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Williamsburg Brooklyn Is Getting a Luxury Microtel Because Hipsters

Williamsburg is filled with hip restaurants, hip boutiques, hip bars, and hipsters. But if you don’t live there, there aren’t really any hotel options in the increasingly popular and overpriced Brooklyn neighborhood. Tourists don’t want stay in Manhattan and cross the East River for their artisanal cheese needs. Williamsburg has a hotel problem, and YOTEL…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

A Family in Spain Displayed Three Generations of the “Habsburg Jaw”

The Habsburgs were a dynasty that brought suffering, and eventual ruin, on themselves through inbreeding. Their most famous feature was the “Habsburg Jaw.” In the 1980s, a family in Spain with similar facial features gave scientists a better look at a very old genetics puzzle. In the 1660s, the Habsburg family was immensely powerful. They…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

“Ye Olde” Is Fake Old English (And You’re Mispronouncing It Anyway)

You’ve probably seen phrases like “Ye Olde Tavern” or “Ye Olde Shoppe” scrawled across English-language signs, trying to evoke a sense of the medieval. But the practice of naming shops this way didn’t start until the late 19th century and it was done to make things sound, well, old. Photo by George Rex, CC-by-SA. “Olde”…

io9 Lauren Davis

Why Penn Station Sucks

New Yorkers are known to disagree about a lot of things. Who’s got the best pizza? What’s the fastest subway route? Yankees or Mets? But all 8.5 million New Yorkers are likely to agree on one thing: Penn Station sucks. There is nothing joyful about Penn Station. It is windowless, airless, and crowded. 650,000 people…

Tech News Roman Mars - 99% Invisible

The Suicide Squad Movie Has Lost Its First Member

The Suicide Squad is known for losing members all the time, but they usually diie during missions. This time, however, it appears Tom Hardy’s Rick Flagg has taken off before their debut movie even began. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Tom Hardy has dropped out of the film, which is less surprising to me…

io9 Rob Bricken

Scientists Discover Two New Species of Lizard on the Black Market

A team of scientists has spent the last five years attempting to catalog the kinds of animals for sale on the black market in the Philippines. To their surprise, they couldn’t catalog two animals, because no researcher had ever seen them before. University of Kansas’ Biodiversity Institute has spent quite some time analyzing the genetics…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

How to Stop Data Thieves From Stealing Information Off Your Old Gadgets

Considering our collective thirst to upgrade to the latest shiny gadget, it’s not surprising that consumer electronics generate a nasty amount of waste—some 3.4 million tons of e-waste year. We are device-gobbling monsters who grow strong on the gleaming newness of our machines. But tossing out “old” devices creates an overlooked hazard. You might think…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

The Biggest Oscar Snubs Of 2015

The Academy Awards nominations for 2015 have dropped and we are kind of reeling from the snubs. No LEGO Movie, no Snowpiercer and no Birdman score. Here’s our list of the snubbed. Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive, Grand Budapest Hotel Actress Tilda Swinton had a banner year. A BANNER FREAKIN’ YEAR. How…

io9 Meredith Woerner

What’s The Point Of A Shared Universe If Not Every Fan Can Access It?

So, Agent Carter. Pretty good! At least, I hear that. Like most of the UK and Europe, I’ve not seen it – and it’s unsure when or if we will. It sucks just as much as it usually does when we’re left waiting for a show, but in this case, it paints a worrying precedent…

Television James Whitbrook

Skydio Turns Your Phone Into a Crash-Proof Magic Wand for Flying Drones

Fully autonomous flight is the future of consumer drones. But today’s “autonomous” drone technology isn’t foolproof. Now, a startup called Skydio wants to change that with a new kind of auto-pilot that uses a drone’s camera. It looks insanely great. Skydio’s autonomous flight technology is so good, it seems, that it can turn your smartphone…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

Amazon’s New Series ‘The Man In The High Castle’ Is Amazing

What if the Allies had lost World War II, the Nazis had been first to develop the atomic bomb, and the Germans and Japanese had carved up control of United States? That’s the premise of the new streaming series from Amazon, The Man in the High Castle — an adaptation of the 1962 book by…

Commerce Matt Novak

The Time Wes Siler Almost Killed Me

Some bad decisions were made while backpacking The Lost Coast and a buddy ended up alone, in a storm, after dark, fording whitewater and climbing cliffs with no gear. I should have known better, but at least we got a good story out of it. — Ed. https://gizmodo.com/adventure-californias-lost-coast-1679173376 The day started cool and misty, then…

Tech News Matthew Talbott

Here’s What Would Happen If You Asked Ayn Rand To Loan You Money

In 1949, a 17-year-old girl named Connie Papurt wanted to buy a dress but needed $25. So she did what a lot of young women in her situation would do: asked a relative if she could borrow the money. The relative? Her aunt, author and economic philosopher Ayn Rand. Papurt is the daughter of Agnes…

io9 Lauren Davis

California Would Need A Ridiculous Amount Of Rain To End Its Drought

California has been having a bit of a rainy season lately, so much so that some people are asking if we’re finally coming to the end of its three-year long drought. The answer is almost certainly not. Here’s the numbers on how much water California would need to see the drought’s end — and, fair…

io9 Ria Misra

First Trailer For Syfy’s Expanse Has Zero-G Sex, And Hints Of Space War

Here it is: Your first look at The Expanse, Syfy’s huge adaptation of the book series by James S.A. Corey. Including a lot of insanely beautiful visuals, but also a ton of intense drama as the “Belters” at the edge of the solar system chafe under the control of Earth and Mars. What do you…

Trailers Charlie Jane Anders

Elon Musk Says He’s Building a Hyperloop Test Track

Elon Musk tweeted that he’ll be building a 5-mile Hyperloop test track probably in Texas. Say whaaaaat?! Looks like the designers and engineers he entrusted his 57-page white sheet to are taking too damn long. The Texas possibility is also pretty certain since Musk made the announcement while visiting The Lone Star state. The Hyperloop…

Tech News Darren Orf

HP Omen Review: This Gaming Laptop Does So Much Right

Laptops are about compromise. You can’t fit everything inside. Thin machines always mean less processing power, or maybe less battery life. If you ask me, the HP Omen makes the wrong compromises. But gosh, does this gorgeous gaming laptop do so many things right. What Is It? The HP Omen is one of a growing…

Reviews Sean Hollister

Recycling Rare Earth Metals With, Yes, Fish Sperm

If you’re not up on your fish-cum-metal news, then you might be forgiven for finding the idea of using fish sperm to recycle rare earth elements entirely bizarre. But no, fish sperm has a real albeit weird little niche in materials science. Let us be your guide through it. Fish sperm, you see, is really…

Tech News Sarah Zhang

What The 12 Monkeys Showrunner Learned From Writing For Terminator: SCC

Creating a TV show based on 12 Monkeys is a daunting prospect. There’s the closed-ended movie storyline, plus all that twisty time-travel. Luckily, the showrunner of 12 Monkeys, Natalie Chaidez, was a writer for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She tells io9 what lessons from Terminator she brought to Monkeys. We’ve seen the first few…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Using Social Media Is Less Stressful Than You Think, Say Scientists

Anyone who has spent time on Facebook or Instagram has experienced … let’s call them negative emotions. But new research suggests that using social media is actually less stress-inducing than you might think. In a study called “Social Media and the Cost of Caring,” scientists at the Pew Research Center used the Perceived Stress Scale…

io9 Cheryl Eddy

Williamsburg Brooklyn Is Getting a Luxury Microtel Because Hipsters

A Family in Spain Displayed Three Generations of the “Habsburg Jaw”