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Need ideas for your next science fiction story? This site is full of them

Story ideas are dime a dozen, but sometimes it can be hard to find one that feels really original, or which you connect with. That’s why TheIdeaBird is a really neat idea — every day or two, this Tumblr features another story idea, and they’re usually science fiction or fantasy. In fact, these little idea…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Apr 6 '12

Silent Era Back to the Future May Be Silly, But I Like It

After watching The Artist and now this Back to the Future Doc Brown to the Rescue! short, I hope that Hollywood starts re-releasing every film with the silent film treatment. That would be a lot better than making every old hit 3D. And screw DTS and Dolby while you are at it: put a pianist…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Apr 6 '12

Water that floats on oil could speed spill cleanups

Most everyone knows that oil and water don’t mix. Oil molecules are non-polar, meaning their charge is distributed more or less evenly throughout their structure. Water, on the other hand, is polar — different parts of each water molecule carry a weak positive or negative charge. Generally speaking, polar molecules like water and non-polar molecules…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 6 '12

SushiBot Churns Out 300 Perfect Rolls Per Hour

If you suffer from insatiable cravings for delectable raw fish, and your takeout bills are skyrocketing, it might be time to invest in one of Suzumo’s Sushi-making robots. GadgetLab reports that at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo 2012 in Tokyo Suzumo is showing off the future of your daily toro habit: a roll-making…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Apr 6 '12

Mighty Cute Avengers: The Most Adorable Avengers Fan Art Ever!

When MODOK rears his ugly head, there’s only one team of heroes you can count on to save the day: the Avengers. But Tony Stark and Steve Rogers don’t just lead the coolest team, but the most lovable team in the Marvel universe. (Sorry, X-Men.) And tons of artists have captured the surpassing cuteness of…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Apr 6 '12

AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday

According to 9to5Mac AT&T is going start unlocking iPhones for customers who have fulfilled their contracts or paid an early termination fee. That’s great news for anyone looking to take a paid-off iPhone to a new carrier. According to the statement AT&T gave 9to5Mac, this could be your lucky Sunday if you’re an out of…

Tech News Mat Honan Apr 6 '12

No One Wants To Shop From an Interactive Music Video

Canadian retailer SSSense has developed a shoppable music video in hopes that watching cool people flaunt couture will inspire you to impulse buy a bunch of crap you don’t want and can’t afford. The song is not terrible! But the shopping experience is noisy and totally ruins the video. Nobody who likes music actually wants…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Apr 6 '12

Miracle Worker Glove Helps Deaf and Blind People Communicate

It would have been much easier for Anne Sullivan to get Helen Keller to spell out “water” with this innovative mitten. The Mobile Lorm Glove allows people who are deaf and blind to communicate by transmitting tactile signals to their hands. It uses something called the Lorm Alphabet, a hand-touch sign language that assigns characters…

Gadgets Leslie Horn Apr 6 '12

What Darth Vader Would Look Like If He Was a Good Dad

In an alternate Star Wars reality, maybe Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader but realized he still wanted to take care of his kids like any not evil dad would. Maybe he did all the mundane dad things too. Maybe it looked like this. Jeffrey Brown, an artist and author, is imagining that lovely and hilarious…

Books & Comics Casey Chan Apr 6 '12

Who says you can’t use maths in your daily life?

Pro-tip on pi-tips: this will come off as even more clever if you actually ordered pie. Or a pi pie. This little gem comes courtesy of redditer gamehead200. And for those of you complaining that the server got stiffed on the tip you’re right; as password_is_pi pointed out, gamehead200 still owes: $0.0015926535897932384626433832795 0288419716939937510582097494459230 7816406286208998628034825342117067 98214808651…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 6 '12

Is Everyone You Know an Alcoholic?

Alcoholism is usually viewed as a binary: Either you’re addicted to alcohol or you’re not. Now psychologists are starting to consider the possibility that there are legions of “almost alcoholics” out there who are quietly afflicted but don’t know what to do about it. And from the looks of it, this group could include everyone…

Health Mario Aguilar Apr 6 '12

This is what a hippo attack looks like

In addition to whipping up literal shitstorms with its tail to mark its territory, the hippopotamus is renowned for being approximately three tons of tetrapod nastiness. Watch what happens when a safari jeep gets on the bad side of one of these incredibly aggressive creatures. [Via Boing Boing]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Apr 6 '12

F-18 Crashes into Apartment Building and Explodes (Update: No Deaths)

A Navy F-18 fighter just went down smack in the middle of a Virginia Beach apartment complex, demolishing buildings and leaving others ablaze after multiple explosions—the jet itself is an enormous flaming heap of jet wreckage. WAVY-TV reports “the Navy told WAVY.com the plane was an F18 Strike fighter squadron 106,” and is clearly still…

Tech News Sam Biddle Apr 6 '12

Jimmy Kimmel Joins the Google Glasses Mockery Parade

It seems that in the process of hyping its latest product, Google has unleashed a torrent of humorous ridicule upon itself. Jimmy Kimmel was next at the plate last night, jabbing the company’s new augmented reality glasses from all sides. https://gizmodo.com/what-wearing-google-glasses-would-really-feel-like-spo-5899433 Kimmel’s take portrays the potential Google Glasses might have for causing personal injury. Stick…

Tech News Michael Hession Apr 6 '12

What’s the science fiction universe where you prefer the fanfic to the official stories?

Fandom can be miraculous. Fans bring so much creativity and love to science fiction and fantasy universes, and along the way they work an amazing transformation. And sometimes it feels like the stories the fans create are actually cooler than the works they’re based on. So what science fiction or fantasy universe do you prefer…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Apr 6 '12

Once again, pandas prove they have the world’s most byzantine mating habits

Pandas, as a species, seem absolutely resolute in their desire not to breed, regardless of how much panda porn we seem to show them. Just to further drive this point home comes new research — not only do females pandas have a reproductive window, but the males do too. The reproductive cycle of female pandas…

io9 Tim Barribeau Apr 6 '12

This Cordless String Trimmer Leaves Weeds Shaking in Their Roots

One day last spring, out whacking weeds with Popular Mechanics’ veteran home editor Roy Berendsohn, it became clear that a gas-powered string trimmer has more stamina than any reasonable man has weeds to whack. The product category seems prime for battery power. But the models on the market, like Black & Decker’s 36-volt, haven’t found…

Tech News Harry Sawyers Apr 6 '12

We’ve seen the first 30 minutes of Pixar’s Brave!

Pixar is still putting the finishing touches on its Scotland-set, female-centered, arrow-flinging fantasy film Brave, but we got a sneak peek at the movie’s first 30 minutes. We can’t give you any spoilers, but we can tell you this: It’s going to be one gorgeous movie. Pixar screened a rough first third of the movie…

Movies Lauren Davis Apr 6 '12

Chinese Kid Sells His Kidney for an iPad and iPhone, Suffers Renal Failure

Though you might say you’d give your left arm for an iPad, you only mean it figuratively. But one Chinese teen actually sold his kidney to make enough money to buy the Apple tablet and an iPhone, and now five people have been charged with intentional injury in the case. https://gizmodo.com/teen-sells-his-kidney-for-an-ipad-2-teen-now-regrets-i-5807795 The bottom line? A…

Tech News Leslie Horn Apr 6 '12

First clip from Battleship shows off the aliens’ board game-inspired firepower

Even though the director Peter Berg refuses to admit that he clearly based Battleship’s alien weaponry on the red pegs from the board game, this new clip begs to differ. Watch the very first clip from Battleship, in which a collection of red cannonballs blast the military. Hot damn, this movie looks like Transformers IV:…

Movies Meredith Woerner Apr 6 '12

Need ideas for your next science fiction story? This site is full of them

Silent Era Back to the Future May Be Silly, But I Like It

Water that floats on oil could speed spill cleanups

SushiBot Churns Out 300 Perfect Rolls Per Hour

Mighty Cute Avengers: The Most Adorable Avengers Fan Art Ever!

AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday

No One Wants To Shop From an Interactive Music Video

Miracle Worker Glove Helps Deaf and Blind People Communicate

What Darth Vader Would Look Like If He Was a Good Dad

Who says you can’t use maths in your daily life?

Is Everyone You Know an Alcoholic?

This is what a hippo attack looks like

F-18 Crashes into Apartment Building and Explodes (Update: No Deaths)

Jimmy Kimmel Joins the Google Glasses Mockery Parade

What’s the science fiction universe where you prefer the fanfic to the official stories?

Once again, pandas prove they have the world’s most byzantine mating habits

This Cordless String Trimmer Leaves Weeds Shaking in Their Roots

We’ve seen the first 30 minutes of Pixar’s Brave!

Chinese Kid Sells His Kidney for an iPad and iPhone, Suffers Renal Failure

First clip from Battleship shows off the aliens’ board game-inspired firepower

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