Who Are You? Introduce Yourself To Us!

We’re doing an introductions-thread, today! So take a moment and tell us: Who are you? It’s been just over six-months since we first asked you to tell us a little about yourself. Tell us — either again or for the first time, whether you’ve been here for years or if this is your first comment…

Researchers have discovered 500 million-year-old fossilized embryos. Dating back to the Cambrian Explosion, they emerged during a time when most phyla of marine invertebrates first appeared. The discovery is offering a rare opportunity for scientists to study the origin and development of our planet’s oldest animals. Image: University of Missouri.

First Look At Splinter From The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie

Holy hell, the new Master Splinter is actually kind of terrifying. He looks like a real-life giant rat with a sword, from his pink little ears to his big, black eyes. Take a look. A brand new commercial for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot dropped revealing a brief, first look at Master Splinter, along…

An Incredibly Life-Like Reconstruction Of A 400 Million-Year-Old Plant

Using little more than a flattened fossil, researchers from UC Berkeley have created a stunningly life-like computer rendering of a long-extinct lycopod. A quick glance at this primordial plant reveals a very alien-looking species. The computer rendering was compiled by graduate student Jeff Benca. “Typically, when you see pictures of early land plants, they’re not…

Harrison Ford Revealed His Powerful Opinion On Who Shot First

During a Reddit AMA to promote his new movie Years of Living Dangerously, Harrison Ford was of course — of course asked for his thoughts regarding the eternal debate of who truly shot first in Star Wars. Ford did not disappoint. I think we would all like to know: Who shot first? Han Solo or…

Major Plot Reveals From Transformers 4 and Godzilla!

James Cameron denies that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be joining the cast of the Avatar sequels. Pretty much the last crossover you ever expected will be hinted at on Arrow. And the final season of True Blood will spend a fair amount of time in Bill’s past. Plus, a wild rumor about the possible return of…

How To Watch This Week’s Total Lunar Eclipse

Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning will be an incredible time for skygazing. Not only is Mars bigger and brighter than it’s been in more than six years, you’ll also be able to witness the first total lunar eclipse of 2014. Here’s how to watch. Photo Credit: NASA What The last total lunar eclipse to be…

“Three Cats One Meat” Teaches Us to Always Be the Middle Cat

This video might just contain all the answers to life. Three cats are given a single piece of meat, and while two cats play tug of war, the third just starts gnawing at the center. That’s some impressive problem solving. The two bigger cats are stuck in a live re-enactment of Newton’s Third Law, while…

Cast Your Vote For the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories of 2013

Every year, the science fiction and fantasy trade journal Locus asks the public to select from its editors’ picks for the best science fiction and fantasy of the previous year (or write in your own nominations). The ballot for the 43rd Annual Awards is now open online – go cast your vote! Here’s more info…

Boston’s New Edgar Allan Poe Statue Is Going to Be Epic

This is a clay model of the final design for the life-size statue of Edgar Allan Poe that will be unveiled on October 5, 2014 at 2pm, at the corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South in Boston, which is also named “Edgar Allan Poe Square.” It’s got Poe with his coat flapping in…

This App Could Help You Overcome Jetlag Faster

Entrain is an app designed by mathematicians at the University of Michigan and Yale University to minimize the effects of jetlag. They’ve released the app for free so that folks like us can try it out and help perfect it. When your circadian clock is out of sync with your specific location’s day and night…

New Hepatitis C ‘Cure’ Hailed as a Breakthrough, Costs $1000 a Day

An international study involving 380 patients has seen 90% of patients “cured” of Hepatitis C in the course of 12 weeks. Experts are calling the treatment a turning point in the treatment of the pernicious disease, which wreaks havoc on the livers of those it infects. Too bad it costs over $80,000 for a course…

What Happens to Swampman in a Transporter?

In science fiction, there was always something I worried about. What are the philosophical implications of a transporter? It turns out, someone worried about that before me, and came up with Swampman. Don’t get me wrong, I love the future, but ever since I started watching Star Trek there was something that worried me. Whenever…

The Rosemary’s Baby Miniseries Will Come to Your TV May 11th

We’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for NBC to tell us when their Rosemary’s Baby remake would premiere, and now we know: May 11th, 2014. That’s still nearly a month away, but there are more photos to slake your curiosity until then. The miniseries will be a two night event, premiering May 11th at 9/8c and…

And Now, A Giraffe Eating An Impala Skull

From time to time, wild giraffes have been known to nom on the bones of other animals. The behavior is called osteophagia, and it’s… well… actually kind of common among ruminants, as Jason Goldman explains below.

Did You… Did You Know That Baby Sloths Squeak?

Because we did not. Had we known, we might have been prepared for the high-octane adorableness you, yourself, are about to experience. Who are we kidding? There is exactly nothing that can prepare you for the noises in this video. I mean come on – DID YOU HEAR THE ONE IN THE BASKET? This montage…

Celebrate the Birth of Human Spaceflight, with Yuri’s Night!

Fifty three years ago today, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in history to venture into outer space. Below, Mika McKinnon talks about Gagarin’s incredible journey to Earth orbit (and how to best commemorate that journey: by finding the Yuri’s Night party nearest you!)

Who Wins In A Fight: A Na’vi, The Alien Queen, Or The T-800 Terminator?

James Cameron hosted an AMA on reddit earlier today. Some blessed soul had the good sense to ask him the only question that really matters. “Mr. Cameron,” queried redditor ContinuumGuy. “A Na’vi, the Alien Queen and the T-800 Terminator get in a fight. Who wins?” To which Cameron responded: Is the T-800 armed or not…

​Everyone’s Gone Baby Crazy In The Season’s Best Grimm

Wow. Who knew how good this show could be when it skipped the standard Wesen-‘o-the-week storylines, focused solely on the season’s biggest storyarc, and brought all its players together for one purpose? Well, I think we all did, actually. It’s a shame this doesn’t happen more often. But that doesn’t take away from the fact…

Daytime Napping Linked to Increased Risk of Death

Today in unsettling news: Results published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology suggest a correlation between daytime napping and increased mortality risk. Photo Credit: Ernesto De Quesada // CC BY 2.0 The study, led by University of Cambridge epidemiologist Yue Leng, looked at the associations between daytime napping and mortality in…