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Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a sort of Snopes of his time, debunking Church mythology. In the 1700s, he went to the Alps to search for Dragons. Primer Stories has created a stunning website to tell his story.

It’s Humans Against A Big, Scary World In These Fantastic Images

There’s some images that just knock you back with their beauty. One such artist is Raphael Lacoste, who’s produced art for games and films alike. Here’s some fantastic images from his portfolio. Raphael Lacoste was the Art Director at Ubisoft, where he worked on games such as Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed. He’s since…

To Save The Alien Universe, Fox Should Take A Leaf From Marvel’s Playbook

Last week, word broke that Neil Blomkamp’s Alien 5 was being put on hold due to ongoing work while Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2 is being developed. That’s a shame, but if Fox looks at what Marvel’s been doing, they can probably have their cake and eat it too. https://gizmodo.com/neill-blomkamps-alien-movie-is-on-hold-until-at-least-a-1739596198 I’ll preface this by saying that…

Complex Skeletons Might Be Older Than Anyone Thought

It’s easy to get excited about new fossil discoveries, but sometimes a second look at an old find can reveal something just as surprising. For example, geoscientist Rachel Wood of the University of Edinburgh and her colleagues recently re-examined specimens of a tiny, 550 million-year-old marine organism called Namacalathus hermanastes, and they found that complex…

io9 Newsstand: Is It Cold In Here, Or Did You Just Suck Out My Soul?

This week’s stories are about daughters who don’t want to be like their mothers, mothers who want impossible things for their daughters, and trees that resent being thrown out in the cold and snow. Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong | Nightmare Magazine: Queers Destroy Horror! As my date—Harvey? Harvard?—brags about his alma…

Tour the Orion Nebula in This Gorgeous Image

The Orion Nebula has taught astronomers a great deal about how stars are born and how planetary systems form. Officially called M42, and also known (with a bit more pomp) as the Great Nebula in Orion, it’s a busy area of star formation, where huge clouds of interstellar gas are condensing and igniting into brilliant…

RIP Melissa Mathison, The Woman Who Gave Us E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

There are few films out there that have had as much an impact on the movie-going public as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. On Wednesday, Melissa Mathison, who authored the screenplay passed away at the age of 65 due to complications from cancer. Mathison got her start as a screenwriter when she was encouraged by Francis Ford…

Rey Kicks Ass In The Latest TV Spot For The Force Awakens 

Just days after we got a new international trailer loaded with new footage, a new TV spot for The Force Awakens showcases a whole bunch of new scenes that we haven’t seen before. This just keeps getting better and better. It sounds like Maz Kanata talking about how she’s seen the same eyes before in…

This Poor Plane is More Ice than Aircraft After an Extreme Icing Test

Holy crap. Testing how aircraft ice in extreme cold weather makes sense, but surely this is going too far?! This 1983 test at NASA’s Icing Research Tunnel dropped this commuter transport engine into its own special torment, spraying it with water to observe freezing on the test model. Image credit: NASA Contact the author at…

On Doctor Who, The Doctor Is Willing To Play Seriously Crazy Mind Games For Peace

This was another odd episode of Doctor Who, a show which seems to be trying to reinvent itself not through radical change but through stylistic drift. Last year, Doctor Who had some insane experiments, but this year it’s just doing a slew of two-parters about the Doctor stumbling through messes of his own creation. Spoilers!…

Two Beautiful Galaxies Are Pulling Each Other Apart

Even galaxies can get locked in destructive relationships. 70 million light years from Earth in the direction of the Sextans constellation, the two cosmic behemoths pictured here are pulling each other apart, spiral arms fraying into sweeping tidal tails that stretch across the light years. Like many bright galaxies in our corner of the cosmos,…

This Graphene-Based Paper Can Walk, Fold and Twirl on Its Own

It used to be the case that only skilled witches and wizards could make their origami fold itself. But now, clever Muggles have stumbled upon the non-magical secret behind autonomous paper—graphene. Writing this week in Science Advances, a team of Chinese researchers reports on a new, graphene oxide-based paper that folds, walks and turns corners…

Open Channel: What Story Has Had The Greatest Impact On Your Life?

Stories are powerful: they can change how people see the world, or change their lives forever. Looking back, what story has had the greatest impact on your life? I’ve got two: Star Wars, and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. Star Wars, for all the obvious reasons, but it was The Windup Girl that got me…

 How to Forage for Cocktails

I was traipsing around a conifer forest, looking for the perfect white fir. I wasn’t hunting for a Christmas tree. I had just been taught to see the wilderness as my own personal liquor cabinet, and I was searching for ingredients for my next cocktail. It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week,…

The Story Behind Bhen On The Cover Of The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction

This is a neat little story: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has produced some fantastic covers over the years, and since the 1970s, they’ve included a little green alien on some of the covers. Over on their blog, they’ve gone back to look at why he was included. But in 1975, when public…

World’s Largest Fusion Reactor is About to Switch On 

If “The Stellarator” sounds like an energy source of comic book legend to you, you’re not that far off. It’s the largest nuclear fusion reactor in the world, and it’s set to turn on later this month. Housed at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator looks more like a psychotic…

Gavin Rothery’s The Last Man Is A Haunting Post Apocalyptic Short Film

In Gavin Rothery’s new short film, The Last Man, an anonymous soldier is awoken from hibernation, only to discover that the world he knew is gone. The film is a haunting, post-apocalyptic look at what will drive him forward. Fans of Duncan Jones’ movie Moon, will recognize some of the set design: Rothery was on…

Share Your Best Parent Technology Fails With Us

Parents: They just don’t get technology, right? It’s probably one of the most common grievances among sons and daughters worldwide. From Mom asking you who this Reddit person is to Dad watching Netflix in silence because he muted the sound on his computer, we’ve all had a moment (in some of our cases, hundreds) where…

In 2014, the King County Library system of Seattle distributed over 21 million items between 48 branches. As library systems grow, they’re increasingly turning to technology to manage the logistics of getting materials to patrons.

Somebody Found Waldo and Put Him on Instagram

Remember Where’s Waldo books? Since the 1980s, kids have spent countless hours scouring their pages for the lonely man in the red and white shirt. But in the internet age, nobody can remain lost for long. In hindsight, it was only a matter of time before someone found the elusive mime and stuck him on…