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Hawaii Alert System Accidentally Warns of Imminent ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT’ [Updated]

On Saturday, smartphones in Hawaii lit up with the ominous warning, “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” A minor panic almost immediately ensued as the public wondered whether a nuclear warhead was indeed about to obliterate part of the U.S. Officials also overrode Hawaiian television with a…

Privacy & Security Tom McKay

Los Angeles Man Charged With Manslaughter Over ‘Swatting’ Death

Authorities have charged 25-year-old Los Angeles man Tyler Barriss with manslaughter for allegedly placing a hoax call that led to a Wichita, Kansas police officer shooting and killing an innocent man, the L.A. Times reported. Court records released on Friday showed that prosecutors charged Barriss with involuntary manslaughter, interference with law enforcement, and making a…

Tech News Tom McKay

Bruce Lee Wields The Most Impractical Lightsabers Ever In Fan Video

Martial arts legend Bruce Lee, sadly, didn’t live long enough to turn in even half of the brilliant performances he was capable of, a tragic fact which leaves a lot to the imagination of his fans. Like, what would Bruce Lee have looked like as part of the modern rise of science fiction cinema? Or,…

Movies Julie Muncy

Black Mirror Embraces a Season of Firsts in This Season Four Making-Of Featurette

Black Mirror’s fourth season is, in hindsight, a radically ambitious feat for Charlie Brooker and his team of reality-breaking creators. It faces the criticisms that season three fell into a rut of cynicism and familiarity with what producer Annabel Jones calls, in this Netflix featurette, “a series of firsts.” There are the formal innovations, like…

Television Julie Muncy

Pretty Soon a Smart Assistant Won’t Be a Choice

This winter I bought three Google Home Minis—two for me, and one for my lovely parents. At home, my pair works like a deeply discounted Sonos setup. I can tell Google’s Assistant to play a song on “both speakers,” and it’ll pipe tinny, still-decent-sounding music into my bedroom and living room. At my parents’ house,…

Tech News Harri Weber

Lunch Meat Will Indeed Travel Through a Wormhole, at Least According to This Charming Short Film

We first wrote about filmmaker Olga Osorio last year when we caught her short film reStart—a suspenseful kidnapping tale with a time-loop twist. The writer-director’s latest, Einstein-Rosen, also happens to be a time-travel story, though it takes a far more lighthearted view of the subject. [Short of the Week]

Movies Cheryl Eddy

Keanu Reeves’ John Wick TV Series Is Officially Happening on Starz

We’re still more than a year away from the third entry in the John Wick franchise—starring Keanu Reeves as the titular assassin, who’s really just trying to bond with a dog—but fans of the series will be pleased to learn that the previously rumored television spinoff has found a home on Starz. Set in the same…

Television Charles Pulliam-Moore

Oh Great, Now We Have to Deal With Ice Jams

This has been a winter of weird wonders. First it was snow in the Sahara. Then came ice balls on Lake Michigan. Now we’ve got to deal with ice jams. Sub-zero temperatures last week didn’t just instantaneously turn boiling water to snow. They also quickly froze rivers, ponds and lakes across the Northeast and Midwest.…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Highly Competent White House Spends 22 Minutes Trying to Mute a Conference Call

“You need people that are truly, truly capable” Donald Trump wisely explained to hedge fund manager John Paulson in September of 2016, vowing to appoint to his potential administration only people of “great competence.” Today those people spent 22 minutes figuring out how to use a phone. CBS reports that during a conference call regarding…

Tech News Avery Ellis

In Billionaire Killers, an Heiress Dares to Take Down Her Megalomaniacal Father

There are few people in the world better positioned to bend President Donald Trump’s ear than his daughter (and advisor) Ivanka Trump—someone who’s been rightly criticized for being complicit in her father’s draconian politics. But what if Ivanka decided to turn on her family and fight for the people? Black Mask Studio’s Billionaire Killers, written…

Books & Comics Charles Pulliam-Moore

Army Base Ditches Chinese-Made Surveillance Cameras Just So No One Gets the Wrong Idea

US Army officials say they replaced five Chinese-made surveillance cameras from Fort Leonard Wood, a base in Missouri, in response to news stories about the company that manufactures them. The five cameras were made by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, which is 42 percent owned by the Chinese government and is just one of several…

Tech News Sidney Fussell

Stop Feeding Your Pets Raw Meat

An emerging trend among pet owners is the practice of feeding dogs and cats raw meat. This idea is that we should put our domestic cats and dogs on diets that more closely approximate what they might eat in nature. New research from Europe shows the surprising degree to which germs and parasites can be…

Biology George Dvorsky

Starz CEO Says Neil Gaiman Will Be More Closely Involved With American Gods‘ Next Season

After the exit of showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green—as well as habitual scene-stealer Gillian Anderson—the future of American Gods is uncertain. But the man in charge of the Starz television network has just said the one thing that should help fans keep hope alive: American Gods author Neil Gaiman will be a lot more…

Television Evan Narcisse

Experimenter’s Gender Can Skew Science

There could be a crisis in science, especially in the social and even medical sciences: Results are difficult to reproduce. Groundbreaking papers might reveal a first set of results, but attempts to repeat the studies reveal a different and sometimes even conflicting new set. There are many factors as to why the same experiment might…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Discovery of Extinct Burrowing Bat Tells Mysterious Story About New Zealand

All but three land mammal species living on New Zealand today were brought there by modern humans, beginning around 800 years ago—and all three of those native mammal species are bats. But a newly discovered bat fossil suggests that there may be more species hiding in the isle’s ancient rock. Perhaps the mammal-poor islands once…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum

A Creepy, Crawling Robot Baby Reminds Us That Carpets Are Disgusting

To the untrained eye, babies are nothing more than drooling, crying blobs who do basically nothing all day. But a recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology has found that babies are actually drooling, crying blobs who stir up impressive clouds of bacteria, dirt, fungi, and bug bits wherever they crawl. And all it…

Health Ed Cara

Daniel Radcliffe Responds to Fantastic Beasts‘ Casting Controversy

It was only a matter of time until the wider Potterverse was brought into the quagmire of controversy surrounding Johnny Depp’s major presence in the cast of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. But the first weighing-in from the old Potter crew has come from none other than the former Harry Potter himself. Speaking to…

Movies James Whitbrook

The American Dreams of China’s Biggest Smartphone Brand Are Basically Dead

Lawmakers are determined to bury any dreams that Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei has ever had of gaining traction in the US. After pressuring AT&T to kill a major deal with the company this week, members of Congress are now moving forward with a bill that would ban the federal government from working with contractors that use…

Privacy & Security Rhett Jones

Here’s Why We Love Working for io9

Journalism can be a tough business, but it’s a hell of a lot cooler when writing about awesome movies, comic books, and other nerdy things—especially when you’re supported by an inspiring group of nerds and fans. In celebration of our 10th anniversary, the io9 staff got together to share our favorite things about working here,…

io9 The io9 Staff

What Does Puerto Rico’s 2018 Murder Surge Tell Us About Post-Storm Violence?

It’s been more than 100 days since Maria decimated Puerto Rico and the island is still reeling. Power is still out for nearly 40 percent of Puerto Ricans, water is polluted with sewage, and federal aid has been slow to mobilize and plagued by sketchiness. These woes have been ongoing for months but a report…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

Hawaii Alert System Accidentally Warns of Imminent ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT’ [Updated]

Los Angeles Man Charged With Manslaughter Over ‘Swatting’ Death

Bruce Lee Wields The Most Impractical Lightsabers Ever In Fan Video

Black Mirror Embraces a Season of Firsts in This Season Four Making-Of Featurette

Pretty Soon a Smart Assistant Won’t Be a Choice

Lunch Meat Will Indeed Travel Through a Wormhole, at Least According to This Charming Short Film

Keanu Reeves’ John Wick TV Series Is Officially Happening on Starz

Oh Great, Now We Have to Deal With Ice Jams

Highly Competent White House Spends 22 Minutes Trying to Mute a Conference Call

In Billionaire Killers, an Heiress Dares to Take Down Her Megalomaniacal Father

Army Base Ditches Chinese-Made Surveillance Cameras Just So No One Gets the Wrong Idea

Stop Feeding Your Pets Raw Meat

Starz CEO Says Neil Gaiman Will Be More Closely Involved With American Gods‘ Next Season

Experimenter’s Gender Can Skew Science

Discovery of Extinct Burrowing Bat Tells Mysterious Story About New Zealand

A Creepy, Crawling Robot Baby Reminds Us That Carpets Are Disgusting

Daniel Radcliffe Responds to Fantastic Beasts‘ Casting Controversy

The American Dreams of China’s Biggest Smartphone Brand Are Basically Dead

Here’s Why We Love Working for io9

What Does Puerto Rico’s 2018 Murder Surge Tell Us About Post-Storm Violence?

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