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Cloud City: A Spectacular Sculptural Constellation of Mirrors and Steel

Yesterday, atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, artist and architect Tomas Saraceno debuted his most recent work: Cloud City. A spectacular sculptural constellation, Cloud City is a mirrored fun house of geodesic pods, open to the public, with a number of prime vantage points for taking in the expansive Manhattan skyline…

Tech News Molly Oswaks May 15 '12

I Let a Weird Man Rub Me for 10 Minutes, in the Name of Journalism

ITP, the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, is the birthplace of some incredibly weird and wonderful creative technology. Just this year, we’ve already seen butt plugs custom-made to represent the campaign of each GOP presidential candidate, and a descriptive camera that spits out words rather than images. https://gizmodo.com/a-custom-made-data-driven-butt-plug-for-each-gop-presi-5910229 Today at…

Tech News Molly Oswaks May 15 '12

Were Prehistoric War Dogs Key To Humanity’s Survival?

Tens of thousands of years ago, humans prevailed over a Neanderthals. A new study suggests that man’s best friend might have helped us win the battle. According to anthropologist Pat Shipman, the reason for humanity’s evolutionary success may have have been our kinship with domesticated dogs. The Atlantic reports on research first published in American…

Biology Mario Aguilar May 15 '12

How a Single Bolt Sidelined a Submarine for Three Months

If you heard an ominous sound coming from your car’s engine, what would you do? Most people probably wouldn’t continue to gun the engine, trying different gears until the problem went away. But if you were the crew of the guided missile-equipped USS Georgia and you heard some clunking coming from the submarine’s engine, that’s…

Tech News Kif Leswing May 15 '12

Kids’ Reenactment of “Sabotage” Is a Fantastic Tribute To MCA

Everything about this clip is wonderful. As we mourn the loss of Adam “MCA” Yauch, Portland dad James Winters gathered his kids and his nephew to pay tribute to the late Beastie Boy with this recreation of the music video for “Sabotage.” The video for the original song—the first single off the Beasties’ 1994 album…

Tech News Leslie Horn May 15 '12

Picture of the Day: May 15, 2012

THE ARTIFICIAL FIREFLIES OF SUMMER | In Tokyo, the traditional Sumida River fireworks displays were supplemented with this gorgeous display of 100,000 LED “fireflies,” all solar-powered, drifting on the river. Photo courtesy of Tokyo Hotaru Festival. Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our…

io9 Annalee Newitz May 15 '12

The Navy Had a Hoverboard Waaaay Before Marty McFly

If you think Back To the Future 2 was the first time the world was introduced to the concept of hoverboards, think again. As far back as 1955 the U.S. Navy was demonstrating its own hoverboard concept, but unfortunately it wasn’t as slick as Hollywood had envisioned them to be. The craft used a set…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski May 15 '12

This Math Equation Will Make You Less Fat

From trying fad diets to developing eating disorders to becoming a gym rat, people have basically gone crazy trying to lose weight. And it’s true, America is fat. But what if the secret to losing weight wasn’t in ditching carbs or hurling or doing interval exercises but rather if it was in math? What? Yes.…

Health Casey Chan May 15 '12

Leonard Nimoy wanted to play the villain in Star Trek V

What would Star Trek V have been like if Leonard Nimoy had played both Spock and his misguided brother Sybok? Answer: Probably still pretty terrible, all other things being equal. Laurence Luckinbill, who did play Sybok, says that Nimoy was absolutely determined that Spock and Sybok should be twins, and that he should play both…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 15 '12

Own a Piece of NYC’s Past With a Chair Made of Old Water Towers

This chair seems to slowly shift like waves on a lake gently undulating on a quiet breezy day. It’s certainly fitting—the low-lying lounger is made from reclaimed wood from a New York City water tower. The seat derives elegance from its simplicity. Smooth curves make it inviting, as if asking you to come rest a…

Tech News Leslie Horn May 15 '12

New Magic the Gathering Art Is Sumptuous Eye Candy

Artist Winona Nelson took our breath away with the designs for some new Magic the Gathering cards. The top image is called Favorable Winds. Click any image to enlarge. Stensian Luminaries Nelson posted these over at Gorilla Art Fare. You can see more of her Gorilla posts here, or check out her personal site. Sigarda…

io9 Annalee Newitz May 15 '12

Is There a More Awesome Combination Than Pizza and Animated Gifs? Doubt It

If you’ve ever had one of those days when you’re blindly poking around the internet, wondering what value the world wide web really has to offer, this is your answer. Visionary Andrew Salomone has created a tutorial on making animated gifs and pizza at the same time. Yeah, let that concept sink in for a…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski May 15 '12

Eureka goes all in with the body-swapping craziness

Yesterday’s Eureka was the most fun (non-animated) episode of the show in ages, as weird spikes in Sheriff Carter’s brain made him swap bodies with the rest of the cast. The results were equal parts funny, disturbing, and weirdly poignant. “Jack Of All Trades” features the return of Wallace Shawn as the Department of Defense…

Television Alasdair Wilkins May 15 '12

Greenpeace Invades Apple’s Headquarters

Earlier this morning, Greenpeace launched a full offensive against Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. First, in the middle of the night, they projected messages onto the main façade of Infinite Loop. Later, they placed an Apple-branded pod right on the door, inside Apple’s property. You can see the pod in this image. Inside the pod there were…

Tech News Jesus Diaz May 15 '12

The Quickest Way to Fire Up Your Barbecue This Summer

You’ve got your grill. You’ve got your meat. But you’re missing one integral ingredient: fire. Rather than messing around with tons of messy newspapers or smelly lighter fluid, consider trying Weber’s Rapidfire Chimney Starter. Sometimes the biggest challenge in barbecuing is just getting the fire going. But this Chimney Starter is supposed to work efficiently,…

Tech News Leslie Horn May 15 '12

Rumor: Google to Partner With Multiple Handset Makers for Nexus Devices

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google will partner up with multiple Android handset manufactures to produce several Nexus-branded phones each year, rather than releasing just one. Here’s what the Journal had to say: Google’s strategy is a shift from its previous practice, when it partnered with only one hardware maker at a time to…

Tech News Mario Aguilar May 15 '12

Wild trailers for ABC’s new TV shows include evil Nazi babies and green aliens!

Earlier today ABC announced that it would be adding three new genre shows: 666 Park Avenue, Zero Hour, and The Neighbors to their line-up next year. And now we’ve got the sizzle reels for each show. We’re completely blown away by the evil Nazi baby, and the look of the aliens in The Neighbors! Watch…

Trailers Meredith Woerner May 15 '12

Doctor Who corsets and Lolita skirts set our double hearts aflutter

Over on Etsy, London fashion designer Rae has created the ultimate Doctor Who fetish outfits. Using her own designs, she’s whipped up Lolita skirts, bow ties, and a corset from cute Who-themed fabrics. These are just three of the confections she has on offer — check out Rae’s store Corset Wonderland to see the whole…

io9 Annalee Newitz May 15 '12

Chronicle‘s Josh Trank: Being able to tell a compelling story is the rarest special effect

Chronicle was one of the freshest movies we’ve seen this year so far, with its telekinetic teens going off the rails. This superpowered “found footage” movie comes out on DVD today, so we were excited to talk to director Josh Trank. https://gizmodo.com/chronicle-is-a-superhero-origin-story-done-right-5881894 And Trank told us that instead of trying to make a new spin…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders May 15 '12

FreezePaint: A Fun Sandbox for Strange Photo Experiments

There certainly is no shortage on photography apps lately. The lion’s share of them are Instagram clones, allowing you to alter your pics with sepia-toned and vintage-style filters. FreezePaint, however, offers something completely different with an app that lets you capture and duplicate different parts of your image. What does it do? FreezePaint lets you…

Tech News Leslie Horn May 15 '12

Cloud City: A Spectacular Sculptural Constellation of Mirrors and Steel

I Let a Weird Man Rub Me for 10 Minutes, in the Name of Journalism

Were Prehistoric War Dogs Key To Humanity’s Survival?

How a Single Bolt Sidelined a Submarine for Three Months

Kids’ Reenactment of “Sabotage” Is a Fantastic Tribute To MCA

Picture of the Day: May 15, 2012

The Navy Had a Hoverboard Waaaay Before Marty McFly

This Math Equation Will Make You Less Fat

Leonard Nimoy wanted to play the villain in Star Trek V

Own a Piece of NYC’s Past With a Chair Made of Old Water Towers

New Magic the Gathering Art Is Sumptuous Eye Candy

Is There a More Awesome Combination Than Pizza and Animated Gifs? Doubt It

Eureka goes all in with the body-swapping craziness

Greenpeace Invades Apple’s Headquarters

The Quickest Way to Fire Up Your Barbecue This Summer

Rumor: Google to Partner With Multiple Handset Makers for Nexus Devices

Wild trailers for ABC’s new TV shows include evil Nazi babies and green aliens!

Doctor Who corsets and Lolita skirts set our double hearts aflutter

Chronicle‘s Josh Trank: Being able to tell a compelling story is the rarest special effect

FreezePaint: A Fun Sandbox for Strange Photo Experiments

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