Virginia’s top court has ruled against global warming skeptics trying to obtain emails written by climate scientist Michael Mann when he was a UVA professor. The judge stated that the emails are proprietary and exempt from FOIA requests — and that releasing them would impair academic “free thought and expression.”

Feudal Values Are Ruining Corporate Profitability

If you want your company to make a profit, don’t offer any of its executives a shot at knighthood. No, this isn’t a Game of Thrones joke. In countries where governments can grant knighthoods, executives are willing to do almost anything to get the coveted titles — including letting their companies fail. Over at Foreign…

Unexplained Intergalactic Radio Bursts Confirmed At Arecibo

Back in 2011 and 2012, astronomers working at an Australian observatory picked up a series of fleeting but powerful radio signals. These signals have never been detected elsewhere, casting doubts on their origin. But now, new observations from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico suggest they’re for real. Top image: Impression of a blitzar —…

The Most Beautiful And Creative Cosplay of WonderCon: Final Batch!

No, we’re not done with WonderCon cosplay yet! We already posted loads of great costumes from Friday and Saturday — but the most dedicated and fantastic cosplayers were back on Sunday, with some super-clever and off-the-wall looks. See for yourself! First off, our very own Smeagol92055 posted a gallery of photos from the con: But…

Once Upon A Time Brings Back A Ghost Because It Has 22 Episodes To Fill

There were two big reveals on Once Upon a Time — one was pretty great, and the other was kind of OK. It’s not that I mind seeing Cora and her lips once again, but I would rather continue to watch the Wicked Witch Rebecca Mader’s chew up an entire studio lot’s worth of scenery.…

Fungalescence Puts the “Fun” Back in Functional Geoengineering

The idea might have come from Von Neumann’s famous probes, but the execution is pure Fungalescence. Our company prides itself on creating worlds that aren’t just livable, but also beautiful. That’s why our terraforming spores will make your colony the envy of everyone in your local volume of space. This illustration is by Canadian concept…

Everything You Need to Know to Catch This Week’s Lyrid Meteor Shower

This year’s Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak between midnight and dawn on Tuesday, April 22 (and possibly Wednesday, April 23d). Here’s what you need to know to spot as many meteors as possible. Above: The 2012 Lyrid meteor shower, as seen from aboard the International Space Station. The flashes of white light are…

Salem‘s Witches Are Sexily Shocking, But Its Puritans Are Wicked, Too

When we learned that Brannon Braga was returning to television drama with a fantasy show about the Salem witch trials, we had high hopes. And Salem is off to a fun and demented start, imagining that the American colonial witch hysteria involved real witches, while keeping its questions about good and evil complicated. Although Salem…

Just What Does It Take To Captain The Starship Enterprise?

The Enterprise has been boldly sailing out into the unknown for almost 50 years now, under the watchful eye of a small group of commanders. But what is it that makes a captain a good fit to take charge of the Federation’s favorite vessel? In response to this post on the ins-and-outs of diplomatic workings,…

Discover The Origin Of The X-Files In 1940s-Set Year Zero Comic

Mulder and Scully weren’t the first. A brand-new 5-issue comic miniseries will look at the creation of the FBI’s “X-Files” office back in the ’40s, and the beginnings of a mystery that stretches through the decades. Here’s the official description from IDW: In the 1940s, a shadowy informant known as “Mr. Xero” directed the FBI…

Special Ops “Casting Call” Could Reveal US Military Plans

U.S. Special Operations Command has posted an ad that they’re looking to hire 25 civilian actors to provide “role player support,” pretending to be terrorists in a special Marine Corps training exercise. The job announcement inadvertently reveals some clues about national security. As military analyst Joseph Trevithick observes, we don’t know where the Marines are…

In A Dystopian Future, These K-Pop Stars Will Become Anti-VR Terrorists

Our favorite K-Pop group 2NE1 are striking back against a virtual-reality gated community for the wealthy, in the epic music video for their new-ish song “Come Back Home.” This is because one of their boyfriends lost himself in VR, using a bootleg setup and some crushed-up pills, to escape from the dystopian future. Love the…

The Professional Grotesques of Nicolas de Larmessin II

Meet the smith whose belly is a forge, and the woman whose body is woven from her own baskets. These sometimes scary, cyborg-esque illustrations were made by a 17th century Parisian illustrator named Nicolas de Larmessin II. Each figure has been drawn so that their bodies are made out of the tools and products of…

How to Write a Great Science Fiction Novel in 7 Easy Steps

Max Barry’s book Lexicon was voted fourth best science fiction novel of the year by Goodreads, and now he’s put together a (mostly serious) list of steps you’ll want to take to become a writer of great science fiction. STEP 1: HAVE AN IDEA Great sci-fi begins with an idea. Unfortunately, as people will tell…

Everybody’s Freaking Out In Falling Skies Season 4!

Remember Falling Skies? It’s coming back, in a couple months. And this time around, the Second Mass is even more bedraggled than ever, judging from this promo. Also, Tom and Anne’s half-alien daughter is apparently already fully grown, and still creepy. I miss the old Falling Skies, when it was just about a rag-tag fighting…

​A Long Lost Doctor Who Adventure Finally Returns To The Present

Yes, “The Web of Fear” is the most recent Doctor Who serial to be rediscovered, and now it’s available for viewing for the first time since it aired back in 1969. Plus the best Spider-Man cartoon ever, giant surfing robots and more, all in this week’s home video releases! • Doctor Who: The Web of…

George R.R. Martin Responds To That Controversial Game of Thrones Scene

Last night, the television adaptation of Game of Thrones changed an already disturbing scene from the books into an even upsetting moment on screen. And now, book author George R.R. Martin is weighing in. Read his response. Warning: Spoilers ahead! In a post on his personal blog about an upcoming event GRRM stepped into his…

How Humans Evolved to Cope with City Crowds

For over a hundred thousand years, humans evolved in small, roving bands of a few dozen people. But then, about ten thousand years ago, we started living in cities that were far bigger than any tribe or band. Our minds had to change to cope with the population overload. Top photo via Zbynek Jirousek/Shutterstock It’s…

Raw Uncut Science Fiction, Live On Stage! If you’re in Portland, OR, you have no excuse not to go to the Jack London Bar and check out Pulp Gulp, a live reading of great science fiction stories adapted to short plays. Including David D. Levine’s award-winning “Tk’Tk’Tk.”

Can A Cautionary Tale About Science Still Be Pro-Science?

Transcendence was just the latest piece of pop culture to depict wrongheaded scientists playing God, and a lot of people complained about its anti-science message. But that made us wonder: Does a cautionary tale about science have to be anti-science? After all, Frankenstein is often described as the first science fiction novel, and it depicts…