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Frida Is A Good Dog, But She Hasn’t Rescued 52 People From The Earthquake in Mexico

Frida the disaster rescue dog is a social media star. Not only is she just generally a good dog (perhaps one of the goodest), she is going above and beyond by trying to find survivors after the devastating 7.1 earthquake in Mexico City this week. But tales of her heroics so far have been a…

Uber Banned in London For ‘Lack of Corporate Responsibility’

Uber, the troubled amateur cab company, has experienced yet another setback in its plan to take over the world. The city of London just revoked Uber’s license to operate in the city. Transport For London (TfL) released a statement saying that Uber’s license would formally expire on September 30th. Uber says that it will appeal…

Perhaps the World Didn’t Need One More Amityville Horror Movie After All

There are two decent Amityville Horror movies: the 1979 original starring Margot Kidder and James Brolin, released when some still believed the book it was based on was a true story; and 2016’s The Conjuring 2, which features a big scene in the infamous eye-window house, and is technically not part of the 18-film series…

A Time Traveler Goes on a Desperate Personal Quest in Scifi Short Cradle

In David Holechek’s scifi short Cradle, a man haunted by the worst day of his life frantically tries to figure out a way to time-travel using precise calculations and, ultimately, his mind—think Somewhere in Time, but with a tragedy driving the narrative instead of a corny romance. Many of Cradles’s story elements are intentionally left…

Do You Remember?

Facebook Used an ‘I Will Rape You’ Image to Invite Users to Instagram

This is getting absolutely nuts. Just a week after Facebook got busted for allowing advertisers to target topics like “Jew haters” and “How to burn Jews,” a reporter found that the company used an image that said “I will rape you” to invite her friends to Instagram. There was a death threat in there, too. The…

Open Channel: Why the Hell Does Anyone Live in Gotham City?

I’ve been watching Gotham on and off for the past few years and while the show’s insanity is one of its best qualities, it’s also left me with a burning question that I’ve never been to figure out: Who the hell would willingly choose to live in Gotham City? Also, like, why? Moving to Gotham…

App That Paid Users to Exercise Owes Nearly $1 Million for Not Paying Users to Exercise

In the capitalistic nightmare we live in, everything has to be a transaction. So, when Pact launched its fitness app that let you make money for working out—or else pay a fee for failing to do so—it seemed to be the perfect motivational tool. There was just one problem: The company apparently wasn’t that great…

How the Star Trek: Discovery Comic Will Reveal New Things About the Klingons Without Screwing Up Canon

The Klingons of Star Trek have a long, storied history of having their long, storied history explored and evolved every time we see them. Star Trek: Discovery’s take on them is no different, but these new Klingons have been shrouded in mystery. Until now, that is, thanks to the new Discovery comic. IDW’s four-part Discovery…

Watch How Balls of Steel Are Made

If there’s something more satisfying than watching hyper-specific machinery churn out random parts, I haven’t found it yet. In this behind the scenes video, one of Shandong Iraeta’s factories tirelessly turns giant rods of metal into perfectly spherical balls of steel. At one point in the process, the steel balls, which are used in rotating…

Maria’s Path of Destruction Across Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Is Heartbreaking

Hurricane Maria is currently churning off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, leaving behind historic levels of destruction in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and several Caribbean nations. Recovery and cleanup efforts have already begun, but as grim new photographs show, these tropical islands have their work cut out for them. The eye…

Neil Gaiman Will Lend His Voice to The Simpsons‘ Own Halloween Coraline Parody

As certain as the sun rises and sets, every year we get a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror special—but the 2017 edition is recruiting legendary writer Neil Gaiman. Not to pen a story, but to star in an homage to his dark fantasy novel Coraline. Gaiman revealed the news on Twitter today, ahead of the 28th…

Spider-Men II Finally Explained Why Nobody’s Been Able to Find the Original Miles Morales

Now that they’re finally living in the same dimension, Peter Parker and Miles Morales have been trying to solve one of the more interesting questions posed at the end of Marvel’s Secret Wars from 2015: Why doesn’t Miles have an Earth-616 counterpart? Though the universes they originally came from were wildly different, there were an…

I Don’t Care How Cool VR Is, Please Just Propose IRL

You know what’s cool about finding someone you’re actually into? Holding hands. Making out. Gazing into each other’s (actual) eyes. You know where you can’t do these things? In the void. So why the hell are people proposing in virtual reality? For some inexplicable reason, people keep taking a tender moment and strapping some hardware on…

Facebook Pledges to Share Russian Political Ads With Congress [Updated]

Facebook will share political ads linked to a Russian troll farm with Congress, in a reversal of its earlier claim that it could not share the ads because of its obligation to protect user privacy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the change today on Facebook Live, as well as several other changes the company is making…

Lovestruck Toadlets Can’t Even Hear Their Own Flirting

Stand in awe of the small but mighty pumpkin toadlet. He might only be an inch long, but his skin is packed with some of the most potent toxins on Earth. Strutting proudly through the mulch, he lets out a series of high-pitched buzzes to let nearby females know that in this patch of damp,…

Everything You Need to Know About Star Trek: Discovery Before It Premieres

Hey, did you hear there’s a new Star Trek show starting September 24? Anticipation is mighty high here at io9—but for everyone who hasn’t been cataloguing every bit of info that CBS has revealed about Star Trek: Discovery on the long road to its debut, we’ve assembled this handy guide to get you up to…

The EU Suppressed a 300-Page Study That Found Piracy Doesn’t Harm Sales

The European Commission paid €360,000 (about $428,000) for a study on how piracy impacts the sales of copyrighted music, books, video games, and movies. But the EU never shared the report—possibly because it determined that there is no evidence that piracy is a major problem. The Dutch firm Ecory was commissioned to research the impact…

Unbreakable and Split Stars Will Return for M. Night Shyamalan’s Superhero Sequel Glass

M. Night Shyamalan is making his own comic book universe, even if it’s not based on an actual comic book. Unbreakable stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Split lead James McAvoy, are set to reprise their roles in Shyamalan’s latest superhero installment, Glass. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Willis will be…

Brainless Jellyfish Are Making Us Rethink Our Understanding of Sleep

If you’ve ever seen a jellyfish in the wild, at an aquarium, or in one of those 11-minute-long relaxation videos on YouTube, you’ve probably wondered: What are jellyfish trying to do? What is their goal? The answer is not entirely obvious, as these barely sentient blobs seem to senselessly ferry themselves from one place to…