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A beached great white shark is still scary as hell

Even when we have home field advantage, a beached shark is still not something you want to see on a relaxing trip to the playa. Because for one, the shark baring its teeth and whipping its tail is still scary as hell even though it shouldn’t be able to reach you. But more importantly, because…

Sploid Casey Chan

Marijuana Burdens California Water Supplies More Than Beer or Wine

Anyone following news about California’s drought has read about its effect on nation-nourishing crop yields. But what you probably haven’t read is how the drought is impacting the Golden State’s homegrown vices, including wine, pot, and craft beer—and how their industries are affecting the state in return. Today at Nautilus, Jon Kelvey investigates how California’s…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

(UPDATE)The Force Awakens Lego Images Reveal a Fancy X-Wing—and New Characters

Update: The Lego Group have asked that we remove the images from this post, and Leg Godt has complied with that request. The original text of the post is as follows. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is getting a veritable slew of merchandise later this year, and Lego is no exception. Several new pictures of…

Tech News James Whitbrook

This Beetle’s Caffeine Addiction Is Threatening Your Own

For its size, the coffee berry borer makes your caffeine consumption look almost laughably manageable, downing an amount that relative to its body mass would be like a person taking 500 shots of espresso in one day—and its habit is becoming a real threat to coffee supplies. A new study in Nature Communications looks at…

io9 Ria Misra

Pluto Memes Are Taking Over the Internet

When the New Horizons spacecraft sent back its first clear image of everyone’s favorite dwarf planet, Pluto became a perfect storm of a meme. Historians in the future will wonder what we were smoking. An endless assortment of related memes can be found under #pluto hashtags across the social web. Pluto’s image was destined to…

Tech News Kaila Hale-Stern

Zoo Is Kind of Awesome (In an Awesomely Ridiculous Way)

This week on Zoo, a mysterious French intelligence agent zips between storylines, bringing most of the characters together to form a team that’ll investigate the worsening animal attacks. We also learn more about Jackson’s maybe not-so-crackpot father, and meet a rather feral death row inmate. Spoilers follow! Before we get any deeper, here’s what happened…

Television Cheryl Eddy

We Asked Tom Hiddleston All About The Wild Sexuality In Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Toro is doing full-on gothic romance in his new movie Crimson Peak, and he told us to expect “kinky,” unsettling action. We talked to the stars at Comic-Con, and asked Tom Hiddleston about the movie’s transgressive sexuality. And Jessica Chastain told us she was covered with bruises. Minor spoilers ahead… In Crimson Peak,…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

This Working 18-Wheel Lego Mobile Crane Is a Straight-Up Masterpiece

It’s time to update that Wonders of the World list to include this impossibly-perfect Lego creation by Dawid Szmandra. It’s a 1:23.5 scale version of the Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 mobile crane that’s fully drivable and fully functional thanks to 11 Lego motors hidden away inside. The crane’s outrigger support legs unfold by themselves, its arm…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

These Pluto Truthers Insist NASA Images Are Fake

It wouldn’t be a monumental achievement in human history without some truthers on the internet calling it fake. And NASA’s historic Pluto flyby is no different. The conspiracy theory crowd has descended on the event as their too-good-to-be-true choice this week. Wake up sheeple! Pluto is just a dog at Disneyland! As just one example,…

Tech News Matt Novak

Video reveals the incredible tunnel that El Chapo used to escape prison

The story of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, escaping jail is just insane. A mile long, ventilated and lit tunnel was built right under his shower in his prison cell to allow him to escape. Not only that, there was a little motorbike cart inside the tunnel as well to presumably…

Sploid Casey Chan

Mood-altering Drugs That Were Invented by Accident

Science is full of lucky whoopsies, and psychiatric medication has more than its share. From incredibly wrong-headed ways to keep people from masturbating to making TB patients dance, here’s how we (accidentally) got the modern pharmaceutical industry. Project No-Wank During the 1800s, masturbation was considered as a way to induce everything from epilepsy to round…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Disney’s New Tron Roller Coaster Is Absolutely Gorgeous

These days, it seems like Disney owns every major property out there. And while that’s not true, almost all of them will be on display at the company’s newest theme park, Disney Shanghai Resort. Set to open in 2016, it will have new attractions based on Star Wars, Marvel, TronN and Pirates of the Caribbean.…

io9 Germain Lussier

It’s an Oregon Drought Apocalypse in New Indie Flick The Last Survivors

What will happen to the lush and twee state of Oregon when the drought apocalypse hits? Whether you hate Portland hipsters, or merely lust for the end times, you’ll want to find out in forthcoming indie movie The Last Survivors. Here’s the first trailer for you to enjoy. In this movie, teenage girls fight with…

Trailers Annalee Newitz

This Rancor Costume from Comic-Con Is Better Than Return of the Jedi‘s

Apparently, when Return of the Jedi was first on the drawing board, the geniuses of ILM attempted to create the Rancor as a full monster suit someone could wear. They did not succeed, and a puppet/model was used in the film. Do you see where this is going? Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage’s crew from…

io9 Rob Bricken

These Geothermal Homes Use Heat From the Mountainside They’re Built Into

Japan is a country that’s 75% mountains, which makes construction more than a little tricky. One architect’s solution? Build homes into the mountains—then rent them out. Tenants then score natural geothermal insulation in an abode that’s downright Seussian. This cozy, seven-unit residential complex is nestled at (and into) the foot of Mineyama Mountain in Takamatsu,…

Tech News Bryan Lufkin

“Hornet’s Nest of Criminal Hackers” Destroyed by Feds

It was the best place to find out the worst crimes you could commit online. Cybercrime forum Darkode has been shut down after “Operation Shrouded Horizon,” an international law enforcement raid that led to 70 arrests. Known as a digital hangout for groups like Lizard Squad, Darkode was created in 2008 as an invite-only forum…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Batman Learns the Joker’s Biggest Secret in Justice League #42

Batman has a bit of a rep among comic fans for being… well, a bit unbeatable. Always with a plan, always finding a way to succeed against impossible odds, for a mortal, Batman can stand alongside gods and do just dandy. However, today’s Justice League #42 leans into that reputation… quite literally. Spoilers, of course,…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

What You Need To Know Before Driving Off-Road

Driving off-road doesn’t have to be scary. Yet most people that spend serious cash on 4WDs never even put them in low range, much less take them off the pavement. Let’s try to fix that with a few basic skills everyone can master. What 4WD Is And How Traction Works Off-Road Four-wheel drive is actually…

Tech News Matt Scott

Auschwitz Guard Convicted on 300,000 Counts of Accessory to Murder

Oskar Groening, a 94-year-old former Auschwitz guard, admitted to feeling “moral guilt” for serving as an SS sergeant at the infamous Nazi death camp. The landmark ruling shows that courts are willing to prosecute those involved in the Holocaust irrespective of their “minor” roles or advanced age. After a two-and-a-half month trial in the northern…

io9 George Dvorsky

The Worst Brand Tweets About the Pluto Flyby

When will be the next time that humanity will be able to snap some images of a never-before-photographed maybe-planet while sailing past it at eight miles per second? Probably never. So brands jumped at the opportunity to capitalize on this historic achievement. Updated with new awful tweets! Updated 7/15

Space & Spaceflight Alissa Walker

A beached great white shark is still scary as hell

Marijuana Burdens California Water Supplies More Than Beer or Wine

(UPDATE)The Force Awakens Lego Images Reveal a Fancy X-Wing—and New Characters

This Beetle’s Caffeine Addiction Is Threatening Your Own

Pluto Memes Are Taking Over the Internet

Zoo Is Kind of Awesome (In an Awesomely Ridiculous Way)

We Asked Tom Hiddleston All About The Wild Sexuality In Crimson Peak

This Working 18-Wheel Lego Mobile Crane Is a Straight-Up Masterpiece

These Pluto Truthers Insist NASA Images Are Fake

Video reveals the incredible tunnel that El Chapo used to escape prison

Mood-altering Drugs That Were Invented by Accident

Disney’s New Tron Roller Coaster Is Absolutely Gorgeous

It’s an Oregon Drought Apocalypse in New Indie Flick The Last Survivors

This Rancor Costume from Comic-Con Is Better Than Return of the Jedi‘s

These Geothermal Homes Use Heat From the Mountainside They’re Built Into

“Hornet’s Nest of Criminal Hackers” Destroyed by Feds

Batman Learns the Joker’s Biggest Secret in Justice League #42

What You Need To Know Before Driving Off-Road

Auschwitz Guard Convicted on 300,000 Counts of Accessory to Murder

The Worst Brand Tweets About the Pluto Flyby

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