How Tom Clancy’s Techno-Thrillers Helped Us Understand Modern Warfare

In the days after 9/11, as the media tried to assume some kind of normalcy, I remember watching talk shows attempt to dissect the week’s unbelievable events. And I remember one guest who kept popping up night after night: Novelist Tom Clancy, who died Tuesday at 66. Clancy was a darling of CNN and Charlie…

Margaret Atwood’s apocalypse trilogy dares to imagine GMO Utopia

We’ve had time to digest the final book in Margaret Atwood’s end-of-the-world trilogy, MaddAddam. Now it’s time to look at all three novels, starting with Oryx and Crake, and consider what Atwood is trying to do with this techno-magic realist tale of humanity’s destruction and redemption through synthetic biology. Warning: This is an essay analyzing…

The Oldest Alcoholic Drinks on Earth

A long-preserved historical artifact always carries an air of heady mystery with it. You’re touching something that people touched hundreds of years ago. But when it’s an alcoholic beverage, preserved for centuries, that head-spinning feeling has the potential to become real. Here are the oldest drinks still in existence. Top image: 7,000-year-old organic residue of…

What would happen if you stood in the way of the LHC’s proton beams?

Goddamn awfulness, that’s what. Above: Anatoli Bugorski, Russian scientist and victim of a particle accelerator accident Oh you want specifics? Alright, so technically nobody has ever been so unlucky as to find themselves in the path of either of the Large Hadron Collider’s proton beams while they were actually turned on, so the real answer…

Is David Fincher’s Black Hole movie back on?

With the financial success of World War Z and 12 Years a Slave getting all the critical buzz, Brad Pitt’s studio Plan B now has oodles of cash and a lot of leg room to get the rest of their slate done. And gloryosky, that could mean the return of David Fincher’s adaptation of the…

Which hero did you want to be when you grew up?

Most of us grew up mainlining heroic stories of brave exploits and fantastical sacrifice. And we dreamed of becoming a version of our most beloved heroes. But which epic hero or champion did you dream that you could grow up to be, when you were a little kid? Please include a picture or clip of…

Scientists find radioactive fracking waste in Pennsylvanian stream

A group of Duke University scientists have found concentrations of radium, a highly radioactive substance, in a stream near a facility that treats wastewater left over from hydraulic fracturing. The concentrations are 200 times higher than background levels — and they’re in the water supply. Fracking is the practice of pumping chemical-laced liquids underground at…

A minimalist animation puts our solar system into stunning perspective

Loving this fantastic introduction to our local star system, created by the folks at Kurzgesagt. It’s clear, clean, concise – and beautifully animated, to boot. The solar system – well known from countless documentaries. 3D animation on black background. This infographic videos tries something different. Animated infographics and a focus on minimalistic design puts the…

Best, Sluttiest and Weirdest Store-Bought Halloween Costumes for 2013

Cosplay is for all year round — but dressing up in weird store-bought approximations of your faovrite characters only happens once a year. Spirit Halloween has rolled out this year’s prefab costumes. So here’s our annual look at the best, weirdest and trashiest Halloween costumes you can buy. Iron Man 3 Lone Ranger – Note…

An infertile woman gives birth after experimental treatment

A 30-year-old infertile woman has given birth to a healthy baby boy in Japan after surgeons performed an experimental ovary treatment. The breakthrough, while preliminary, gives hope to other women with fertility problems. Top image: Dr. Kazuhiro Kawamura, the physician who performed the experimental surgery, is seen holding the newborn. (Associated press/Kazuhiro Kawamura). The baby…

Family Guy addresses one of Back to the Future‘s many Sex Conundrums

Back to the Future is a wonderful movie, but it’s also full of squicky sex stuff. Like watching someone’s Mom hit on her time-traveling son — plus, why does Doc really want to pal around with a High School kid? But Family Guy addressed perhaps the most notable WTF moment last weekend.

11 Fearsome Warrior Races (That Would Be Ridiculously Easy to Defeat)

An entire species of warriors is one of the most thrilling tropes from science fiction and fantasy. Bred only for combat, with a culture based entirely on war and destruction. But sometimes that single-minded focus on slaughter can actually have its drawbacks. Here are 11 fictional warrior races that would be easy to beat. 1)…

Newly-Discovered Phenomenon Turns Water Droplets into Energy

This deceptively simple animation reveals a surprising new discovery out of MIT. Researchers say it could lead to more efficient power plants and new techniques for energy-harvesting. Scientists have known for some time that when water droplets form on a highly water-repellant surface, they tend to catapult from that surface, propelled by excess energy. Now,…

When the Doppler Effect gets twisted

We know the Doppler Effect as the reason why horns and sirens drop in tone as they rush by us. But the Doppler Effect works on objects that are twisting around, too. We’ll tell you how the Doppler Effect gets in a tangle. The Doppler Effect and Sound The basic Doppler Effect is well-known to…

The io9 Calendar: October’s Can’t-Miss Science Fiction and Fantasy!

What does October have in store for science fiction and fantasy lovers? There are new books by Catherynne M. Valente, Paul Pope and Dan Simmons. Tons of new TV shows make their debuts. And there are loads of author appearances, conventions and new movies. Here’s the io9 calendar! Top image: The Lost Stars by Jack…

Sweet 90s Nostalgia: ReBoot is being rebooted for TV!

Remember ReBoot, the wacky CG animated series set inside a computer, starring a collection of green sprites who spend their days fighting Hexadecimal, Megabyte and playing the users’ games? Well it’s bAAAaaaaack! Rainmaker Entertainment has just announced the re-birth of Mainframe Entertainment, the folks responsible for ReBoot. And with this newly revamped division of television…

These Are the Most Extreme Migrations in the Animal Kingdom

Migrations occur in every major branch of the animal kingdom, from birds and crustaceans to insects and whales. But some of these journeys are amazing feats of endurance, spanning thousands of miles and deadly terrain without rest. Here’s what science can tell us about the most extreme migrations, and how animals survive them. Gif by…

The robot uprising has never looked more beautiful than in this short

You may have once seen a trailer for a short film called K3loid, but now it’s finished and you must watch it. It’s got robot armies. rampaging mecha, soldiers in power armor, creepy mannequins, an enigmatic AI and it is unbelievably gorgeous. It’s so awesome that two Hollywood production companies have already partnered with director…

Could technology be used to control your mind?

As our brains become increasingly intertwined with our technologies, we run the risk of exposing our minds to hackers. As this new video from AsapScience shows, the possibility is very real.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, check out the Berkeley Ideas Festival on October 25-26! There will be a ton of interesting people talking about science, the future, and more. And io9 has a special discount code (if you want the discount, click here).