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Superheroes provide bad role models for boys, says psychologist

Apparently today’s superhero role models just don’t measure up to the ones of yesteryear. According to a psychology professor, boys exposed to superhero stories are learning that men “exploit women” and don’t have “the virtue of doing good for humanity.” The BBC explains: Professor Sharon Lamb surveyed 674 boys aged four to 18 to find…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Scientists Create World’s First Laser Pacemaker

Scientists have successfully controlled a living creature’s heart with a laser beam, taking a first step towards technology that could prevent serious heart defects. The procedure used pulses of light to pace the heart of a two-day old quail embryo. The research team, headed by Michael Jenkins at Case Western Reserve University, stuck a small…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Asus Reduces Netbook Sales Expectations Because of Apple iPad

Asustek—perhaps the poster child of the netbook world—is cutting down netbook shipments for their strongest quarter. Their reason: Apple’s iPad is eating their market. They are not giving up, and will “step into the tablet PC segment.” According to CEO Jerry Shen, the company has reduced its unit target to 1.4 million for the third…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

The terrible hallmarks of toy-driven movie-making

It’s been 30 years since Gary Kurtz and George Lucas split because Lucas wanted toys to dictate the storytelling in Star Wars. Since then, toy-driven movie-making has gone way beyond Lucas’ grubbiest dreams. Here are the hallmarks of toy-centric storytelling. https://gizmodo.com/original-star-wars-producer-explains-what-went-wrong-af-5611489 And welcome back to Monday Hate, where we hate things because it’s Monday. So…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

This Is What Aliens Will Hear When They Find Voyager

If I were an alien and I listened to these human greetings, I would totally freak out and destroy Earth. Fortunately, the original Voyager’s Golden Records don’t have that creepy background noise, just the voice of humanity and Gaia’s sounds. The disc—which is included in the Voyager I and II spacecrafts—contains 116 images, animal sounds,…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

Truly bizarre UFOs that hover around port cities

It’s possibly the strangest UFO we’ve ever seen. And it’s been captured on film, along with several others like it. Artist Bernard Gigounon makes videos that distort images of ships and buildings from Earth, turning them into scary, graceful starships. Starship by Bernard Gigounon from bernard gigounon on Vimeo. See more of Bernard Gigounon’s creations…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Scientists fabricate a paint that destroys deadly MRSA bacteria

MRSA bacteria is a virulent bacteria that breeds in hospitals, killing patients who are recovering from surgery or other ailments. But now we can create MRSA-free hospitals, by painting them with a special substance that kills MRSA without antibiotics. A group of biotech researchers created the paint by knitting together carbon nanotubes with lysostaphin, an…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Geek Love Poems Are the Best Love Poems

On the side of the road, somewhere deep in the heart of California, this love poem has been scrawled on a partition. I hope whoever it’s meant for has a fondness for web design and memes. Well played, geek Romeo. But I’ve found the fastest way to a woman’s heart is a good ol’ fashioned…

Tech News Brian Barrett

Could changing the ocean’s color wipe out most hurricanes?

The oceans aren’t really blue – thanks to chlorophyll-producing plankton, the ocean has a greenish tint. Now scientists have evidence that making the oceans truly blue could reduce hurricanes and typhoons by up to 70 percent. If you remove from the ocean all the microscopic phytoplankton, which harvest chlorophyll from sunlight, then the sunlight would…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Internet Explorer Turns 15 Today

15 years ago today, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 1.0, the first version of a browser that would eventually command nearly 95% market share. Happy birthday IE, you’ve been around for hyperlinks, hash tags, and everything in between. When it was introduced to the world on August 16, 1995, Microsoft Internet Explorer 1.0 was a retooled…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Seriously, What Was With The Hieroglyphics?

Still dreaming of polar bears on comic books, a series of random numbers, and huge tubs of ranch dressing falling from the sky? Have no fear: Season 6 of Lost comes out on DVD August 24. What mysteries that still wake you up at night do you hope will be addressed in the DVD extras?…

io9 Gawkercreative

The Top Ten Most Dangerous Things You Can Do Online

Researchers at Internet security service provider CyberDefender looked at some of the most dangerous things you can do online and explained how to protect yourself if you’re not quite ready to give up things like Internet porn completely. Checking the “Keep me signed in” box on public PCs How to protect yourself: NEVER, ever, check…

Privacy & Security Achal Khetarpal - CyberDefender

Google Vs. Apple: By The Numbers

>Over the years, both Google’s and Apple’s revenues climbed steadily as their respective stock prices and market shares bounced up and down. It’s confusion, but here’s a nice at-a-glance look at what’s been happening, along with corresponding key events. [Kiplinger] Updated: Kiplinger has provided an updated graphic to correct an error.

Tech News Rosa Golijan

Happy 80th Birthday to Fiddlesticks, the First Color Cartoon With Sound

On August 16, 1930, some eight years after he created Mickey Mouse for Walt Disney, animator Ub Iwerks debuted his newest cartoon, Fiddlesticks. It was the first to combine sound and color, setting the course for the entire animation industry. While many animations, including Iwerks’ 1928 Mickey Mouse short Steamboat Willie, had featured synchronized sound,…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The cybernetic zoology of Vladimir Kush

Do you want to see an elephant with a tuba for a head? Of course you do. In the following paintings, Vladimir Kush takes combines wildlife with bric-a-brac. And look at that antelope’s lyre-horns! [Vladimir Kush via Sentient Developments]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Sneak this $10 Keychain Tool Onto a Flight for Mid-Air Screwdrivering

Let’s face it—you’re probably up to no good with this keychain tool, which conveniently disguises itself as a key. At about a third of the price of a Swiss Army knife, it has eight handy tools. That’s three different screwdrivers, a pair of tweezers, a wire-stripper, bottle-cap opener, nail file and nail cleaner. It comes…

Tech News Kat Hannaford

Jupiter became king of the planets by devouring a “Super Earth”

Jupiter became the solar system’s biggest planet by consuming its chief rival, a massive rocky planet ten times bigger than Earth. New discoveries suggest Jupiter and Saturn learned a lesson from their mythological namesakes, “eating” any planet that opposed them. Both Jupiter and Saturn began life as rocky planets that were at least a few…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Steve Wozniak Will Appear On The Big Bang Theory

Steve Wozniak will appear in an incoming episode of The Big Bang Theory. He has confirmed it himself in his Facebook page: “What’s it like to film an episode of Big Bang Theory? I’ll let you know tonight, but not what the episode is about.” No word on when the episode will be aired. [Thanks…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

Escaping the time machine in Charles Yu’s “How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe”

A lonely time machine repairman and his dog, drifting through a “minor universe” owned by Time Warner Time, spend their days rescuing people from temporal paradoxes. Charles Yu’s first novel is a goofy, sad mindbender about getting stuck outside time. Yu’s book of short stories, Third Class Superhero, earned him a coveted “5 under 35”…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

Alien Starships Hidden On Earth

Some people go to the ocean and they see ships. Bernard Gigounon goes to the ocean and he sees hidden starships everywhere. It’s amazing how a keen eye, a simple video effect, and some ominous music can change reality. [Bernard Gigounon via Piet Mondriaan via Today and Tomorrow]

Tech News Jesus Diaz

Superheroes provide bad role models for boys, says psychologist

Scientists Create World’s First Laser Pacemaker

Asus Reduces Netbook Sales Expectations Because of Apple iPad

The terrible hallmarks of toy-driven movie-making

This Is What Aliens Will Hear When They Find Voyager

Truly bizarre UFOs that hover around port cities

Scientists fabricate a paint that destroys deadly MRSA bacteria

Geek Love Poems Are the Best Love Poems

Could changing the ocean’s color wipe out most hurricanes?

Internet Explorer Turns 15 Today

Seriously, What Was With The Hieroglyphics?

The Top Ten Most Dangerous Things You Can Do Online

Google Vs. Apple: By The Numbers

Happy 80th Birthday to Fiddlesticks, the First Color Cartoon With Sound

The cybernetic zoology of Vladimir Kush

Sneak this $10 Keychain Tool Onto a Flight for Mid-Air Screwdrivering

Jupiter became king of the planets by devouring a “Super Earth”

Steve Wozniak Will Appear On The Big Bang Theory

Escaping the time machine in Charles Yu’s “How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe”

Alien Starships Hidden On Earth

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