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Alec Baldwin Will Play Batman’s Dad in the Joaquin Phoenix Joker Movie

It’s a day ending in “y,” which means we’re about due for some bit of news involving a movie about the Joker. Today the prize wheel lands on Joker, the Joaquin Phoenix-starring origin movie, with this casting announcement: Alec Baldwin will play Thomas Wayne, also known as Batman’s father. As the Hollywood Reporter reminds us,…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Aug 27 '18

Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch Has Signed a Netflix Deal

Good news for fans of the late, much-beloved Gravity Falls, the animated Disney series about twins who spend their days investigating supernatural mysteries. That show’s creator, Alex Hirsch (aka the voice of Grunkle Stan), will be bringing brand-new content to a brand-new home: Netflix. That’s about the sum total of the news so far—a press…

Television Cheryl Eddy Aug 27 '18

Open Channel: Cast Oscar Isaac as Any Character Ever

While a recent rumor has him headed to The Batman next, I wondered where else we might fan-cast him.

io9 Jill Pantozzi Aug 27 '18

A Friendly Reminder: Netflix Plans to Terrify You With the New Series The Haunting of Hill House

We’ve been so excited about Mike Flanagan’s big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep (aka The Shining sequel) that we kind of forgot about the director’s other big horror project. That changed today when Netflix finally reminded us about the new series The Haunting of Hill House. We first heard about the series—a fresh take…

io9 Cheryl Eddy Aug 27 '18

Y Combinator Plans to Start Doling Out $60 Million Next Year to Study Universal Basic Income

The research arm of Y Combinator plans to begin a study on universal basic income next year in which it will give unconditional cash payments to 3,000 participants. The test is partially intended to see if receiving routine payments will quell anxieties around losing jobs to automation. As Wired reports, the study will be called…

Tech News Jennings Brown Aug 27 '18

Doomed 19th-Century Arctic Expedition Wasn’t Brought Down by Lead Poisoning, Study Finds

The Franklin Expedition, a 19th-century mission to chart a fabled northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, ended in the deaths of all 128 crewmen. A prevailing theory suggests lead poisoning was a major contributor to the sailors’ ultimate demise—a theory that can finally be put to rest, according to new research. In…

Human History George Dvorsky Aug 27 '18

That Viral Tweet Linking Social App IRL With Sex Trafficking Is False

On Friday, someone tweeted that texts from a social app called “IRL” were connected to a sex trafficking scheme, and by Monday afternoon, the warning had more than one hundred thousand retweets and likes. But while the app is real, the claim—that the message is somehow linked to human trafficking—is completely unsubstantiated. The tweet reads:…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Aug 27 '18

YouTube Will Now Tell You How Much Time You’ve Spent on YouTube

Even though the digital wellbeing features in Android 9 Pie are still in beta (and only currently available on Pixel phones), today, Google is expanding its online health and wellness endeavors to YouTube, ostensibly to help you prevent yourself from watching too many bad videos. The new tools themselves are pretty straightforward and consist of…

Tech News Sam Rutherford Aug 27 '18

The Solo: A Star Wars Novel Adds an Interesting Twist to That Major Cameo

Solo: A Star Wars Story has much more intriguing connections to Star Wars’ recent past beyond just telling the tale of a younger Han Solo. But the upcoming novelization of the movie, just like other recent Star Wars adaptations, is adding more—including an intriguing wrinkle left unstated by the film. By now, you’re probably aware…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Aug 27 '18

Our Best Look Yet at Captain Marvel Comes From…a Notebook?

Captain Marvel soars into cinemas next March, but everyone’s been feverishly waiting to actually see Brie Larson in costume. We’ve had concept art, we’ve had set photos, hell, we’ve had a T-shirt modeled by Sam Goddamn Jackson, but nothing official has actually emerged…until now. Sort of. Merchandising floating around months in advance of a huge…

Movies James Whitbrook Aug 27 '18

A Genetic Study Using 23andMe Data Finds Link Between Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use

There’s evidence of a connection between cannabis use and schizophrenia, but it’s unclear whether the drug leads to the disorder, or vice versa. A new study published Monday, which relies partly on genetic data from 23andMe volunteers, might offer a little clarity on that link. It found that people genetically at risk of schizophrenia are…

Biology Ed Cara Aug 27 '18

Could Rising CO2 Levels Trigger a Nutritional Crisis?

A new analysis is reigniting a concern agricultural scientists have been voicing for years: That rising carbon dioxide could exacerbate malnutrition by reducing the nutrient content of staple crops. The study, published Monday in Nature Climate Change, projects that if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise to 550 parts per million (ppm)—a level conceivable by later…

Environmental Justice Maddie Stone Aug 27 '18

Fall Movie Guide: 33 Superhero, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies to Look Out For

It’s that time of year. The weather gets cooler, the leaves start to change, and movie releases get just a little more adult. At least, in theory. We’ve rounded up all the movies io9 readers will want to keep an eye out for through the end of the year. This fall, awards season blends with…

Movies Germain Lussier Aug 27 '18

It’s Time to Give Up on the iPad Mini

Today, Bloomberg posted an updated story on what to expect from the upcoming (though still officially unannounced) fall Apple event. And while many things, like the announcement of three new iPhones with 5.8-, 6.1-, and 6.5-inch screens and designs based on the iPhone X have long been rumored, there was another tidbit that piqued my…

Tech News Sam Rutherford Aug 27 '18

New Details Emerge About Disney’s Streaming Service, Which Will Have Less (and Cost Less) Than Netflix [Updated]

Disney is banking hard on becoming a competitor in the streaming service game, with Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger calling it the company’s “biggest priority” in 2019. A new report shows how the service plans on doing just that. Mainly, by relying on its own movies. In a large report from Variety, industry leaders went into…

Television Beth Elderkin Aug 27 '18

Foxconn’s Plant in Wisconsin Could Be Scaled Back Despite President Trump’s Promises

When President Trump attended a “groundbreaking” for a new Foxconn plant in Wisconsin this past June, headlines suggested that tens of thousands of jobs could be created. But things in Wisconsin are looking a little more modest these days for Taiwan-based Foxconn. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, Democratic members of the state government are…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 27 '18

Facebook Bans Myanmar Leaders, Admits It Was ‘Too Slow’ to Stop Posts Promoting Genocide

For years, an ethnic cleansing campaign by Myanmar’s Buddhist majority against its Muslim Rohingya has torn the country apart. Facebook has faced scrutiny for its role in the spread of false information that incited violence. On Monday, it announced that it has banned several members of the Myanmar military and organizations that were named by…

Social Media Rhett Jones Aug 27 '18

Houston Passes ‘Historic’ Flood Reforms on Hurricane Harvey Anniversary

A year has passed since Hurricane Harvey bore down in the Southeast, pummeling Texas and Louisiana with 27 trillion gallons of water. Since then, some cities and communities have come a long way to ensure they’re better protected for next storm. Over the weekend, voters in Harris County, Texas—home to Houston, which saw some of…

Earth Science Yessenia Funes Aug 27 '18

A New Visualization Turns Global Warming Into Pop Art

If you forgot global warming was happening, worry not. A striking new visualization is here to remind you. Antti Lipponen, a research scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, has released a visual that I’m calling global warming bubbles (Earther managing editor Maddie Stone called it a climate switchboard, which is also a fair categorization). It…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Aug 27 '18

Who Is the Most Powerful Supervillain?

The supervillains who torment, thwart and otherwise mess with the universe’s well-meaning superheroes are, on the whole, a pretty foul bunch. But which of these supervillains is best at what they do? Put otherwise: if what supervillains do is try to inflict as much misery as possible on the largest number of people, which supervillain…

io9 Daniel Kolitz Aug 27 '18

Alec Baldwin Will Play Batman’s Dad in the Joaquin Phoenix Joker Movie

Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch Has Signed a Netflix Deal

Open Channel: Cast Oscar Isaac as Any Character Ever

A Friendly Reminder: Netflix Plans to Terrify You With the New Series The Haunting of Hill House

Y Combinator Plans to Start Doling Out $60 Million Next Year to Study Universal Basic Income

Doomed 19th-Century Arctic Expedition Wasn’t Brought Down by Lead Poisoning, Study Finds

That Viral Tweet Linking Social App IRL With Sex Trafficking Is False

YouTube Will Now Tell You How Much Time You’ve Spent on YouTube

The Solo: A Star Wars Novel Adds an Interesting Twist to That Major Cameo

Our Best Look Yet at Captain Marvel Comes From…a Notebook?

A Genetic Study Using 23andMe Data Finds Link Between Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use

Could Rising CO2 Levels Trigger a Nutritional Crisis?

Fall Movie Guide: 33 Superhero, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies to Look Out For

It’s Time to Give Up on the iPad Mini

New Details Emerge About Disney’s Streaming Service, Which Will Have Less (and Cost Less) Than Netflix [Updated]

Foxconn’s Plant in Wisconsin Could Be Scaled Back Despite President Trump’s Promises

Facebook Bans Myanmar Leaders, Admits It Was ‘Too Slow’ to Stop Posts Promoting Genocide

Houston Passes ‘Historic’ Flood Reforms on Hurricane Harvey Anniversary

A New Visualization Turns Global Warming Into Pop Art

Who Is the Most Powerful Supervillain?

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