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Meet the steampunk arthropods who will infest your airship

Sculptor Tom Hardwidge builds pint-sized clockwork insects and spiders out of defunct ammunition and sundry watch parts. In another universe, these little buggers are climbing in your coal-powered, head-warming derby and spitting axle grease all over your telescopic monocle. You can check out many more of Hardwidge’s arthrobots at his site. And lest you dismiss…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The moon Titan rests on Saturn’s razor-thin rings

Saturn’s rings are one of the solar system’s most brilliant sights, extending for tens of thousands of kilometers and weighing at least thirty quadrillion tons. But in this amazing photograph, you can see just how thin the rings really are. This image was taken by NASA’s Cassini probe, really reveals that, for all the brilliance…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Hollywood studios in bidding war to make big-budget Voltron movie?

First there was Voltron Girl, then there was this fantastic movie concept art, now Hollywood is primed and ready to make the 80s cartoon into a movie, and they’re battling over the rights to the cat robot! According to Vulture a bidding war is taking place over the rights to the giant feline mecha between…

Movies Meredith Woerner

10 ludicrous killbots (who would make the Terminator facepalm in shame)

Not every killing machine can be a T-1000, Megatron, or HAL. Some killbots are masses of sentient candy, evil skyscrapers, or half-gorilla aliens. Here are ten movie and TV killbots who flunked out of evil robot school. The Kandy Man from Doctor Who On the 1988 Who episode “The Happiness Patrol,” the TARDIS lands on…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Fandor Wants to Be Your Indie Movie Streaming HQ, Because Netflix Is Like Sooooo Mainstream

We love Netflix streaming more than some of our own family members, and it does have a pretty great catalog—but what about smaller films? More artsy films made by Swedish teenagers, depicting a single rose as it blossoms and slowly shrivels (metaphor for the global recession, duh!)? If you’re looking for some of the terrific…

Movies Sam Biddle

If humanity went extinct, what species would replace us?

Could another species someday replace us as Earth’s dominant intelligent life and, if so, which species? To answer that question, we need to understand just what intelligence really is. And why, from an evolutionary standpoint, an organism would even want it. Once we understand those things, we can start speculating about what the next intelligent,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Class Up Your Place with a Limited-Edition Print From Gawker Artists

You know how Gawker Artists does such a lovely job of fancying up your browser window with new art? Now you can own some of those images IRL. The brand-new Gawker Artists Shop is proud to be working with the taste-makers at Society6 in order to bring you specially curated, limited-edition prints from a few…

io9 Sponsored post

Read the first chapter of China Miéville’s Embassytown online

Can’t wait to read China Miéville’s first foray into hard space opera? Neither can we. So we’re thrilled that the first chapter is already available for free online, at Pan MacMillan UK’s site. It’s pretty thrilling stuff, and Miéville pulls off his usual amount of clever worldbuilding and calculated strangeness — only this time in…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

How We Spent Time Before the Internet

When I harken back to the days before the internet, I can’t help but think how true this is: we know so much more now, but boy do we do less with it. Although instead of going to make the world a better place, I generally just went to kill time at the baseball card…

Books & Comics Brian Barrett

The beautiful birds you rarely see

National Geographic has just published an amazing series of photographs that chronicle the hidden lives of rare birds. This kakapo blends so perfectly with its environment that it’s easy to see why they are so hard to find. Kakapo photograph by Shane McInnes You can see NatGeo’s full series of images on their site. Thanks,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Real-life Transformer can turn its wheels into legs

Roboticists at National Taiwan University’s Bio-Inspired Robotic Laboratory have built the Quattroped, a rectangular robot that can transform its wheels into legs when faced with stairs or rough terrain. Granted, it’s not on par with a mechanical planet that can transform into a giant robotic Orson Welles, but it’s a start. Design-wise, it’s reminding me…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The real reason why you are fat (or thin)

In the UK, the University of Cambridge is deep into its Science Festival, and one particular speaker’s topic caught our eye. Metabolic researcher Stephen O’Rahilly has determined that the genetic reasons that some people become fat or thin are not quite what we had thought. He’s giving a talk on his findings this week at…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Stem cells now being used to treat paralysis in humans – on a trial basis

You’ve heard of stem cell therapies being used to cure or at least partially restore mobility in animals with damaged spinal cords. But what about in humans? Now there are two studies underway. Here’s how close we are to seeing humans released from paralysis thanks to stem cells. Although not all spinal injuries cause complete…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Man dumps girlfriend because she hates Firefly, writes song about it

We’ve discussed the ultimate relationship deal breaker scenario before. But this musician wrote an entire song about how he dumped his girlfriend for disliking Firefly. True or false, we feel your pain — even if we don’t fully support it. Via Topless Robot

Television Meredith Woerner

Ian McKellen describes his first look at Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins. Plus new X-Men: First Class posters!

Ian McKellen reports his first sighting of Martin Freeman in costume as Bilbo Baggins. The dinosaur time travel show Terra Nova will also explore the 22nd Century. Plus updates on Fringe, The Walking Dead, True Blood, Chuck, and more! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Mars Needs Moms. X-Men: First Class Here’s some…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

House Vs. Zombies! Television’s best doctor battles the undead

We don’t know how we missed this amazing scene from Monday night’s House in which he battles an army of the undead, with his “axe-cane”… which transforms into a shotgun. It’s settled: We want Hugh Laurie by our side in the zombie apocalypse. [via Darren Mckeeman on Twitter]

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Robbers Break Into Prison to Steal a TV

Most sane people, like you and me, do all we can to avoid prison. Not these idiots in New Zealand though, they broke into prison to steal a 50-inch plasma TV. The numbnuts set some drapes in an administrative building afire and that’s when police realized the New Plymouth Prison, a minimum to high security…

Television Casey Chan

The electrocuting kiss is our secret weapon in the war against the alien babes

Chances are Battle: Los Angeles won’t end with a scene like this one, but you never know. So why exactly is that kiss electrocuting the alien woman? Is it just really strong static electricity? The clip comes from the ultra-goofy Invasion of the Star Creatures, in which it’s up to these two grunts to put…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

A “diabetes belt” runs throughout the southern United States

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and now we know just where the disease it at its worst: in a cluster of 644 counties in 15 largely southeastern states, making up America’s “Diabetes Belt.” Regional trends are often defined in terms of “belts.” There’s the sun belt, the corn belt, the bible…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Students hack an XBox Kinect to control a robotic arm

Yesterday we showed you how Korean researchers are using motion capture suits to control robotic avatars. Today we have a project from students at University College London using an Xbox Kinect to control a feisty robotic arm in real time. This project was designed by Adaptive Architecture & Computation students Miriam Dall’Igna, Criaco Castro, and…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Meet the steampunk arthropods who will infest your airship

The moon Titan rests on Saturn’s razor-thin rings

Hollywood studios in bidding war to make big-budget Voltron movie?

10 ludicrous killbots (who would make the Terminator facepalm in shame)

Fandor Wants to Be Your Indie Movie Streaming HQ, Because Netflix Is Like Sooooo Mainstream

If humanity went extinct, what species would replace us?

Class Up Your Place with a Limited-Edition Print From Gawker Artists

Read the first chapter of China Miéville’s Embassytown online

How We Spent Time Before the Internet

The beautiful birds you rarely see

Real-life Transformer can turn its wheels into legs

The real reason why you are fat (or thin)

Stem cells now being used to treat paralysis in humans – on a trial basis

Man dumps girlfriend because she hates Firefly, writes song about it

Ian McKellen describes his first look at Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins. Plus new X-Men: First Class posters!

House Vs. Zombies! Television’s best doctor battles the undead

Robbers Break Into Prison to Steal a TV

The electrocuting kiss is our secret weapon in the war against the alien babes

A “diabetes belt” runs throughout the southern United States

Students hack an XBox Kinect to control a robotic arm

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

‘Supergirl’ Will Feature David Corenswet’s Superman in a Sort of Big Brother Role

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

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

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

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