The recent revelations about the NSA’s clandestine electronic surveillance programs have highlighted the risks of European dependency on U.S. technology, says a new report—which adds that Germany’s spying scandals should spur the EU to revitalize its declining science and technology sectors.

We Toured The Gruesome Set Of Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain

We’ve seen Guillermo del Toro’s disgusting vampire monsters in the pasty flesh on the set of his mystery series The Strain. And they were way weirder than we ever imagined, but also gorgeous. This is a unapologetic gross-out monster series with vampires that crap themselves when they eat, but somehow it still manages to be…

​The Two Organizations Trying to Destroy U.S. Science Education

The Heartland Institute, a prominent, Chicago-based organization opposing climate science, has teamed up with the creationist Discovery Institute to launch a smear campaign against a group promoting the nationwide adoption of updated science education guidelines. The guidelines in question are the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), adopted so far by 11 states and the District…

Horrifyingly Powerful Mudslide In Japan Tears Down Trees In An Instant

Typhoon Neoguri slammed through Japan yesterday bringing widespread flooding. A closed circuit camera captured this jaw-dropping footage of a debris flow that levelled trees as if they were matchsticks. The storm has left several people dead and a ton of damage in its wake. More than 500 houses in several prefectures were flooded due to…

Peering Through Objects One Slice At Time Is A Surreal Experience

Artist Laurin Döpfner used an industrial sander to smooth his way through various objects one layer at a time, photographing each stratum as he went. When he was through, he compiled the images into the stop motion video you see here. The result is utterly entrancing. This video comes by way of Chris Jobson over…

Morbid Cross-Sectional Cake Is a Delicious Anatomy Lesson

This anatomical confection from Conjurer’s Kitchen reveals what one of their intricately crafted cakes looks like on the inside. “I often get asked what’s inside the decorated cakes, what they taste like,” writes the cakes creator, Annabel de Vetten. “So I thought I would create a cake to answer that question. Of course only the…

This GIF Party Cannot Be Stopped.

Whether you’re here to dance or simply to linger quietly over by the chip bowl, this one is for you. So send out your GIFs (and whatever news and updates you want them to bear for you) and let the party begin!

This is How You Literally Feel Other People’s Pain

How many times have you seen someone receive a painful blow and doubled over yourself? People seem to have the ability to feel a kind of phantom pain when we see others getting hurt. What’s the neurology behind sympathy pain? A Tale of Two Primates At the University of Parma, in Italy, Giacomo Rizzolatti was…

You Won’t Believe Who’s Rumored For Star Wars And Batman V. Superman!

Fresh details about Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who premiere. Alec Baldwin may be Mission Impossible 5’s CIA Director. And Guillermo del Toro has a weird little project to complete before he finishes Pacific Rim 2. Plus, news from the casts of Heroes Reborn, Arrow, and The Walking Dead. Spoilers now! Top image: Doctor Who Star Wars…

The Lord of the Rings In 90 Seconds Is All About the Walking

Even for 90 seconds, this video is tilted a little heavily on the Fellowship of the Ring end of the trilogy. But we can’t say it’s not accurate. We’ve officially reached the point where Sean Bean not dying is the twist. [via Tastefully Offensive]

Do Not Take Writing Advice from the Worst Muse

Twitter account the Worst Muse isn’t even a week old, but it’s already a premiere source of hilarious writing advice from writer Rachel Edidin. Below’s a selection of our favorites. [viaMetafilter]

The Dragons Who Hoard Out of Anxiety

Mittie Paul, whose dragons we’ve covered before, has now produced a series of drawings answering the question, “What if instead of being proud miserly creatures, all dragons were just super nervous? They hoarded out of financial anxiety and whatnot.” Paul did two series of these drawings, so head over to tumblr for more commentary. The…

With Ridley Scott’s David, Are We Entering a New Age of Biblical Epics?

Ridley Scott’s Christian-Bale-as-Moses epic Exodus: Gods and Kings won’t be out until December, but he’s already working on another Old Testament story: King David. So we’re forced to wonder: Are Biblical epics officially back? Save for The Passion of the Christ, big-budget Bible stories fell out of vogue in Hollywood in the 60s, when their…

It Was an Unexpected Sunset

He’d heard the ships would be arriving at dusk, but he didn’t realize that they would actually be causing the dusk in question. This is a detail from Michael Heath’s award-winning cover of the middlegrade novel Earthfall. You can see more of Heath’s amazing work on his website.

The Movie That H.R. Giger Spent Decades Trying To Make

Artist H.R. Giger left his mark on movies forever, through his contributions to Alien and other classic science fiction films. But he never got to make The Mystery of San Gottardo, the movie he was working on since the 1970s. See some more of the fantastic art from this project below. According to a 1994…

13 behind-the-scenes photos from Metropolis

Are open relationships the next sexual revolution? Over at Alternet, Mark Michaels and Patricia Johnson ask whether “designer” relationships that include more than two people could go mainstream in the future, offering people more options when it comes to romance and marriage.

How To Train For Space On Earth

Pictured here: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who will serve as a flight engineer on Expedition 42/43 aboard the ISS, practicing extravehicular activity (aka “EVA” aka repairs in spaaaaaace”) in the Partial Gravity Simulator test area in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. What a badass. Photo credit: NASA/Lauren Harnett via nasagoddard

Batgirl’s New Uniform May Be The Best Damn Superheroine Outfit Ever

Batgirl is getting a look, a new perspective and a new creative team. It’s all good news — especially that fan-favorite illustrator Babs Tarr will making her mainstream comic debut — but none of it better than Barbara Gordon’s brand new, utterly fantastic new uniform. Designed by Tarr and writer Cameron Stewart, the outfit is…

The Grisly Truth About Tiny Hamsters And What They Really Eat

As Jason Bittel explains in somewhat distressing detail over at Slate, the truth about hamsters and burritos is that hamsters, contrary to what viral videos would have you believe, do not eat little burritos, tiny cakes, or mini pizzas. They eat each other. Here’s the video in question, on the off chance you’ve been avoiding…