io9 | Page 4805 of 5933 | We Come From the Future

The Moon is shrinking, says astronomers

Images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate that we are seeing less Moon than our ancestors did. Where’s all this Moon going? Many of us have come home from the grocery store with bags full of produce and hearts full of optimism. We unload the firm vegetables and luscious fruits, so full of wholesome vitamins…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 21

Scenes from Tokyo, circa humanity’s extinction

These thanatoptic tableaus by the artist TokyoGenso depict Japan’s capital once the human race has moved on to greener pastures. Nature’s taken over, and the drone of the metropolis has been replaced by the wind rustling through vines. You can find more of TokyoGenso’s work over at the always entertaining Pink Tentacle. Thanks, CanisPugnaxSnores! Yoyogi…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Aug 21

How to make your own Batarangs

An Instructables.com craftsman named spookylean has written a how-to guide on making the snap-action Batarangs from Batman: Arkham Asylum. His Batarangs were made out of Plexiglas, so you’ll need a stronger material if you’ve scheduled some fledermaus-themed crimefighting. Here’s spookylean’s guide to making Batarangs. A single Batarang cost him $17 and took 10 hours —…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Aug 21

Copy Protection Hasn’t Changed Much Since Medieval Times

Even thousands of years ago, creative types had to worry about protecting their intellectual property. Their approaches to discouraging piracy and theft may not have been too different from the intimidating warnings we see today, but they were far more creative and amusing. Sometimes people come to me and ask, “How did medieval filmmakers protect…

Movies Carl Pyrdum - Got Medieval Aug 20

The Pakistani flooding as seen from space: an explosion of water

You’ve probably seen the horrifying pictures of the 20 million victims of Pakistan’s unprecedented flooding of the Indus River. But this false-color image from NASA’s Terra satellite really drives home the extent of the devastation wrought by rising water levels. And here’s a “before” pic: More at the link. [Earth Observatory]

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

Six months on the International Space Station leaves astronauts as weak as kittens

Speaking of rapid aging, a new study found that just six months on the International Space Station caused super-fast deterioration in astronauts’ muscles, leaving them as weak as people twice their age. According to the Associated Press, “the accelerated space aging is temporary: Astronauts’ muscles recover after a few months back on Earth.” But the…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

Star Wars? Not at NASA

Science fiction doesn’t always translate into science. Centauri Dreams’ Paul Gilster explains why NASA’s current research focus has nothing to do with the technologies we see in classic space operas like Star Wars. I had started today’s entry – on dark energy – only to be sidetracked by a short piece in Space.com that almost…

io9 Paul Gilster - Centauri Dreams Aug 20

Watch the Last Exorcist venture out of his depth in 2 new clips

The Last Exorcism, coming out August 27, is the rarest of beasts: a Satanic horror film that feels fresh and really horrifying. Check out a couple of clips that showcase this film’s nasty unpredictability. Reverend Cotton Marcus and his documentary crew arrive in the middle of nowhere, searching for the farmhouse where the supposedly possessed…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

When someone dies of old age on scifi TV, it’s never natural causes

Hint: If you’re watching a science fiction/fantasy TV show and someone shows up, apparently dead of old age… it’s always something else. Prematurely aged stiffs showed up on two different Syfy shows recently, but aging-to-death has been a time-honored trope. We were spurred to think about this after noticing that recent episodes of Warehouse 13…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

Turtles could hold the secret to human immortality

All animals eventually grow old and die. It’s an inevitable fact of life – except when it isn’t. Some animals, like tortoises and lobsters, never grow old, and learning their secrets could let humans live as long as they want. For most animals, there are three basic ways they can die: disease, injury, or old…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Aug 20

Neptune will soon complete its first orbit around the sun since its discovery in 1846

Today, Neptune’s in perfect opposition to the sun, meaning in a straight line with the sun and Earth, and brightest at midnight. It’s also at its closest to Earth, and nearing the end of its first orbit since its discovery. It’s pretty amazing to think that it’s taken over 160 years for Neptune to orbit…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

Searching for reality at the Philip K. Dick festival

Last weekend, hardcore Philip K Dick fans trekked to the high Rocky Mountains for a festival of Dickian dimensions. There were Dick scholars, biker bars, library lectures, Techgnostic side-trips with Erik Davis, and an epic, weekend-long attempt to define reality. Phil Dick’s science fiction often features characters alienated by the technology that surrounds them, overwhelmed…

Books & Comics David Gill Aug 20

Why you get laid more often when you drink beer

A team of intrepid researchers ventured out into the bars of London with laptops and breathalizers to figure out why people who are drunk have sex with people they don’t find attractive when sober. Yes, it turns out that the whole thing is about those symmetrical faces that evolutionary psychologists are always nattering about. Apparently…

io9 Annalee Newitz Aug 20

Doctor Who finally gives us what we’ve been clamoring for: the chance to explore the TARDIS!

Ever since Doctor Who redesigned the interior of the Doctor’s time machine, the TARDIS, we’ve all been dying to see more of the inside. And next week, a new game will let us explore every inch, including a never-before-mentioned drawing-room! The third Doctor Who adventure game comes out next week, on August 27, and it’s…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

What’s the explanation for this spectral hand clutching at the stars?

This nebula looks like a hand reaching out to grab the stars above it… and that fanciful explanation is as good as any astronomers have come up with to explain that baffling ghostly shape in the center of the image. Nebula IRAS 05437 2502 (click the image up top for a closer look) is located…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Aug 20

Science fiction is getting seriously strange

Lately you may have noticed that hard SF is starting to break the rules. Writer Jason Sanford identifies this as the emerging “SciFi Strange” subgenre, and he’s curated a list of free stories online that make SF a lot stranger. Sanford says SciFi Strange reflects a multicultural world where tradition co-exists with multiple, minority perspectives…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz Aug 20

Write a winning blog comment and get published in a book with China Mieville and Naomi Novik!

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities will catalog many rare and peculiar objects — but it seems like it’ll be such an artifact in its own right. The book boasts a veritable bestiary of great authors… possibly including you! A “loose sequel” to the already published Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric &…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Aug 20

In Praise of the 3D B-Movie

3D movies! They’ve been around, in one form or another, almost as long as cinema itself. But for every prestige film like Avatar that pushes the medium to new heights, there are a dozen Piranha 3Ds. Thank god. Take a look back at the first wave of films in 3D and see which names resonate:…

Movies Brian Barrett Aug 20

Renee Zellweger’s Satanic child makes Bradley Cooper barf bees

Oscar-winner Renee Zellweger goes slumming in Case 39, the story of a social worker who adopts an abused girl. Unfortunately, the girl comes with a side of Satan. Bradley Cooper co-stars as the damsel in distress. Coming to a theater near you in January 2011. I think . . . I can wait.

Trailers Annalee Newitz Aug 20

Beyond Survival: Around the World Eight Times With Les Stroud

When Les “Survivorman” Stroud—the hardest-working cameraman in the business—says shooting his new show “Beyond Survival” was his most challenging shoot yet… What kind of gear do you use when you’re shooting yourself? Les Stroud: What I try to do is to stay on top of the cutting-edge game. Fortunately, because I’m not a big, huge,…

Television Joel Johnson Aug 20

The Moon is shrinking, says astronomers

Scenes from Tokyo, circa humanity’s extinction

How to make your own Batarangs

Copy Protection Hasn’t Changed Much Since Medieval Times

The Pakistani flooding as seen from space: an explosion of water

Six months on the International Space Station leaves astronauts as weak as kittens

Star Wars? Not at NASA

Watch the Last Exorcist venture out of his depth in 2 new clips

When someone dies of old age on scifi TV, it’s never natural causes

Turtles could hold the secret to human immortality

Neptune will soon complete its first orbit around the sun since its discovery in 1846

Searching for reality at the Philip K. Dick festival

Why you get laid more often when you drink beer

Doctor Who finally gives us what we’ve been clamoring for: the chance to explore the TARDIS!

What’s the explanation for this spectral hand clutching at the stars?

Science fiction is getting seriously strange

Write a winning blog comment and get published in a book with China Mieville and Naomi Novik!

In Praise of the 3D B-Movie

Renee Zellweger’s Satanic child makes Bradley Cooper barf bees

Beyond Survival: Around the World Eight Times With Les Stroud

Ryan Coogler Is Shifting ‘Animorphs’ Into a Disney+ Show

No Fooling, ‘Spaceballs 2’ Will Hit Theaters April 2027

I Regret to Inform You That the Artemis II Astronauts Are Having Lots of Screen Time

The First ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Reactions Are Most Solid

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Is Doing What You Hoped

Wearables Are Getting Very Messy

Trump Wants to Start Privatizing TSA in Latest Budget Proposal

Lost Warship From Battle of Copenhagen Found After 225 Years

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

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

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