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Sunlight and Body Heat Make Vitamin D Inside Your Skin

Many people don’t get enough vitamin D in their food. They still get enough vitamin D, because ultraviolet radiation radiation creates it—usually. If you eat a lot of fish, eggs, and mushrooms, you might get the vitamin D you need from your diet. If you don’t, you have to rely on the sun. Specifically, you…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

An Oscar-Winning Badass May Join Brie Larson in Kong: Skull Island

Remember a few weeks back when the King Kong-prequel film, Kong: Skull Island lost both Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons from its cast? That definitely seemed like a blow but the two latest names mentioned for the project definitely restore any faith lost at that time. They are Brie Larson, the amazing star of Short…

Movies Germain Lussier

Some Of Your Favorite Authors Are Writing James Bond Stories!

Here in the United States, we’re excited because James Bond has another big movie coming up. But in Canada, James Bond just entered the public domain. Or at least, Ian Fleming’s books did. To celebrate, ChiZine Publications is putting out a book of “unauthorized” James Bond stories. Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond is edited…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Have You Ever Had a Disastrous Butt-Dial?

A U.S. Appeals court just ruled that butt-dials (your phone calling a random contact due to, generally, contact with your butt) are not protected under federal wire-tapping law—which means that your inadvertent communications can be used against you. The case centered around a former Northern Kentucky airport board chairman who accidentally dialed the assistant of…

Tech News Kaila Hale-Stern

How this Tree Growing 40 Different Fruits at Once Was Made

This tree growing 40 different types of fruit—including varieties of peaches, plums, apricots, and almonds—may look like something plucked straight from the imagination, but it’s very real. And this is how it was made. Last year, we featured this 40-fruit tree from artist Sam Van Aken. We already knew how the tree was made, of…

io9 Ria Misra

Which Writer Deserves More Credit For Revolutionizing SF and Fantasy?

Science fiction and fantasy don’t lack for heroes, especially among the writers who’ve helped to shape them. We all celebrate people like Joss Whedon, Frank Herbert and Ursula K. Le Guin. But which writers deserve way more credit for their roles in revolutionizing science fiction or fantasy? Please include a book cover, comics panel, movie…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Exploring Santa Cruz Island

Twenty miles off the coast of Ventura lies Santa Cruz Island — a remote mecca for adventure. We spent a weekend exploring it. Here’s how you can too. After having a two week and nearly 200 mile sufferfest on the Sierra High Route, I needed to relax. My idea of relaxation, however, is kayaking around…

Tech News Chris Brinlee Jr

Unlimited Screen Time For Kids May Have Unintended Consequences

An article published earlier this week makes the case for unlimited tablet time for toddlers, citing the psychological and cognitive benefits conferred by such devices. But there are other health outcomes that need to be considered. PLOS Blogs colleague Beth Skwarecki has a post this week on the potential benefits of screen time for kids…

io9 Travis Saunders — PLOS Blogs

This Idea to Get America to Vote By Smartphone Just Might Work

Pretty new touchscreen voting booths are nice, but if we truly want to get more people voting in this country, we have to make it much more convenient. A project that received funding from the Knight Foundation this week has a smart idea to digitize the absentee ballot and let people mail votes via smartphone.…

Tech News Alissa Walker

“Recipe for Meth” Among Evidence Found in Suspected Federal Meth Lab

Investigators say evidence recovered from an explosion Saturday at the National Institute of Standards and Technology near Washington, D.C. is consistent with the production of methamphetamine. The evidence? “Pseudoephedrine, drain opener, and a recipe for methamphetamine.” Pseudoephedrine, you may recall, is the methamphetamine reactant that Walter White is unable to procure in early episodes of…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

You Can Livestream From a GoPro On Meerkat Now, Nice

The latest shot in in the brewing livestreaming app war has been fired by Meerkat. You can now stream footage to the service from your GoPro, which is both useful and cool. The GoPro-Meerkat integration is currently in Beta, and though we can’t try it this second (our GoPros are in a moving crates on…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

One Of The Best Things About Destiny Is Being Turned Into An Amazing Toy

Bungie’s sci-fi shooter Destiny isn’t without its faults. In fact, it has many faults. But one thing you can rarely knock about it is the game’s awesome armor designs. Now those lovely armors are going to be turned into a line of incredible Destiny 1/6th scale action figures by the fine folks at 3A. 3A…

Tech News James Whitbrook

Politician’s Mention of Wormholes Opens A Political Can Of Worms

Here in San Francisco, a member of the Board of Supervisors is taking a lot of political flak because she referenced wormholes in a recent speech. It started because Supervisor Julie Christensen was giving a talk about the Stockton Street Tunnel, which connects the neighborhoods of Chinatown and Union Square by cutting through one of…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Stop Taking Selfies With Bison

Taking selfies with wild animals is utterly moronic, and yet that fact isn’t dissuading Yellowstone tourists from trying to snap smiling vacation photos alongside bison. On Tuesday, a 43-year-old Mississippian woman attempting this misguided stunt was charged by the angry animal and tossed in the air before escaping. This latest Yellowstone bison victim, who had…

Tech News Maddie Stone

Pluto is Something Way More Awesome Than a Mere Planet

Stop hoping that Pluto will regain its former designation as a planet. It isn’t going to happen. But the good news is, Pluto is something much cooler than a mere planet. It’s the largest dwarf planet we know, and one half of the first binary planet system. Pluto didn’t get demoted, it got promoted. We’re…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

I Installed Windows 10 and Now I’m Talking to My Computer

Unless you’re one of the handful of people rocking a Windows Phone, you won’t have much experience with Cortana, Microsoft’s personal digital assistant. With the roll-out of Windows 10, Cortana is about to make a lot of new friends very quickly—and like me, they might soon find themselves shouting instructions at their computer on a…

Reviews David Nield

A boy letting go of his kite is a metaphor for life

Sometimes you should fight for what you love and keep on trying to make things work and never stop chasing it down but once that’s over and you’ve reached your limit or realized the expiration date already hit, you should let it go. Life works better that way. And in this short animation, a boy…

Sploid Casey Chan

This Secret Wars Cover Hides An Even More Secretive Superman Cameo

Marvel’s Secret Wars event is all about exploring the different shards of the Marvel universe… the ones that are left, that is. Some of those shards even recall the times Marvel’s heroes crossed over with those of the DC Multiverse, which means Alex Ross got to sneak in one tiny encounter on this awesome cover.…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

Sorry You Can’t Have Any More Sex Toys Because of This Patent

The dream of teledildonics, or having sex over the internet using remote-controlled sex toys, has been around since the 1990s. Every once in a while, new companies try to perfect the technology, so that you can enhance your sexting with a little something extra. But now the dream is about to die — thanks to…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

The Important Power Squirrel Girl Has That Superman Doesn’t

Greetings, reading rainbow raiders! It’s a pretty good batch of mail this week, if I do say so myself. We explore the nature of storytelling and the difficulties of religious tolerance, but I also get to talk about poop and fictional characters’ genitals! God I love my job. Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun Jason from…

io9 Rob Bricken

Sunlight and Body Heat Make Vitamin D Inside Your Skin

An Oscar-Winning Badass May Join Brie Larson in Kong: Skull Island

Some Of Your Favorite Authors Are Writing James Bond Stories!

Have You Ever Had a Disastrous Butt-Dial?

How this Tree Growing 40 Different Fruits at Once Was Made

Which Writer Deserves More Credit For Revolutionizing SF and Fantasy?

Exploring Santa Cruz Island

Unlimited Screen Time For Kids May Have Unintended Consequences

This Idea to Get America to Vote By Smartphone Just Might Work

“Recipe for Meth” Among Evidence Found in Suspected Federal Meth Lab

You Can Livestream From a GoPro On Meerkat Now, Nice

One Of The Best Things About Destiny Is Being Turned Into An Amazing Toy

Politician’s Mention of Wormholes Opens A Political Can Of Worms

Stop Taking Selfies With Bison

Pluto is Something Way More Awesome Than a Mere Planet

I Installed Windows 10 and Now I’m Talking to My Computer

A boy letting go of his kite is a metaphor for life

This Secret Wars Cover Hides An Even More Secretive Superman Cameo

Sorry You Can’t Have Any More Sex Toys Because of This Patent

The Important Power Squirrel Girl Has That Superman Doesn’t

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