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A Step By Step Guide To Converting Your Friends To Fandom

We always want to share the things we love with our friends, coworkers and family members — that’s human nature. And it’s a generous impulse, the desire to share. But how can you introduce your most beloved TV shows, movies, comics and books to people without turning them off? Here’s a step-by-step guide. Choose your…

Are Tornadoes Starting To Move In Swarms?

A new study looking at the last 59 years of tornadoes in the United States reveals something surprising: We have fewer tornadoes today than we used to. But those tornadoes are hitting in a terrifying new way. Harold Brooks, atmospheric scientist at NOAA (who you may also remember from his io9 Q&A on tornado season)…

Pacific Rim 2 Will Lead Right Into Pacific Rim 3

Guillermo del Toro dropped some monster-sized bombs about Pacific Rim 2 and Pacific Rim 3—specifically alluding to the fact that Pac Rim 2 and Pac Rim 3 would be connected by some of our favorite characters. In an interview with Collider, Del Toro revealed that the team is currently hard at work on the script…

Abandoned Buildings In Tampico, Mexico Are Filled With Trees

Tampico is a beautiful tropical city located on the Gulf of Mexico, traversed by canals, dotted with palm trees, graced with kilometers of undeveloped beach. It was the first major port in Mexico and was the centre of gas and oil production for decades, both of which brought in great wealth to the city and…

Here’s Your Hilariously Dubious Batman V. Superman Spoiler Of The Day

Usually, local TV stations aren’t a reputable source for major superhero movie scoops. But it seems one Michigan TV news station may have managed to confirm a major character in Batman V. Superman! Or not. Who the hell knows? Let’s start with the spoiler itself: Michigan’s WILX reporter Kirk Montgomery is happy to confirm Batman…

Philadelphia’s Newest Park Is Built on Top of a Sewage Overflow Tank

Venice Island, which officially opened this month in Philadelphia, has all the amenities you might expect from a nice city park—gardens, basketball court, amphitheater—but also something unexpected: a 4 million gallon sewage overflow tank. And you know what? A park built on top of the sewer is a very good thing. Like many old cities,…

Young Ones Is A Bleak, Lovely Movie About A Terribly Plausible Future

We’re used to seeing dark, depressing visions of the world after the collapse of civilization. But few recent post-apocalyptic visions have been as disturbing, and as beautifully filmed, as the new movie Young Ones, in select theaters and on demand today. Very minor spoilers ahead… Young Ones, from writer/director Jake Paltrow, is basically a post-apocalyptic…

Meet The Man Who’s Building Robots For Political Resistance

Right now, we’re developing a lot of devices whose sole purpose is to spy or control us. To counter this, an MIT visionary decided to take matters into his own hands by inventing equal and opposite robots to empower people who are being menaced or disempowered by military robotics. Top image: Automata (2014) The remarkable…

Follow This Modern American Nomad on His Long Journey Off the Grid

For his latest project, Seattle-based photographer Adrain Chesser spent the better part of six years roving the Western United States with a loosely banded tribe of modern American nomads. Here is some of what he saw. All photos featured by kind permission of Adrain Chesser Working in collaboration with Native American ritualist Timothy White Eagle,…

Go From Google Drive To MS Office By Converting Your Files with Takeout

Google includes a Takeout tool that lets you export every last drop of data associated with your Google Account—emails, contacts, Hangouts, YouTube videos, photos, blogs and more. It’s primarily intended to let you archive your files or switch to another service but as far as Google Drive is concerned it’s a useful conversion tool as…

What’s the Best Worst Amazon Review You’ve Ever Seen?

Amazon is at once one of the best and worst things that could’ve happened to the human race—it’s also one of the most universally popular. And what happens when you combine the unwashed, oblivious masses with an open customer review platform? Magic is what happens. You get magic. And we’re not talking about the intentionally…

7 Things DC should do with its new Cinematic Universe

Warner Bros dropped a huge bit of news this week, confirming releases and casting for a slew of DC Comics movies between now and 2020. It’s cool to see DC’s movie plans finally coming together – but here’s 7 things WB and the Comics giant should do with it’s fledgling Cinematic Universe. https://gizmodo.com/wb-announces-a-ton-of-new-dc-movies-including-whos-pla-1646664939 7. Take…

Tumblr’s OS X App Is a Full-Screen Tumblr Because Nothing Else Matters

Tumblr just launched a weirdly bare-bones app for Apple’s new OS X Yosemite. If you have a Mac and you download it, you’ll be able to post to Tumblr from elsewhere on the web using a “Share” button. The other thing it does: You can also use it to turn your computer into a Tumblr-only…

Scarecrow Surprise Is An Utterly Diabolical Halloween Prank

What appears to be a lovable, family friendly scarecrow costume is actually a total nightmare. And the gag works on both adults and small children, wonderful! This was dreamed up and put into action by Ed Bassmaster, and you gotta watch the whole video for the overall hilarity. Just promise us if you try out…

How the Cast of Fury Trained for the Most Realistic WWII Film Yet

Fury, the WWII film starring Brad Pitt, opens in theaters today. The story follows a five-man tank crew as they make the last push into Nazi Germany in April 1945. And to get things right, the filmmakers brought in a military advisor with 22 years of experience. David “Sting” Rae is as seasoned as they…

GOP Presidents Are More Likely To Get Rid Of Nukes Than Democrats

President Obama took office pledging to reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons. But, so far, he has cut the least warheads from the nuclear stockpile of any administration, ever. A new analysis says that tracks with an historical trend— Republicans have been the biggest nuclear disarmers in the post-Cold War era. “It’s a…

Ready for Google’s new monster tablet, the Nexus 9? You can now pre-order one from Google, HTC, Amazon, or Best Buy.

The legs on this puppy-sized spider are a foot long

Have you had any nightmares, lately? Would you like some? Then you’ll love the South American Goliath birdeater. This furry spider is the size of a puppy, and thanks to hard claws on the tips of its foot-long legs, it makes a horrifying clicking sound when it scampers through the forest. Harvard etymologist Piotr Naskrecki…

How A Single Parasite Species Can Change Every Life-Form Around It

Parasites are nature’s freeloaders, living off their hosts while giving nothing in return. But scientists have come to appreciate that even the greediest parasites can indirectly benefit other species by manipulating ecosystems—providing food, assisting predators and even building habitats. Indeed, some parasites are now counted among the ranks of “ecosystem engineers”— organisms that create, modify,…

io9 Newsstand: Best Stories of the Week for October 13 – 18

The creepy stories continue to pile up, making for a very interesting October. And the more dark fantasy and horror we read, the more we appreciate that subgenre. Please share your own suggestions of great creepy and terrifying stories in the comments! Image: detail of Daughter of Necessity by Ashley Mackenzie Santos de Sampaguitas by…