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Daredevil kid rides a train while on top of the roof of the train

Taking the train is my favorite form of transportation because unlike a car, I don’t have to drive or get stuck in traffic and unlike an airplane, I don’t have to go through security and be crammed in impossibly tiny spaces. But I only like it when I’m inside the train. This kid, who’s completely…

Sploid Casey Chan Aug 31 '15

One Chart That Shows How Much Money Ashley Madison Made Using Bots

Earlier today, I reported that Ashley Madison’s source code reveals a concerted effort to create an army of thousands of female bots called “engagers” to coax men into paying more for the site’s services. Now we have a chart from the company’s leaked emails that shows how much money they made from the bots. This…

Tech News Annalee Newitz Aug 31 '15

Find 25 Minutes to Watch This Short About a Young Boy and His Powers

Umkhungo (The Gift) is really, really good. It’s a self-contained story about Themba, a young boy whose powers have branded him cursed. When his parents die, he ends up with a street thug named Mthunzi. The two eventually come to an understanding, just as Themba’s uncles and the authorities close in. Umkhungo started as one…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Aug 31 '15

The First USB-C Car Charger Also Throws In a Backup Battery

Now that many laptops and smartphones can be charged with the same USB Type-C cable, it makes sense to have those fancy new ports everywhere. And with Nomad’s new Roadtrip, any vehicle with a 12-volt car socket can be modernized with a USB Type-C power source of its own. The car charger hasn’t forgotten about…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Aug 31 '15

This GIF is Amazing, But Those Aren’t Self-Driving Cars

Over the past month, this video of traffic at a busy intersection has gone viral. People are sharing it as a demonstration of self-driving cars on the road. And while there’s some truth to the general idea that cars will be able to caravan and avoid each other much better in the future, that’s not…

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 31 '15

IBM’s Watson Could Hold the Key to Fighting Beijing’s Brutal Pollution

The same company that made Jeopardy!-conquering Watson will use similar tech to help fight air pollution in Beijing. In the future, that artificial intelligence could lead to cleaner air for the long haul, everywhere. According to MIT Technology Review, IBM’s rolling out a plan that predicts when and where Beijing’s pollution levels will be the…

Artificial Intelligence Bryan Lufkin Aug 31 '15

What’s The Worst RPG/Tabletop Gaming Experience You’ve Ever Had?

Playing Dungeons & Dragons or some other role-playing game with your best friends can be amazing. But play a tabletop RPG or other game with the wrong people, and things can take a very dark turn. What’s the worst RPG/tabletop experience you’ve ever suffered through? Please mention the name of the game you were playing,…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 31 '15

The Flash TV Series Just Cast Zoom, So Now I’m Completely Confused

Actor Tony Todd has been cast as the Flash’s archenemy Zoom in the second season of the CW’s hit TV series. Now, if you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey, I thought the Reverse-Flash was the Flash’s archenemy,” well, you’re right. Because Zoom is the Reverse-Flash. Who was played in season one by Tom Cavanaugh. Who is…

io9 Rob Bricken Aug 31 '15

The New Gear S2 Doesn’t Sound Like an Apple Watch Killer

In a wearable preamble to the gadget onslaught that will flood Berlin this week, Samsung’s just outed its latest attempt to win over your wrist-puter heart. It’s the Gear S2, an update to last year’s Galaxy Gear S, which was just too weird to love. Almost nothing is visually similar between the two watches—the Gear…

Gadgets Darren Orf Aug 31 '15

Cute animation video explains how smart dolphins actually are

We always hear that dolphins are smart but how smart are they actually? Lori Marino explains for Ted-Ed in this cute animation and it’s almost stunning how intelligent they are. Their encephalization quotient (brain size to body size) is second only to us dumb humans and goes into detail how they can pass down knowledge…

Sploid Casey Chan Aug 31 '15

The Strain Introduces the Show’s Biggest Badass and Then Instantly Takes Him Away

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of last week’s recap. I had to travel very early on Monday morning to NYC for io9/Gawker shenanigans, and was unable to watch last week’s episode, which is a shame, because it was definitely the highlight of the season. Rather than ignore it, I figure I’d…

io9 Rob Bricken Aug 31 '15

Illumibowl Is the Toilet Nightlight We All Hoped It Would Be

What’s to be said for a guy whose first Kickstarter investment is a color-changing toilet nightlight? That he has an aim problem? An interest in a mid-stream dance party? Yes, I helped fund the Illumibowl, and I’m not sorry. The Illumibowl is a motion-activated, color-changing toilet nightlight. Okay, it’s a novelty, but let’s be real:…

Reviews Erik Hyrkas Aug 31 '15

The Most Ill-Advised Continuations of Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy TV Shows

The X-Files, Heroes and Twin Peaks are all coming back to our screens soon, with at least some of the original castmembers returning. Sounds great—except that this sort of thing doesn’t always work out. Here are the most ignominious examples of classic TV shows that were reanimated…but they came back wrong. Note: For the purpose…

io9 Gordon Jackson Aug 31 '15

Shooting Challenge: The Craziest Filter You Can Find

You kids and your #nofilter tags. Everything’s filtered! The engineer who built your camera made dozens of decisions about color, lighting, and contrast processing. So for this week’s Shooting Challenge, let’s celebrate the filter. Nay, let’s full-out ROAST the filter. The Challenge Take a photograph and process it with the craziest filter(s) you can find…

Tech News Mark Wilson Aug 31 '15

A Charging Cable That Only Glows When Touched Is Way Easier To Plug In

Lining up a USB cable with the tiny charging port on your phone is hard enough during the day. At night it might as well be a MENSA test that you’ll always fail. But what if the business end of your USB cable glowed like a beacon in the night when touched? Now you see…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Aug 31 '15

Amazon Prime Is About to Get Worse (Update: Nah, It’s Not)

Correction: So, Amazon has helpfully informed me that the items that will “Ship by Region” will only appear as Prime-eligible if you can get two-day shipping to your region. That means we won’t see those Prime items if they’re not eligible for two-day shipping. So..this is actually good, and nevermind anything I said. Except for…

Commerce Kate Knibbs Aug 31 '15

Explore the International Space Station (Toilets and All) With This Interactive Map

Before the end of her record-setting stint on the International Space Station, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took a number photos of each module of the ISS, which the European Space Agency has stitched together into an awesome interactive tour. The panoramic tour allows visitors to move through the ISS, seeing it as it was in June,…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Aug 31 '15

We’re Finally Getting Some Incredible-Looking Fallout Figures

The brilliant designs of the post-apocalyptic Fallout series have long been yearning to get turned into awesome toys. And while we’re getting some cutesy Funko Pops based on the series, a new line of figures from the folks over at Threezero is giving us a much more faithful—and pricier—batch of figures. The company recently announced…

Tech News James Whitbrook Aug 31 '15

The Frontlines of Climate Change: Why Obama’s Trip To Alaska Is a Really Big Deal

President Obama’s headed to Alaska today, but it’s not the typical politicized meet-and-greet. From talking to residents who are forced to flee their homes due to rising sea levels, to learning the political repercussions of melting polar ice, he’s got one of the most science-focused itineraries ever embarked upon by an American president. Obama arrives…

Climate Change Alissa Walker Aug 31 '15

What Did the Ankylosaurus Look Like Before It Got This Club Tail?

Ankylosaurs are common features on documentaries or animated films about dinosaurs. Their armored body and club-like tail make them easy to identify. But how did that tail actually evolve? Evolutionary biologists show us the “first draft” of a popular dinosaur. We see a lot of the familiar ankylosaur, and we know it by the knob…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 31 '15

Daredevil kid rides a train while on top of the roof of the train

One Chart That Shows How Much Money Ashley Madison Made Using Bots

Find 25 Minutes to Watch This Short About a Young Boy and His Powers

The First USB-C Car Charger Also Throws In a Backup Battery

This GIF is Amazing, But Those Aren’t Self-Driving Cars

IBM’s Watson Could Hold the Key to Fighting Beijing’s Brutal Pollution

What’s The Worst RPG/Tabletop Gaming Experience You’ve Ever Had?

The Flash TV Series Just Cast Zoom, So Now I’m Completely Confused

The New Gear S2 Doesn’t Sound Like an Apple Watch Killer

Cute animation video explains how smart dolphins actually are

The Strain Introduces the Show’s Biggest Badass and Then Instantly Takes Him Away

Illumibowl Is the Toilet Nightlight We All Hoped It Would Be

The Most Ill-Advised Continuations of Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy TV Shows

Shooting Challenge: The Craziest Filter You Can Find

A Charging Cable That Only Glows When Touched Is Way Easier To Plug In

Amazon Prime Is About to Get Worse (Update: Nah, It’s Not)

Explore the International Space Station (Toilets and All) With This Interactive Map

We’re Finally Getting Some Incredible-Looking Fallout Figures

The Frontlines of Climate Change: Why Obama’s Trip To Alaska Is a Really Big Deal

What Did the Ankylosaurus Look Like Before It Got This Club Tail?

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