Want To See The History Of The Computer In Under Four Minutes?

There are some who’d try to convince you that the history of computing is a lengthy and in depth topic that would take literally hours – maybe even days – to explain properly. Those poor souls have obviously never heard of Superbrothers, the Canadian animators who have managed to crush the whole thing down to…

Samantha Carter Will Live Forever In Amanda Tapping Fan-Fiction

Amanda Tapping is so ubiquitous in the Stargate universe that it took at least the better part of the Sanctuary webisodes to even partially erase the character of Samantha Carter from our minds. Of course, there’s one place where the raging sexual tension of Stargate SG-1 is relived again and again: The wonderful world of…

Benjamin Button Trailer Online

For the romantics and Brad Pitt fans amongst you, the full trailer for David Fincher’s dazzling-looking The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is now online at Apple’s website. Go and catch a glimpse of the special holiday movie that’ll teach you that the true value of love, life and digital effects can be weighed in…

British Gamer Killed Over Gaming Grudge

Click to viewIt started as a war between the two fictional countries of Orange Star and Blue Moon. Over time, it became a friendly multiplayer internet game, with armies of various colors fighting for supremacy in a Nintendo-based world. And last week, the fictional war crossed over into reality when 20-year-old gamer Matthew Pyke was…

For the Batfans amongst the audience, we’ve updated this morning’s Dark Knight Blu-Ray post with the release date, details and packaging of the movie’s home theater debut. Don’t say that we’re not good to you.

Lonelygirl’s Resistance Isn’t Futile, Explains LG15’s Fialkov

If you thought that lonelygirl15 was just about one girl boring MySpace to death about her so-called life, then think again; the insanely-popular webseries was just the start of a science fiction franchise about hidden genetic codes to eternal life. It already spawned a British spin-off, KateModern. This month saw the launch of the franchise’s…

Delusion or Alien Invasion? Disorders That Make Life Seem Like Scifi

Click to viewDelusions and neurological disorders have the ability to radically alter your perception of reality. But the effects of many of these disorders resemble the consequences of an alien invasion, a government conspiracy, or a scientific experiment gone awry. So how can you determine if you’re delusional or in a work of science fiction?…

100 Hulks Smash For Charity

This particularly angry rendition of the Hulk by Ron Garney is part of a collection of 100 pieces (What is the collective term for multiple gamma-irradiated monsters, anyway? A gaggle? A smash?) created by some of the comic industry’s biggest names – as well as some lesser-known artists with a particular connection to Bruce Banner’s…

Casual Sex Leads To Apocalyptic Vision — With Fish

A bizarre science fiction play that had an off-Broadway debut back in March (with nice write-ups in the New York Times, Variety and the New Yorker) is opening up new local runs at Washington, D.C.’s Wooly Mammoth Theater and the Seattle Rep in November. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom features a woman who goes for a…

Vampires Are The New Superheroes

While pop culture has been ruled by the superheroes for the last few years, from Kavalier And Clay through Heroes and the box-office draw of movies like the Spider-Man series, Iron Man and The Dark Knight, it’s worth remembering the words of the most dour of the Fab Four and realizing that All Things Must…

Check Your Reflection in the World’s Smoothest Mirror

Have you ever wanted to analyze your own blemishes at nanometer resolution? Send rays of helium atoms to smash into specimens of your choosing? Look at a biological sample under a microscope without having to stain it first? You’re in luck, because teams of researchers from Spain and England are out to help you achieve…

The Art of Cowboys and Killer Robots

In 2003, artist Sunny Buick conceived and curated SCI-FI Western, an exhibition of art inspired by both science fiction and the American frontier. Taking the analogy of space as the new Old West to the next level, the participating artists juxtaposed B-movie imagery from westerns and science fiction with bizarre and surprisingly poignant results.Buick’s inspiration…

Oscar Voters Get First Glimpse At Groundbreaking Dark Knight Blu-Ray – Updated

For months, we’ve been hearing about the Oscar potential of The Dark Knight, whether it’s Heath Ledger’s stunning turn in the role of the Joker or Christopher Nolan’s dazzling direction, but now we discover that Academy members will get the best chance possible to judge the movie on second viewing, thanks to Warners offering to…

Millar’s War Heroes Headed To Screen After All

We pondered about whether similarities to another comicbook-turning-movie would stop the inevitability of it, but no; Mark Millar’s War Heroes has been optioned for movie treatment by Sony because, sometimes, cinema just needs a superpowered version of Three Kings.The news came on Friday afternoon that Sony had optioned the movie, and plans for Mike De…

The Greatest Threat to the United States is Steve Guttenberg

If you’ve been watching the U.S. presidential debate, you know there was a lot of talk about what’s truly threatening to this once-great nation. Obama and McCain talked about terrorism, the failing economy, and fuel. But they forgot one crucial thing: Nukes! That’s why I immediately sat down to make this clip and bring you…

Which Long-Running Franchise Will Still Be Going In 50 Years?

So many of our visions of the future come from decades in the past, it’s hard not to wonder how long they’ll stick around. We can’t help noticing sometimes that many of the new and exciting franchises we write about at io9 are decades old — dating back to the 1930s, in the case of…

The Ninja Handbook Teaches You The Fine Art Of Making Ninja Jokes

Do you want to learn how to be a ninja? Find a time machine and transport yourself back to 8th century Japan. Alternatively, if you want to learn how to be a “ninja”, as in the type of ninja described in Ask a Ninja’s hilarious net video series, all you have to do is pick…

VR Boyfriend Pls Kthxbai

One of the latest crazes in Japan is virtual boyfriends, which you can order up special on the newly-launched Web-kare social network. Two of the possible boys for you are pictured here, and I have to admit they’re both kind of hot — you know, in an anime way. I like that one of the…

Massive Explosion Culprit Revealed: A Rogue Supernova

A decade after astronomers first spotted a huge, bright light source in the nearby Circinus galaxy, they’ve finally identified its source: a supernova, dubbed SN 1996cr. It took coordinating data from 18 different telescopes, via the Internet, to identify that nova, a milestone in the new era of “Internet astronomy.” This composite image from the…

The Shiniest Stories On io9 Last Week

Too busy campaigning for dystopian mayor Bill Murray to take on a national office? Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a list of the best stories of the week, just for you.Force Unleashed: The Movie? s the Secret Apprentice going to get his big-screen debut? Rumors circulating over at Skywalker Ranch seem to be pointing to yet…