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11 Science Fiction Books That Are Regularly Taught in College Classes

We all learn a lot from reading science fiction books—not just the cool ideas, but also the fascinating thought experiments. But college professors often reach for classic science fiction when they’re planning classes on literature, society or philosophy. Here are 11 science fiction books that are often taught in college. 1) The Handmaid’s Tale A…

How Do Steroids Actually Work?

Steroids seem to have two functions: making people strong and screwing up their lives. We’ll take a look at how steroids accomplish both of these tasks. From bulking muscles to shrinking testicles, this is what happens when you put a steroid in your body. When people bring up “steroids” while they’re talking about sports, we…

All Four New Ghostbusters, Suited Up and Ready for Supernatural Action

It’s not an official pic, but here’s the first look at the entire new Ghostbusters team: from left to right, that’s Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon. I cannot tell you how much I love McKinnon’s Egon Spengler look. [Via GBNewsdotcom] Contact the author at [email protected].

Chewbacca Is Getting His Own Marvel Comics Miniseries, Too

Marvel’s little slice of the Star Wars galaxy is getting a little bigger. Just like Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian before him, another hero is getting their own solo comic: Chewie himself! Laugh it up, fuzzballs. Written by Deadpool’s Gerry Duggan and with art from longtime Marvel star Phil Noto, the Chewbacca series is set…

How Much Energy Does the Internet Use? And Other Science Explainers

If you love a good explainer, you’ll love SciShow, a prolific YouTube channel (nearly 700 videos) that tackle science and technology questions in bite-sized primers, usually around three minutes long. Here are a few to jumpstart your cocktail party small talk for this weekend. Redheads make up only 1-2% of the population but get 99%…

A Lego-Friendly Prosthetic Arm Lets Kids Build Their Own Attachments

Hoping to build the confidence of children living with a missing limb, Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar, of Umeå University in Sweden, has designed a prosthetic arm that’s compatible with Lego so kids can swap its gripping attachment for their own custom creations. The arm functions very similar to traditional prosthetics, but it features a twist-and-lock…

Here’s How a Cheap $160 Action Cam Measures Up to a GoPro

GoPro’s name is spoken almost as a synonym for “action camera.” Yet there are many alternatives out there. They may not be as trendy, but they might save you money if you’re willing to sacrifice some things. One such camera is the new $160 Monoprice HD Sport 2.0. Watch our comparison video to see how…

The Most Spectacular Cosplay of Comic-Con 2015, Day One!

Comic-Con is well and truly under way, and that doesn’t just mean panels and news galore, it means wonderfully crafty fans taking to the floor with their incredible costumes. We’ve gathered the coolest cosplay from the first day for you to feast your eyes on! The Reverse Flash. Image Credit: That Guy You Knowww Return…

The legendary Hayao Miyazaki has made his first-ever all CG work! It’s a 10-minute short film that will run at the Ghibli Museum in Japan, and apparently took him three years to make. Still, it’s nice to know he’s filling his time after retiring from animation… with more animation. [Via Anime News Network] Contact the…

Minions Demonstrates How Slapstick Can Actually Reinforce The Status Quo

Minions is kind of a critic-proof movie. You pretty much already know what you’re getting from this film: one and a half hours of those walking twinkies from the Despicable Me Movies. Amusing antics! Nonsensical babble! Contrived situations! It feels like a direct-to-DVD movie, but it’ll make a billion dollars. For those who missed Despicable…

A Map of Just the World’s Time Zones

Time zones can be confusing things. But this map, which looks like it could be a piece of modern art, strips them back to their essence: this is how the world looks if the only thing you can see is the time zone boundaries. Created by Branden Rishel it’s largely a bit of fun—but it’s…

Could Our Planet’s Shrinking Crust Result in a Water World?

A reconstruction of Earth’s continental crust over the eons shows that our planet’s land masses are eroding faster than they’re being replenished—meaning our entire planet could become completely submerged in about two billion years. By studying the concentrations of isotopes from 13,000 rock samples taken around the world, geologist Bruno Dhuime and his team from…

The ISS may finally get its space veggie garden yet! This is actually the second attempt at getting lettuceseeds to sprout in the growing chamber, after the first one ended with some frantic overwatering to perk the dehydrated plants back up. Astronauts! They’re just like us. Image: Scott Kelly setting up the Veggie experiment on…

Musician Collapses Wearing All His Clothes to Beat Budget Airline Fees

Musician James McElvar used a sitcom-style idea to beat easyJet’s baggage restrictions, taking all of his clothes out of his bag and wearing them to avoid a fee to check his case – only to collapse on the flight from heat exhaustion. McElvar apparently ended up wearing 12 layers in all, comprising of 6 T-shirts,…

The XKCD Phone 3: So Good They Made Another One

Following the huge success of the XKCD Phone 1 andXKCD Phone 2, Randall Munroe has announced the XKCD Phone 3. Featuring wireless discharging, fingerprint randomizer, a magnetic stripe and more, Munroe promises that “if you’re not completely satisfied with the phone after 30 days, we will return you to your home at no cost.” It’s…

The Ladies of Indiana Jones Get Artistic At Acme Comic-Con Booth

Every year at San Diego Comic-Con, I make a point to head to the Acme Archives booth. Then again, it’s hard to miss considering it’s 5 times the size of every other booth and filled with beautiful art. This year is no exception and three pieces in particular jumped out: the ladies of Indiana Jones.…

Wesley Snipes’ Blade Could Return In The Marvel Movies

Jada Pinkett Smith really wants to be part of a second Suicide Squad. Ron Perlman still wants a third Hellboy. Plus, see Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 in action, new clips from Ant-Man, Sam Raimi talks Ash vs Evil Dead, and our first look at Damien and the Sherlock Christmas special. It’s time for Spoilers! Storm Halley Berry…

Gmail Now Uses Artificial Neural Networks to Sniff Out Spam

Gmail’s spam filters have always been pretty good, but now they’re getting a shot in the arm. Google’s rolling out its artificial neural network technology, currently used in the likes of its Search and Now apps, to help reduce the weight of unwanted email even further. The filters that Google has used in the past…

You Can Read the First Chapter of Harper Lee’s New Novel Online

It’s 55 years since To Kill a Mockingbird was published, but Harper Lee’s second book, Go Set A Watchman, is about to be released. Now you can read the first chapter online. The first 3,500 words of the novel have been published on the websites of The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal. If it’s…

This Is What the New Ghostbusters Look Like

We’ve already seen what they’ll wear and drive, but this is the first glimpse of what the new Ghostbusters will like when they hit the screen. While previous leaks from the film set have been made by director Paul Feig, these images of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones appear to have…