New Images From Legion Unleash The Plague Of Flies And Ice-Cream Demons

A new batch of Legion stills show God’s wrath pouring down on humankind via fire, plague and melty-demon ice cream men. Behold the mighty smiting in the form of pissed-off old women. The story begins with a fallen angel, Paul Bettany, who comes down to Earth to save a pregnant waitress at a truck stop…

Major Thor And Avengers Details, Plus Caprica’s Stars Explain Their Rivalry

Today’s spoilers include a bushel of rumored details about Thor and The Avengers. Plus tons of videos, as Caprica, Chuck, and FlashForward roll out a bunch of new promos and clips. All that plus Lost, V, Stargate Universe, and Wolfman. Thor and The Avengers Someone posted a ton of rumors about the plot of these…

And Now, At Long Last, The Turkeys Get Revenge

What better way to conclude Turkey Day 2009 than with a forty-year-old fake trailer about a killer 300-foot turkey, shot by a bunch of Caltech astronomers in the style of fifties monster movies? Warning: some truly fowl puns lay ahead! Seth Shostak, currently the senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, was one of the young…

Six Things I’m Thankful For In Science Fiction

Science-fiction fans sometimes focus too much on the negative, in a world where remakes run rampant and Sarah Connor Chronicles dies so that Til Death might live. But here are six things I’m thankful for in science fiction right now. This is just my own personal list of what I’m thankful for — feel free…

Superheroes Confront Their Most Terrifying Foe: Old Age

What happens when time and decades of battling evil catches up with the world’s greatest heroes? Gilles Barbier’s mixed media installation L’Hospice envisions the superheroes who don’t die in a blaze of glory, but instead live to see old age. L’Hospice [Gilles Barbier via Nerdcore]

Super High Speed Trains Might Be A Part Of Your Future Holiday Travel Plans

Since many Americans spent part of the last few days traveling home for Thanksgiving on trains, Scientific American chose to mark the occasion with an in-depth report on the future of rail travel. The future looks promising… and fast. The Obama Administration has pledged to make as much as $13 billion worth of stimulus money…

Where Are All The Space Pilgrims?

As the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving and we all prepare to watch Avatar, yet another movie where we invade the aliens, it’s worth asking: why aren’t there any movies or TV shows where humans come in peace and try to coexist? https://gizmodo.com/are-you-ready-to-be-an-evil-colonist-387469 Before really digging into my question, let me offer a few disclaimers. The “First…

Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in “House of the Devil”

A weird indie horror gem crept into theaters last week while you weren’t looking. Called House of the Devil, it’s a smart, spare homage to early-80s B-grade horror movies that pleasingly overturns nearly all the conventions of the genre. Showing in a few select theaters in the US, House of the Devil has been a…

How To Make Yourself Apocalypse-Ready

We often talk about fictional apocalypses here at io9, but what if the collapse of civilization actually happens in your lifetime? Here are some things you can start doing right now to make sure you’re ready to ride it out. Learn To Make Fire. In a post-apocalyptic scenario, you have to account for both short…

Weirdest Movies Ever Released On Thanskgiving Weekend

You might think it’s odd that The Road and Ninja Assassin both came out just in time for Turkey Day. But those aren’t the only counter-intuitive movies that studios have put out for Thanksgiving — here’s a complete list. Sometimes, you just need an escape from the relentlessness of the Thanksgiving celebrations, and Hollywood has…

Best Diet Aid Ever: Science Fiction’s Grossest Food Moments

If you’re worried about overeating today, and need a good appetite suppressant, check out our video compilation of the scariest food moments from science fiction. Behold, the nastiest stuff that scifi has ever cooked up, or regurgitated back out. Please add your favorite food-related gross-out in the comments too!

Unusual Nova May Be Precursor For Massive Stellar Explosion

A nova first observed in 2000 is nearly a decade into its stellar explosion, and yet no hydrogen has been detected in the material ejected from the star. This so-called “helium nova” is the first of its kind ever discovered. Considering hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe, astronomers expect to find it…

Pass the Drama: Disastrous Feasts From Science Fiction Classics

As you’re sitting down with your family for Thanksgiving dinner and trying not to say anything to piss off your uncle, just be grateful there are no vengeful ghosts or evil aliens crashing the party. Allow us to demonstrate. There have been only a few notable Thanksgiving episodes of science-fiction TV shows — after all,…

Join the Conversation in io9’s Observation Deck

Want to chat with your fellow io9ers about any topic you want? We’ve got an open discussion forum going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a place we call the Observation Deck. What movies are you watching this Thanksgiving? Can anyone help you remember the name of that book you read 10…

Doctor Who’s New Artistic Direction And A Look At Dollhouse’s Returning Alpha

Gobble up some Turkey Day spoilers as we learn the identity of Doctor Who‘s artsy guest star and get a gander at Alpha’s dashing new suit on Dollhouse. Plus Thor, Chuck, Smallville, Fringe Green Lantern, Heroes, and more! Doctor Who: In an interview with Bullz-Eye.com to promote Pirate Radio, fifth series writer Richard Curtis revealed…

An Industrial Lady Machine Menaces Our Heroine! [NSFW]

If you’ve never seen The Perils of Gwendoline In The Land Of The Yik Yak, then allow me to enlighten you about this glorious moment in the history of exploitation cinema. This soft-core mindbender from the mid-1980s was directed by none other than Just Jaeckin, the French filmmaker who brought the classic flesh flick Emmanuel…

Navy-Trained Sea Lions Ready to Arrest Enemy Divers

Dolphins aren’t the only aquatic mammals fighting human battles. The US Navy has long been training sea lions as equipment retrievers and underwater sentries. Now they plan to outfit a naval base with mine-sweeping, diver-trapping sea lions. Along with dolphins, California sea lions have been part of the US Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, which employs…

General conversation for readers of io9. Talk amongst yourselves!

Would “The Matrix” Have Been Better As A 1930s Musical?

This semi-funny parody of The Matrix picks up on something serious, which is that the Matrix flicks were heavily-inspired by 1930s iconography. I do love the 30s-style trailer, showing the dance sequence. Compare it with a real 30s trailer! Here’s the trailer for Busby Berkeley musical classic Gold Diggers of 1933. And let’s compare the…

Toy Story 3 Trailer: A Toy’s Life In Hell

The latest Toy Story 3 trailer is out, and has taught us a few things. Children are horrible creatures that abuse their toys. Being a toy is hell. Now that Andy is headed to college no one can save them. Synopsis: Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care…