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Microsoft’s Latest HoloLens Is Here, and It’s Amazing

The HoloLens headset from Microsoft is the world’s first untethered wearable that generates holograms before your eyes. It’s been nearly a year since we first strapped on a prototype, and as the tech goliath prepares to unleash a first batch of units to developers in the coming months, I was invited to check out just…

Tech News Bryan Lufkin Dec 17 '15

A New Kind of Bionic Eye Will Feed Images Directly Into Your Brain

Most types of bionic vision rely on using large parts of the existing human visual system to restore sight. But a new technique will simply feed the output from a digital camera directly into the brain. New Scientist reports that a new kind of bionic eye will “bypass most of the visual system entirely.” The…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

The James Webb Telescope Will Probe the Depths of Space Starting in October 2018

The European Space Agency has announced that the James Webb Space Telescope will finally be launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018. The new telescope, which is planned to search space for the first galaxies in the Universe, as well as finding new stars and planets, has already been a long time in…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

This Wonderfully Silly App Translates Your Voice Into Emoji

If 2015 really was the year of the emoji, then what better way to round it off than a speech-to-emoticon app that allows anyone to communicate using the stupid little images. Siri and Cortana, eat your heart out. SpeakEmoji claims to help translate “grown-up speak into cool emoji messages to help adults engage with their…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

Fear Can Actually Curdle Your Blood

The next time someone refers to a horror movie as “bloodcurdling,” they might actually be kinda right. A new study shows that the fear experienced when watching scary movies is in fact associated with an increase in clotting agents in the blood. A team of researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

Larry King Sure Does Love Old Technology

Larry King has a flip phone, misses typewriters, and thinks that snail mail is a minor miracle. And don’t get him started on taking your iPhone along to dinner. He explains why to Conan in the video below. [Conan]

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

There’s Mercury in Californian Fog

Fog can be a pain in the ass, but it might also yield more profound problems. At least in California, where researchers have discovered that coastal fog can contain peculiarly large concentrations of mercury. Popular Science reports that scientists from UC Santa Cruz have discovered that the concentration of a form of mercury called monomethylmercury…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

Clear Ceramic Makes This Filter 10x Tougher Than Your Usual Lens Protector

This protective lens filter might look like any other, but it’s got an invisible secret. Making use of a new kind of clear ceramic, it’s ten times tougher than most conventional protective filters, and therefore able to keep your lens perfectly safe. Developed by Sigma, the clear glass ceramic is made using a special heat…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 17 '15

Brazil Has Temporarily Blocked Whatsapp Over a Legal Dispute

Whatsapp has proven to be insanely popular in Brazil, as the number-one most used app in the country. But that doesn’t matter to a Brazilian court, which has ordered a 48-hour blockade of the service over an injunction from a mysterious third party. The court has ordered Brazil’s telecoms companies to block access to the…

Tech News Chris Mills Dec 17 '15

Watch a Young Mark Hamill Explain Star Wars: “The Stuff that Fairytales Are Made of”

Back when Star Wars was brand new and nobody knew what it was, Mark Hamill had to go on the BBC’s iconic children’s show Blue Peter and explain it to the kids. And his explanation is just perfect. As transcribed by the Radio Times, Hamill explains: “It’s the stuff that fairytales are made of. We…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 17 '15

The USPS Won’t Ship Your Hoverboard By Air

Multiple American airlines have already banned self-balancing scooters from their aircraft over the potential fire risk, and now the US Postal Service is adding itself to that list. The USPS outlined the move in a statement earlier today: “Effective immediately and until further notice, the Postal Service will ship the hoverboards only using Standard Post/Parcel…

Gadgets Chris Mills Dec 17 '15

Canada Is Doing Quick Business Selling Bottled Air to China’s Polluted Cities

Millions of Chinese citizens have been blanketed in thick smog recently, but where some people see only a dense haze, entrepreneurial Canadian businessmen see profit. Vitality Air is startup in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, selling “hand-bottled mountain air” from Banff and Lake Louise. In recent weeks, Vitality has seen demand soar from China. Founder Moses Lam…

Climate Change Chris Mills Dec 16 '15

The 10 Best (and 2 Most Baffling) Hammer Horror Movies

Hammer Film Productions’ heyday spanned the 1950s through the 1970s, with gloriously gothic takes on classic monster stories that starred Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and other British stars of the day. Here’s our take on the studio’s best and worst … though even “bad” Hammer films do have their cheesy merits. The Best! 1. The…

io9 Cheryl Eddy Dec 16 '15

Here’s a Book About Time Travel That Could Change How You Look at the Past

Lisa Goldstein has an incredible track record as a fantasy writer, including the award-winning The Red Magician and the beautiful collection Travelers in Magic. Now she’s written a science fiction book about time travel, Weighing Shadows—and it’s just as mythic and strange in its own way. Without giving too much away, Weighing Shadows is about…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 16 '15

Vin Diesel Has a New TV Deal and It’ll Usher in the Return of Riddick

Is there anything Vin Diesel can’t will into existence? His 2009 return to the Fast and Furious fold helped turn that franchise into a monster. He’s got a xXx sequel on the way, and has already made two sequels to Pitch Black. Now, that latter world will expand into TV. Diesel just signed a new…

Television Germain Lussier Dec 16 '15

Deadpool’s Version Of Home Alone Is Way More Deadly Than The Real Thing

Though what you see above looks a lot like Kevin McCallister’s Battle Plan from Home Alone, it is not. Look a little closer; it’s got pizza rats, medical waste, and boobs. This is a far more sinister plan! This is Deadpool’s version. Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool have been posting fun, viral stuff for the past…

Movies Germain Lussier Dec 16 '15

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Is the Most Fun I’ve Had at the Movies in Ages

They finally made a movie sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. And the good news is? The Force Awakens easily captures the charm and excitement of the first three movies. Here’s our spoiler-free review. And by “spoiler free,” we mean: zero spoilers. Other than like character names, and the fact that there are spaceships…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 16 '15

Loki Is Looking Mighty Familiar in This Week’s Issue of The Mighty Thor

Thor is currently facing a whole heap of problems in The Mighty Thor—and so is Jane Foster. Everything is about to get trickier with the re-arrival of Loki in her adventures. But that’s not the weirdest thing going on with Loki’s return … his face is. Minor Spoilers ahead for The Mighty Thor #2, by…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Dec 16 '15

This Photo of a Completely Cloudless California Shows its Snowpack Starting to Return

What are we looking at here? That’s the state of California today, with almost no cloud cover. Yes, that white stuff is snow and it’s quite a sight for our drought-parched eyes. Frigid temperatures and a walloping series of storms brought enough snow to California’s mountain ranges over the past week that many places were…

Tech News Alissa Walker Dec 16 '15

The Star Wars Experts At Wookieepedia Answer YOUR Geekiest Star Wars Questions

A few weeks back, we asked the io9 readership to come up with their geekiest Star Wars questions. No topic was too taboo, no idea too nerdy, and you did an amazing job. We then picked our favorites and now, we have the answers. Note: There are no spoilers for The Force Awakens here. Below,…

Movies Germain Lussier Dec 16 '15

Microsoft’s Latest HoloLens Is Here, and It’s Amazing

A New Kind of Bionic Eye Will Feed Images Directly Into Your Brain

The James Webb Telescope Will Probe the Depths of Space Starting in October 2018