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Scientists Who Doubt Neanderthal Art Must Reckon With New Evidence From These Sweet Cave Paintings

Cave paintings in Spain were produced at least 64,000 years ago, a full 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe.

Human History George Dvorsky Feb 22 '18

Unprecedented Video Shows How DNA Is Organized in Real Time

Your body is truly amazing. Every cell inside of it is capable of organizing massive messes of DNA into chromosomes as a cell prepares to divide. That DNA, when unraveled, can span more that two meters in length, but your body’s cells whip it into tidy bundles. We’ve long known that the body can do…

Biology Kristen V. Brown Feb 22 '18

Director Duncan Jones Explains How Mute Suddenly Became a Scifi Film

There are two huge scifi movies coming from fan favorite directors this weekend. One you’ll have to head to theaters to see: Alex Garland’s Annihilation. The other—the long-awaited, highly-anticipated Mute, directed by Duncan Jones—is arriving on Netflix. Jones got his start with the amazing film Moon, directed the very solid Source Code, and recently made Warcraft,…

Movies Germain Lussier Feb 22 '18

There’s No Such Thing as a Truly ‘Wild’ Horse Anymore

An analysis of DNA spanning 5,500 years shows we’ve been wrong about the origin of domesticated horses, and the common notion that wild horses still exist is completely wrong. The oldest archaeological evidence of horse domestication dates back 5,500 years ago, to the ancient Botai people who once lived in what is now northern Kazakhstan.…

Biology George Dvorsky Feb 22 '18

Unwanted Simulated ‘Hugs’ and ‘Back Rubs’ May Now Qualify as Harassment by FreeBSD

Last week, open-source software developer FreeBSD Project updated its code of conduct to address nonconsensual “simulated physical contact” as a form of harassment. That means that sending someone descriptions of physical contact like a “hug” or a “backrub” without their consent, or after they have asked you to stop, are violations of the guidelines governing…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Feb 22 '18

The io9 History of Annihilation, From Book to Film to Controversy

When Alex Garland’s Annihilation opens Friday, it will be the end of a long journey for the film. It began way back in 2013 when Paramount bought the movie rights to Jeff VanderMeer’s book and its sequels, before they were even published. io9 has been covering Annihilation since the very beginning, and we thought it…

Movies Germain Lussier Feb 22 '18

Model Brains-on-a-Chip Reveal the Physics of Brain Folding

Brains fold in on themselves as they grow. That’s just what they do. How and why they do it is a different story, and studying it requires some pretty interesting science. Science like growing simple mini-brains on a chip under a microscope. Israeli scientists wanted to study brain folding from a physics perspective. Growing brain…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum Feb 22 '18

Urban Heat Created a Massive Hole in New Delhi’s Pollution-Fueled Fog

Since at least 2014, satellites have been showing odd holes in the fog over Indian cities. Scientists didn’t know why until they published a paper about it earlier this year in Geophysical Research Letters. As it turned out, the fog resulted from aerosol pollution in these cities, but cities also emit warmth, which reduces the…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Feb 22 '18

Save Millions of Dollars on Ink With a Printer That Taps Out Images Using a Pencil

Years after it was revealed that HP’s printer ink was more expensive than actual human blood, printing photos at home on an inkjet is still a ripoff. You’re better off having them printed professionally at a photo center, or, by recycling a bunch of old electronics into a home-made printer that uses a tapping pencil…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Feb 22 '18

Watching Rian Johnson Slice Up a Porg Is Satisfying No Matter What You Think of The Last Jedi

Rian Johnson is more than happy to do what Chewbacca couldn’t: Devour a porg. At a Disney party to celebrate the success of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the writer and director of the film was presented with an incredibly realistic porg cake. I mean, look at it. It’s a stunning (and stunningly accurate) cake.…

Movies Germain Lussier Feb 22 '18

Man Sues Feds After Finding Spy Camera on His Property and Refusing to Give It Back

A Texas rancher has found himself playing a game of federal hot potato to keep a spying device he found on his property out of the hands of border patrol officials. As first reported by Ars Technica, Ricardo Palacios, a 74-year-old rancher and attorney, found a small camera on a tree near his son’s home…

Tech News Sidney Fussell Feb 22 '18

Everything You Need to Know to Jump Into the Blood and Gore-Soaked World of Ash vs Evil Dead

The grooviest, goriest show on TV is finally back this weekend—and since it sure feels like a hell of a long time since December 2016, when Ash vs Evil Dead’s season two finale aired. So we’re here to refresh your blood-splattered brain on what’s happened on the show so far. Though certain choice moments probably…

Television Cheryl Eddy Feb 22 '18

FDA Oversees Kratom Purge After Salmonella Outbreak

It’s no secret that the Food Drug Administration isn’t a fan of kratom, a popular herb purported to help people with digestive problems, chronic pain, and most prominently, opioid withdrawal. So I can only assume the FDA got a small bit of pleasure when it announced it would oversee the destruction of a “large volume”…

Health Ed Cara Feb 22 '18

All Hail Daenerys Styleborn of the House of Gucci, Mother of Fashion

Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, DRAGON. Gucci brought the Mother of Dragons to the runway at this year’s Fall/Winter Show during Milan Fashion Week. Because… fashion. One of the models strutted the catwalk in a getup that felt like Cersei Lannister circa season seven mixed with some Henry VII arm bags, all while carrying…

io9 Beth Elderkin Feb 22 '18

Trump Emails on Keystone XL Pipeline Decision Could Become Public

On Tuesday, groups suing to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline demanded that President Donald Trump fork over emails and other relevant documents related to his approving the 1,179-mile long crude oil project in March 2017. On Wednesday, a court ruled in their favor. After U.S. District Judge Brian Morris heard arguments, he decided the federal…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Feb 22 '18

White Supremacist Jared Taylor Sues Twitter for Banning His Accounts

Jared Taylor, the weepy-eyed founder of white supremacist site American Renaissance, is suing Twitter, according to a document filed to the Superior Court of San Francisco. Though at one point Taylor and his despicable publication were granted Twitter’s coveted blue checkmark, both were swept up in the wave of mid-December bans that saw several high-profile…

Tech News Avery Ellis Feb 22 '18

This Playable Pod Racing Game Is The Phantom Menace Lego Set We Deserved Years Ago

You can complain about The Phantom Menace all you want, but the podrace scene remains one of the best visual spectacles in all the Star Wars movies. It spawned some wonderful toys too, but nothing that comes close to Alexis Dos Santos’ Lego Mindstorms-powered tabletop pod racing game. Using a functional Lego joystick, players steer…

Toys & Collectibles Andrew Liszewski Feb 22 '18

Snapchat User Known as ‘Lol Atyou’ Charged With Sexual Assault in Revenge Porn Extortion Plot

A 27-year-old man in London, Ontario, allegedly sexually exploited women online under the username “Adaskio” on Tinder and “El Hefe” and “Lol Atyou” on Snapchat. Adam Dabrowski is said to have threatened to leak intimate photos of a woman if she didn’t perform sexual acts or pay him. Dabrowski has been charged with extortion, sexual…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz Feb 22 '18

Let Teens Do a Town Hall on Climate Change Next

In the wake of the Parkland school shooting, the survivors have become the face and voice of gun control sanity. On Tuesday, they used their voices in primetime on CNN to grill Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and NRA shill Dana Loesch. Florida Democrats Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Ted Deutsch were also there. It was…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Feb 22 '18

Disney Fails in Move to Block Redbox’s Crafty Workaround For Selling Download Codes

Disney has been especially aggressive with its competition in the last year. It’s refused to sell its movies to Redbox, the kiosk DVD rental service, so Redbox found a way to double its revenue stream by buying copies of the discs and selling the included download codes. Disney responded with a lawsuit, but a federal…

Tech News Rhett Jones Feb 22 '18

Scientists Who Doubt Neanderthal Art Must Reckon With New Evidence From These Sweet Cave Paintings

Unprecedented Video Shows How DNA Is Organized in Real Time

Director Duncan Jones Explains How Mute Suddenly Became a Scifi Film

There’s No Such Thing as a Truly ‘Wild’ Horse Anymore

Unwanted Simulated ‘Hugs’ and ‘Back Rubs’ May Now Qualify as Harassment by FreeBSD

The io9 History of Annihilation, From Book to Film to Controversy

Model Brains-on-a-Chip Reveal the Physics of Brain Folding

Urban Heat Created a Massive Hole in New Delhi’s Pollution-Fueled Fog

Save Millions of Dollars on Ink With a Printer That Taps Out Images Using a Pencil

Watching Rian Johnson Slice Up a Porg Is Satisfying No Matter What You Think of The Last Jedi

Man Sues Feds After Finding Spy Camera on His Property and Refusing to Give It Back

Everything You Need to Know to Jump Into the Blood and Gore-Soaked World of Ash vs Evil Dead

FDA Oversees Kratom Purge After Salmonella Outbreak

All Hail Daenerys Styleborn of the House of Gucci, Mother of Fashion

Trump Emails on Keystone XL Pipeline Decision Could Become Public

White Supremacist Jared Taylor Sues Twitter for Banning His Accounts

This Playable Pod Racing Game Is The Phantom Menace Lego Set We Deserved Years Ago

Snapchat User Known as ‘Lol Atyou’ Charged With Sexual Assault in Revenge Porn Extortion Plot

Let Teens Do a Town Hall on Climate Change Next

Disney Fails in Move to Block Redbox’s Crafty Workaround For Selling Download Codes

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