The First Flash TV Footage Is Appropriately Lightning Quick

When Arrow has its season two finale tomorrow night, a special preview of The Flash will be running alongside it (get it? GET IT?!) But you can catch your first glimpse of the Scarlet Speedster in action at the end of this promo for the episode. But blink and you’ll miss it! If this is…

You’ve Been Looking At The Grand Canyon Wrong

It’s tempting, when one visits Grand Canyon National Park, to focus attention on the mammoth hole in the ground (both for safety and for gawking purposes). This timelapse, though, makes a pretty good argument in favor of looking up. The timelapse is the work of Gavin Heffernan (a.k.a. Sunchaser Pictures). The shots were taken at…

Can That “Pins and Needles” Feeling Result in a Dead Hand?

Waking up in the morning is sometimes accompanied by the refreshing sensation of one’s hand being stabbed thousands of times by tiny needles. What exactly causes the “pins and needles” sensation? And is the sensation ever dangerous? Pins and Needles Our morning routines are occasionally enlivened by a little dance. A person curls up and…

What If Norman Rockwell Drew The Hulk And The Ninja Turtles?

They would be pretty damn charming. Artist Bryan Lee puts a Saturday Evening Post spin on pop culture heroes. Lee also posts his progress shots and some fantastic tutorials in his deviantART gallery, so you can see how his pieces come together. But the real beauty here is in the composition. The Hulk: Defender of…

Here Is The First Image Of Ben Affleck As Batman

Zack Snyder has finally tweeted a look at his new Batman (played by Ben Affleck) for the still untitled Batman Vs. Superman movie. Aaaaaand the new batsuit has veins. [Edit not veins possibly seams, massive high res. image updated]. Take a look. UPDATE: Here’s an even bigger image!

Which Country Drinks The Most?

According to a new WHO report looking at alcohol consumption around the world, the average person consumes just over six liters of alcohol a year, but that average doesn’t quite tell the whole story as this map shows. As you can see on the map, while the average is six liters per person over 15,…

Christopher Columbus’s Flagship, The Santa Maria, Has Been Found

In what’s being heralded as one of the most significant underwater discoveries in history, the wreck of Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, has been discovered lying at the bottom of the sea off the north coast of Haiti. “All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’ famous…

Renewable energy jobs grew by 14% to 6.5 million employees worldwide in 2013, says the International Renewable Energy Agency. In decreasing order, the largest employers were China, Brazil and the United States. The solar panel industry, spurred by falling prices, employed 2.27 million workers, mostly in China.

I Have No Idea How The Last Man On Earth Is Going To Be A TV Series

And yet Will Forte’s The Last Man on Earth, which is apparently about the last man on earth just wandering aimlessly about, will definitely be a comedy series that premieres this fall on Fox. Here’s the baffling four-minute trailer. It’s not bad, but I can’t even imagine how it can sustain an entire season of…

The Space Gun Was Conceived 199 Years Ago

In 1815 the British artist Edward Francis Burney (1760-1848) published a book of drawings called Q.Q. Esq.’s Journey to the Moon. In spite of the less-than-serious nature of the illustrated story, Burney put some thought into his launch system. In what is apparently the earliest tale about a “space gun” ever written, Burney used the…

It’s Show-And-Tell Time! What Projects Are You Working On?

What are you working on? We want to see the new projects that you’re putting together, and get updates on the ones you’ve told us about before. So whether you’ve been putting together a Xenomorph-nesting doll, a set of geek-themed wooden alphabet blocks (from Ada Lovelace to Zombies), or tinkering with code on the videogame…

Recently Discovered Big Bang “Smoking Gun” Could Be A Bust

Eight weeks ago, physicists announced that they’d discovered evidence of gravitational waves in the early universe, potential proof that our universe began with a bang and inflated from there. But the most significant cosmological discovery in years might just be an experimental artifact. Back in March, Harvard professor John Kovac and his team announced to…

Yep, Channing Tatum Is Definitely Gonna Be Gambit

X-Men movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner wanted it; Channing Tatum wanted it; the world wan… well, the world was basically okay with it. And now Donner has confirmed that Tatum will indeed play the Cajun X-Man Gambit for some kind of X-movie. The question now is whether he will appear in X-Men: Apocalypse, which will…

This Fire Retardant Bursts Into Flame When it Touches Aluminum

Touch this chemical to aluminum foil, and it bursts into flame. That makes for a pretty fire (although it’s a pretty dangerous one), but the chemical is a fire retardant. Find out why bromine goes pyro the minute it touches aluminum foil. If that seems like an incongruous job for an element we’ve just seen…

What Most Freaks Out Scholars Who Study The Future Of Humanity?

It’s only Tuesday, but already this week’s news is apocalyptic: the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is unstoppable, the UN is debating whether to ban killer robots and the U.S. and Russia are going 1980s-retro with nuclear war games. What should worry us the most? Here’s what two experts think. The online academic…

Legendary Alien Artist H.R. Giger Has Died At 74

H.R. Giger, whose horrific, biomechanical art-style defined the world of Alien and Prometheus, passed away yesterday from injuries suffered when he fell down his stairs at his home, according to sources. Hans Ruedi Giger was born on February 5th, 1940, in the town of Chur in Switzerland. He experienced night terrors, and his art was…

Does A Doctor Who Announcement Hint At A Major Villain’s Return?

Simon Kinberg insists that the movie versions of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four do not actually share a universe after all. Han Solo will be a “co-lead” in Star Wars: Episode VII. And the Walking Dead set is full of carnage and torture. Spoilers now! Top image: Doctor Who X-Men: Days of Future Past…

This Robotic Catching Arm Can React In Less Than 500ths Of A Second

Developed by EPFL researchers, this robot is capable of reacting on the fly and grasping objects with complex shapes and trajectories. Incredibly, it’s equipped with a learning algorithm that allows it to be taught by humans. To make it work, EPFL researchers first taught the robot how to predict the trajectory of a moving object.…

Once Upon A Time‘s Season Finale Goes Completely Insane

Once Upon A Time ended its massive season with a massive, super inappropriate, two-hour season finale. Super fun fairy tale executions ahead! How about that scene where they burned Snow White at the stake? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this show? Last night, Once Upon A Time ended this season by chucking just…

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Making Of Blake’s 7

The British space opera TV series Blake’s 7 has never gotten the props it deserves, in part due to dodgy special effects. But the show’s influence on genre television and storytelling in general cannot be understimated. And now, you can watch a massive documentary on its genesis. Kevin Jon Davies created a four-part documentary on…