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Auroras spotted on Uranus for the first time

Outside of Earth, we’ve seen auroras on Jupiter and Saturn, but never on Uranus. Now, for the first time, the Hubble Space Telescope has photographed two auroral storms, each as large as the Earth. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe detected signals of auroral activity when it passed by Uranus in 1986, but astronomers have never been…

io9 Lauren Davis

Atari illustrations predicted Wikipedia in 1982

In 1982, Atari Alan Kay collaborated with Bob Stein, who had consulted on the Encyclopedia Britannica, to develop concepts for an “Intelligent Encyclopedia.” They then commissioned Disney illustrator Glenn Keane to illustrate their ideas. Despite being 30 years old, these images were remarkably prescient as to how wireless technology and digitally accessible information would permeate…

io9 Lauren Davis

Here’s the first interior artwork from Before Watchmen

Even if you’re up in arms about the new series of Watchmen prequels, aren’t you a bit curious to see what DC has in store for the early adventures of the Minutemen? Now that we’ve seen the Before Watchmen covers, DC is offering a sneak peek at the interior artwork. https://gizmodo.com/dc-comics-unveils-full-list-of-watchmen-prequels-5881187 DC showed these images…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Writer’s block has a spooky solution in Edgar Wright’s new motion comic

Motion comics are the much-maligned offspring of comics and flash cartoons, but can Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright make the medium compelling? He’s trying it out with The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator, a story about a man who seems to overcome his writers’ block, but doesn’t know how it…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Hunting the Transdimensional Whale

Pests in the apartment are enough of a pain when they’re tiny mice and cockroaches, but what do you do when a whale shows up in your bathroom? Come up with a flash fiction story based on this week’s concept art, and post it in the comments. We’ve gone a bit pulpy this week, thanks…

io9 Lauren Davis

The Best Argument for Keeping Fringe on the Air

At times, Fringe season four has felt like an extended epilogue to a story that concluded at the end of season three. But last night’s episode was compelling evidence that this show still has something new to say about its “two universes” scenario — and also about its central figure, Walter Bishop. It’s been ages…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Fancy girls dress up as Droids, Daleks, and Death Stars

When these cute little illustrated girls put on their best party dresses, they don’t just look stunning; they also look like starships, robots, pokemon, and all manner of villainous creatures. Apparently, they’re headed to the greatest fancy dress ball ever. Illustrator the Gorgonist, aka Robin Kaplan, sells these prints at her Etsy store, so you…

io9 Lauren Davis

This fantastic fan film shows why we need a Static Shock movie

On the list of superhero movies that need to get made is the late Dwayne McDuffie’s Static Shock. Fortunately, a group of Static fans have brought Dakota City to life, creating the short film Static Shock: Blackout, about the early days after the Big Bang. Avenue G Productions made this fan film for around $5,000,…

Movies Lauren Davis

Neutrium: The Most Neutral Hypothetical State of Matter Ever

Of all the possible states of matter – dark matter, negative mass – this is the one that really brings on the nothing. Supermassive particles with no charge whatsoever. And they’re theorized to help jumpstart cold fusion. Neutrium is also known as neutronium. It was first officially, scientifically given a name by JC Fisher, in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Behold the fluffy ennui of the existential cat

We often like to imagine that, if cats could talk, they would treat us with dismissive disdain, but what if, behind all those glares, lay the heart of a depressed feline existentialist? Henri, the existential cat, outlines his despair in the only way he knows how: via a black and white French movie, complete with…

io9 Lauren Davis

Why were 10 dead bodies found in Benjamin Franklin’s basement?

In 1998, a group called the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House began renovations on Franklin’s London residence, No. 36 Craven Street, and discovered a nasty surprise: 1,200 pieces of bone from 10 bodies, six of which were children. And the bodies were buried in the basement around the time Franklin was living in the house.…

io9 Lauren Davis

Wasted Talent is the diary webcomic of a newbie engineer

Most diary comics are kept by, well, cartoonists, and those cartoonists rarely have scientific day jobs. But Angela Melick’s a mechanical engineer as well as an amateur cartoonist, and many of the entries in her Wasted Talent webcomic focus on the small joys of efficiency and rooms filled with geeky coworkers. Since it’s a diary…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

These incredible posters illustrate two stories with a single image

At first glance, this looks like a poster for Harry Potter, but is there something more going on? These posters illustrate famous stories with minimalist images, but hide a second story inside. Using a technique that evokes the Rubin vase illusion, Colombian advertising agency Lowe/SSP3 created these images for the Colsubsidio Book Exchange. Come with…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Watch Batman’s first mission go embarrassingly wrong

There’s a whole side to Batman’s origin story that Christopher Nolan never told us about. In the fan-made film Batman: False Start, we learn that mastering that classic “I am Batman” growl took plenty of practice — and at least one crimefighting mission gone fatally awry. [via Geeks Are Sexy]

io9 Lauren Davis

Homeland security grills Megatron and Gamorrean Guards dance better than Twi’leks

We visit the Red Lantern home world this week, we see how babies are delivered in the Thundercats universe, and government officials question a former Ghostbuster on Transformers Prime. Also, MAD does an amazing job showing life inside of Jabba the Hutt’s Palace prior the the Lucas CGI phase and My Little Pony: Friendship takes…

io9 Keith Veronese

Traditional Chinese Medicines Linked to Cancer

Traditional Chinese medicines often exist in a legal, scientific, and ethical grey area. Despite concerns over ingredients sourced from protected animals and limited evidence of their effectiveness, the market in these products is still very, very large. And now, two new studies have looked at the health and legal implications of a number of these…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Amber Benson and Glen David Gold reading in San Francisco tomorrow night!

For the past eleven years, I’ve been organizing a monthly reading series called Writers With Drinks, which has featured a lot of my favorite authors. And I just wanted to mention that tomorrow evening’s event is one, in particular, that io9 readers might not want to miss. Coming up from L.A. are Amber Benson, author…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

How are Charlie Chaplin and World War I different in a world of vampires?

Kim Newman’s alternate history Anno Dracula was one of the most bracing alternate histories of its time, as well as one of the coolest vampire stories. And now, the sequel, The Bloody Red Baron, is coming out in a new edition — featuring a brand new novella set in Newman’s alternate vampiric World War I.…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Do you need to talk about the ending of Cabin in the Woods? Here is your spoileriffic thread.

Spoilers ahead! You asked for it — or, at least, one of you did. If you’ve seen Cabin in the Woods and need to talk about all the plot twists, here is your safe spoiler space. The thing I have had the MOST trouble not telling people about this movie is that it’s the best…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The Most Accurate Count of Emperor Penguin Populations. From Space!

Good news for penguin-enthusiasts everywhere (that’s all of us, right? Good… just checking): scientists studying emperor penguin populations in Antarctica have tallied almost 600,000 of the birds waddling around the icy continent. That’s around twice as many as they were expecting to find — but what’s really impressive is how they went about counting them.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Auroras spotted on Uranus for the first time

Atari illustrations predicted Wikipedia in 1982

Here’s the first interior artwork from Before Watchmen

Writer’s block has a spooky solution in Edgar Wright’s new motion comic

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Hunting the Transdimensional Whale

The Best Argument for Keeping Fringe on the Air

Fancy girls dress up as Droids, Daleks, and Death Stars

This fantastic fan film shows why we need a Static Shock movie

Neutrium: The Most Neutral Hypothetical State of Matter Ever

Behold the fluffy ennui of the existential cat

Why were 10 dead bodies found in Benjamin Franklin’s basement?

Wasted Talent is the diary webcomic of a newbie engineer

These incredible posters illustrate two stories with a single image

Watch Batman’s first mission go embarrassingly wrong

Homeland security grills Megatron and Gamorrean Guards dance better than Twi’leks

Traditional Chinese Medicines Linked to Cancer

Amber Benson and Glen David Gold reading in San Francisco tomorrow night!

How are Charlie Chaplin and World War I different in a world of vampires?

Do you need to talk about the ending of Cabin in the Woods? Here is your spoileriffic thread.

The Most Accurate Count of Emperor Penguin Populations. From Space!

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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