Watch the first trailer for the animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns

Here’s the first trailer for The Dark Knight Returns, Part I, the straight-to-DVD cartoon version of Frank Miller’s classic “Batman bucks retirement” miniseries. The Dark Knight is voiced by none other than Peter Weller, Murphy/Buckaroo/the Italian Renaissance art history PhD candidate himself. The movie hits stores September 25, here’s the synopsis and trailer (via MTV):…

New Theory: A “Hit and Run” Accident Created Our Moon

How did Earth get its own Moon? For decades, the most popular origin story has been the “Big Splat” theory, which says an object the size of Mars impacted the Earth more than three billion years ago, flinging material into space which became the Moon. https://gizmodo.com/witness-the-moons-breathtaking-4-5-billion-year-evoluti-5893310 https://gizmodo.com/did-earth-once-have-two-moons-5827021 But now there’s new evidence that the Big…

The live-action He-Man movie might actually happen

Due to The Avengers scaring all other movies back to 2013, Jon M. Chu — director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation — is freed up to make the much-fabled Masters Of The Universe movie (as soon as he’s done converting Retaliation into 3D, that is). https://gizmodo.com/g-i-joe-retaliation-pushed-back-to-march-2013-for-3d-5912819 Deadline reports that Sony and toymaker Mattel are hot for…

William Shatner and Wil Wheaton narrate NASA’s two new Mars rover videos!

NASA just gave Curiosity the Star Trek treatment. In anticipation of the rover’s upcoming landing, the Agency has released two versions of a video entitled “Grand Entrance.” The first is narrated by William Shatner, the second by Wil Wheaton. I think I speak for just about everyone in saying “oh hell yes.” “Shatner and Wheaton…

Is the birth of Bane hidden in Tom Hardy’s Star Trek: Nemesis screen test?

Before Tom Hardy was the exuberant Bane, he was but a clone of Captain Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis. A recently unearthed screen test of Hardy and Patrick Stewart going toe-to-toe shows the early beginnings of the would-be Bat-villain (and the early, elaborate accents). Confession time: we kind of like the screen test Shinzon better…

1846: The Year We Hit Peak Sperm Whale Oil

Energy experts predict that the global production of oil will soon start to decline, what’s referred to as peak oil. Now while we may not be there yet, there was a time in our history when we did reach a similar plateau, but it was a very different kind of energy source — one that…

Just when will Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man start filming? Plus Dredd secrets from Karl Urban!

Marvel’s Ant-Man movie could start sooner than anyone dared hope. Steven Moffat reveals why a Doctor Who movie will only happen with his permission. Misha Collins explains why Supernatural will be more mature. Plus Game of Thrones and American Horror Story set photos! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Game of Thrones. Ant-Man…

The head of an independent, Koch-funded study on climate change says humans are behind global warming, in a recent N.Y. Times op-ed.

True Blood’s blood orgy has given us a vampire hangover

What is the vampire version of the hangover cure-all, Pedialyte? Because I will have five rounds and an enema of it. That is how ridiculously bloated and weak I feel after watching the plot binge that was last night’s True Blood. Sure, it was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it. But today I’m…

First Behind-The-Scenes Footage of the New Wolverine Movie

The Wolverine has started filming in Australia, and a local news channel posted this report, including an aerial view of the set. Spoilers ahead… This appears to be some kind of Prisoner of War camp, probably from World War II. We know The Wolverine takes place in Japan and loosely follows the classic 1980s arc…

The Most Brilliant Fairy Tale Novel We’ve Read in Years

What if a girl really vanished for 20 years — and then reappeared, looking no older than she did when she left? What if she said she’d been taken to a fantastical land, akin to fairyland, where time passed much more slowly? How would people react in real life? That’s the great premise of Graham…

Size truly matters when it comes to the rhino beetle and its massive horn

When animals want to prove their reproductive fitness, they engage in some pretty fancy ornamental displays (things like peacock feathers and deer antlers). Few organisms pull this off as well as the male Japanese rhino beetle, however — an insect with a disproportionately massive horn on its head. And new research indicates that this horn…

Play with all 786 confirmed planets in one interactive infographic!

Remember a few weeks ago when XKCD put out that killer infographic depicting all 786 of our galaxy’s confirmed exoplanets in one convenient visualization? Well, thanks to some data from Planetary Habitability Laboratory and some handy codework by Lane Harrison, that infographic just got even cooler. https://gizmodo.com/all-786-confirmed-planets-in-one-handy-infographic-5920002 You’ll have to click through to tinker with…

Sunken Nazi Submarine Found Just Off the Coast of Nantucket

It has been well documented that German submarines came disturbingly close to U.S. shores during World War II — but just how close was made all the more apparent by the recent discovery of a German U-550 sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean a mere 70 miles south of Nantucket. Back in the…

Nasal hallucinations can make your life Hell

Some people have no sense of smell whatsoever, and they’re not a happy lot. (Most famously, Stevie Wonder lost his sense of smell in a 1973 car accident.) But as bad as having no sense of smell is, nasal hallucinations are much, much worse. Imagine if your nose decided to invent smells, often at random.…

Just how badly will the Total Recall remake flop?

1990’s Total Recall was one of the most profitable movies ever — it cost just $65 million to make and grossed around $262 million worldwide. But the new remake, starring Colin Farrell, was reportedly made for a staggering $200 million. And even though it comes out on Friday, we’re hearing almost no buzz about it.…

Before and after Bane audio shows how The Dark Knight Rises cleaned up the villain’s mumbles

Last year, we got to see the first six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises early — and the supervillain Bane sounded terrible. Weeks later, director Chris Nolan promised that audience members would be able to understand the villains mumbles, but there’s been some controversy over how much, exactly, Bane was overdubbed. https://gizmodo.com/weve-seen-the-dark-knight-rises-prologue-and-yes-bane-5868664 http://io9.com/5875409/christopher-nolan-promises-you-will-understand-bane-in-the-dark-knight-rises And…

Bad news: the chemicals in your IV bag could be giving you diabetes

Ever heard of phthalates? They’re a class of chemicals used to soften plastics found in everything from household containers to medical supplies, and to stabilize colors and fragrances in cosmetics like lipstick and perfume. The most widely known phthalate is probably bisphenol-A (BPA), which has been linked to breast cancer and a whole mess of…

Science Fiction Authors Who Could be Hollywood’s Next Philip K. Dick

When Hollywood wants a futuristic, paranoid thriller where nothing is what it seems, the studios reach for the work of one man. This week, Philip K. Dick continues his reign as Hollywood’s idea spigot, with a remake of Total Recall. More PKD films are in the works, and there’s no shortage of material out there.…

In this amazing time-lapse, relive the earliest NASA missions in six minutes

We’ve seen some downright tear-jerking views of our planet in fast-forward, but have you ever hankered to see the Earth from the flying throne of Ham the Astrochimp? https://gizmodo.com/the-international-space-station-set-to-the-soundtrack-5927869 In this astounding short film, half a decade’s worth of launches from Projects Mercury and Gemini are turbo-charged into an informative six minutes. Be sure to…