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The best scientific smackdown about evolution you’ll read this week

Over at fantastic blog Tetrapod Zoology, paleontologist Darren Naish tells one of the most bizarre, fascinating stories about the debate over evolution you’re likely to read. It’s the tale of David Peters, a web designer and amateur paleontologist who made a name for himself in the 1980s and 90s by illustrating a set of books…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Researchers turn stem cells into heart cells

Stem cells are so incredible because they can successfully become so many other types of cells. But how exactly do you force them to transform the way that you want? How do you make a stem cell into…say… a heart cell? Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Human BioMolecular Research Institute, and ChemRegen, Inc.…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Why are these headshots from Cloud Atlas so disturbing?

Holy cow, the future world according to Cloud Atlas is scary as hell, and weird. A crop of new character portraits from the Cloud Atlas website via Collider have us making frowning and terrified, but hopelessly intrigued. Is that Asian Hugo Weaving and Jim Sturgess? What is tattooed on Susan Sarandon’s face, and is that…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Here’s how Curiosity will use its laser to search for the ingredients of life on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity is set to make its historic landing this coming Sunday, August 5. Once settled, the rover will get to work analyzing the Martian surface and atmosphere for signs that the planet was once capable of harboring life — or might be again. But what does it mean to search for “potential” habitability? To…

io9 George Dvorsky

Why hello, it’s a robotic manta ray

Behold Dr. Hilary Bart-Smith of the University of Virginia’s Mantabot, a silicone-winged machine based on the the cow-nosed ray, an eagle ray found off of North America’s Atlantic coast. It may lack the grace of the extraterrestrials from The Abyss, but it’s a robotic manta ray — hard to be churlish in that department. Explains…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Cockneys vs. Zombies trailer is surprisingly hilarious!

Check out the shocking first trailer for Cockneys vs. Zombies, starring Brick Top from Snatch.. Here we thought we were dealing with another silly mockbuster — but we were so wrong! Filled with excellent actors like Alan Ford, Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, and Michelle Ryan, Cockneys vs. Zombies looks pretty slick, and the old man…

Trailers Meredith Woerner

These fish could be harbingers of a major human health crisis

Bad news, everyone. Researchers have discovered that 15% of the coral trout living in Australia’s great Barrier Reef are suffering from what’s been described as a scalier version of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. That’s unsettling for a number of reasons, but there are two big ones that should immediately give you pause.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Singularity is Sexy: The Loveliest Robot and Cyborg Art [NSFW]

We’re all scared of killer robots, but deep down we hope that one day our robot creations will be our friends. And lovers. There’s something disturbing about the notion of a robot sex slave, but we like to imagine that one day robots will love us of their own free will. And that some of…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders and Amanda Yesilbas

Robots and Cyborgs gallery #2

“Gynoid #11” by Hajime Sorayama, via Miscellaneous Pics “Gynoids” by Hajime Sorayama, via Miscellaneous Pics “Heart Gynoid” by Dan Redding, Fine Art America “Machinery Freedom and Visual Literature by Jeffery Scott, via Factory 1019 Robot Girl by CK, via Fembots are Sexy by Laughing in the Mechanism, via Asphyxium and Fembots are Sexy Sorayama-Esque Robot…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Read Carl Sagan’s letter (politely) telling Warner Bros. their Contact script sucked

You may have recently encountered Carl Sagan’s 1954 reading list out in the internet. But the Library of Congress has posted some much more interesting papers from the scientist, novelist and all around fascinating guy: a draft of the 1995 letter he sent to Warner Brothers about the adaptation of Contact. The first two pages…

io9 Michael Ann Dobbs

Can “cliodynamics” help historians predict future unrest?

Unlike physicists and chemists, historians have been unable to formulate grand equations or immutable laws. The trends of history, it would seem, are outside the scope of reproducible science. But a new discipline called “cliodynamics” is looking to change all that. After studying and mapping key indicators of history, University of Connecticut’s Peter Turchin believes…

io9 George Dvorsky

The Real Reason Why Mondo’s Posters Look So Much Cooler Than Regular Movie Posters

The genius of Mondo’s posters is the way they make us see familiar science fiction and fantasy classics anew. They take the images that we’ve grown up with, and reimagine them. Sometimes with minimalism, sometimes with incredible ornateness. What’s the secret of Mondo‘s success? We sat down with creative director Justin Ishmael and poster artist…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

A stylish film about what happens when Superman’s dog goes to the bathroom

Well, I didn’t anticipate writing that headline this morning, but Brett Underhill’s sleek (albeit scatological) short about the bodily functions of Superman’s dog Krypto forced my hand. Explains Underhill of Superman’s Best Friend, “After a long day working two jobs, Superman’s duties never seem to end when Krypto decides that this must be the place.”…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

Proof That Futurama Is the Smartest Show on Television

Good news, everyone! It’s the Futurama appreciation episode. We pay tribute to our favorite moments in the series, and talk about other scifi comedy TV shows you can watch when you’ve watched every Futurama episode twelve times. Bay Area Science Festival director Kishore Hari helps us (and several volunteers) act out the solution to the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

What the Internet and Modern Medicine Really Cost Us

So we may not have gotten the future we wanted with flying cars, robot butlers, and vacations on the moon. But we did end up with fantastic advances in science and modern medicine, and the internet. However, there was a catch. A very costly addition to the fine print that proves you don’t get something…

Books & Comics Andrew Liszewski

10 Greatest Unintentionally Hilarious Lines from Science Fiction and Fantasy

One of the great joys of watching science fiction and fantasy is to appreciate the unintentionally hilarious lines that come out of people’s mouths sometimes. It’s inevitable that when you’re exploring mind-expanding premises and weird worlds, you’re bound to run into some really insane conversations. Sometimes our favorite movies and TV shows feature some hideously…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Why Did Dog Thefts Jump 32% Last Year?

From the ASPCA, we received this piece of alarming news: Pet theft is on the rise. The American Kennel Club, which has been tracking pet thefts since 2007, reported a 32% increase in dog thefts last year. While some animals are snatched from their yards or during home invasions, opportunistic thieves most commonly steal dogs…

io9 Annalee Newitz

WOLVERINES! The very first Red Dawn footage is out

We’re not sure what to think about the remake of Red Dawn. The movie was plagued with issues (the villains changed from the Chinese to the North Koreans following a crapload of controversy) and shelved for years, but now it’s coming out and this is the very first look at the footage from the flick.…

Movies Meredith Woerner

NASA will attempt to photograph the Curiosity landing. From an entirely different spacecraft.

As of this posting, we are just 2 days, 12 hours, and thirty minutes away from the Curiosity rover making touchdown on Mars. We’re excited. NASA’s excited. Even Angry Birds is excited. https://gizmodo.com/everything-you-need-to-know-to-catch-the-curiosity-rove-5930912 And really, why shouldn’t they be? Curiosity is the most scientifically impressive rover ever built. Its arrival on Mars is hands down…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This is what blue whale poop looks like from an airplane. Tremble.

The average blue whale is approximately the length of three school buses. Heck, even a newborn calf is 23 feet long at birth. And do you see that horrific orange streak trailing behind those whales above? Yup, that’s a big load of whale feces, an oceanic skidmark maybe the length of a few Volvos. Photographer…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The best scientific smackdown about evolution you’ll read this week

Researchers turn stem cells into heart cells

Why are these headshots from Cloud Atlas so disturbing?

Here’s how Curiosity will use its laser to search for the ingredients of life on Mars

Why hello, it’s a robotic manta ray

Cockneys vs. Zombies trailer is surprisingly hilarious!

These fish could be harbingers of a major human health crisis

The Singularity is Sexy: The Loveliest Robot and Cyborg Art [NSFW]

Robots and Cyborgs gallery #2

Read Carl Sagan’s letter (politely) telling Warner Bros. their Contact script sucked

Can “cliodynamics” help historians predict future unrest?

The Real Reason Why Mondo’s Posters Look So Much Cooler Than Regular Movie Posters

A stylish film about what happens when Superman’s dog goes to the bathroom

Proof That Futurama Is the Smartest Show on Television

What the Internet and Modern Medicine Really Cost Us

10 Greatest Unintentionally Hilarious Lines from Science Fiction and Fantasy

Why Did Dog Thefts Jump 32% Last Year?

WOLVERINES! The very first Red Dawn footage is out

NASA will attempt to photograph the Curiosity landing. From an entirely different spacecraft.

This is what blue whale poop looks like from an airplane. Tremble.

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

The New ‘Supergirl’ Trailer Is Filled With Krypto, Lobo, and ’60s Soul

Vaping Comes With a Cancer Risk, Review Finds

ASUS Eye Care Monitor Hits an All-Time Low, Only Hours Left to Grab a 27″ Screen at a 15.6″ Budget Price on Amazon

How to Watch Artemis 2, NASA’s First Crewed Mission to the Moon in 54 Years

KitchenAid 4.5-Quart Stand Mixer Is Back at Its Lowest Price, a Last-Minute Spring Sale Deal Outside Amazon Prime Day

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

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