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Sunday Puzzle Hiatus: Try Some Lateral Thinking Puzzles On For Size

We’re on the road this week, sans computer. In place of the Sunday Puzzle column, I thought I’d turn you on to Futility Closet, and some lateral thinking puzzles recently featured on its podcast. What is Futility Closet? A lot of things, really—but if you like io9, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy much of…

What Are Extrasolar Planets?

For generations, humans have looked out at the night sky and wondered if they were alone in the universe. With the discovery of other planets in our Solar System, the true extent of the Milky Way galaxy, and other galaxies beyond our own, this question has only deepened and become more profound. Artist’s illustration of…

Hot Toys Would Very Much Like You To Buy More Age Of Ultron Iron Men

Tony Stark goes through Iron Man suits like they’re going out of fashion. It seems like Hot Toys have a very similar approach, because they’ve announced another two Iron Man related figures that they would really like you to add to your Iron Legion. Yes, you didn’t think that the Age of Ultron 1:6 figure…

Whoa, Orphan Black Now Has A Bona Fide Supervillain Plot

What exactly is Dr. Coady, scientist and surrogate mother to the Castor clones, up to? This week’s Orphan Black finally reveals Coady’s endgame, and it’s a scheme worthy of a costumed comic supervillain. This episode of Orphan Black, “Certain Agony of the Battlefield,” has left me thinking a great deal about power and abuse. Hell,…

This Robot Learns New Tasks Like a Human

One thing robots are notoriously bad at is learning by doing. You can pack plenty of information into a robotic brain, but ask a bot to teach itself a new motor task—even one as simple as stacking blocks or unscrewing a water bottle—and you’re probably shit out of luck. That, however, might be changing very…

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles ends tonight, alas, but if you’ve been enjoying the gruesomely campy show, get a behind-the-scenes peek via Geeks of Doom’s series of interviews with the show’s writers here and here. And, of course, check back tomorrow for our recap of the series finale!

Your Armpit Hair Will (Probably) Never Grow To The Floor. Here’s Why.

A few weeks back, we examined why fingernails grow so much faster than toenails. Now comes the explanation for another bodily-function quirk you’ve always kinda wondered about, courtesy of the SciShow’s Hank Green: How does hair (including, like, eyebrow and armpit hair) know when to stop growing? https://gizmodo.com/why-do-fingernails-grow-so-much-faster-than-toenails-1695886809

Ride Along on a Four-Mile-Long Roller Coaster for Library Books

A few weeks ago we showed you images of incredible robotic library logistics, including the Telelift system of the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, Hungary. Last week I had a special opportunity to visit that library and take a look at its automated book transportation system—basically a roller coaster for books. The Telelift conveyor system…

Santa Barbara Still Reeling From the Worst Oil Spill in Decades

Last Tuesday, an onshore pipeline belonging to the Texas-based oil company Plains All American burst, spewing roughly 105,000 gallons of crude down a storm drain and into an undeveloped stretch of coastline just north of Santa Barbara. Roughly a fifth of that oil made its way into open water. It may be the worst oil…

I Want This Screen Protector That Magically Gives iPhones a Back Button

Why doesn’t it have a back button? I ask no one in particular. Why do I have to reach all the way up there to go back where I came from? Soon, there may be an answer for my iPhone frustration—a screen protector with a virtual back button. Halo Back, a new Kickstarter project, is…

You Can Take this Little Wind and Solar Powered Home Anywhere

If life in a future megacity isn’t for you, your hour of escape is fast approaching. Especially if you don’t mind living alone in a 14 x 7 x 7-foot pod. Well, what if I told you the view was fantastic? Ecocapsule, which calls itself “the first truly independent micro-home,” is a new, teeny tiny…

Sad news: John Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician, has died at age 86 in a New Jersey car crash. Also killed was his wife, Alicia. The Nashes were portrayed by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind, which delved into Nash’s struggles with mental illness.

Louisiana Black Bear May Soon Be Removed From Endangered Species List

The Louisiana black bear inspired the teddy bear and is its home state’s official mammal, and its once-low population has been elevated thanks to decades of conservation efforts. This week, the US Department of the Interior announced the bear may soon be removed from its list of threatened species. According to the official press release:…

A Public Service Warning From Pizza Hut on the Dangers of Selfie Sticks

Pizza Hut stopped tasting good a long time ago. The company’s recent parody of selfie sticks, however, is spot on. According to the video’s earnest narrator, our selfies face an existential threat. What, you ask, could endanger the sacred selfie? None other than the absurd stick invented to turn every life experience into a desperately…

Snapchat is Hiring Journalists to Document the 2016 Presidential Race

In its latest attempt to brand itself as a media entity, Snapchat is now hiring journalists to cover the 2016 presidential race. To Snap the race, more accurately. The wildly popular photo-sharing platform has been working to fashion itself a news service since earlier this year, when it launched “Discover”, a feature that doesn’t actually…

Walking On All Fours: The World Of Animal Prostheses

Replacing one lost leg is challenging, but what about two, three or four? Martin Kaufmann trained as a prosthetist and began his ‘human career’ working at clinics in the American Midwest. But when his cousin’s dog had a stroke and lost function in one leg, he was struck by the lack of options for an…

Not Again: How a 1969 Oil Spill Devastated the Santa Barbara Coast

It takes a disaster to shock us out of complacency. In January 1969, an oil well blew up off the coast of Santa Barbara, spilling an estimated three million gallons of black goo into the ocean—then the largest oil spill in U.S. waters ever. As images of dead birds and blackened beaches flooded the media,…

Christopher Lloyd’s LEGO Ad Makes Us Want A New Back To The Future Movie

Doc Brown returns in this fun trailer for WB Games’ Lego Dimensions, in which the zany scientist helps construct the device that enables the toys (including his own tiny doppleganger, and lots of other familiar faces that have nothing to do with Back to the Future) to virtually “come to life.” [Via Mashable]

Octopus Senses Light With Its Skin, No Eyes Required

We already knew cephalopods are amazing creatures—how many of us can go from colored to invisible in a blink? Hell, octopuses can even operate cameras. Still, sensing light with one’s skin is a pretty impressive trick, even for the rock stars of the invertebrate world. And yet, as we’re now discovering, the octopus can do…

This Is What Happens When Two Galaxies Collide

Four hundred million light years away, NGC 6240 appears in this image from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. One NASA source terms the galaxy’s shape the result of a “galactic merger,” another goes for the more colorful “titanic galaxy-galaxy collision.” Here’s a more detailed explanation of what you’re seeing: This…