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Self/Less Is a Fun Dystopia That I Hope Never Comes True

The quest for immortality has a long history in futurist circles. What if you could jump from body to body, complete with the same thoughts, the same memories, the same personality as before? That’s the idea behind the new Ryan Reynolds vehicle Self/Less. And while the film won’t change your life, it’s a fine way…

Electric blue fireworks light up the sky behind a C-130 Hercules plane

Here’s a pretty picture perfect scene of fireworks exploding behind a C-130 Hercules airplane at Yokota Air Base, Japan. I like to imagine all those fanciful blue explosions as a swarm of alien planes that are waiting to come back to the mothership Hercules. Or something like that. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us…

The Game of Thrones Comic-Con Panel Offered Laughs, But Not Much Else

Game of Thrones panels at Comic-Con are a mixed bag; the next season hasn’t started filming so no one can really say anything. Even so, moderator Seth Myers did his best on Friday in Hall H to give fans a solid dose of info and fun— including this supercut of Game of Thrones references in…

“Stroke Ambulances” Could Save Lives Before Ever Reaching the Hospital

The last year or so has seen the arrival of super ambulances, emergency vehicles equipped with life-saving CT scanners that can treat stroke victims without waiting to arrive at the hospital. Earlier this week, the University of Alberta debuted Canada’s first “stroke ambulance,” a souped-up vehicle that carries a CT scanner and clot-busting drugs onboard.…

An Explanation for Man in the High Castle‘s Biggest Change from the Book

Are you ready to live under Nazi and Japanese occupation? Amazon is adapting Philip K. Dick’s beloved alt-history novel The Man in the High Castle for television, and today at Comic-Con, we found out what to expect from the show’s first season. The first episode of Man in the High Castle already appeared online months…

Bring Back “Scientivity” and These Other Great Old-Timey Science Words

Scientman John Borghi was browsing a century-old dictionary whenhe happened upon some science-themed words—including scientman (a man of knowledge), scientificalness (the quality of being scientific), and scientize (to lay down scientific principles)— he thinks we should start using again. We’d like to second the motion. Contact the author at [email protected] and @rtg0nzalez.

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

There are lots of relentless forces in this world. The Earth keeps spinning, the Sun keeps spitting out heat supporting all known life, and apps. There are always apps. So at the end of a new week, we have seven days-worth of software that you should be downloading. New ways to keep organized, new ways…

The First Force Awakens Toy Vehicle Is a Gloriously Huge TIE Fighter

Big, big news for Star Wars toy fans—Hasbro has announced a slew of Star Wars toys including some cool announcements that are coming to destroy your wallet. We’ve gathered all the news for you to see, including an up-close video of the incredible new Force Awakens TIE Fighter! This new TIE Fighter is absolutely the…

The Fear the Walking Dead Trailer Shows a Family Drama in the Apocalypse

“When civilization ends, it ends fast.” That’s the last line of the first trailer for Fear the Walking Dead (above), the Walking Dead spin-off which made its Comic-Con debut Friday afternoon. Now learn how this spinoff will differentiate itself from the original series that spawned it. At the Fear the Walking Dead panel at this…

This Shower of Gamma Rays Is from a Flaring Blazar 5 Billion Years Ago

Five billion years ago, a blazar abruptly flared, triggered an intense rain of gamma rays. Racing across the universe for millennia, they finally slammed into NASA’s Fermi satellite over several days this June, setting a new record for the most luminous high-energy object we’ve ever seen. The monster black hole at the center of 3C…

The New Buck Rogers Movie Will Be Based on His Most Classic Story Ever

When you think about Buck Rogers, you probably think of a scifi character that’s basically been around forever. But he does have an origin story—one that was told in the classic Amazing Stories magazine under the title Armageddon 2419 AD—and it’s this tale that will finally bring Buck Rogers back to the big screen. First…

The first red-band trailer for Sinister II is here, if you were waiting to check out the movie’s levels of blood, violence, and bloody, violent children before deciding whether you were going to go see it. Suffice it to say, Danny from The Shining should probably lead a support grup for these kids. Contact the…

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is showing the world sketches of penises and vulvas. Admittedly, they’re penises and vulvas that Leonardo da Vinci drew around 1508, which makes them art instead of crotch shots. Check ‘em out at the oh-so-proper Royal Collection Trust website. Contact the author at [email protected].

The Heartwarming Fan Moment That Made The 100 Panel Truly Special

You know what really makes San Diego Comic-Con great? It’s not the big announcements (although those are exciting), or watching actors goof around during panels (although that can be fun). It’s when the one of the thousands of fans shares a special moment with the creators and performers they admire. During the question and answer…

Video explains why bees are dying and how that seriously screws humans

Bees are extremely important to the way we live. One out of every 3 meals we eat is made possible because of bees and if they died out, plants would die, some foods will stop existing and millions of humans would starve. Seriously! Kurz Gesagt tries to explain why honey bees are dying and what…

These Astronauts Will be the First to Launch With SpaceX and Boeing

NASA Thursday named the first four astronauts who will fly on the first U.S. commercial spaceflights in private crew transportation vehicles being built by Boeing and SpaceX – marking a major milestone towards restoring American human launches to U.S. soil as soon as mid-2017, if all goes well. The four astronauts chosen are all veterans…

This Dan Harmon Quote Is Why You Need to Be Watching Rick and Morty

At Comic-Con today, io9 and half a dozen other reporters sat down with the writers and creators of Rick and Morty. We asked Dan Harmon why science fiction can be used to explore any experience. His answer made us wish we didn’t have to wait two weeks for Rick and Morty season two. During the…

Denmark’s Wind Energy Output Just Exceeded National Demand

When it comes to renewable energy, Denmark is officially kicking ass. Yesterday, Denmark’s wind farms produced 116% of national electricity demands, allowing the country to export power to Norway, German, and Sweden.According to The Guardian, that figure had risen to 140% by early Friday morning. “It shows that a world powered 100% by renewable energy…

How to Bake Pi Uses Math to Solve the Cookbook Paradox

There is a lie running through your cookbooks. No, it’s not that you can substitute crackers for apples in your pie and no one will know the difference (though, come on, let’s be decent to each other, folks: Knock that off.) The lie goes much deeper than all that, and is the source of what…

Watch How Google’s Artificial Brain Transforms Images in Real Time

In recent days, we’ve seen Google’s dream robot reimagine everything from internet memes to Hunter S. Thompson’s acid trips. But exactly how the artificial neural network creates these trippy images is hard to grasp…until you watch it all happening in real time. Johan Nordberg, an artist-developer with a penchant for visual fun, created a video…