Latest

Good Morning!

Behold the Mysterious Beauty of a Black Hole Collision

Toss a pebble in a pond and watch the tiny ripples radiate outwards. The waves you’ve created bear striking resemblance to another phenomenon, one taking place trillions of miles away at the center of a distant galaxy. The difference is, when two black holes collide, their impact surges across the fabric of spacetime itself. Black…

Catch up on the Rosetta Mission with an Adorable Claymation Clip

Haven’t stayed on top of the Rosetta mission? Learn about the spacecraft, lander, and what we’ve learned from the comet so far in under 3 minutes of charming stop motion. The Royal Observatory is back with another claymation-style animation, this time running through why we launched the Rosetta spacecraft, what happened to the bouncy little…

On Doctor Who, We See The One Thing That’ll Make The Doctor Bend The Rules

Tonight’s episode of Doctor Who sees the Doctor in an impossible situation, where his fate appears already sealed. In other words, it’s another day at the office. But this time around, the Doctor is only able to find a way out when he’s given the proper motivation: an even worse looming disaster. Spoilers ahead… In…

These Stunning Illustrated Sea Dragons Are Part Fish and Part Tree

The Leafy Sea Dragon (Phycodurus eques) is a real fish, a relative of the sea horse with appendages that look like seaweed. Here, artist Piper Thibodeau imagines fanciful versions of sea dragons that grow terrestrial foliage, giving them a different tree-inspired look for each season. Thibodeau is a freelance character designer and concept artist, and…

Into the Badlands Brings Martial Arts Back to American TV—And It’s a Bloodbath

Kicks. Punches. Swords. A whole lotta blood. A who’s who crew of martial artists and choreographers, and, at last, an Asian lead for a modern TV drama. It’s Into the Badlands, and hopefully it kickstarts a new chapter in genre television. Arguably, the last popular example of a martial arts TV show in the US…

We Saw the First Episode of Marvel’s Jessica Jones and Now We Want More

Netflix and Marvel’s Jessica Jones showed its first episode at a packed New York Comic Con house, and it delivered so much. Here are our spoiler-free first impressions. It looks so good. It’s a shallow point, but a really important one. Jessica Jones may be one of the first ever comic book shows to get…

Grizzly Bear Dips Toes in Water, Provides Reminder of Human Frailty

Even peering down from a road bridge in Alaska is far closer to a grizzly bear than I ever want to get. What makes this particularly creepy? Those claws aren’t much larger than a harpy’s talons. The world is full of things that can rip puny humans to shreds. Image credit: Kevin Hague Contact the…

A Surprising Animated Love Story About Giant Robots from Outer Space

When giant robots conquer the Earth, a lone man finds himself on the run from a marching horde of mechanical titans. He soon finds himself face-to-face with a redheaded engineering genius and one of the massive invaders. Guess which one he makes a love connection with? Valentin Watrigant, François Guery, Elsa Lamy, Aurelien Fernandez, and…

Walking Dead Creator’s New Exorcism Show Outcast Looks Thoroughly Creepy

We’ve got two TV shows based on Robert Kirkman’s zombie comic The Walking Dead, and now Kirkman’s exorcism comic Outcast is getting the small screen treatment as well. And if the latest trailer is any indication, it’s going to be a moody ride, punctuated by terrible violence. Cinemax showed this new trailer at its NYCC…

Age of Ultron is So Much Funnier with James Spader’s Dialogue from The Office

Before he loaned his voice to the genocidal robot Ultron in the latest Avengers movie, James Spader played the enigmatic CEO Robert California on The Office. And when you put Robert California’s words in Ultron’s metal mouth, the results are delightfully unhinged. The folks at Red Letter Media came up with this inspired mashup. Now…

These Exquisite Bee Photographs Reveal Every Delicate Hair, Antenna, and Wing

As part of their research into bees, the United States Geological Survey has compiled a drop-dead gorgeous gallery of bees. From flufftastic fuzzballs to sleek torpedoes, the variety of bees is awe-inspiring. An angel bee. The United States Geological Survey Been Inventory and Research Center has a perfect description for this bee that cannot be…

Latest Clip From Syfy’s The Magicians Shows How You Get to Magic College—With Snark

Brakebills University, the secret school of magic in Syfy’s upcoming show The Magicians, isn’t Hogwarts. You don’t get a charming letter saying you’ve gotten in. In fact, this clip shows Brakebills’ admissions are about confusion, entrance exams, and no small amount of snootiness. Syfy just showed this clip from its adaptation of Lev Grossman’s novel…

Incredibly Disgusting Zombie Mouth Cupcake Looks Like It Might Bite You Back

Update: Picture removed at the request of its creator. There are some cupcakes that look too good to eat, but this one looks almost too horrific to consume. We’re sure it’s delicious, but we can’t shake the feeling those teeth are about to start snapping. Over at Instructables, user SemadarG explains how to make this…

We Saw the First New X-Files Episode, And It Feels Like Home

The first episode of the revived X-Files was shown to packed house at New York Comic Con. Here are our spoiler-free first impressions. If there was one really big takeaway from the first episode, it was just how much of the old show had survived. Despite everything, for better or worse, this is The X-Files,…

Vin Diesel Could Play a Second Marvel Character With One Big Difference From Groot

Long before Vin Diesel was Groot, he teased fans about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So few thought saying a few words as a talking tree would be enough for the star. In a new interview with io9, Diesel teased something very different could be on the horizon. First of all, the actor explained that…

It looks like Minority Report is already on the chopping block. Fox cut the episode order on the TV adaptation from 13 episodes to 10, with plans to wrap up production after that. Insert requisite “You didn’t need a Precog to see this coming” joke here.

Prominent Exoplanet Researcher Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment

Once again, a prominent researcher is revealed to be complicit in creating a culture of oppressive harassment that alienates women from science. Can we hurry up with the cultural revolution to ditch this bullshit already? Friday, Buzzfeed broke the news that prominent exoplanet researcher Geoff Marcy was found guilty of violating his university’s sexual harassment…

The Rosetta Space Mission, Explained with Claymation

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has been posting some adorable space-themed animations, but this one detailing the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission and the landing of Philae on comet 67P is particularly charming. Can we have clay versions of all our space robots? [via The Kid Should See This]

This Glittery Gem is in Orbit Helping us Measure the Shape of our Planet

This ridiculous rhinestone-studded disco-ball is actually a high-precision laser-reflecting satellite still in orbit around the Earth. With only tiny reflectors and no active instruments, it’s provided vital data on the planet’s shape for decades. The Laser Geodynamics Satellite I (LAGEOS I) launched out of Vandenberg Airforce Base on May 4, 1976. The 407 kilogram (900…