This dreamy time-lapse showcases Death Valley’s starlit skies

Okay, stop what you’re doing and hit the play button on this unspeakably beautiful new time-lapse video filmed last month in Death Valley. The video was produced by Sunchaser Pictures and it’s the sequel to their wildly popular Death Valley Dreamlapse. This new video showcases the floating stones of Racetrack Playa, gorgeous star trails, a…

Unused Test Footage That Could Have Changed Your Heroes’ Lives Forever

If someone ever invents a machine to let us visit other universes, the first thing we’ll do is head for the DVD section. Because the history of science fiction and fantasy is full of things that almost happened — to the point where there’s test footage, screen tests, and audition tapes online. Here’s some of…

The captain of Bryan Fuller’s awesome, non-existent Trek TV show is…

The awesome producer Bryan Fuller wants to makes an awesome new Star Trek TV series. Paramount won’t let him, because they’re busy letting J.J. Abrams make his Trek movies. But that doesn’t mean Fuller doesn’t have a captain in mind should he ever get the green light: Angela Bassett. As he told Den of Geek…

This might be the most creative Doctor Who cosplay we’ve ever seen

You can have your TARDIS dresses — we want a TARDIS control panel dress! We can honestly say, we never saw this design coming. A dress full of knobs, buttons, levers and wheels that will take you away! Found on Craig Hurle‘s website, modeled by Kirsty Delwig. [via Fashionably Geek]

Do these startling longevity studies mean your lifespan could double?

Biologists have successfully extended the life spans of some mice by as much as 70%, leading many to believe that ongoing experimentation on our mammalian cousins will eventually lead to life-extending therapies in humans. But how reliable are these studies? And do they really apply to humans? We asked the experts. Before we get into…

The Weird but True History of Sin Eaters

In 18th and 19th Century Scotland, families placed a piece of bread on the breasts of their dying loved ones. That’s not the strange part — the families then hired someone to eat the bread, believing that the practice would somehow absolve the sins of the deceased. Where did this strange ritual come from? And…

How the hell is this photo of the Moon even possible?

Can we all just sit and marvel at this ridiculous shot of the Moon for a second? Because that would be great. Seriously, people. Just look at it. The image is by Switzerland-based photographer Philipp Schmidli, and came to our attention by way of Camilla Corona SDO (the intrepid mission mascot of NASA’s Solar Dynamics…

Astounding Summer Books That You Won’t Want to Miss

Get ready for a summer of great reading! Some of these books are pretty emotionally intense, but we’ve packed the list with plenty of fun, sudsy beach reads for you, too. Photo is a detail from the cover of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. May Mur Lafferty, The Shambling Guide to NYC…

Mark Sheppard really should play Avon in Syfy’s Blake’s 7 reboot

Syfy is apparently racing ahead at speed Standard by Six with its remake of Blake’s 7, the classic British show about criminals who join a political prisoner to fight an evil space empire. This show will live and die based on the character of Avon, and there’s one actor who’s uniquely qualified to play him.…

The Jayne’s Hat-inspired bra is pretty cunning, don’t you think?

A woman walks down the street in that bra, people know she’s not afraid of anything. Or at least Fox’s legal department. [Via Geeks Are Sexy]

Short film Abe is 7 minutes of sheer robot horror

Now this is how you make a terrifying horror short without showing any real gore at all. Writer and director Rob McLellan is the brains behind Abe, this short film about a misguided robot. Which will be added as reason #5,677 why we shouldn’t program robots to have emotions. [via First Showing]

What percentage of philosophers believe in God?

What percentage of philosophers are theists? How many of them believe in free will? More importantly: how many of them think zombies are actually possible? Finally, a study has provided an answer to all these questions, and more. Philosophers David Bourget and David Chalmers have conducted a worldwide survey to gauge where members of their…

How virtual reality will reshape your life, according to Google

Check out this fascinating book trailer for the new book The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business by Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen. Created by the Draw Shop, it outlines just how Schmidt and Cohen see your world changing soon. As a press release from the Draw Shop explains:…

These videos of fly larvae cannibalism may squick you

Scientists have always known that fruit fly larvae feast on rotting fruits and vegetable matter. But young maggots apparently also have a taste for their elder group members, according to a new study. Worst yet, when an older larva gets injured, group cannibalism ensues. It is as horrifying as it is fascinating. When the circumstances…

Top 10 Essential Stories About Power Armor

This weekend, we celebrate the awesome majesty of superpowered suits of armor, with Iron Man 3. But the “power armor” genre has a long and kick-ass history, spanning decades of battles and adventures. Here are the 10 most essential power-armor stories of all time! https://gizmodo.com/12-greatest-science-fiction-war-stories-5941809 https://gizmodo.com/the-power-suit-that-could-kick-iron-mans-ass-393057 Because we wanted to be covered with the armor…

How science and philosophy differ – and why they need each other

Dorion Sagan, son of Carl Sagan and Lynn Margulis, weighs in on the dialectical relationship between science and philosophy. The quote appears in the introduction to Sagan’s recently published book, Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edges of Science, wherein he examines the balance between science and philosophy, while lambasting the authoritarianism of the former and…

This 2-year-old is the youngest recipient of a bioengineered organ

A Korean-Canadian girl born without a trachea has undergone successful surgery to implant an artificial windpipe grown from her own stem cells. 2 ½-year-old Hannah Warren’s condition is extremely rare and is fatal in 99% of cases. She had been living in an intensive care unit since her birth in a South Korean hospital, where…

Scotty hits the bottle in a brand new Star Trek 2 featurette

How has Scotty been keeping himself busy since the last Trek movie? With whisky, of course. Simon Pegg brings out the booze for the return of Montgomery Scott, in this exclusive new featurette about the world’s greatest starship engineer, and what he gets up to in Star Trek Into Darkness. We’re proud to post this…

Nielsen Is Finally Including Online Viewers in Its Television Ratings

Nielsen, the company that determines whether or not your beloved television shows even matter, has been perching dangerously on the verge of irrelevancy for years—but all that’s about to change. After sitting idly by as internet viewership skyrocketed, Nielsen has finally decided to start taking note of the unhealthy amounts of time we spend curled…

Well, Netflix is on a roll, and hoping to keep the original-series streaming magic alive: It just announced its fourth original series, a prison dramedy called “Orange Is the New Black,” will premiere on July 11. Once again, the whole season will be available at once for your gorging pleasure.