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Video: The resonant frequency of googly eyes

Rob Cruickshank decided to embark on the important research of finding out the resonant frequency of googly eyes. He found it. It’s at around 433Mhz where the sound makes the googly eyes start to vibrate and get extra googly inside their plastic shell. Silly, hilarious and always a little creepy. SPLOID is delicious brain candy.…

TedEd has posted an excellent overview of in-vitro fertilization, summarizing how the method taps into the female reproductive cycle to harvest eggs, some techniques for getting fertilization to happen in a dish, and the options for gestating the resulting embryos. Contact the author at [email protected].

Dark Horse’s New Dragon Age Comic is All About Murdering Mages

Poor magic users. In the world of the Dragon Age video games, they’re relentlessly persecuted because of their talents, to the point of captivity or even death. Now the latest Dragon Age comic is basically all about Mages being hunted down and killed. They can never catch a break, these mages! Dragon Age: Magekiller is…

This Week’s TV: How Terrible Will Shark Week Be This Year?

What’s on TV this week? Werewolves, lions, and interplanetary nuns! It’s also Shark Week, so brace yourselves formore terrible shark science. Also: The Strain and Dominion return for their new seasons. All this and Mark Hamill, on this week’s TV! Tonight: Return of the Great White Serial Killer (9 PM, DISCOVERY) Close the beaches, because…

Does Safely Ejecting From a USB Port Actually Do Anything?

Is there any harm to be incurred by just pulling a flash drive out? Why do we need safe removal at all? Historically, Operating Systems treat disks as objects that can be trusted not to change state suddenly. When reading or writing files, the OS expects the files to remain accessible and not suddenly disappear…

Our Best View Yet of the Galaxy’s Massive Electromagnetic Loop

Scientists working with the Planck Satellite have produced a new polarization map of the Milky Way in microwaves, providing an unprecedented view of a rather dramatic electromagnetic loop discovered over a half-century ago. Above: Loop 1, marked by the dashed ellipse, is the yellow feature above centre, shading to purple, and the purple arc below…

First Look At Axanar, The Star Trek War Movie We’ve Waited Decades For

Star Trek fans have been curious for years about the Battle of Axanar, the decisive turning point in the war against the Klingon Empire. And now, a new unofficial movie will show what really happened at Axanar, and how Captain Garth triumphed. Here’s your first image from Star Trek: Axanar, exclusively at io9! This image…

This Humble Cactus Could Help Fuel Our Drought-Stricken World

As drought strikes broad regions of the world, farmers are focusing on the crops that can feed people—not the crops that can power their cars. But what if there was an energy crop that could grow where traditional crops can’t? Even in a drought? Enter the cactus. Climate change and drought aren’t just affecting agriculture.…

You Can Customize These Cardboard Pinball Machines However You Want

There’s a certain appeal to playing a pinball machine that even video game versions can’t perfectly replicate. And with these cheap miniature cardboard versions, pinball fans can finally customize their own machines using a glue gun, hobby knife, and other crafting supplies at their disposal. The PinBox 3000 comes as a build-it-yourself kit. But you…

The Army Built a Robot To Help Soldiers Shoot Guns Better

The Army’s latest supersolider innovation is inspired by the movie Aliens. And yes, the mechatronic arm exoskeleton is about as apocalyptic as it sounds. The arm-mounted device is literally a robot that lets soldiers shoot guns better. Scifi references aside, the exoskeleton seems to make good sense. Using a combination of carbon fiber, mounted motors,…

What Other Scientists Are Saying About Today’s “Life on a Comet” Claim

This morning, several news outlets gave voice to an extraordinary claim: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where the spacecraft Philae awoke last month, could be home to alien life. But extraordinary claims, we all know, require extraordinary evidence. So guess what these morning’s claims were lacking! To bring you up to speed: Astrobiologists Max Wallis and Chandra Wickramasinghe…

This Bacteria-Slaying Light Fixture Is Perfectly Safe For Humans

Bacteria-killing ultraviolet lights can sterilize everything from toothbrushes to bedsheets. But a new type of light fixture called the Indigo-Clean is able to wipe out those same dangerous pathogens while still being safe for patients or caregivers in a hospital. Originally developed at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, the Indigo-Clean fixture, commercialized by Kenall Manufacturing,…

According to Humans, the Robot Revolution Will Be Totally Justified

When the robot revolution comes, it will be… justified? Or so the second episode of Humans posits, given that most of the living people on the show seem determined not just to treat Synths like machines, but to treat them with total and utter contempt. In fact, I’d say every storyline in last night’s episode…

I Want to Live In This Colorful Maze Made From Sheets of Plastic

Each year a different artist or designer is tapped to create the Serpentine Pavilion, a site-specific installation that’s open all summer in London’s Kensington Gardens. This year’s Pavilion just opened to the public as a colorful, cacophonous labyrinth—with a secret cafe at the center. When can I move in? According to the Madrid-based artists José…

See Concept Art From Steven Spielberg’s Postponed Robopocalypse

When Steven Spielberg makes a sci-fi action film, expectations couldn’t be higher. And that’s probably one of the reasons why, in 2013, he indefinitely postponed work on his adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson’s best-selling novel Robopocalypse. But here’s an intriguing look at what might have been… or might still be. The legendary filmmaker had been…

Lock and Unlock Your Android Device Automatically with Gravity Screen

Levels of smartphone addiction being what they are, locking and unlocking your mobile can take up a lot of precious time in the day: If only your phone knew when you were looking at it and when you’d set it down or put it in a pocket. That’s exactly that Gravity Screen offers, a free…

The iZombie Action Figure Comes With All The Brain-Eating Tools You Need

iZombie was a pleasant surprise when it debuted on the CW earlier this year, but the most pleasant surprise of all? That we’re getting merchandise for it—Diamond Select have announced they’re bringing Liv and friends to the world of action figures, and Liv herself is coming with some pretty fabulous accessories. Announced by Entertainment Weekly,…

8 Things That Happened In History Way More Often Than Everybody Thinks

We learn in history class that certain events were a Big Deal, and we assume they were unique and unprecedented. But many of these things, from technological breakthroughs to political shake-ups, used to happen all the time. Here’s a list of eight not-quite-so-special things that occurred regularly throughout history. 8) Excommunications A major event in…

Data-Collecting Planes Are Counting Africa’s Elephants to Curb Poaching

Animals like tigers, lions, and elephants are majestic creatures we learn about when we’re kids. But unfortunately, many of those species share another trait—they live on the edge of extinction. One hundred African elephants are killed per day for ivory, but one mapping project is tracking these creatures in hopes of saving them. There hasn’t…

How Aging Affects Athletic Peformance

“I’m old” is the common refrain for why we get worse at athletics as we age. But here’s what’s really happening in the body through the years to make world-class performance less possible. Above: At 42, Chris Horner became the oldest person to a win a cycling Grand Tour. In this photo Horner climbs during…