Four whales killed in sanctuary, Japanese whalers say it’s for science

The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has released a disturbing video showing four dead minke whales aboard a Japanese whaling vessel located in protected waters. Conservationists are outraged at the Australian government which doesn’t appear to be doing anything about it. Warning: The above video is graphic. The group, which is accusing the Australian government is…

Are GMO bans akin to climate change denial? A piece in this week’s New York Times examines the challenges a Hawaiian politician is facing in finding credible information about genetically modified foods, amidst passionate anti-GMO pleas and charges from agricultural researchers that GMO bans are anti-science. [via Discovery Blogs]

Here Are Some of the Creepiest Abandoned Prisons We’ve Ever Seen

There is perhaps nothing more poignant than an abandoned prison. When you see these haunting images, it’s hard not to imagine what once went on in these now-crumbling rooms. A jail on the island of Procida in Italy, built in 1563 as a castle, transformed into a prison in 1815, closed in 1988. (via Luca…

Now that’s an exceptionally clever Popeye tattoo

Take a closer look at this Popeye tattoo, and you’ll see that the guy’s hand is Popeye’s super-powered, spinach fist! This tattoo is bananas clever. The ink art was created by Russian artist Alina Fokina. And kind of reminds us of this previously beloved Manga tatt (also spotted by Geekologie). [via Geekologie]

A major step to predicting when supervolcanoes will explode

Scientists have learned that massive caldera volcanoes, like the one stewing beneath Yellowstone, are ruled by geological processes far different than the ones governing conventional volcanoes. These massive reservoirs of magma can explode spontaneously — an important piece of insight that can help us predict a future disaster. Super-eruptions are extremely rare, occurring once every…

Mountain Dew-flavored Cheetos are the nerdiest food ever invented

Japan — because of course, Japan, obviously has combined Cheetos the snack food with Mountain Dew the beverage to create a lemon-lime snack food that will revolutionize the way gamers will eat junk food while pretending to be a half-elf paladin. I kid because I love; seriously, if this insanity were somehow available in the…

What’s the greatest outer space TV show of all time?

Television can go anywhere and explore any time — but we all know the best TV shows take place out in the final frontier. Television has shaped our dreams of space exploration for decades. But what’s the best space TV show of all time? This week, we’re doing the “open channel” posts a little differently.…

You’ll want to visit the floating city in this stunning animated short

There are shades of Moebius and Hayao Miyazaki in Inbal Breda‘s wordless short film The Flight. Two girls leap and bound through the ruins of a magnificent floating city and learn something about their friendship in the process. The Flight is Breda’s graduation film from Bezalel Academy. She also made a film for her third…

Channing Tatum and his wolf face will make or break Jupiter Ascending

A brand new photo from the Wachowskis’adventure Jupiter Ascending is one part dream spectacle and two parts insane prosthetic makeup. Here’s a supreme closeup of main character Channing Tatum in full wolf-warrior mode. And if you can’t swallow this look, there’s no hope for Jupiter Ascending. However… if anyone can pull it off, it’s Tatum.…

65 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies to Watch out for in 2014

This will be a year of epics. Some of our most ambitious movie-makers are serving up stories of Biblical apocalypses, space voyages and the rise of artificial intelligences. Godzilla and the Planet of the Apes are both back. And the superhero genre gets pushed to its absolute limits. Here are 65 movies that could rock…

Use dry ice to make a sound lens for your ears

I love finding new things to do with dry ice! We know that we can explode things with it, but once the pleasure from that fades, or if you need a temporary break, just grab a balloon, and make a sound lens. If you’ve spent even a little time in a physics classroom, or an…

The rumor about Wonder Woman’s movie debut will make your head explode

Well. If this recently surfaced rumor is true, then Wonder Woman is about to get a verrrrry interesting new origin for Batman Vs. Superman. It’s after the jump; try not to be drinking anything when you read them, because you’re pretty much guaranteed a spit take. Batman-on-Film.com — which, to be fair, has a pretty…

Digital artist Tahar Abroudjameur created this haunting image of a skull-like nebula by re-imagining a Hubble photo of two colliding spiral galaxies. Called “The Universe Is In Us,” it’s one of many contributions to the NASA remix project.

Fashion that will hide you from face-recognition technology

A recent study found recognizable images of human faces in high-res photographs of eyes, reminding us that surveillance technology improves more and more each day. But designers and technologists are working on ways to keep our faces private from prying cameras by combining the weakness of facial recognition technology with fashion. Top image from Stealth…

R.I.P. Bernard Glasser, producer of Day of the Triffids

Bernard Glasser’s life sounds like a fable of a B-movie America gone by: the former substitute teacher at Beverly Hills High School borrowed money from his landlord and became a movie producer. His films included Return of the Fly, A Crack in the World and Day of the Triffids. According to the obit over at…

First Look at The Simpsons LEGO House is insanely detailed

We’ve been patiently waiting for more news about The Simpsons LEGO home, complete with nosey-doodly-doo neighbor Ned Flanders. And now, it’s really real! Behold the first piece of what we hope will become a complete LEGO Springfield. Carlos S over at Eurobricks, posted this image of The Simpsons LEGO packaging, without any indication of where…

8 Demigod-Awful Movies about Hercules

When Renny Harlin’s Legend of Hercules comes out this Friday, January 10th, it’s probably going to be terrible. It appears to have almost nothing to do with any of the original Greek myths; however, the son of Zeus has faced plenty of cinematic woes in the past (although none of them had the indecency to…

Is Bitcoin evil or just dumb?

There’s been a digital cash rush over the past few months, with Bitcoin rising in value from $13.50 to over $1000 in 2013. Economist Paul Krugman calls Bitcoin “evil,” while economics-obsessed scifi author Charles Stross says he wishes it would die in fire. Why do they think Bitcoin will usher in the econopocalypse? Bitcoin is…

The doctor who believed the nose and the genitals were connected

There’s nothing like the doctoring that people got in the late 1800s (thank goodness). Here’s how a mutual appreciation society ended up nearly killing one woman, and collapsing a side of her face. It was Vienna in the 1800s, and Sigmund Freud was coming into vogue. He believed in the significance of dreams, the importance…

This Week’s TV: Two brand new scifi shows, including one you must watch

After a few quieter weeks in TV land, we have two scifi premieres airing this week. Check out the goods on Helix, the Arctic outbreak thriller that promises to be one of this year’s most exciting shows. And take a peek at Josh Holloway’s return to television as a government agent who can communicate with…