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The Original Trilogy Was In Full Force On Star Wars Rebels Last Night

“Just like the old days,” says Captain Rex as two Jedi drop from a ship and open the top of an AT-AT with their lightsabers. He’s talking about The Clone Wars—but, for audiences, the second episode of Star Wars Rebels season 2 was all about the old days of the original trilogy. The episode, called…

This Is What it Looks Like When a Black Hole Shreds a Star

When a star wanders too close to a black hole, immense gravitational forces begin to rip it apart in an epic cosmic slaying called a “tidal disruption event.” Some of the star’s mass is flung outward into space, while the rest is drawn in, triggering a powerful flare that showers the sky with x-rays. Using…

State laws in the US can set rules for a sex education classroom, but the actual quality of the instruction depends on what happens at the local level. Aaron Yarmuth’s article in Louisville’s LeoWeekly looks at one way a comprehensive sex ed class can thread that needle. Check it out! Contact the author at [email protected].

Jeb Bush Offers His Supergirl Review: “She Looked Pretty Hot”

Jeb Bush, a human being and not an alien convulsing inside a skin sack, had a little bit of trouble dealing with a softball question about what his favorite Marvel superhero is. Yeah. Look back up at that headline, mouth “Marvel?” to yourself and keep reading. Jeb (or Jeb! as his friends call him) was…

Some Bees Prefer Mates That Speak Their Language

Ever wonder what might make one species split in two? A new study in the journal Current Biology shows that it could come down to a simple female preference for a specific type of buzz. Red mason bees are small solitary bees that are common across Europe, but females prefer to mate locally. Male bees…

The Xbox Elite Controller Looks Great, So We Took A Crap Ton Of Pictures

This is Xbox’s $150 Elite controller. $150! Sounds crazy, right? I thought so too when Microsoft alerted the world of its existence. But yeah, I was wrong. Although we’re saving our full review for when we can pin this guy up against the ole’ regular Xbox controller while sniping Grunts in Halo 5: Guardians next…

Write Us Some Six-Word Science Fiction Stories!

Tell me a story, io9! Something with disaffected robots, time-traveling text messages, search engines that have had enough of your questions, rainy seasons that never seem to come, or whatever else is on your mind—and make it exactly six words long. Will you hit the Craigslist ads of our space colonization future, like commenter Belabras…

A Rhyming Tale of Mirrors, From Greek Myth to Experiments on the Moon

Sharon Shattuck and Ian Cheney’s short “What Makes Up the Moon” or “Moon Mirrors” explains both the Greek myth of Narcissus and modern scientists’ experiments on the moon using mirrors. With animation and rhyme, the filmmakers are able to use Narcissus to introduce us to the science that the moon missions gave to humanity–an unlikely…

Did Our Hands Evolve to Throw Punches? One Biologist Thinks So

The human hand is a marvelous evolutionary invention: it can tie knots, tap out blog posts, wield tools and wire circuit boards. But how did we get these hands, with their long, dextrous fingers and conveniently opposable thumbs? It’s likely that tool-grasping played a role, but according to one evolutionary biologist, so did whacking your…

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

One of the apps in this week’s roundup is brand spankin’ new (hint: it’s the one at the very top). There’s also an extremely advanced widget creator for Android, a news app that wants to be your best driving buddy, and a Facebook app that wasn’t made by Facebook. Enjoy! Android PHHHOTO PHHHOTO–yes, that’s with…

io9 Costume Show Week 3: Show Us What You’ve Got!

We’ve got puns, crossovers, and genderswap–all in this week’s edition of the io9 Halloween Costume Show! Come on in and add yours. We’re one week away from Halloween, so post pictures of your Halloween costumes (please post pictures of yourself only), along with a note about how you put the costume together. The best will…

Howler Monkeys With Deeper Voices Have Smaller Balls (And Vice Versa) 

Howler monkeys are loud. (If you doubt me, just click on the video and listen.) They can bring on the noise because they have a built-in amplifier: a huge cup-shaped throat bone that resonates to their song. But a study up in today’s Current Biology suggests that the males with the biggest voices also have…

No Way! This Perfect BTTF II DeLorean Replica Is Actually an Edible Cake

You probably woke up this morning never wanting to hear about Back to the Future II ever again. That’s totally understandable, but that also puts you at risk of missing out on this life-size BTTF II time machine replica that’s actually a gigantic amazing cake. The edible time machine was made by the folks at…

Cool photo of fighter jets flying over an aircraft carrier

This photo shows US Navy fighter jets flying side-by-side with Chilean Air Force fighter jets next to the USS George Washington aircraft carrier. It’s like seeing little ducklings follow the big mama duck, only these are sophisticated weapons worth millions of dollars. U.S. Naval aircraft and aircraft from the Chilean Air Force participate in a…

Forget a Clear Backed Smartphone, I Want This Clear Plastic Apple Newton

A few days ago we were all oohing and awing over a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 that was modded with a clear back panel revealing some of the components inside. But it can’t compare to the nerd lust some of your are probably feeling over this incredibly rare Apple Newton. A Newton MessagePad 110, to…

Oh My God, These Muppets Action Figures Are Totally Awesome

Break out your Kermit flail gifs, everyone, because we’re not only getting Muppet action figures—they look pretty damn fabulous, too. Piggybacking (no pun intended) off the return of the Muppets to TV, Diamond Select Toys are releasing a line of action figures based on the Henson Company’s wonderful creations. The first wave is a series…

Nexus 5X Review: An Old Favorite With Some New Tricks

I have a confession to make. I love the Nexus 5. Despite its obvious flaws compared to newer and shiner phones (all of which I’ve tried and tested), the Nexus 5 has some intangible quality for me that no other phone has replicated before or since. But now, there’s the Nexus 5X. The Nexus 5X…

The Most Disturbing Monsters From Our Favorite Horror RPGs

You can’t play an RPG without monsters, and you can’t play a horror RPG without some really, really f$%&ing scary monsters. Here are some of our favorites. Excruciator (Monsters and Other Childish Things) There are two things we can all agree are really scary: mean math teachers and eldritch horrors from another dimension. Now imagine…

Our First Long-Term Space Station Floated Through Space Like a Dragonfly

July 28, 1973: Skylab drifts far above the Amazon River Valley of Brazil like a deep-space dragonfly. NASA astronauts lan L. Bean, Owen K. Garriott, and Jack R. Lousma admired this view while approaching the the Skylab space station. The astronauts were tucked into the Skylab 3 Command/Service Module, about to start their 59-day mission.…

You Can Quickly Recharge This Backup Battery Using Your MacBook’s Charger

Portable chargers have become as ubiquitous a smartphone accessory as cases, and rarely do they include any genuine innovation anymore—but the Quarter does. It’s the first backup battery that can be charged using your MacBook’s power adapter, giving you enough juice to revive a dead iPhone in just 15 minutes. There’s a certain irony that…