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Just Toss This Digitized Notebook In the Microwave to Erase Every Page

When a paper notebook also doubles as the archive for all of your hand-written notes, it makes sense to buy a new one once it’s full. But when that paper notebook can be easily digitized and backed up to the cloud using a smartphone, there’s no reason not to reuse it. So the Rocketbook notebook…

Burn Through Your Podcasts Faster Than Ever With the New Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts has long been one of our favorite cross-platform podcasting tools, and there’s a new Android version out today with a Material Design overhaul and even more ways to cut down the amount of time it takes to burn through your podcast queue. You can also get statistics on the amount of listening time…

A Space Program Is Like Interstellar, But Made Of Cardboard And Fun

A Space Program feels like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, if Interstellar was made entirely out of junkyard TVs, whiskey, cardboard and fun. This movie feels like a “sweded” space epic, but it’s wonderfully intricate. Watch! Premiering at this year’s SXSW, A Space Program is directed by Van Neistat who used a calamitous collection of household items,…

This Bullet-Proof Briefcase Unfolds Into a Personal Shield

A laptop bag can protect all of your electronics as you bump into other passengers on a crowded subway, or simply get caught in the rain. But the MTS Multi-Threat Shield briefcase goes much way further than that—it can also protect you from gunshots, knives, and even physical attacks when unfurled into a three-foot long…

Leaked LG G4 Photos, and Everything Else You Missed Yesterday

An LG G4 leak, Apple’s disruptive music streaming services, and PS4’s trip to China. This is all the oh-so-great news and rumors you might have missed, and it’s all on BitStream. We’ve just seen the best that HTC and Samsung have to offer, now it’s LG’s turn. This leaked photo from @onleaks gives us a…

The 14 Most Loathsome Figures Of The Second World War

World War II is remembered for its cruelty and ferocious violence, a global conflict that claimed the lives of nearly 60 million people. It was a war that featured no shortage of heinous individuals — these 14 being among the very worst. Top image: Hitler and Himmler inspecting the troops in 1938. (Image: Getty) When…

Scientists Have Worked Out How Chameleons Change Color

The changing color of a chameleon’s body is an impressive sight—but how it happens has long been a significant scientific question without a compelling answer. Now, researchers have identified a thin layer of deformable nanocyrstals in their skin which gives rise to the phenomenon. A team of scientists from the University of Geneva has observed…

Watch The Full First Powers Episode Right Now

You’ve read the review of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s live-action adaptation ofPowers. Now watch the first episode and decide for yourself, because it’s online and it’s free. The Powers premiere wasn’t perfect, but it certainly was promising. And thank goodness now you don’t have to pay to decide if you want to…

Agents Of SHIELD Doesn’t Keep Us Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop

After the relatively fast pace of Agent Carter, I was sort of prepared for Agents of SHIELD to be a bit more leisurely, stringing us along in between big reveals and character turns. Which made last night’s “Who You Really Are” a pleasant surprise, given how much stuff transpired. Spoilers ahead… The main storyline in…

This Tiny Multi-Function Cube Can Save a Dying Smartphone

There is no shortage of tiny USB charging and sync cables available for your smartphone, but the makers of the aptly-named WonderCube have managed to squeeze a surprising amount of functionality into a tiny one-inch cube you’ll never want to leave home without. The WonderCube is smaller than most keychains, but does far more than…

Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk Return To Fandom In New Series Con Man

Firefly stars Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have rejoined forces on Con Man, a new Indigogo-funded project about a struggling actor living in the science fiction convention world. io9 sat down both actors to discuss the show, their careers, and the Mexican restaurant that first brought them together. io9: Nathan, can you tell us a…

Huge Meta-Study Finds Homeopathy Ineffective in Health Treatment

An analysis of over 225 medical studies and 1,800 scientific papers has found that homeopathy is ineffective as a health treatment. Its authors urge that “people who choose homeopathy may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments.” The study, carried out by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council—along with an…

The Quest To Find Another Saturn Just Got One Step Closer

If our solar system is any indication, planets with rings around them are quite common, but finding extrasolar ringed planets has proven difficult. Now astronomers have developed a surprisingly simple method for detecting these distant “exorings.” It’ll only be a matter of time before we find the next Saturn. Despite the hundreds of exoplanetary discoveries,…

What Secrets From Your Industry Would Most Surprise Outsiders?

So much of what is common knowledge to people who work in a field is shrouded in mystery for everyone else. Today, we get behind that veil to learn something new. Maybe you want to breakdown the timeline of just how long it takes you to get a book published, from the first draft to…

Iconic Images of Space Taken From The Ground

Photographer Edgar Martins’ book, The Rehearsal of Space and the Poetic Impossibility to Manage the Infinite, is a must-have for space enthusiasts. But for those without the hard copy, the European Space Agency has released a series of amazing images from it, some of them has not published online previously. Take a look at them…

Newspaper flashback: Here’s a look at Guardian profile of Christopher Lee that was published 43 years ago today. Back then, Lee’s career was only just starting. Who knew it would still be going strong now? And that he’d be a metal Christmas carol singing badass? [Read a digital except here]

How to Predict a Technology’s Success From What Engineers Say About It

Engineers, programmers and technologists are an incredibly clever and talented bunch—but that doesn’t mean they can predict the market. Here’s how you an judge a product’s success based on what they say. Put together by ex-NASA engineer Randall Munroe, this cartoon is a wry look at the way technical people view technology. As he writes…

Was This Mysterious “Yellow Rain” a Chemical Weapon or Bee Poop?

In 1981, the United States didn’t have the best political reputation vis-à-vis Vietnam. So when the US Secretary of State made allegations that the USSR had sprayed both Vietnam and Laos with chemical weapons, the world went crazy. Then the world got confused. In 1981 the Vietnam War was over, for the United States, but…

A Star Trek Star May Be Our New Green Lantern

Simon West offers an update on the Blob remake. Chloe Bennet discusses the prejudices Inhumans will face on Agents of SHIELD. Plus Brian Michael Bendis talks about the look of Powers, and teasers for what’s to come on Person of Interest, The 100, and The Vampire Diaries. Here be Spoilers! Top image: Powers. Green Lantern…

Why Your Calendar Starts With Sunday

As with so many things passed down to us from antiquity, religion is the reason the calendar week starts (for many of us) on Sunday. The first day of the week (for most), Sunday has been set aside as the “day of the sun” since ancient Egyptian times in honor of the sun-god, beginning with…