Whether you’re cancelling your trip to SeaWorld or gazing lovingly at that fading picture of yourself posing with Shamu, Blackfish will change the way you think about captive orcas. Watch the documentary and then discuss the controversy in the comments today at noon ET.

On A World of Monsters And Magic, She’s Indiana Jones

Meet Kate Kristopher, the star of Image’s highly anticipated comic Shutter #1, an ex-explorer who gets pulled into an adventure where she’s less worried about demons and ninjas than her family’s secret. Plus the new Ultimates, Samurai Jacqueline, and more! New Issues Dark Horse: • Creepy Comics #16, Star Wars #16, X #12. DC: •…

You’ll Never Look At Pond Water The Same Way After Watching This Video

Hidden in pond water is a secret world teeming with swimming, crawling, and bioluminescent life. Daniel Stoupin’s stunning video reveals the incredible diversity of life in a pond. Stoupin has created a number of breathtaking nature videos (most recently his timelapse of ocean coral), and The hidden life in pond water is no exception. He…

Which Fantasy Was Too Heavily Sanitized For Mainstream Audiences?

Mention “Disneyfication” and everybody knows what you’re talking about. But the phenomenon of sanding all the rough edges off fantasy stories goes way further than cartoons, into every area of pop culture. What’s the most horrible case where a fantasy lost all its darkness or complexity, to make it more popular? Please include a picture,…

Captain America 2 Directors Respond To That Crazy Robert Redford Rumor

Before Captain America: The Winter Soldier premiered, there were a lot of wild rumors floating around about the character played by Robert Redford. So we asked the directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, about these crazy notions. And now that we can freely talk about end-of-the-movie spoilers, here’s what they told us. Warning: Spoilers ahead… Before…

Tad Williams Is Writing A Sequel To The Books That Changed Epic Fantasy

At long last, Tad Williams is writing a sequel trilogy to his groundbreaking Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, which helped redefine what epic fantasy was capable of. Top image by Michael Whelan. Over at the National Post, Daniel Kaszor argues that Williams’ trilogy, published from 1988 to 1993, helped pave the way for authors like…

The CDC Debunks Hollywood Myths About Pandemics

It’s always refreshing to see films and television shows where scientists are portrayed as heroes — except when the science itself is bogus. Over at the CDC, bloggers are endeavoring to inoculate the public against the entertainment industry’s most egregious “outbreak” clichés. The CDC illustrates the contrast between fiction and the real world by documenting…

Lost Girl’s scorched Earth season finale was terrible, but promising

Lost Girl’s season has finally ended. What do you do when your plot makes no sense and you can’t figure out how to fix it? Just kill your way out of it. All season long, people who’ve already watched this season on their earlier Canadian air dates have been posting comments about how horrible the…

Poseidon Rex Trailer Asks: What If A T-Rex Could Swim?

Here is the premise of this film: A bunch of boat buffoons and Leo from Charmed discover a Poseidon T-Rex that is protecting her underwater eggs, plus Spanish Gold. Because as you know, there’s only one thing Tyrannosaurus loves more than their eggs, it’s gold. Watch the trailer for Poseidon Rex right now. This is…

All The April Science Fiction and Books That Will Rock Your Universe!

April is the coolest month — at least, judging from the stacks of astonishing science fiction and fantasy books being published right about now. There’s tons of space opera, alternate history, crazy apocalypses, and much more. Here are 20 novels you can’t afford to miss out on in April! Peacemaker by C. J. Cherryh (DAW)…

Alcohol May Have Different Pair-Bonding Effects On Males And Females

Alcohol is often referred to as a social lubricant, but its effects on pair bonding have not been fully explored. But a new experiment performed on prairie voles — a socially monogamous mammal — suggests that alcohol may cause males to be more drawn to strangers, while the opposite holds true for females. Obviously, humans…

New Implant Helps Paralyzed Patients Regain Partial Use Of Their Legs

After receiving an implant that electrically stimulates the spinal cord, four paraplegic men can now voluntarily move their previously paralyzed legs. It’s a breakthrough that’s poised to revolutionize the treatment of paralysis. Researchers working to treat damage-induced paralysis have made a number of advances over the past several years, but this latest breakthrough is one…

Herzog, 150 of the Best Movies Ever, The Desolation of Smaug [Deals]

This awesome limited edition Werner Herzog Collection releases on July 29. It features 16 of Herzog’s films all on blu-ray for the first time. The set is currently $10 cheaper on ShoutFactory than Amazon, but not so fast. Amazon offers pre-order price guarantee, so ordering from them will almost certainly net you the better deal…

How One Man Beat The Mackworth Clock

The Mackworth Clock is a famous test that was used to assess the vigilance of radar operators during World War II. Can you notice when a clock jumps one second ahead? but one man “hacked” the test, getting an unheard-of score. Years later, he explained his hack — and brought up a major flaw in…

Air Force Says Drones Won’t Carry Nukes…For Now

A recently published report outlines the Air Force’s future plans for its fleet of drones, including whether they would ever be used to carry out a nuclear strike. In the coming 25 years, the Air Force hopes to have drones take over or assist with more of the types of missions that are currently being…

Watch the U.S. Navy Blow Shit Up With Its Futuristic Railgun

Gamers and scifi enthusiasts are familiar with the much-vaunted railgun — an electrically powered projectile launcher capable of propelling objects at speeds reaching Mach 7. We’ve seen the Navy’s railgun in action before — but we’ve never actually seen it destroy stuff. Until now. Navy officials have been busy at work testing the railguns to…

Did Nathan Fillion Just Reveal His Guardians of the Galaxy Cameo?

Nathan Fillion, who has worked with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn on both Slither and Super, was asked recently if his buddy slipped him into the next Marvel feature. His answer seemed to imply that the answer was yes. Plus watch the first GOTG clip! At the Saint Louis Comic-Con, Fillion was questioned…

Jean-Claude Van Damme Looked Goofy In The Original Predator Costume

The final version of the Predator costume required a tall actor, but before Kevin Peter Hall stepped into the final suit, Jean-Claude Van Damme shot scenes as the Predator. And he looked especially insane in the “cloaked” Predator outfit, which was bright red. Steve Johnson and Matt Winston explain the history of the Predator costume…

7 Terrifying Cursed Objects That Actually Exist

We recently told you about the many cursed jewels of the world, but you don’t have to have a shiny rock to have your life destroyed by an otherworldly evil. Plenty of items have terrible curses on them, which can hurt, harass or outright murder people. Here are seven items that you never want to…

The io9 Book Club is in Session! Let’s Talk About Annihilation.

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In March, we read Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here’s how it works: You read the book. We create a special book club post on io9 when the meeting is…