo Is Improbably Adorable

Armadillos: They can give you leprosy, but they can also MELT YOUR HEART. This particular armadillo is still just a baby, and goes by “Rollie,” after what looks to be his favorite playtime activity. Rollie is currently housed at the NEW Zoo and Adventure Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where this footage was captured. And…

The Biggest Mistakes People Make When They Start A Webcomic

Want to start your very first webcomic? Great! But before you get in too deep, make sure that you avoid some of the most common mistakes that established folks in the field of webcomics see time and again. Top image by the incredibly talented Evan Dahm, creator of the webcomics Rice Boy, Order of Tales,…

Watch Us Team Up With Batman To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse

The Walking Dead Escape event returned to San Diego Comic-Con for the third year in a row, with another exhilarating (and exhausting) course at Petco Park. And it really felt like surviving an actual zombie apocalypse, only with Batman at your side. Watch our video of the event, and see for yourself! In the Walking…

Federal Employee Gets Fired After Writing An Article Criticizing Nukes

For 17 years, James Doyle was a nuclear policy specialist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then he wrote an article that made the case for getting rid of nuclear weapons. After that, his computer was seized, he was accused of releasing classified information, and then he was fired. What happened? Top image: French Test,…

George R.R. Martin Is Writing A Game Of Thrones Children’s Book

Parents, you might want to find a good child therapist and put him or her on your speed-dial. George R.R. Martin is putting his fantasy skills and love of inflicting trauma on readers to use on a children’s book titled The Ice Dragon, a tale set in Westeros, and illustrated by the amazing Luis Royo.…

Rob Thomas Explains Why iZombie Is More Like Buffy Than Veronica Mars

To say we’re excited about Rob Thomas returning to television with a female-led mystery series is an understatement. We cannot wait for iZombie. And we got all the details in our exclusive interview with Thomas and lead zombie Rose McIver. For those of you unaware, iZombie is the TV adaptation of Chris Roberson and Michael…