The Utterly Unsurprising Origins Of Bigfoot’s DNA Samples

An unprecedented peer-reviewed genetic survey of more than 30 biological hair samples purportedly left behind by either Bigfoot or the Yeti shows they actually came from creatures considerably less mysterious… such as bears, horses, and cows. In preparation for the study — the first of its kind — Bryan Sykes and his team at Oxford…

Every Job In America And What It Pays, Charted

What are people doing in America for work and just how much are they making at those jobs? This chart, which looks at the distribution of Americans through different industries and their median salaries, answers that question. The chart is the work of Nathan Yau over at Flowing Data, who used the new stats from…

​Will We Ever Get A “Perfect” Movie Trilogy?

Greetings, mail mates! Today we’re looking at how Bryan Singer’s legal woes might affect his future with the X-Men, why you should give The Leftovers a chance, and of course a discussion about The Game of Thrones Character Who Must Not Be Named. Let’s do this thing. Oh, many of you wrote in asking questions…

Data Cuisine Uses Food And Flavor To Create Edible Infographics

Imagine a soup whose recipe is based upon local fishing statistics. Or a pizza with ingredients inspired by a city’s ethnic demographics. These are just a couple of examples of “Data Cuisine,” which uses the culinary arts not only to visualize data, but to taste it. The concept, created by data visualizer and artist Moritz…

A Map Showing All The Solar System’s Solid Surfaces Stitched Together

Via XKCD comes this awesome map of of the solar system’s terrestrial surfaces pieced together as if it were a massive jigsaw puzzle. The illustration reveals the surprising scarcity of solid land in the solar system. Titled “Space Without the Space,” Randall Munroe’s map excludes the surface area of not just the gas giants, but…

First Peeks at Walking Dead Season 5 And Clark in Batman v. Superman!

An unlikely source turns up the first photo of Henry Cavill as Clark Kent in Batman v. Superman. Rumors swirl around who Carrie Fisher’s daughter is playing in Star Wars. Find out more about Doctor Who season eight’s final two-parter. Plus a Planet of the Apes featurette and Sin City photos. Spoilers now! Top image:…

The Animated Centaurs That Predate Fantasia By Decades

Below the jump is the only remaining fragment of Winsor McCay’s 1921 animation The Centaurs. It was produced by Rialto Productions and there’s a certain charm to it. Except for the centaur foal at the end, which is just creepy. From The Public Domain Review entry: The only surviving fragment of Winsor McCay’s now lost…

A Pirate-Themed CT Scanner to Set Children at Ease

Installed last year at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, this pirate ship CT scanner has proven so popular that even patients 17-21 ask to use it. And, let’s be honest, we’re older and we’d still choose it. The design is impressive enough to make My Modern Met’s “10 Amazing Artists and Designers…

The History of the Superhero Movie, 1978-2009

This infographic charts a lot of interesting trends from the history of superhero movies. Including the fact that it hasn’t been the steady increase in their box office dominance that we might expect from the last few years. Instead, there’s been a series of ups and downs. Full image after the jump. One thing I…

7 years after Enchanted first came out, Disney’s finally moved on a sequel. It’s hired J. David Stem and David N. Weiss (Shrek 2, The Smurfs) to write Enchanted 2. The pair’s credits also include Are We There Yet? and Daddy Day Camp. So commence hand-wringing. [Deadline]

CBS Making A Show About Animals Planning A Global Attack Against Humans

CBS is making a show that’s basically The Birds, but instead of birds attacking humans, it’s all of the animals across the globe attacking humans. All of them. CBS has ordered 13 episode of the TV adaptation of James Patterson’s totally wacky Zoo. The book is centered around an outbreak of organized animal attacks. The…

Chimps Are Surprisingly Picky When It Comes To Music

If you ever run into a group of chimpanzees in a record store, you may find them congregating around the Indian classical section. But as for Western music, not so much. So suggests a new study that considered the musical tastes of our primate cousins. The researchers found that while chimpanzees shun the steadily strong…

Your Short Science Fiction Stories Are Ominously Enjoyable

Whether focusing on the Star Trek crew that finally traveled right beyond the fourth wall, a hive mind divided against itself, or the low-level employees of a terraforming corporation grappling with some baffling HR directives, this collection of short stories is marvelously unsettling. Enjoy this collection of some of our favorite six-word science fiction stories,…

You May Not Know About One of the Most Important Organs in Your Body

Billions of microbes live in your gut. Together they form a “microbiome,” and they are so important to your health and moods that biologists now call the gut microbiome an internal organ. But what is this organ and how does it work? This video from Youreka Science explains it all for you.

These Abandoned Malls Would Be Awesome Post-Apocalyptic Film Locations

These malls were once bustling hubs of commerce, but after a few years of neglect, they went from Mallrats to Dawn of the Dead. Now they would be the perfect sets for a movie where shoppers have been replaced by survivalists. Dayton Arcade in Dayton, Ohio, a collection of five buildings built between 1902 and…

An Intense Found Footage Short About An Exorcism Performed By Phone

We see one half of a desperate video phone call in this five-minute horror film, as a priest attempts to exorcise a man’s demon with the help of a cell phone camera and the possessed man’s young daughter. But can this long-distance exorcism succeed? La Boca del León (The Lion’s Mouth) was directed by Alfonso…

How Tiny Details in Paintings Reveal a Secret History of Books

Most books do not survive for more than a century, and we know very little about what people’s everyday reading experiences were like over the past 500 years. Luckily, says the British Library, we can look to classical paintings. There, we find images of people reading — and pictures of what typical books looked like.…

What’s The Most Embarrassing Superhero Costume Ever Designed?

Superheroes battle evil without any protection other than their fantastic powers, and a few strips of latex or pleather. But which superhero costume is the worst? Is it ClooneyBatman’s nipples? Emma Frost’s weird white thingy? Power Girl’s window? Electric Blue Superman? Who’s got the most costume of all time? Please include a picture or clip…

Burning Man Will Be Even Trippier With This Newtonian Observatory

Each year, the inhabitants of Black Rock City throw a party that can actually be seen from space. But how cool would it be if the folks attending Burning Man could gaze the other way and peer even deeper into Nevada’s starry sky? This crowd-funded observatory could make that happen. https://gizmodo.com/it-was-the-biggest-burning-man-ever-and-this-is-what-i-1265412330 The whimsically named Desert…

Holy Crap, The Girl With All The Gifts Will Blow Your Mind

Some books feature powerful characterization and heart-stopping emotional journeys. Others have great world-building in the service of a thundering great adventure. Still others have clever scientific ideas. But it’s rare to find a book like M.R. Carey’s The Girl With All The Gifts, which aces all of the above. Spoilers ahead… Astute readers may see…