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Picture of the Day, April 20, 2012

THE DRAGONS OF SPRING | Art by Corrick, spotted on the ConceptArt.org “Environment of the Week” Challenge: “At the banks of the glowing river.” Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

io9 Annalee Newitz

How Famous Movie Posters Look From Behind

The ad campaign LG put out for their new Home Theater 3D Sound is really pretty brilliant. To convey the idea that you’ll be hearing your movie from every angle, they’ve recreated iconic movie posters, juxtaposing the original with their alternate angle view. Check the gallery. [TrendHunter] Forrest Gump Pretty Woman

Movies Molly Oswaks

Straight, Gay, or Binary?: HAL Comes Out of the Cybernetic Closet

In this essay from his new collection I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts, cultural critic Mark Dery contemplates the sexual orientation of one of science fiction’s most memorable machines: HAL, from 2001. Now it can be told: HAL, the psychotic supercomputer in the sci-fi classic 2001, failed the Turing Test. Not Alan Turing’s classic blindfold…

Books & Comics Mark Dery

Everything We’re Sick of on The Vampire Diaries

We’ve praised The Vampire Diaries as one of the most engagingly written, character-focused shows on television. Which meant, in turn, that we were going to wind up holding it to a slightly higher standard than just “guilty pleasure about naked hotties and crazy shit going down.” So it’s perhaps not surprising that we’ve been just…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

The scientific myth that soda will dissolve your teeth

Will soda dissolve your teeth? The short answer is ‘no,’ and the longer answer is, ‘no, of course not.’ And yet there is a rumor, and has been for decades, that a nail dropped in coca cola will be dissolved in a few days — which led to the widespread idea that the soda would…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

What’s the Greatest Hacker Movie Ever?

Hacker movies are a beloved subset of geek cinema. They’re often embarrassing, with absurd references to modems, people wrestling over floppies, and lots of fake screen interfaces. Melting icons. That sort of thing. But which is the best of all? Is it Sandra Bullock, the strong, fierce, pizza-ordering shut-in-turned-heroine from The Net? Is it the…

Movies Sam Biddle

How to Make Your Own Evil Twin

We all know that one cannot make a doppelganger, or find one in an alternate universe, without that doppelganger being evil. But how is that great capacity for malice instilled in a twin? We asked biologist Terry Johnson, author of How to Defeat Your Own Clone, how to construct an evil twin using science. To…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Everything you need to know to catch this weekend’s Lyrid meteor shower

This year’s Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak between midnight and dawn on Saturday night/Sunday morning. That means two things. One: it’s the weekend, which means you have no excuse not to stay up. Two: it’s a new Moon, which means for the first time in almost nine months, stargazers will have a chance…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Lobo Movie is Doomed

When we think about mega comic book cult star Lobo — the extraterrestrial bounty hunter who bit off the fingers of the woman who delivered him — we naturally always think of a hairless CG cat voiced by Bette Midler. So it makes perfect sense that the director of the horrendous flop Cats & Dogs:…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Commuity‘s Inspector Space Time introduces Temporary Constable Geneva!

Last night’s meta look into the mind of Abed introduced a brand new character in the Inspector Spacetime universe: Temporary Constable Geneva (played by Annie). Take a look at the lovely lady fighting a pack of angry Blorgons — plus take some time to talk about the events that transpired in the Dreamatorium! In last…

Television Meredith Woerner

This insanely sinister infographic illustrates the power of the world’s strongest nuke

On October 30, 1961, the Soviet Union conducted an atmospheric test of the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba (Russian for “Bomb King”) nuclear weapon over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The ensuing detonation threw up a mushroom cloud 64 kilometers high and would’ve subjected anyone 100 kilometers away to third degree burns. Even though…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Tonight’s Fringe is like a pilot for a new and totally excellent show

This past season, Fringe got bogged down in exploring an alternate timeline where Peter Bishop didn’t survive his near-drowning in 1985. As a result, Walter Bishop was sidelined, and everybody else was grumpier. In retrospect, it hasn’t been my favorite season of the show — although recent episodes have shown more of a return to…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

First Avengers Reviews: Best Superhero Movie Ever?

Don’t get too excited or anything, but the first batch of reviews for The Avengers are out, now that it’s coming out in the U.K. next week. And they’re almost uniformly positive, if not gushing. The bottom line seems to be that this is not just the culmination of all of the Marvel movies’ buildup…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

How Other Firefly Actors Could Guest Star on Castle

This week marked the long-awaited Firefly reunion between Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion. But what about the rest of the crew of the Serenity? Here are some suggestions for cameos that the rest of Firefly’s MVPs could make on Nathan Fillion’s frequently genre-tastic cop show. The Adam Baldwin guest spot on Castle was indeed a…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Optimistic Visions of the World After the Oil Runs Out

Our whole economy and way of life is based on the idea of cheap petroleum. So what happens when the oil starts to run out? Most scenarios assume that it will be catastrophic — rioting in the streets, governments collapsing, Mel Gibson fighting guys with big mohawks. But what are the optimistic scenarios for a…

Movies Jennifer Griffith and Charlie Jane Anders

Kids narrate Planet Earth, and adorableness ensues

This one pretty much does what it says on the tin. Dayvun Abbenburgle would be proud. [Joe Sabia for BBC America via boingboing]

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What cannabis actually does to your brain

Archaeologists recently found a 2,700-year-old pot stash, so we know humans have been smoking weed for thousands of years. But it was only about 20 years ago that neuroscientists began to understand how it affects our brains. https://gizmodo.com/world-s-oldest-pot-stash-offered-an-afterlife-high-5099717 Scientists have known for a while that the active ingredient in cannabis was a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

We talk environmental apocalypses (and free comics) with DMZ author Brian Wood

DMZ and Northlanders writer Brian Wood previously told io9 about the design process that went into his upcoming environmental meltdown comic The Massive, in which the Earth is rapidly ravaged by climate change. And today, Wood was on hand to discuss the narrative side of this tale, the first issue of which will be released…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

A low-fi movie about a future where North Americans are cheap labor for the Chinese

If you haven’t heard about it yet, you need to check out Ghosts with Shit Jobs. Here’s the synopsis: In the future, jobs still suck — but in whole new ways. By 2040, the economy has flipped and North Americans are a cheap labour pool for wealthy Asian markets. A Chinese documentary show focuses on…

Movies Annalee Newitz

New indie flick offers a hazy tale of lesbian vampires in boarding school

Out today in select theaters is a new independent film, The Moth Diaries, the slightly surreal story of a young woman who discovers her boarding school roommate (and best friend) has fallen under the spell of a vampire. Directed by Mary Harron, whose previous efforts include the searingly awesome American Psycho, the movie tries to…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Picture of the Day, April 20, 2012

How Famous Movie Posters Look From Behind

Straight, Gay, or Binary?: HAL Comes Out of the Cybernetic Closet

Everything We’re Sick of on The Vampire Diaries

The scientific myth that soda will dissolve your teeth

What’s the Greatest Hacker Movie Ever?

How to Make Your Own Evil Twin

Everything you need to know to catch this weekend’s Lyrid meteor shower

The Lobo Movie is Doomed

Commuity‘s Inspector Space Time introduces Temporary Constable Geneva!

This insanely sinister infographic illustrates the power of the world’s strongest nuke

Tonight’s Fringe is like a pilot for a new and totally excellent show

First Avengers Reviews: Best Superhero Movie Ever?

How Other Firefly Actors Could Guest Star on Castle

Optimistic Visions of the World After the Oil Runs Out

Kids narrate Planet Earth, and adorableness ensues

What cannabis actually does to your brain

We talk environmental apocalypses (and free comics) with DMZ author Brian Wood

A low-fi movie about a future where North Americans are cheap labor for the Chinese

New indie flick offers a hazy tale of lesbian vampires in boarding school

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

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

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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