The bizarre history of our obsession with unicorns

Everyone’s favorite sparkly Internet meme has a long and strangely scientific history – naturalists and scholars have been obsessing over unicorns for over 2000 years. What turned a scientific curiosity of the year 398 BCE into a virgin-loving Christian symbol? The Early Science of Unicorns In his terrific book A Natural History of Unicorns, University…

Can we just marvel at this incredible image of the Sun for a second?

Seriously. Just LOOK AT IT. There were some pretty fantastic photos taken of the solar eclipse earlier this month, but this here may be our favorite. A composite photo created with imagery captured from solar observatories all over the world, this image depicts the Sun like we’ve never seen it before. https://gizmodo.com/remarkable-photos-of-yesterdays-rare-hybrid-solar-ecli-1458103684 Photo Credit: D.…

Moronic Family Feud contestant proves we need way more zombie movies

You may think that Hollywood’s zombie craze has reached its apex, but this clip from the gameshow Family Feud proves that we still have plenty of room for improvement in terms of zombie awareness. Because when someone is asked to “Name something you know about zombies,” their answer should never, ever be this. [Via Uproxx]

Could the unaired Locke and Key pilot kill the new movie?

We loved the unaired pilot for the TV show based on Joe Hill’s comic Locke and Key, but now its existence could be preventing us from getting the recently announced Locke and Key movie. Apparently the film studio, Universal, is worried the pilot could be released just in time to steal the movie’s thunder. https://gizmodo.com/the-locke-key-pilot-teases-the-brilliant-horror-serie-5823921…

This is the tiniest storage device ever built

Theoretically speaking, a single atom could be made to represent one computer bit — a technological prospect that could lead to unimaginably small storage devices. But getting atoms to behave in the desired way is easier said than done. Until now. Above: A scanning tunneling microscope showing single holmium atoms on a platinum surface. It’s…

​The 16 Most Useless Star Wars Figures in the Galaxy

A truly preposterous amount of Star Wars toys have been made over the last 35 years; during that time, Hasbro (and Kenner before them) obviously couldn’t just keep churning out Luke, Han and Leia figures, so they’ve made toys of almost everybody who ever appeared in a single frame of the six movies. Here are…

Le Guin on Lessing: Read Ursula Le Guin’s somewhat disparaging 1979 review of Doris Lessing’s first straight-up science fiction novel, Shikasta, here.

The time anti-vaxxers argued that vaccines would turn kids into cows

Those who have had to argue with anti-vaxxers will know that the argument shifts. If it’s not mercury in the vaccines that’s causing problems, it’s dead fetus parts, and if it’s not dead fetus parts, it’s unspecified “toxins.” But did you know the free-form argument has been going on longer than you imagined? . It…

Breaking Bad’s final gag reel will make you laugh, and maybe cry

This is it, the very last bit of “new” Breaking Bad footage you’ll ever see. Behold the Breaking Bad season 5 gag reel, and begin to laugh through the tears. Taken from the Breaking Bad: The Complete Series DVD box set, which is stored in a barrel. It was taken down! You can watch it…

Disney’s new rendering technique could usher in a new era of animation

An animation studio can spend days rendering a scene that features water, smoke and other substances that affect light (and its simulation) in complex ways. Now, a team led by Disney Research Zürich has developed a computational algorithm that can reduce rendering times for such scenes by a factor of up to 1,000. Animators call…

Watch in real time as scientists discover ancient human fossils

A team of scientists who are excavating an ancient human cave in South Africa have joined forces with National Geographic to bring you live updates of their incredible finds. Called the Rising Star Expedition, the excavation is focused on a cave that that is filled with the bones of multiple ancient humans. Members of the…

James Woods explains why robots should eventually get to vote

Starting tonight, the Science Channel will air a six-part series called Futurescape, a slick documentary-style show hosted by James Woods about the world of tomorrow. We recently caught up with the oscar-nominated actor to learn more. One of the more interesting aspects of Futurescape is that, in addition to heralding the technologies of the future,…

​Mystery Science Theater Thanksgiving Day Marathon Returns!

A long lost Thanksgiving tradition is resurrecting from the grave. The annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon will return this year. It’s a holiday miracle! Taking in hours of MST3K after gorging yourself on turkey and family hostility is tradition, but unfortunately the long day of laugh/napping was cancelled when Comedy Central pulled the plug…

​Almost Human gets better, and it’s not even because of the sexbots

After a pilot that showed more potential than promise, Almost Human returned for the second part of it’s two-night premiere with a much stronger episode. It was hardly perfect, but it was a definite improvement over the premiere. Also: Sexbots! https://gizmodo.com/almost-human-goes-back-to-the-1980s-future-1466747720 The episode begins with a man hiring a ludicrously good-looking sexbot (and well done…

​’Selfie’ is 2013’s Word of the Year

Put away your brackets, folks. The Oxford English Dictionary has declared its one word to rule them all this year, and that word is selfie, whose usage rose over 17,000% in the last year alone. The shortlist of words it beat out includes: twerk, binge-watching, olinguito (which the OED informs me is is a small,…

No, drinking milk won’t prevent poor bone health when you’re older

For years we’ve been told that teenagers should drink three glasses of milk a day or the equivalent in dairy foods to build up bone reserves that help prevent osteoporosis and bone fractures later in life. But a comprehensive new study throwing this conventional wisdom into serious question. The research, which appears in Monday’s issue…

Get the first look at Barry Allen on Arrow!

And an X-Files alum is joining Arrow, too. Plus, a new photo of Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past is doing reshoots, and the fate of the Transformers movies hangs in the balance. And check out a clip from Doctor Who: An Adventure in Space and Time. Spoilers now!…

Marilyn Manson guest stars as Peter Pan’s shadow on Once Upon a Time

Shit is finally happening on “Don’t Worry, You Didn’t Miss Anything Upon A Time.” FINALLY. OH also — who wants to hear Marilyn Manson playing the epic role of “shadow?” Spoilers ahead! The big reveal this week: Peter Pan is Rumpelstiltskin’s DAD. Which I think we all saw coming, or at least suspected. I thought…

How did this four-winged Microraptor fly?

During the late Cretaceous, this gorgeous four-winged Microraptor flitted among the dinosaurs in a region we call China today. Now, paleontologist Darren Naish and his colleagues have done a series of crazy experiments to figure out how these seemingly-impossible bird ancestors flew. Illustration by Emily Willoughby With characteristic dry wit, Naish describes part of the…

A Few Possible Ways That We Could Fund Interstellar Travel

Stephen Hawking argues in the recent book Starship Century that humans need to spread out into interstellar space in the next thousand years, or we’re doomed. So over at Forbes, Elise Ackerman lays out three scenarios in which we could pay the immense cost of interstellar colonization. Image via Merbel on CG Hub. In a…