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“Netflix For Torrents” Just Snuck Its Way Onto iOS At Long Last

PopcornTime aka basically “Netflix for Torrents” is a wonderful piece of software, but until now it’s been impossible to use it on an iPhone or iPad without jailbreaking the gadgets. Now, the crafty devs have figured out a way to load unauthorized software on a regular iOS device. The original, open source PopcornTime project has…

The Monument Was Striking, But It Required A Ton Of Power To Maintain

In the waning days of Luminara’s religious and political power, fewer and fewer pilgrims traveled to the Broken Obelisk. But the council was trillions of dollars in debt before it even considered shutting off the monument’s levitation beam. Concept art by Jorge Jacinto. “The Desolate” is featured with permission. See more of Jacinto’s work on…

The New Terminator Genisys Figure Is Basically Old Arnold Schwarzenegger

I mean yeah, he has a shotgun, but the first revealed Terminator Genisys figure from NECA could just as easily double as an “Old Man Arnie” figure, regardless of the fact he’s meant to be a Killer Robot. In fact, now I just kind of want an Arnold Schwarzenegger toy line. Think of all the…

What If You Woke Up 60 Years In The Future And Robots Ran The Planet?

Kickstarted feature film Aurora takes place in the future after an robotic alien invasion that has left our Earth pretty much totaled. The first-ever trailer for this low-budget feature is out, and it’s pretty impressive. Check it out. Robert Kouba is the writer/director/producer and according to his Kickstarter page, this is the basic (somewhat spoilery)…

A New Way of Using Sound Waves to Find Rare Cancer Cells 

The cancer cells that circulate in many patients’ bloodstreams are incredibly rare but potentially dangerous. They break off from existing tumors, traveling to new locations where they can grow into new tumors. Scientists have come up with a better way of looking for these cells—using invisible sound waves. Existing ways to sort cancer cells out…

Haunting Photos Of The Inner Workings Of Space Tools

Usually, the focus of space photography is on letting us see close-up views of far away things we could never see otherwise. But what happens when the focus of the camera is turned onto the tools of the trade themselves? That’s the premise of Chris O’Leary’s Cloud Chambers project, which he shared with us in…

Rand Paul’s “NSA Spy Cam Blocker” Might As Well Be Masking Tape

Trained ophthalmologist Rand Paul wins the chucklegoof-of-the-day award today. Not because he’s running for president, though! But rather because the United States senator is selling an “NSA Spy Cam Blocker” in his little fundraising store for $15. But of course a little bit of buzz-hungry fundraising will not actually stop the government from spying on…

NASA Invests In Ultra-Lightweight Tech For Missions To Mars And Beyond

For future deep-space missions, NASA wants to reduce the mass of its spacecraft by 40 percent. To do it, they’ll need ultra-lightweight (ULW) materials. Today, the Agency announced its selection of three proposals that will develop and manufacture these materials “for future aerospace vehicles and structures.” Image Credit: NASA “Lightweight and multifunctional materials and structures…

Lightest Full-Face Helmet Ever Brings Motorcycle Safety To Bicycles

With mountain bike racers now reaching motorcycle speeds, the full-face protection of a DOT-certified, full-face helmet is needed. But, street-legal motorcycle helmets have always been too big and too heavy. Enter this new Kali Protectives Shiva, the smallest and lightest helmet of its kind ever made. Kali says the $500 Shiva weighs 1050 grams in…

They’re Making Radio Plays Out Of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Novels!

This is excellent. They’re doing audio versions of three of the Earthsea books, along with The Left Hand of Darkness. Plus a new radio documentary, Ursula Le Guin at 85. More details from Den of Geek: The programming gets underway with a documentary about Le Guin’s influence on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, presented by…

Video: Inside the studio of amazing papercraft illustrators

Lobulo Design is a team that specializes in making awesome designs and illustrations with paper. This video gives you a glimpse of what they do on a daily basis and it basically looks like an awesome arts and craft class for professional artists. Imagine never having to grow up and just playing with scissors all…

Helvetica’s Long-Lost Rival Has Been Resurrected After 35 Years

They found them in a file cabinet. The original masters for a legendary typeface called Haas Unica, designed in the late 1970s and killed shortly thereafter by what amounts to bad luck—and the digital age. The person who found them was Dan Rhatigan, the Director of Type at the foundry Monotype. He was actually looking…

Muppets Explain Why Standing Near Avengers’ Quicksilver Would Be Deadly

What would happen if Pietro Maximoff, better known as the mutant Quicksilver, ran right past you? With a little help from the Muppets, the folks at Vsauce explain the consequences of a close encounter with Quicksilver at top speed — and it wouldn’t be pretty. Okay, yes, this is an obvious bit of corporate synergy…

NASA Chief Scientist Predicts We’ll Find Signs Of Alien Life By 2025

Here’s the full quote, as delivered by NASA Chief scientist Ellen Stofan at Tuesday’s panel discussion on the Agency’s search for habitable worlds and alien life: “I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years.”…

The First Suitcase With Wheels That Retract So They Don’t Get Destroyed

What good is a set of wheels on the bottom of your suitcase if somewhere between checking your bag and retrieving it from a luggage carousel one or two of them have been broken off? Your bags are actually harder to transport after that happens. But since standing spinner suitcases are just so convenient, Heys…

Here’s What It Really Looks Like When Classic Comics Get Recolored

Earlier today, Marvel unveiled its “remastered” edition of the 1977 comic adaptation of Star Wars. Many were unhappy to see the art of Howard Chaykin redone with a modern comic’s color palette, including writer John Gholson, who took to Twitter to show how much a comic loses when it’s recolored. The thrust of Gholson’s main…

A Soldier Killed At Waterloo Has Been Identified 200 Years Later

An amateur military historian is claiming that the identity of a 200-year-old skeleton found near the site of the Battle of Waterloo was Friedrich Brandt, a soldier with a curved upper spine who was fighting for the King’s German Legion of George III. Image: Reuters/Dominique Bosquet/SPW-DG04 As Reuters reported back in 2012, the remains —…

#IAmaScientistBecause is currently trending on Twitter, and submissions thus far have been pretty wonderful. Check out the latest Tweets here, or peruse this collection of outstanding explanations, as curated on Storify by Michael Halpern. Contact the author at [email protected].

What Science Fiction Story Helped You Through A Difficult Time?

Science fiction doesn’t just give us powerful ideas about our future; it can also help us through our present. When did a science fiction story — a book, a movie, a comic, anything — give you something to cling to during a troubling period in your life? I’ve mentioned this before, but after my brother…

Everything about this 8-inch Lego Stormtrooper figure is perfect

Lego can be used to build almost anything, although few people think to turn those bricks into action figures. But that’s probably soon going to change now that umamen has crafted this incredibly-detailed and articulated eight-inch Stormtrooper figure that even includes a swappable head revealing a brick version of Han Solo underneath that helmet. Perfect.…