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Netflix’s The Punisher Is Rethinking Jigsaw to Keep the Show Grounded

The moment Ben Barnes stepped on screen as Billy Russo in Netflix’s The Punisher, comic fans realized that it was only a matter of time before he ended up becoming one of the antihero’s most well-known nemeses, the villain known as Jigsaw. But when we caught up with Barnes during a recent visit to The…

Books & Comics Charles Pulliam-Moore Jan 2 '19

Bird Box‘s Director Wanted the Film to Feel Like the Best Part of Horror Movies

With the goal of making her film as suspenseful as possible, Bird Box’s Susanne Bier wanted to take the best part of a horror movie and stretch it as far as it could go. “I’ve always felt the point in scary movies before you see the monster is the most scary,” Bier, the director of Bird…

Movies Germain Lussier Jan 2 '19

First Clear Picture of Ultima Thule Reveals Snowman-Like Shape

The New Horizons team has released the first high-resolution images of (486958) 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule, the furthest object ever explored by a spacecraft. New Horizons launched in 2006 and flew by its initial target, Pluto, in 2015. NASA then extended the mission to analyze a new target, a Kuiper Belt Object called (486958)…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 2 '19

Ryan Zinke Scribbles About His Public Lands Legacy as National Parks Devolve Into Chaos

Wednesday is scandal haver Ryan Zinke’s last day as Secretary of the Interior. And it looks like his last official tweet will be the perfect memorial to his utter lack of self awareness. The tweet features a photo of Zinke’s farewell note that looks part serial killer, part mixtape written in barely-legible red marker on…

Earther Brian Kahn Jan 2 '19

Adding a ThinkPad Nubbin to a Mechanical Keyboard Is an Incredibly Nerdy Hack

Keyboards, for reasons I’m still unsure of, seem to inspire a lot of nerdery. People will spend hundreds of dollars to tweak and customize their keyboards until they’re perfect. Or they’ll bust out some old keyboard parts and a knitting needle to add a ThinkPad-style trackpoint to an old mechanical keyboard. First noticed by Hackaday,…

Gadgets Alex Cranz Jan 2 '19

Trump’s Absurd Game of Thrones Poster Is Now Real and Making Appearances at Meetings

Careful, trademark infringement lawsuits may be coming. Even though HBO has already warned President Donald Trump to stop using Game of Thrones imagery to stoke fear and hate, he’s doubling down by turning his November 2018 meme poster into a real, tangible item. Accomplishing, well, who even knows at this point. Several news outlets have…

io9 Beth Elderkin Jan 2 '19

‘Dry January’ Helps People Lay Off Alcohol Even Months Later, Study Finds

There’s at least one healthy New Year’s resolution that you may actually maintain through the year, suggests a new study: cutting down on your drinking. The study found that UK residents who tried to abstain from alcohol for the month of January in 2018—as part of a public health campaign called “Dry January”—continued to drink…

Health Ed Cara Jan 2 '19

Finally, a Neural Network Can Turn a Bunch of Sheep Into Some Decent Giraffes

Using machine learning to swap out one image for another isn’t new, but ask these systems to do something a bit more complicated than a basic faceswap, and you can end up with underwhelming or laughable results. Now, researchers say they have developed a technique that produces far more convincing images for complex tasks, such…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jan 2 '19

Here’s a Sneak Peek at the Best Wildlife Photography of 2018

Anyone can snap a photo, but not everybody gets to see a gathering of king penguins or two adult male lions cuddling each other. These are just a few of the majestic moments that are up for the Natural History Museum of London’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award for 2018. This competition, now in…

Conservation Yessenia Funes Jan 2 '19

Industrial Waste From Ants Emits Potent Greenhouse Gas

New research shows that garbage piles produced by leaf-cutter ants emit significant amounts of nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas. Chemical reactions within the organic waste piles produced by leaf-cutter ants create copious amounts of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, according to new research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. These industrious insects…

Biology George Dvorsky Jan 2 '19

Looks Like Sonos Is Making Some New Smart Speakers

A new filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has revealed some details about a new Sonos product. The redacted documents show that a new model number S18 smart speaker will work as satellites for the company’s soundbars to create a surround sound system and will also include built-in microphones for far-field voice control. If…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jan 2 '19

Brian May’s Anthem for the New Horizons Probe Is Really Worth a Listen

They don’t make them like this anymore. Occasional astrophysicist and guitarist for Queen Brian May has gifted us with a song in tribute to NASA’s successful mission to flyby Ultima Thule. It’s pure space-opera rock that deserves a place in the nerd cannon right alongside Queen’s soundtrack for Flash Gordon. As the new year arrived…

Tech News Rhett Jones Jan 2 '19

Doctor Who and the Rejuvenation of the Daleks

In the nearly 14 years Doctor Who has been back on TV, the Daleks have been built up as the most fearsome army in Time and Space, and then broken down to deconstruct the very idea of what a Dalek represents. But Doctor Who’s New Year’s special brought them right back to 2005’s “Dalek”—and finally…

io9 James Whitbrook Jan 2 '19

Google’s Experimental Radar Sensors That Replace Buttons With Gestures Get FCC Approval

Back in 2015, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) showed off tiny radar-based sensors that would let you control your gadgets simply by tapping your fingers together. But it wasn’t until earlier this week (and after a small push from Facebook) that Google actually got the go-ahead it needed to deploy its tech in…

Tech News Sam Rutherford Jan 2 '19

New Chrome OS Feature Blocks USBs on Locked Chromebooks

Locking your computer when you step away is good, but it’s not failsafe—if you’ve watched any movie or TV shows with hackers, you know anyone with a malicious USB stick can compromise your device. But Chrome OS will reportedly help safeguard against these sorts of attacks on Chromebooks with a new feature called USBGuard. Put…

Tech News Victoria Song Jan 2 '19

Elizabeth Warren Backs Radical Climate Action as She Gears Up for 2020

After years of sitting at the margins, a transformative climate action plan known as the Green New Deal has become a focal point in Washington, D.C. thanks to intense pressure from activists and incoming representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Now, just two days into 2019, there are signs radical climate action could become an important issue in the 2020 Democrat…

Earther Brian Kahn Jan 2 '19

Technology, Ranked

The world is filled with amazing technologies, many that are so old we don’t even think of them as technologies at all. Today, we present the definitive list of every important technology ever, ranked by their importance. These aren’t all necessarily good technologies, of course. There are plenty that have made the world a more…

Tech News Matt Novak Jan 2 '19

Bennu Is Now the Smallest Object Ever Orbited by a Spacecraft

The new year has brought important milestones for two space missions—but only one of them deals in the very survival of the human species. OSIRIS-REx, NASA’s asteroid-visiting spacecraft, performed its eight-second thruster burn, putting the craft into orbit around the asteroid Bennu. Bennu is now the smallest object a spacecraft has ever orbited, at 1600…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 2 '19

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream About Ripley or Newt Almost Being in The Predator

The ending to Shane Black’s The Predator was weird, wacky, and completely out of left field, introducing a weapon that could change the game in possible sequels. But what if the new killer wasn’t a thing, but a person? From another movie universe? Apparently, The Predator shot two alternate endings that would’ve brought Alien back…

Movies Beth Elderkin Jan 2 '19

The Scientists Who Brave Angry Hawk Parents, Wasps and 80-Foot-Falls to Save Endangered Chicks

Life is hard for Ridgway’s hawks, a species found only in a small sliver of habitat on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Once found all over the island, the hawks have steadily declined due to local humans killing them and clearing their forest habitat. If that weren’t enough, their chicks are threatened by botflies, whose…

Earther Jake Buehler Jan 2 '19

Netflix’s The Punisher Is Rethinking Jigsaw to Keep the Show Grounded

Bird Box‘s Director Wanted the Film to Feel Like the Best Part of Horror Movies

First Clear Picture of Ultima Thule Reveals Snowman-Like Shape

Ryan Zinke Scribbles About His Public Lands Legacy as National Parks Devolve Into Chaos

Adding a ThinkPad Nubbin to a Mechanical Keyboard Is an Incredibly Nerdy Hack

Trump’s Absurd Game of Thrones Poster Is Now Real and Making Appearances at Meetings

‘Dry January’ Helps People Lay Off Alcohol Even Months Later, Study Finds

Finally, a Neural Network Can Turn a Bunch of Sheep Into Some Decent Giraffes

Here’s a Sneak Peek at the Best Wildlife Photography of 2018

Industrial Waste From Ants Emits Potent Greenhouse Gas

Looks Like Sonos Is Making Some New Smart Speakers

Brian May’s Anthem for the New Horizons Probe Is Really Worth a Listen

Doctor Who and the Rejuvenation of the Daleks

Google’s Experimental Radar Sensors That Replace Buttons With Gestures Get FCC Approval

New Chrome OS Feature Blocks USBs on Locked Chromebooks

Elizabeth Warren Backs Radical Climate Action as She Gears Up for 2020

Technology, Ranked

Bennu Is Now the Smallest Object Ever Orbited by a Spacecraft

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream About Ripley or Newt Almost Being in The Predator

The Scientists Who Brave Angry Hawk Parents, Wasps and 80-Foot-Falls to Save Endangered Chicks

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