This Insane Anime Is A Japanese Take On An American Take On Ninjas

Supposedly, the new anime series Ninja Slayer is based on the novels of American writers Bradley Bond and Philip Ninj@ Morzez. Instead, the books were actually written by Japanese “translators” Honda Yu and Sugi Leika. Either way, this first trailer is delightfully insane. Basically, as far as I can tell, a bunch of evil ninjas…

NASA’s New Mars-Landing Technology Is Almost Ready For Its Test Flight

Reporters got their first look at the rocket-powered, flying saucer-shaped vehicle that will be sent into near space this June to test the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) that will land future spacecraft on Mars. Current technology for decelerating from the high speed of atmospheric entry still uses the basic Viking parachute design that put two…

What’s Quicksilver’s Role In X-Men? Plus Loads Of New Star Wars Rumors!

The first Amazing Spider-Man 2 reviews are out, and they warn that it “gets itself tangled.” Karen Gillan talks Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy. And Gwendoline Christie previews Brienne and Cersei’s upcoming confrontation on Game of Thrones. Spoilers now! Top image: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Star Wars The latest name in the unending torrent…

Here’s What You Would See If You Were Kicked By A Giraffe

A giraffe came across a wildlife photographer’s camera and knocked it on its back, giving us an idea of what a giraffe hoof to the head would look like. Photographer Chris Barnard took this accidental video, which lets us see not just the kick, but also the underside of the giraffe, all without the resulting…

Did You Know UPS Trucks Only Make Right Turns?

Turns out left turns are not only riskier, they also waste gas. So UPS – optimization-obsessed logistics company that it is – got rid of them. Photo Credit: David Guo // CC BY 2.0 Via Priceonomics: UPS engineers found that left-hand turns were a major drag on efficiency. Turning against traffic resulted in long waits…

For The Elderly, Better Eating Through 3D Printing

The European Union, concerned about the special needs of its rapidly aging population, is spending more than $4 million to develop 3D printers that will produce food that is optimized for the elderly. The program is called PERFORMANCE: an over-labored acronym that stands for “PERsonalized FOod using Rapid MAnufacturing for the Nutrition of elderly ConsumErs.”…

The 100 Continues To Kill Off Small Children

This episode of The 100 was called “Murphy’s Law,” which is an adage that means anything that can go wrong will go wrong, which makes sense because a lot of really bad things happen in this episode to a guy named Murphy… I’ll just pause to let that sink in… But if I had to…

It’s not so hard to tell Dallas from Milan, but what if you were looking from more than 500 miles above – and in the dark? This quiz from Nautilus takes city light maps snapped via satellite and asks you to sort which city matches which light signature — a surprisingly tricky task. Image: NASA…

Watch The New Batman Short By The Animated Series Creator Bruce Timm

Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm delivers a brand new Batman short in honor of the hero’s 75th anniversary. Styled as a 1930s pulp, it follows Batman to the lair of Hugo Strange. Since Batman first appeared in 1939, Timm decided to play tribute to that era with a sepia-toned adventure, and Hugo Strange,…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Astronaut Of Skull And Flowers

An astronaut experiences a moment of death and life on sunny planet. What kind of story can you write inspired by this particular juxtaposition? This week’s image is “Homecoming,” by the artist Tuomas Korpi, via r/SpecArt. As always, we invite you to come up with a story based on this image and post it in…

Watch The Apocalyptic Short Movie That China Tried To Ban

This short film, “Hong Kong Will Be Destroyed In 33 Years,” has become a huge hit on Youtube in the past month, racking up over 600,000 views. But don’t try and search for it on the Chinese video search service Baidu — it’s been removed. According to the blog Fei Chang Dao, search results for…

What Book Series Would Work As A Television Adaptation But Not As A Movie?

There are some books that we can’t wait to see as movies, and then there are some that we reallyonly want to see unspool across seasons on television. Which are the book series that you hope to see make it to the little screen, but not to the theater? Responding to reluctance for a Sandman…

This Is How Wearable Computing Will Revolutionize Healthcare

Clinical settings and emergency rooms will never look the same once augmented reality and other collaborative devices finally make their much vaunted appearance. And as this new video from Wearable Intelligence shows, it could even save our lives. The video shows how Google Glass, once integrated with other tools, could be used to assist in…

Totally Ludicrous: A 2001 Tribute With Fruits And Vegetables

This advertisement for Danish butter brand Lurpak features some of the silliest riffs on 2001: A Space Odyssey we’ve ever seen. You have to love the carrot rocket and the potato asteroids. And now, we crave butter. [via Eater]

Perfectly Preserved 1950s Home Is A Living Time Capsule

Now you can own a little piece of the past. This gorgeous Toronto home is being sold by its 96-year-old owners, who have had this house in their possession for 72 years. And they certainly decorated the heck out of it. The house looks like it was put in a bubble during the 1950s and…

Aereo to Add Chromecast Support for Ultimate TV Nerd Nirvana

What do you get when you combine Aereo’s anytime, anywhere, broadcast-TV-via-internet cloud service with Google’s Chromecast wonder-dongle? A confluence of TV gizmo delight—and that’s exactly what Aereo announced today. If you happen to live in one of the cities that supports Aereo, and you’re a proud Chromecast owner, starting on May 29th you’ll be able…

Oscar Niemeyer Was One of the Most Futuristic Architects of All Time

A legendary figure of modern architecture, Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012) lived through the 20th century, designed more than hundred buildings, and planned and designed the federal capital of Brasília, Brazil with Lúcio Costa. His legacy lives on in these gamechanging buildings. The Brazilian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1939, designed with Lúcio Costa…

Watch the First Episode of James Cameron’s Global Warming Documentary

Years of Living Dangerously is an eight-part global warming documentary from James Cameron featuring celebrity correspondents like Harrison Ford, Olivia Munn and Matt Damon. It technically premieres April 13th, but you can already watch the first episode online. Via the series’ website: The series combines the blockbuster storytelling styles of Hollywood’s top movie makers, including…

Will Amazon Do To Comic Shops What It Did To Book Stores?

Big news today in the comics publishing world: Amazon has purchased Comixology, the largest retailer of digital comics. So what does that mean for your local comic book store? Amazon is certainly already competing with brick and mortar comic book stores; they sell both physical comics (often with sizable discounts on trade paperbacks) and Kindle…

Karen Gillan’s Hair Will Appear In Star Wars: Episode VII

But just her hair. Weird, right? Well, when the redheaded actress shaved off her long locks to appear as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, she apparently donated them to Episode VII. From an interview she did with Collider: Was it just very liberating to shave your head, or did you have any moments of…