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Bootsy Collins tells us how to get a seat on the Mothership

Few musicians have been as science fictional, for as long, as William “Bootsy” Collins. He’s been the cartoon character at the heart of George Clinton’s UFO-inspired Mothership. He’s helped Buckethead construct a giant robot. He’s kept it weird for decades. And now Bootsy is back with a new album, Tha Funk Capital of the World.…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Natalie Portman’s dad writes a novel about severed heads, stolen presidential embryos and mysterious clones

At one point in Misconception, the “fertility thriller” by renowned fertility specialist (and Natalie Portman’s dad) Avner Hershlag, someone writes a letter to the First Lady that reads: Greetings from your embryos… for the time being, your children-to-be are safe and sound with me… In upcoming messages, I will inform you of the kind of…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Microbes can survive 400,000 times Earth gravity

Think the crushing weight of larger planets might be too much to prevent life? Think again! A new discovery from Japan has shown that microbes can survive 403,627 × g — yes, that’s more than 400,000 times Earth’s own gravity. The researchers tested Escherichia coli, Paracoccus denitrificans, Shewanella amazonensis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Crabmonsters and Sentient Darkness: Ten Great Scifi Poems

Poetry has a reputation for being an indulgent way to yammer on about a subject everyone’s already tired of. Sure there are needless epics, but good poetry is actually designed to emphasize the strangest and most dramatic aspects of a situation as quickly as possible. That’s why it can be a perfect venue for science…

Books & Comics Esther Inglis-Arkell

Star Trek fan film repairs J.J. Abrams’ broken Star Trek timeline

Anyone else a little weirded out that the original Star Trek timeline was wiped out by J.J. Abrams’ time-traveling movie? This awesome video from the makers of the Star Trek: Phase Two fan series puts the timeline back in order. [Via Star Trek New Voyages]

Movies Meredith Woerner

May Day, 1871: The Day “Science Fiction” Was Invented

This Sunday is the 140th anniversary of May 1, 1871. On that date Lord Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race and George Chesney’s “The Battle of Dorking” were both first published, and on that date Samuel Butler delivered to his publisher the manuscript of what would become Erewhon. (Erewhon was published in 1872). This is why critic…

Books & Comics Jess Nevins

HBO Go Finally Arrives, So Much For Your Weekend

HBO Go has officially landed, earlier than expected! As a quick refresher, if you’re an HBO subscriber you’ll be able to watch every episode of every season of The Sopranos, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Rome, that vampire silliness, all on iOS or Android. https://gizmodo.com/hbo-go-will-bring-every-episode-of-all-their-shows-to-i-5793587 It’s a treasure trove of not TV, but—for…

Television Brian Barrett

Professor warns that robot eyes can’t be just ‘plug and play’

Vastly improving digital technology makes artificial retinas a possibility in the next few years. Those who get them will have trouble adjusting. The human eye works in ways which digital receptors can’t replace. Either the humans or the machines will have to adapt. The eye takes in information by allowing light in through a lens…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The End of an Era in Space Flight, and the Beginning of Another

This image from NASA shows the Space Shuttle Endeavor waiting on the launch pad last night, with lightning streaking the sky. In 48 hours (delayed from this afternoon), the final launch of the Endeavor will mark the end of the Space Shuttle program. The United States will be sending fewer people into space, but we’re…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Uncensored version of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray finally published

It’s only taken 120 years, but the full text of Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray has finally gotten published. Wilde’s editor J.M. Stoddart removed a large amount of “objectionable” material from the book prior to its first appearance in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in June 1890, including “a number of things which an…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

How people are going to seal Chernobyl. Again.

It seems that the Chernobyl reactor is sealed with a structure that will not hold. Not to worry; a new seal is being readied. But it’s going to be weird. Although nuclear worries are more prevalent than ever, it seemed like Chernobyl was safely past. The area around it had become a spectacular nature preserve.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The Ender’s Game movie finds a distributor! Plus hear from the casts of Elysium, The Avengers, and Breaking Dawn!

The Hunger Games casts a 30 Rock actress and is considering a trio of intriguing actors. Draco Malfoy actor Tom Felton explains his new villainy in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Jeff Bridges might be a zombie cop. Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Thor. Thor Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, and…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Best of io9: April 28

BEST FRIENDS | Pepper Gold Butterfly and Lion by Jessada Sutthi at CGSociety. The first sign that humans are on the verge of evolving into another species https://gizmodo.com/the-first-sign-that-humans-are-on-the-verge-of-evolving-5796865 A scientist who studies the small, silver elephantfish may have stumbled on the key to speciation, the process that allows one species to evolve into two or…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Vincent Price Vs. the Bee Gees. No, really.

This is possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Long before Vincent Price rapped on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” before his stint on Alice Cooper’s “Welcome to My Nightmare,” he took part in this atrocity, the Bee Gees’ Cucumber Castle. Price plays the evil vampire Count Voxville, and Barry and Maurice Gibb play two princes of…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Physics could create one-way soundproofing

The famous one-way mirror used in police interrogations isn’t really one-way – it’s just a trick of clever lighting. But physics could produce true one-way mirrors, and even walls that are only soundproofed in one direction. The one-way mirrors we have now only work because of a lighting imbalance – the people watching have to…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Citizen superheroes band together to protect NYC sex workers

With police investigations in shambles, a group of self-described superheroes have formed to protect sex workers from the serial killer menacing the New York area. More» https://jezebel.com/vigilantes-band-together-to-protect-sex-workers-5796706

io9 Sadie Stein - Jezebel

Ian McDonald’s “The Dervish House” to be adapted for film

Warp Films has just bought the rights to Ian McDonald’s Hugo-nominated novel The Dervish House. Though often these kinds of deals don’t lead to anything – several of Charles Stross’ novels, for example, have been optioned and never been adapted. But Warp Films executive producer Peter Carlson seems pretty serious. In a statement about the…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Take a better look at Terra Nova’s environmentally devastated future

Here’s the longest look we’ve had so far at Steven Spielberg’s time-travel-and-dinosaurs show Terra Nova, after the 30-second teaser we saw at the Superbowl. Most of all, this new trailer gives a better look at the show’s dystopian future. And you can see how Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) basically forces his way into the time…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

New Transformers 3 Trailer: Optimus Prime is pissed!

Optimus is not happy about the lack of communication between Autobots and Earthlings — now the space robot has to clean up our mess… again! Watch Michael Bay’s latest Transformers trailer now. Looks like no one told the rest world that some alien robots had been buried under our Moon’s surface for years! Transformers: Dark…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Bessel Beams: The Coolest Physics Phenomena That Technically Don’t Exist

Bessel Beams are impossible to create, can’t be destroyed, and don’t diffract. In other words, physics has discovered yet another thing that makes no sense. Bessel beams bear the name of Friedrich Bessel, a man whose life straddled the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. And yet he helped create something that seems like it…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Bootsy Collins tells us how to get a seat on the Mothership

Natalie Portman’s dad writes a novel about severed heads, stolen presidential embryos and mysterious clones

Microbes can survive 400,000 times Earth gravity

Crabmonsters and Sentient Darkness: Ten Great Scifi Poems

Star Trek fan film repairs J.J. Abrams’ broken Star Trek timeline

May Day, 1871: The Day “Science Fiction” Was Invented

HBO Go Finally Arrives, So Much For Your Weekend

Professor warns that robot eyes can’t be just ‘plug and play’

The End of an Era in Space Flight, and the Beginning of Another

Uncensored version of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray finally published

How people are going to seal Chernobyl. Again.

The Ender’s Game movie finds a distributor! Plus hear from the casts of Elysium, The Avengers, and Breaking Dawn!

Best of io9: April 28

Vincent Price Vs. the Bee Gees. No, really.

Physics could create one-way soundproofing

Citizen superheroes band together to protect NYC sex workers

Ian McDonald’s “The Dervish House” to be adapted for film

Take a better look at Terra Nova’s environmentally devastated future

New Transformers 3 Trailer: Optimus Prime is pissed!

Bessel Beams: The Coolest Physics Phenomena That Technically Don’t Exist

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

The Best New Toys of March 2026

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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