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Watch sulfuric acid and sugar make a rising column of death!

Sulfuric acid dehydrates sugar. That sounds pretty tame, until you see that “dehydration” means that a huge, black, sugary pillar crawls up out of the beaker and comes after you. How much damage can sulfuric acid really do? That depends primarily on what it comes in contact with. While it can do a lot of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

A Chart that Reveals How Science Fiction Futures Changed Over Time

The future may seem to be closer or farther off, depending on the era you’re living in. That’s one of the possible conclusions you can draw from this chart (embedded below), created by Stephanie Fox for io9, based on research we’ve done over the past month. We wanted to know whether there are historical trends…

Movies Annalee Newitz

The 10 Most Depressing Alternate Realities From Marvel Comics

Comics starring the Avengers and X-Men have a rich tradition of alternate realities — and many of these parallel dimensions are complete hellholes. Here are ten of the worst universes in the history of Marvel Comics. In many of them, absolutely every single superhero you know and love has been put through the meat grinder.…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

When insanity is your superpower, reality will eventually become your Kryptonite

From the beginning, Awake’s Michael Britten has seen his delusion about seeing two different versions of reality as a possible strength: He can learn something in one world and use it in the other. As he tells Bird in last night’s episode, sometimes he knows stuff that he shouldn’t be able to know. So being…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

A tick bite could turn you into a vegetarian

Ticks are known for transmitting disease, but they’ve also been known to make people deathly allergic to meat. Discover Magazine is running a really interesting post on little-known facts about allergies. The link between ticks, meat and violent allergic reactions immediately stuck out. Since 2009, immunologist Scott Commins has been studying this bizarre connection. His…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

We Set Off Homemade Smoke Bombs — and Survive!

Does it give you pleasure to watch things burn? In this week’s episode of the io9 show We Come from the Future, we set off homemade smoke bombs without burning ourselves or getting arrested. We also explain why we’re disappointed by the new Dark Knight Rises trailer, and bring you the latest news from the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Turns out Sonic Screwdriver beats Lightsaber

This is our new favorite piece of fan-art ever. The Doctor faces off against Darth Vader, and uses his sonic screwdriver to go all “cortosis blade” on Vader’s lightsaber. Now we want to know if psychic paper is more powerful than the Jedi mind trick. Kudos to artist K.K. Jordan for capturing the look of…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

All systems are go for Saturday’s historic SpaceX launch

It’s official. According to Elon Musk, CEO of private space-transport company SpaceX, NASA has given the final go-ahead on a launch that, if successful, will mark the dawn of a new era in spaceflight: the era of commercial spacecraft. Liftoff is scheduled for Saturday morning. At 4:55 a.m. EST, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Falcon 9…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Battleship proves alien invasion movies are just as contrived as romantic comedies

Battleship is superficially based on an old board game, but really it’s the latest in a long line of movies about alien forces coming to our planet and trashing the place. And this movie proves what we’ve suspected for a long time: the Hollywood alien invasion picture relies on a whole series of ridiculous contrivances…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Possibly the greatest description of a UFO video ever

This video of a UFO was taken earlier this week at Reagan National Airport in Virginia. It’s a pretty typical UFO video, though slightly less blurry than most. What really sets it apart is the photographer’s description: Watched this for several minutes trying to see if it was a plane or helicopter. I was totally…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Every single new science fiction and fantasy show announced for next season!

Now that the week of television upfronts are coming to a close, it’s time to take a look back at all the new TV we’ve been promised (and what we missed out on). Find out what happened to the mysterious Hunger Games show and get a better look at J.J. Abrams’ latest attempt at a…

Trailers Meredith Woerner

An abandoned French subway station was turned into the set of Prometheus

We now live in an era when gonzo viral marketing runs the risk of being more intriguing than the film it’s designed to promote. In Paris, the Saint-Martin stop (which has been unused for 73 years) on the Metro’s Line 9 was transformed into the extraterrestrial architecture of Prometheus, giving passengers a glimpse of Gigeresque…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar

And now, two 50-foot-long cars shaped like mythological serpents

We’ve seen some pretty outlandish conveyances in our day — such as the octopus tank and this spider ride — but these two 50-foot-long, fire-breathing serpents by Jon Sarriugarte and Kyrsten Mate are something else. http://io9.com/5837314/youll-wish-you-could-ride-in-this-steampunk-octopus-tank https://gizmodo.com/a-giant-robotic-snake-chases-a-man-piloting-a-spider-me-5859804 Based on the respective Scandinavian and Australian Aboriginal legends of the Jormungand and Julunggul serpents, these rides also…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The man who saw circuses on the moon

William Herschel’s greatest triumph was discovering a new planet — Uranus. His greatest folly was as egregious as his scientific triumph was great. But it was a beautiful folly, and so let’s pay tribute to the cultured lunar civilization he was sure he had discovered. When William Herschel, a professional music teacher and amateur astronomer,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Kanye’s Epic, Seven-Screen DONDA Movie Coming Next Week

Remember when Kanye went on an epic rant back in January about his new technology-fueled initiative DONDA? Remember the talk of his quasi-sci-fi short film set in 2016, which would be projected onto seven screens? Yeah, he wasn’t lying. It’s happening, and it’ll see the light of day next week. https://gizmodo.com/kanyes-insane-tech-startup-is-the-most-insane-kanye-pla-5873307 Debuting at the Cannes…

Movies Adrian Covert

How I Brought Game of Thrones‘ Ned Stark to Life

John Picacio is a super-talented cover artist whose art has graced many of your favorite novels — but many people now know him best as the creator of the 2012 Song of Ice and Fire calendar. Picacio’s iconic art has helped to capture the splendor and squalor of Westeros for many readers. Here, in the…

Television John Picacio

Classic video game characters, drawn in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock art

Artist Jed Henry has taken famous characters from the video game console pantheon and reconfigured them as samurais on centuries-old Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The results are pretty clever — I’m liking how Mega Man’s defeated robot masters have become a cloud of oni. Henry’s not done with this series yet, as his next illustration…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Will Joss Whedon return to direct The Avengers 2? Plus more awesome Prometheus images!

Marc Webb takes us inside The Amazing Spider-Man. The original Blade Runner screenwriter returns to write the follow-up. Will NBC’s Revolution be the first J.J. Abrams show that’s easy to follow? Plus Kristen Stewart talks Snow White and the Huntsman! It’s spoilers all the way down! Top image from The Amazing Spider-Man. The Avengers 2…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Timeless Classics of Literature Upgraded With Already-Dated Augmented Reality

Special features are great, when they’re included in DVDs to supplement your favorite movie or TV show. So, why does the idea of creating special features for ebooks seem so… unnecessary? In partnership with the augmented reality (AR) platform Zappar, Big Six publisher Penguin is upgrading some of the public doman classics of literature in…

Books & Comics Molly Oswaks

Picture of the Day: May 17, 2012

MAKING WAVES | “Ringing,” concept art by ex-astris1761 on Deviant Art — click the link to download as a high-res wallpaper. Via Awesome Wallpapers Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Watch sulfuric acid and sugar make a rising column of death!

A Chart that Reveals How Science Fiction Futures Changed Over Time

The 10 Most Depressing Alternate Realities From Marvel Comics

When insanity is your superpower, reality will eventually become your Kryptonite

A tick bite could turn you into a vegetarian

We Set Off Homemade Smoke Bombs — and Survive!

Turns out Sonic Screwdriver beats Lightsaber

All systems are go for Saturday’s historic SpaceX launch

Battleship proves alien invasion movies are just as contrived as romantic comedies

Possibly the greatest description of a UFO video ever

Every single new science fiction and fantasy show announced for next season!

An abandoned French subway station was turned into the set of Prometheus

And now, two 50-foot-long cars shaped like mythological serpents

The man who saw circuses on the moon

Kanye’s Epic, Seven-Screen DONDA Movie Coming Next Week

How I Brought Game of Thrones‘ Ned Stark to Life

Classic video game characters, drawn in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock art

Will Joss Whedon return to direct The Avengers 2? Plus more awesome Prometheus images!

Timeless Classics of Literature Upgraded With Already-Dated Augmented Reality

Picture of the Day: May 17, 2012

Up to $1,550 Off on pCloud: Pay Once, Protect Data Forever for World Backup Day

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

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

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

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

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

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