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).

This number proves that nothing in the world is solid

One branch of science, rheology, has invented a dimensionless number. It’s called the Deborah Number, and it is meant to quantify the motto of the science: “Everything flows.” Put another way, everything in the world has liquid properties. Even mountains. Rheology was created in 1928, the collaboration of an engineer, a chemist, and a professor…

Elizabeth Olsen is Avengers‘ Scarlet Witch (or Sam Jackson is a liar)

Marvel has been pretty coy about who would play the Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of UItron. Samuel L. Jackson, not so much — especially after he told The Wall Street Journal that Elizabeth Olson is his new cast-mate. From the WSJ interview: “I don’t think we begin shooting before March of next year. I…

Sengoku Batman Needs to Be a Series NOW

We would pay to visit a gallery lined with these gorgeous Sengoku Batman illustrations. Seriously, we would pay good money to spend an evening ogling paintings of Batman’s allies and adversaries frozen in gorgeous, ancient warrior poses. Created by the artist Scott Wade (who now has prints for sale!!!) we just have to say, WELL…

Ancient “supervolcanoes” lurk on Mars

Once-active “supervolcanoes” in northern Mars likely spewed ash and dust thousands of miles away, producing powdery deposits noticed by the NASA’s Curiosity and Opportunity rovers closer to the equator, a new study suggests. Above: elevation data is overlaid on daytime thermal infrared images of Eden Patera, a candidate supervolcano on Mars (NASA). The scientists suspect…

MTV’s Scream series will have supernatural elements

While the Scream film series will most likely be ending with the 5th installment, MTV is ready to reboot the whole thing and add magic. Huh? Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin, the two writers behind the very popular TV series Revenge, are presently working on a pilot for MTV’s Scream TV series. And so far…

What You Write On Facebook Reveals More Than You Realize

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have analyzed 700 million words and phrases from the Facebook messages of 75,000 volunteers. The resulting word clouds show the extent to which our use of language is influenced by our personality, age, and sex. Social media channels like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the way psychologists study human…

The enduring mystery of Hitler’s monkeys

Despite the best efforts of the British intelligence service at the time, and historians today, a mysterious detail of World War II history remains unsolved. What happened to a group of monkeys imported into Germany? During World War II, intelligence agencies the world over monitored all the doings of the Axis powers, from diplomatic overtures…

Do We Live in the Future Already?

Do we already live in the future? Sometimes, it seems like yes (smart phones and super fast trains!). Other times, it seems like no (freeway traffic and not that many robots). Today, we want to know what currently existing technology makes you feel like we might already be living in the future. Leave your candidates…

Synthetic cannabinoids, while legal, have been shown to have much more harmful effects than actual marijuana – but those effects can vary dramatically from person to person. Now, researchers led by University of Arkansas toxicologist Jeff Moran are working to understand the dangers of fake pot by studying how the body metabolizes two popular forms…

This upsetting timelapse shows how we’re making life hell for manatees

During the winter, Florida’s manatees come to Crystal River Springs to keep warm, but that exposes them to curious tourists who just won’t leave them alone. Watch this video to see just how bad they have it. Indeed, Florida’s manatees have it tough, whether it be on account of toxic red algae, boat propellors, or…

Check out revealing set photos for Mockingjay and Game of Thrones!

The Fantastic Four reboot and Amazing Spider-Man 3 have both gotten new writers. See Katniss and Gale cuddling on the set of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. And set photos reveal Game of Throne’s new Daario. Spoilers ahead! Gravity In an interview with Wired, Alfonso Cuarón says he is never going to do a space movie…

This Is How Star Trek Into Darkness Should Have Ended

Okay, I have a confession. I didn’t watch Star Trek Into Darkness. Not because I don’t like lens flares or Trekkies or plot holes but because I’m generally just a terrible person at catching movies while they’re in theaters. It’s okay though. From the looks of this latest hilarious video on how movies should have…

Every robot guitarist needs a small mammal friend

On a rainy night, Busker’s Row was pretty empty. But that’s when Hattie did her best work. She could strum a tune that perfectly matched the tempo of the beating rain, and the kitten on her shoulder would howl counterpoint. If Hattie had been human, she might have wondered if the coins from passerby were…

Corita Kent: How a Screenprinting Nun Changed the Course of Modern Art

During the 1960s, a woman named Corita Kent transformed a tiny art department in a Hollywood Catholic school into a global center for design and printmaking. She was buddies with Buckminister Fuller and counted IBM as a client. Oh yeah, and she was a nun! The new book Someday is Now: The Art of Sister…

David Bowie’s 100 favorite books include George Orwell’s 1984, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor, Don DeLillo’s White Noise… and Viz, the satirical comics magazine known for characters like “Buster Gonad and his Unfeasibly Large Testicles.” Awesome.

Comment of the Day: Rules of Time Travel Edition

In today’s comments, we watched a coin fly over a cup, debated the merits and drawbacks of 3-D screenings… and came up with some invaluable additions to the time-traveler’s handbook. Responding to this post on 10 silly tropes of sci-fi time travel, commenter twophrasebark throws in a few more unusual features of sci-fi time travel…

What’s the worst thing that could happen if you try to go home again?

You’ll find out, in a haunting new story by Tim Pratt, “The Cold Corner.” Pratt has a new spin on a classic Henry James story, “The Jolly Corner,” and it might just make you nervous about returning to your old hometown. We’ve got an exclusive excerpt, right here. Top image: Anoldent/Flickr. Pratt’s reimagining of Henry…

New “footage” of Bigfoot emerges

After five years of research, a group calling itself the Sasquatch Genome Project has released footage of what it says is a female Bigfoot sleeping in the woods. And yes, this is the same group that published the Bigfoot genome in a journal they themselves founded. While holding a press conference yesterday in Dallas, the…

Why Stephen King’s complaints about The Shining actually have a point

Stephen King has made no secret of his dislike for Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed film adaptation of his novel The Shining, and this is usually seen as evidence that King is a control freak who can’t appreciate Kubrick’s genius. But a brilliant new essay by Laura Miller argues that King actually has a point. In Miller’s…