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io9 Newsstand: The Best Stories from the Week of April 12 – 18

This week’s best stories are about what it means to be human, about balancing the universe’s harmonies, and about using one’s voice as a weapon or a balm — depending on the situation. The New Mother by Eugene Fischer | Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (excerpt) Trigger Warning: abuse, child abuse, forced medical procedures The girls…

This Baffling 1936 Murder Was Solved With A Hair And A Piece Of String

On April 10, 1936, the body of aspiring novelist Nancy Titterton was found raped and strangled to death (by her own pajamas) in the bathtub of the New York City apartment she shared with her husband, an executive at NBC. The only clues: a short length of cord and a single horsehair. Incredibly, however, these…

Iron Man’s Dad Is Officially Jesse Custer In The Preacher TV Series

As it was rumored, so it has come to pass! Dominic Cooper, a.k.a. Howard Stark in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been cast as the lead in Seth Rogen’s TV adaptation of Garth Ennis’ hit Vertigo comic Preacher. Cooper joins Ruth Negga as Tulip, Joseph Gilgun as the Irish vampire Cassidy,…

Good News! The DOJ Might Kill the Comcast-Time Warner Merger 

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger has been in the works for so long, it’s starting to feel like the impending monopolistic telecom Frankenbaby was inevitable. But the Justice Department may kibosh the deal for violating antitrust laws, according to a report from Bloomberg. Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide…

The Terrifying True Story Of America’s Youngest Serial Killer

In 1872, 12-year-old Jesse Pomeroy was briefly sent to reform school after brutally attacking several children. After his release, “the Boy Fiend” progressed to murder. A new book takes a look at this unusual case, one of the first to bring the insanity defense — and all its complications — into the public eye. We…

There’s A Brand New Section Of A Wrinkle In Time That You Can Read

A newly-unearthed section of A Wrinkle In Time has been released by Madeline L’Engle’s granddaughter — and it has some strong words about the dangers faced by democracies, as they try to balance security and freedom. L’Engle’s granddaughter, Charlotte Jones Voiklis, gave the whole previously cut section to the Wall Street Journal, who just published…

Does Preserving the Past Keep Cities From Moving Into the Future?

In the last 50 years, the preservationist movement has become powerful—maybe too powerful in a place like New York City, where a third of the buildings are now protected. But the buildings we think of today as landmarks inevitably replaced older structures, ones we tend to forget were demolished in the path towards progress. This…

Short film of NYC is so stunning that it looks like photos coming alive

This stunning short, Moments by Tim Sessler and Cameron Michael, is so beautifully shot in slow motion that the footage almost look more like still photographs with a few moving parts. Each scene is like a photo that lives on its own. It’s so much more stunning than a normal video that it can appear…

Contributors at the excellent marine science blog Deep-Sea News have published an article in PLOS on how to conduct effective online science outreach. It is (appropriately? ironically? self-consciously?) presented in list format. Here are Ten Simple Rules for Effective Online Outreach.

Quirky and Mattel Want You To Design Your Own Barbie and Hot Wheels Toys

Quirky is a lot like Kickstarter when it comes to turning an amateur inventor’s idea into an actual product—except there’s no disappointment and no broken promises. The company actually knows what it’s doing, which is why other companies like Mattel are teaming up with it so that anyone can now submit an idea for a…

10 Ways To Create A Near-Future World That Won’t Look Too Dated

Writing about the world to come is a scary proposition, because nothing becomes obsolete faster than futuristic visions. Especially if you’re writing about a decade or two from now, your story risks looking ridiculous within a few years. So here are 10 tips to keep your near-future setting from looking too dated. All artwork by…

One Small Espresso Machine For the ISS, One Giant Leap For Humankind

In the early hours of what would be this morning for many of us, astronauts on the ISS reached out into space with a robotic arm and plucked the Dragon re-supply capsule from orbit. It contains plenty of important SCIENCE, but also the most important supply of all: coffee. Lead image: 100 percent realistic depiction…

Radioactive WWII Aircraft Carrier Found Off The California Coast

The USS Independence — a World War II-era aircraft carrier — has been found in 2,600 feet of water off the coast of California’s Farallon Islands. Surprisingly intact after 64 years, it was exposed to atomic blasts during the Bikini Atoll tests until it was deliberately sunk in 1951. The newly completed survey of the…

Truck Spill From Hell Dumps Millions of Angry Bees Onto the Highway

Early this morning, a tractor trailer overturned on I-5 in Lynwood, Washington littering the freeway with millions of pissed off bees, KIRO 7 reports. Dang, this scene sounds like actual hell. According to Fox, the truck blew a tire, and lost control. Boxes containing 448 honeycombs were thrown to the road. Luckily, we hear the…

Welcome to Asteroid War Games, Where Scientists Practice Saving Earth

There’s a 1200-foot asteroid headed straight for the Earth. You’ve got five days to come up with a plan, or go the way of the dinosaurs. This isn’t the script for the Day After Tomorrow sequel — it’s the scenario being war-gamed by a roomful of PhDs as we speak. The Planetary Defense Conference is…

Sony Really Wanted To Make That Doctor Who Movie

Remember those rumors of a big-budget Doctor Who movie? The one that was going to be directed by David Yates? Well, in the recently release batch of hacked Sony emails, it appears that Sony was pushing hard for this movie — and only Steven Moffat and the other Doctor Who producers stood in their way.…

Fanboys Stab Each Other Over Android vs Apple

The ever-heated battle over mobile ecosystems left two wounded fanboys today: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, two roommates were hospitalized after a drunken fight about the relative benefits of Android and Apple phones. “When police arrived at the apartment complex, they learned that the roommates had been drinking and arguing over their mobile phones,” KTUL Tulsa reports.…

Welcome To The Nightmare World Of Sea Creatures With Human Teeth

Feel like going down to the beach this weekend? Don’t do it. Or if you have to for some reason, don’t go into the ocean. Because there are things swimming around your waters that can bite you with your own teeth. If that’s not scary enough for you, by all means, plunge in! Sheepshead: The…

This Attack On Titan Crossover Is Unofficial, Possibly Illegal

The Asylum is known for monster/disaster moies like Sharknado, and straightto-home video homages to big-budget movies with cheap-o simulacrums such as Transmorphers. Now they be known for copyright infringement, as their new movie has a monster that is clearly one of Attack on Titan’s Titans. The movie is Megashark Vs. Kolossus, the latest in their…

The FTC Wants Your Opinion On Airbnb, Uber and Lyft

Should cities treat Airbnb rentals like any other hotel room? What kind of insurance should Uber drivers carry to protect passengers? These are just some of the questions that the Federal Trade Commission will (probably) be discussing in an upcoming workshop exploring the so-called “sharing economy.” And it wants to hear from you. Despite fears…