For a Sharper Mind in Middle Age, Try Running in Your 20s

Reason #34,857 that exercise is important: getting your pulse up when you’re 25 can make for a better brain at 45, according to a newly published study out of the University of Minnesota, the first to examine how exercise in young adulthood affects cognition later in life. Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk // CC 2.0 Researchers…

Here in Ship City, We’re Working Our Way Back to the Information Age

After the collapse, people started recycling things on an epic scale. They lived inside ship hulls and mined skyscrapers for scrap. A strange new civilization was blooming out of the old, and things were going to be different this time. Florent Llamas is a student studying video game concept art in France, and his environment…

This Rare Peek At Pixar’s Animation System Is Computer-Generated Magic

Computer animation has come a long way since the first Toy Story movie. Last week, Pixar offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at the sophisticated system used on Brave and Monsters University. As part of the Pixar Keynote at the GPU Technology Conference, attendees got a peek at Presto, the proprietary animation system Pixar built for…

There Is So Much Death In The 100. So. Much. Death.

The 100 is all death, death, death, pause for video blogging, and more death. And I still love it. Spoilers ahead… First up, apologies for missing last week’s episode. However, I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to sum up the entire episode in one, perfect gif. Voilà! Apparently crash landing on a dangerous future Earth turns…

Giant Galaxy Cluster “El Gordo” Is Even Bigger Than We Thought

We already knew that this ancient galaxy cluster (nicknamed “El Gordo”) was the largest of the distant galaxies that we had spotted, but it turns out we’ve been massively underestimating its size. How did astronomers figure it out? Simple. They weighed it. So how does one weigh a cluster of galaxies almost 10 billion light…

43-Year-Old Johnny Knoxville Is Now Voicing Leonardo In The TMNT Movie

Although everyone supposed that they would be voiced by their young mo-cap actors, the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has just announced that it’s recasting its voice roles. And now the teenage leader of the TMNT will be voiced by Jackass’ Johnny Knoxville, who hasn’t been a teen since 1990. I’m not even…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: A Clash Of Future And Past

On a misty field, two time periods seem to clash as a medieval army meets the bearers of futuristic technology. You tell us: what’s going on in this odd scene? This illustration, titled Progressors, is by artist Mikhail Borulko. Can you come up with a short story inspired by this image? If so, post it…

Major Spoilers For Everything! Over at Tor.com, there are spoilers for every science fiction and fantasy book ever published. You have been warned.

What Will The Marvel Universe Look Like 15 Years From Now?

Today we learned that Marvel has a roadmap sketched out for its movies all the way up to 2028. But just what would that look like? There’s the possibility, of course, of reboots and re-castings for already introduced characters. But there also another road they could go down — plenty of movies featuring lesser-knowns, as…

Look at These Bison Running! Obviously a Volcanic Eruption Is Nigh!

So this video got posted on YouTube, with the title “Alert! Yellowstone Bison Running for their Lives!” That turned into a whole meme about how the animals of Yellowstone “know” there’s a megavolcanic eruption coming. Incoming pseudoscience alert: No, there isn’t. What this video actually demonstrates is how fast a viral panic can spread online,…

Bill Clinton Hopes An Alien Invasion Would Bring Humans Together

The White House gets spectacularly destroyed in Independence Day, one of the most famous movies of Bill Clinton’s presidency — but if that happened in real life, Clinton says it could be a good thing, if it finally ended the huge divisions among the human race. Last night on Jimmy Kimmel, the ex-POTUS was asked…

These Are the Most Bizarre Deadly Weapons in Human History

Weapon design is often meant to inspire fear, but occasionally it’s just so goofy or strange that you wind up laughing. Such is the case with the weapons in this gallery, which include a scooter rifle, acoustic kitties, and harmonica guns. Harmonica guns, multi-shot weapons with a horizontal magazine, invented by J. Jarre between 1859…

Ridley Scott’s Halo Project Gets A Battlestar Galactica Director

Good news, Halo lovers — you’re finally getting your long-awaited live-action video game adaptation, and it’s being directed Battlestar Galactica director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. TheWrap is reporting that the Ridley Scott-backed, live-action Halo adaptation is rocketing forward. Mind you, this is completely different from the TV series Halo that Steven Spielberg wants to make for Xbox…

Lego, Get On This Batman ’66 Batmobile Set IMMEDIATELY

Gentleman, scholar and all-around hero Sam Gras submitted a Batmobile set à la the 1966 TV Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, to Lego’s Cuusoo program, and if there is any justice in this world, we will be able to purchase it within the year. Here are the stats: • Features The…

It Makes No Difference Whether This Character Is Male or Female

As anyone who has played Mass Effect knows, some characters can be either gender and still play the same basic role. What other characters in science fiction and fantasy do you think could switch genders and still have the same fundamental story? Pictures are always good to include in your answer, as are videos or…

Famed Primatologist Jane Goodall on Science and Religion

Today is Jane Goodall’s 80th birthday. To celebrate, Brain Picking’s Maria Popova has assembled a poignant and thoughtful tribute to the legendary primatologist, featuring Goodall’s reflections on science, religion and human responsibility. An excerpt from Goodall’s reflections: With language we can ask, as can no other living beings, those questions about who we are and…

Is That A Meteorite Streaking Past This Skydiver?

Now this is a close shave. Back in 2012, a Norwegian skydiver came within inches of utter annihilation when an apparent meteorite whizzed past him. Amazingly, he caught the whole thing on camera. For the impatient among you, go ahead and skip ahead to the 0:28 mark (for a real-time perspective) and the 0:36 mark…

Monty Python Is Back With A New Music Video!

The Monty Python lads are gearing up for their upcoming live stage show, and as a tease, they’ve released the uptempo anti-authoritarian anthem “The Silly Walks Song,” along with a video that celebrates decades of goofy Python imagery. Although it makes sense that the video teasing the reunion show—which they are calling Monty Python Live…

How To Know Where Cutting Down Trees Will Do The Least Damage

In the future, we may be able to farm trees in a much more sustainable way — by paying attention to the microbes that grow in forests. A new study reveals which forests can be farmed without the risk of releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A group of Yale researchers wanted to know…

Person of Interest Is Making Political Science Fiction Relevant Again

Tuesday night’s Person of Interest confirmed that this story isn’t just set five minutes into the future — it’s actually taking place in an alternate timeline, where Snowden’s NSA whistleblowing happened in a very different way. And that allows us to see how powerful political science fiction can be. Shaw and Reese gave us some…