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This Subway Tunnel Looks Like A Portal To A Psychedelic Fantasy World

No, this isn’t a set from Tim Burton’s next Alice in Wonderland film. (If those films had sets.) Rather, it’s part of the 191st St. Tunnel, which the New York City Department of Transportation just unveiled. Here are the details, from the NYC DOT Flickr page: The New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

At Google I/O, Cardboard Won’t Necessarily Be Cardboard Anymore

Last year, the most exciting thing at Google I/O was a chunk of cardboard—cardboard which could transform any smartphone into an uber-cheap virtual reality headset. But Google isn’t stopping there. This year, the company will “announce some things around Cardboard that aren’t made of cardboard,” says Google’s Clay Bavor. Intriguing. Clay Bavor was the guy…

Tech News Sean Hollister

There’s A Special Kind Of Wolf Spider That “Purrs”

Most spiders neither make nor receive airborne sounds. But there is one exception. A specific kind of wolf spider makes purring noises when seeking a mate. Find out what gets a female spider in the mood. According to the University of Cincinnati, spiders don’t have any physical structures that will let them hear airborne sounds,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Making real Predator blades that are sharp and retractable is bad ass

Man at Arms: Reforged just showed off their latest movie weapon badassery and this time they recreated the retractable wrist blades from Predator. The design is especially sick because they made the entire gauntlet that Predators wear on their wrist and it can quickly shoot out with one motion. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow…

Sploid Casey Chan

These Satellite Timelapses Show Just How Much Our Planet Has Changed

Cities grow. Human settlements expand across lands — and even into the water. Some forests burn down and regrow while others are gradually depleted by logging. And, over the last few decades, satellites have captured it all, showing how Earth has changed in just a matter of years. Growth of Phoenix, Arizona, between 1972 and…

io9 Vincze Miklós

How Can You Kick A Bad Habit?

Today Alissa Walker addressed our reliance on the bottled water industry and mentioned many different ways to quench your thirst. Other habits that are harmful to ourselves or the environment often don’t come with ready-made alternatives. So how do you break a nasty habit? https://gizmodo.com/stop-drinking-bottled-water-1704609514 I always swore I was going to quit smoking before…

Tech News Kaila Hale-Stern

Pluto Can Become A Full-Fledged Planet—But Only With Stellar Dance Moves

Now this is one of the sillier takes we’ve seen on Pluto’s journey from planet to dwarf planet, but it’s also pretty adorable. In the short film Stellar Moves: The Story of Pluto, Pluto is a young man who wants to join the popular dancers known as the Planets, but he’s going to need some…

io9 Lauren Davis

Wolf Spiders Play Leaf-Vibrating Songs to Attract Mates

Wolf spiders are deaf—they don’t have the right structures for hearing. However, they are very good at sensing other kinds of vibrations, and they use this ability to communicate. One species of wolf spider plays songs on dead leaves to attract mates. To woo a lady spider, the male wolf spider stands on a dead…

Biology Kiona Smith-Strickland

A Robot From The Future Reviews Tomorrowland

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Tech News A robot from the future

Economists Can’t Agree On What This Simple Term Means—And It’s A Problem

There are many terms in economics whose definitions drift towards either the higher branches of mathematics or the more esoteric regions of history. But it’s a very simple, everyday term that has economists most up in arms. In response to a question about the internal debates that have their industry-insiders grinding their teeth (while the…

io9 Ria Misra

Watch old people talk about their tattoos and why they don’t regret them

Everyone who doesn’t have tattoos says that you’re going to regret the tattoos you get right now, when you get old. Not exactly! This short documentary by Angie Bird interviews those types of older people with tattoos and finds out that as silly as some tattoos are, they all carry meaning and have an interesting…

Sploid Casey Chan

What I’ve Learned, Learning To Ride Mountain Bikes

I used to ride mountain bikes when I was a kid. They were a fun toy that took me places. But man, I never remember them being this much hard work! Looking for a little more adventure, I’ve been teaching myself to ride them again. This is what I’ve learned so far. That photo up…

Reviews Wes Siler

This $20,000 Carbon Fiber Bike Weighs a Ridiculous 12 Pounds

This ultralight bike costs as much as a car. Not a surprise given Audi’s at the helm, but the nutso price tag includes some design and tech that’s pretty cool. Weighing a total of around 12 pounds—the frame alone a feather-like two pounds—the limited edition Audi Sport Racing Bike will go on sale in Japan…

Tech News Bryan Lufkin

Obama’s Ban on Military Gear for Police Won’t Fix the Real Problem

American cities resemble war zones during times of protest. Now, Washington’s going to try to fix this problem by rolling back a 25-year-old program that supplied local police forces with free surplus military gear. It’s about damn time—but unfortunately, it’s not going to solve America’s police problems. President Obama just issued a ban on giving…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

This Adorable Chibi-Chappie Is The Cutest Little Robot Around

Chappie, the titular robot hero from Chappie is already quite childlike for a robot. But when you shrink him down to practically robo-baby proportions, he becomes even more obviously childike – and down right cute to boot! The 3.5” toy, made by Gentle Giant, is sadly not poseable like the wonderful ThreeA figure we’ve featured…

Tech News James Whitbrook

How Many Miles Did Frodo And Sam Have To Walk To Get To Mount Doom?

Turns out it’s a lot. Industrious Imgur user Mattsawizard tabulated the miles it took Frodo and his erstwhile companion Samwise to get from Bag’s End all the way to Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the distance is 1350 miles — as long as it would take you to walk from…

io9 Rob Bricken

The Borden Sisters Go Undercover (But Not For Long!) On Chronicles

You gotta give The Lizzie Borden Chronicles credit; the only thing predictable about this show is how unpredictable it is (and, ok, the fact that Lizzie will off at least one other character per episode). In episode seven, “The Sisters Grimke,” the Borden sisters flee Fall River and Lizzie adopts a more fun-loving hair color.…

Television Cheryl Eddy

Detection Systems Listen for Drones Flying Under the Radar

On the heels of reports that drones are mysteriously buzzing around the Eiffel Tower and crashing into the White House lawn, a Japanese security company is developing a new drone detector—a system to sniff out any shady eyes in the sky buzzing around the wrong places. The march toward dystopia continues. Tokyo-based Alsok, also known…

Privacy & Security Bryan Lufkin

The Explosively Awesome Concept Art Of Mad Max: Fury Road

Max Max: Fury Road is an incredible visual spectacle, in which a beautiful landscape and some incredibly insane vehicles collide in a fireball of pure brilliance. But before it was a work of art, this movie was a collection of eye-popping drawings and paintings. Check out an exclusive look at the concept art of Fury…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

These Photos Of Scientists With Their Machines Are Pure Excellence

Scientists love their toys. Monster machines, delicate precision devices, even those finicky electronic brats that spend more time sulking in a heap of malfunction than collecting data: we love the equipment that allows us to explore the world around us. Top image: Staff astronomer Juna Kollmeier with her 6.5 meter telescope. Credit: Carnegie Institution for…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

This Subway Tunnel Looks Like A Portal To A Psychedelic Fantasy World

At Google I/O, Cardboard Won’t Necessarily Be Cardboard Anymore

There’s A Special Kind Of Wolf Spider That “Purrs”

Making real Predator blades that are sharp and retractable is bad ass

These Satellite Timelapses Show Just How Much Our Planet Has Changed

How Can You Kick A Bad Habit?

Pluto Can Become A Full-Fledged Planet—But Only With Stellar Dance Moves

Wolf Spiders Play Leaf-Vibrating Songs to Attract Mates

A Robot From The Future Reviews Tomorrowland

Economists Can’t Agree On What This Simple Term Means—And It’s A Problem

Watch old people talk about their tattoos and why they don’t regret them

What I’ve Learned, Learning To Ride Mountain Bikes

This $20,000 Carbon Fiber Bike Weighs a Ridiculous 12 Pounds

Obama’s Ban on Military Gear for Police Won’t Fix the Real Problem

This Adorable Chibi-Chappie Is The Cutest Little Robot Around

How Many Miles Did Frodo And Sam Have To Walk To Get To Mount Doom?

The Borden Sisters Go Undercover (But Not For Long!) On Chronicles

Detection Systems Listen for Drones Flying Under the Radar

The Explosively Awesome Concept Art Of Mad Max: Fury Road

These Photos Of Scientists With Their Machines Are Pure Excellence

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