The Hobbit’s cast and titles are officially announced! Plus the craziest Doctor Who rumor of them all!

More key returning players are confirmed for The Hobbit. Mark Strong explains why Green Lantern’s Sinestro isn’t your average villain. Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams talks Super 8 together, plus another glimpse of season four of True Blood! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Real Steel. Green Lantern Sinestro actor Mark Strong explains…

io9 Daily Roundup

MEMORIAL DAY | Captain America by Dan Hipp. (Via Comics Alliance). Victorian paper silhouettes of famous (and infamous) scifi characters https://gizmodo.com/victorian-paper-silhouettes-of-famous-and-infamous-sc-5806431 For his “Paper Cuts” series, designer Olly Moss created 19th century paper cutouts of some of speculative fiction’s most esteemed heroes and villains. More » Game of Thrones teaches us what ruling a Kingdom has…

In the Portal fan movie Outside Aperture, it’s cake time!

Fans of Valve video games sure love making hyper-detailed fan movies. The latest one, Outside Aperture, tells the hidden history of what happened after the first Portal. It’s not canonical, but it’s cute. https://gizmodo.com/check-out-this-half-life-fan-film-beyond-black-mesa-5741079 Here’s the description of Outside Aperture from the filmmaker Eisen Feuer: With the fate of the main character of the game,…

Newfangled science fiction drinking games (that we hope you don’t play)

Some of you may choose to tipple this holiday weekend. Rather than playing your patented “drink whenever Hudson speaks in Aliens” game for the umpteenth time, why not give one of the following science fiction themed drinking games a whirl? https://gizmodo.com/game-over-man-every-one-of-hudsons-lines-from-aliens-5798175 DISCLAIMER: We do not advocate drinking to excess or the following games. Hello, Sarah…

Falling Skies Cast Pictures

Take a tumble with sexy alien Number 6!

The best part of tween adventure scifi flick I Am Number 4 was easily Number 6, the badass motorcycle-riding, katana-wielding alien mistress. In this video, Teresa Palmer (6) takes us behind the scenes for a quick toss-and-tumble. This clip is from the I Am Number 4 DVD and Blu-Ray specials (which are in stores now).…

Bradley Cooper wants to adapt Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos for the big screen

Bradley Cooper told us that Dan Simmons’ acclaimed Hyperion Cantos were among his favorite books. And now he’s putting his new star power from Hangover II’s huge success towards writing and directing a Hyperion movie. https://gizmodo.com/bradley-cooper-gives-us-the-plus-side-of-taking-experim-5782778 Cooper was on Charlie Rose the other day, and he revealed that he and a friend have written a…

In Naamah’s Blessing, tantric sex comes to the New World

The ninth novel in Jacqueline Carey’s D’Angeline series, Naamah’s Blessing, is set over a century after the events of the incredible trilogy that began with Kushiel’s Dart. Her alternate history Europe has entered the early Renaissance period, and our supernatural heroine Moirin — half-Maghuin-Dhonn druid, half-D’Angeline sex priestess — has already journeyed all across Asia.…

Mad Man Builds Mad Slingshot That Fires Mad Circular Sawblades

Well, he’s not a mad man. He’s Joerg Sprave, a very nice guy who built the slingshot of mass destruction among many other deadly slingshots. In his own words: https://gizmodo.com/this-slingshot-of-mass-destruction-can-fire-six-20mm-st-5799915 Circular sawblades are about as dangerous to be shot from a slingshot as it gets. Heavy. Sharp. Unpredictable in flight. It turned out quickly that…

An awe-inspiring look at the Very Large Telescope in the Chilean desert

We’ve seen some breathtaking photography and footage of the night sky from Chile’s Atacama Desert, but this eight-minute time-lapse sequence of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope takes the cake. See the Earth rotate around the endless sky. https://gizmodo.com/the-constellations-come-out-to-play-above-the-very-larg-5801998 https://gizmodo.com/a-gorgeous-time-lapse-video-of-the-universe-recorded-f-5765022 [Video by Stephane Guisard and José Francisco Salgado. Spotted on Discover.]

Watch the first 3 minutes of the new season of True Blood

The TV Gods have blessed us this holiday, with the first three minutes from the new season of True Blood. And yes, it’s even better than we suspected! Journey back to the vaseline-lensed, Fern Gully porno fairyland! Spoilers ahead. First up, hooray for the return of Barry the Fairy! Of course his fairy godmother is…

Game of Thrones teaches us what ruling a Kingdom has in common with faking an orgasm

Nobody in Westeros has a particularly good claim to the throne. They overthrew the true King a generation ago. So if everyone’s a pretender, the key is to get good at pretending. Luckily, last night’s episode begins with a tutorial on fake orgasms, and goes on to give us a whole master class in faking…

10 scenes from the most ridiculous sports comic ever published

It’s Memorial Day here in the States. The sultry weather makes my mind turn to stupidly awesome comic books, namely DC Comics’ Strange Sports Stories, a short-lived 1973 anthology about the unfathomable cosmic dangers inherent in physical activity. In Strange Sports Stories, Satan loved baseball and the history of the human race depended on knocking…

Which Sunday show are you more excited about: Game of Thrones, or Teen Wolf?

It’s direwolves versus teen wolves! Next Sunday, MTV’s new Teen Wolf series airs right after HBO’s Game of Thrones adaptation. Which one are you more thrilled about? Vote in our awesome poll! Also in this week’s television: The Doctor makes a shocking discovery on Doctor Who. Ultron rocks the Avengers. The JLI (yes, the JLI)…

Microbe machines: Japanese researchers building robotic cilia

Roboticists at Keio University in Tokyo are experimenting with machines that simulate the movement of cilia, the tiny hairs that line cellular surfaces and help microorganisms get around. Are we witnessing the birth of giant robotic germs? Short answer: yes. Explains DigInfo: This movement is created by using 4 biometal rods. Biometal is a thin…

Victorian paper silhouettes of famous (and infamous) scifi characters

For his “Paper Cuts” series, designer Olly Moss created 19th century paper cutouts of some of speculative fiction’s most esteemed heroes and villains. Here’s a dozen or so characters done up as old timey portraits. NOTE: The final cut is somewhat NSFW, but I couldn’t help but include it. You can check out a full…

Chinese lake monster flashes its white belly for tourists

Last Tuesday, a lake cryptid exposed its gleaming white belly to 30 tourists at China’s Kanas Lake. This isn’t the first time this saucy monster’s been seen in Kanas. Back in 2007, the beast made headlines too. Here’s that footage. [International Business Times via Cryptomundo]

Physicists test out their CSI skills with chicken wing sauce and dish soap

Although TV detectives can solve a crime with an eyelash and a laboratory full of lasers, real-life crime scene investigation still has some basic hurdles to get over. Recently, it leapt one with a bucket of soap. You know the scene: an investigator ducks under yellow police tape and walks into a house humming with…

And now, Doctor Who shooting bad guys set to gangster rap

Here’s something you never knew you wanted: a supercut of Doctors killing bad guys with OG Who weaponry. For someone averse to firearms, he’s pretty good with them. Tom Baker’s thousand-yard stare makes the hair on my neck stand up. [Via Metafilter]

A new villain for The Dark Knight Rises! Plus new clips for X-Men: First Class, Super 8, and Doctor Who!

Michael Clarke Duncan talks playing Kilowog, while Michael Fassbender explains Magneto’s turmoil. We’ve got tons of intriguing hints about Doctor Who’s big cliffhanger episode. Plus casting news for The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Elysium, and Oz the Great and Powerful! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from X-Men: First Class. The Dark Knight Rises…