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Which Supposedly Lame Superpower Could Actually Be Awesome?

Flight, invisibility, and super-strength are all well and good, but it’s also really easy to make them look cool. And then there are things like “rodent manipulation” and “color absorption.” Which power do other people laugh at— but you know it could actually be great, if you used it right? For inspiration, seek out the…

These Butterflies Put Only A Minimal Effort Into Avoiding Interspecies Mating

Closely related butterflies all look so alike that they often confuse lepidopterists. In fact, they even confuse each other—and they have special adaptations to make sure they’re not actually breeding with closely related species, instead of their own species. Except when they don’t bother. Butterflies are known for their ability to imitate each other. Looking…

Seriously, Hunger Games Marketing Department? Seriously?! 

So there’s a new The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II trailer out today, and it’s fascinating. It’s fascinating because it’s awful, and it’s awful because—well, well, to explain it would be to spoil a major moment in the movie, but even just watching this trailer could spoil you! So unless you’ve read the books (or…

Michelle Gomez Wants To Keep Playing Missy on Doctor Who For Years

Doctor Who’s biggest innovation in recent years is probably transforming the Master, that evil Time Lord, into an evil Time Lady named Missy. And the show obviously aims to capitalize on that surprise, because Missy is back in the two-part season opener, right after the show killed her off in the last season finale. We…

Charlie’s Angels is Coming to the Big Screen (Note: Not a Headline from 15 Years Ago)

About 20 years elapsed between the original TV version of Charlie’s Angels and its first, spy-fi film adaptation. Now, it’s taken less than five. The franchise, which had a short-lived TV reboot in 2011, will once again be reimagined for the big screen. Elizabeth Banks, the talented actor turned blockbuster director, will produce and probably…

Does Canned Food Ever Really Go Bad?

Why, hello! We’re so glad to see you made it past the velociraptornadoes, sinkhole maze, and fire ants made of literal fire to join us here in our Survival Week bunker. Please help yourself to a single (one, please!) rationed water bottle as we discuss our now increasingly urgent question: Does tinned food go bad?…

Super fun video mixes phone call scenes from movies into one long game of telephone

This is so fun and great that I wish it would never end. Burger Fiction stitched together this super long scene of phone calls from movies so that it looks like different characters from different movies are all talking to each other on the phone, like one never ending game of telephone that breaks the…

BOOMco Colossal Blitz: Now the Most Badass Dart Gun Doesn’t Come From Nerf

“It’s Nerf or nothing.” Remember that phrase? It’s no longer true. Now, it’s either Nerf or this giant honking Sylvester Stallone-in-Rambo machine gun that rains down 72 rounds of flying rubber. Behold: the BOOMco Colossal Blitz. What Is It? It’s a full-auto, battery-powered, motorized flywheel blaster that fires 72 shots without reloading—the most of any…

This Neural Network’s Hilariously Bad Image Descriptions Are Still Advanced AI 

When will a neural network know who Donald Trump is? How long until one can come up with a joke on its own? How about recognize Yoda? It may not be much longer, with neural network models progressing at breakneck speed. But there’s still a long way to go, as demonstrated by an experiment by…

Video shows what it’s like to get attacked by a crocodile and to see inside its mouth

Man. These crocs come out of nowhere and attack with such a quickness that you don’t even know what’s happening until you’re already clamped down inside the terrifying and unrelenting jaws of the crocodile. National Geographic made some flotation devices that held cameras to capture exactly what it’s like to get attacked and be inside…

What can ancient stories tell us about modern disasters? Hakai magazine took a look at the history of indigenous stories about long-ago earthquakes, and what they can reveal to us about the long history (and possible future) of earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest.

Ford’s New Cars Will Do Some of the Steering For You

The most exhaustive part about maneuvering your car in and out of tight spaces in a crowded parking lot is the unending back-and-forth turning of your steering wheel. To make that easier, Ford is introducing something called Adaptive Steering that does most of the turning for you—at slower speeds. The new feature reduces the number…

At Last, Zoo Claws Its Way to an Appropriately Silly and Insane Finish

Zoo ends with an episode titled “The Great Big Hill of Hope,” but dares to suggest that “hope” will spring from an irritatingly catchy 1990s pop song. However, there are baboons, survivalist goons, a really cute old pug, and evan a few mild surprises. Spoilers follow! We begin “Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean,” as the…

Shooting Challenge: Overexposed

We’ve all seen dark, noir photography. But what’s the opposite? Celebrate the light. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, I actually want you to overexpose your photos. The Challenge Take a photograph that’s purposefully overexposed, or blown out, or whatever term you want to use. The Method So the premise of overexposure is pretty simple. You…

These Beautiful Special Book Collections Will Part You From Your Money

If anyone else is like me—a compulsive book buyer with not enough shelf space—the discovery of the Juniper Books’ gorgeous book covers is going to be both wonderful and painful. The top image is for the “Science Fiction Classics” set, which will run you $250 and includes the works of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, H.G.…

All the Playable Characters Make Cameos in the Latest Lego Dimensions Ad

In just a few weeks Lego Dimensions will be the latest video game/collectible toy line that will have you scouring store shelves for the sets you’re missing. And this new launch trailer, featuring cameos from the countless franchises included in the game, reveals why more is always better. Officially available on September 29 for the…

Close Calls: Three Times When Humanity Barely Escaped Extinction

Today it looks like humans will have to launch themselves into space to get enough room for our collective population, but we weren’t always so robust a species. There are three times in history during which humans nearly went extinct. Here’s what threatened us, and how we survived. 1.2 Million Years Ago: Humanity Before We…

My Clock is Not a Bomb, and Other Tales of Threat-Free Tinkering

Today’s edition of Irrational Fear is Squishing Science left me pondering: What projects have you been working on that would get you hassled by the wire-fearful? And could you actually build a clock without looking up instructions? A depressing reoccurring theme in the United States is that students of colour should not attempt science or…

Republican Candidates Holding Up Phones, Ranked

The phone is the political prop of the decade. Politicians hold them up during speeches to tell stories because it’s the ubiquitous little gadget that says, look, I’m just like you and I’m going to talk about Our Modern World™. Want to give a speech about tech innovation or the lack thereof in America? Hold…

Don’t Hold Your Breath For That Pacific Rim Sequel

Fans who’ve been polishing their Jaeger waiting for the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 film, Pacific Rim, may want to slow down. It seems the sequel, which was set for a 2017 release date, has been “halted indefinitely” and may not get made at all. Last week, Latino Review ran a rumor that Pacific…