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The Powerful Equations That Explain the Patterns We See in Nature

Where do a zebra’s stripes, a leopard’s spots and our fingers come from? The key was found years ago – by the man who cracked the Enigma code. In 1952 a mathematician published a set of equations that tried to explain the patterns we see in nature, from the dappled stripes adorning the back of…

The Most Badass Sailor Moon Redesigns The Internet Has To Offer

Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts have gone through their share of costume changes, but these tough, gorgeous, and just plain adorable fan redesigns go bit farther than we see in the comics, TV shows, and movies, giving us bikers, warriors, space adventurers, and punks all rooted in Usagi and her friends. The top image…

First Light for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory

The new Orbital Carbon Observatory successfully launched, made it into orbit, slid into place at the head of the A-train, and now returned its first data. Soon, we’ll be able to track how carbon sources and sinks vary with time all over the planet. The initial data is very thin: it’s first light for the…

How Air Conditioning Struggled to Make Its Way Into Your Home

When air conditioning first appeared—a technology initially developed for use in textile factories—it was feared by many as unhealthy. So how did it make it into virtually every home in the country? In fact, resistance to the technology came from the Open Air Movement—a major trend in thinking in the early 20th century. Supporters believed…

Nothing On Earth Can Hold Adrien Brody In The Houdini Trailer

Adrien Brody transforms into the early 20th century escape artist Harry Houdini for the History Channel miniseries Houdini. Known for his ability to escape chains, locks, and upside-down boxes filled with water, Houdini was legend — let’s just hope this miniseries lives up to the artist’s reputation.

Iran’s parliament has banned vasectomies, saying that more babies will “strengthen national identity” and counter “undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles.” Reformists see the law as part of a drive by conservatives to keep Iran’s highly educated female population in traditional roles as wives and mothers.

Ever wondered what air-to-air refuelling looked like up in the night skies? Thanks to the UK’s Royal Air Force we can show you: this is what a Lockheed C-130 Hercules crew sees when refueling at night. So, quite a lot like Tron, then. [Cpl Neil Bryden/Royal Air Force/Facebook) Bonus daytime shot: A Hercules C130K and…

Watch these guys remove the antenna atop the John Hancock Center

These guys are working on the top cap west antenna of the John Hancock Center—a 1,127-foot-high (344 meters) building located in Chicago. I know they are wearing the mandatory security equipment and it’s very unlikely that they could fall, but watching them do their job makes my stomach clench. In case you are wondering what…

Being the Boss Means Getting The (Second To) Last Cookie

Finally, there is an experiment that can fill me with ambition. A group of workers was given an insufficient cookie supply. (I know. Disgusting. It’s like a crummier version of the Stanford Prison Experiment.) And guess who got more than their share. In an experiment about power dynamics, researchers split students into groups of three…

Stinky Landfills Might Soon Generate Clean Energy

Hydrogen can be devastating, but in the right hands, it can also be awesome. When burned, for instance, it emits only water vapor instead of nasty carbon dioxide that’s responsible for much of the climate change we see today. Now, researchers have discovered a way to convert methane — the same gas that makes landfills…

What Is the Most Science Fictional Place You’ve Ever Visited?

Sometimes going on a trip or vacation makes you feel like you’ve stepped through a wormhole and into another world. Tell us about the most science fictional or fantastical trip you’ve ever taken — whether it was to another continent, or just down the street. Photo by Frank Kovalchek. Don’t just give us a one-word…

Some Simple Software Could Help Charge Your Phone in Minutes Not Hours

Modern phones aren’t renowned for their battery life—and to make things worse, they can take hours to charge, too. Now, though, a simple piece of software could help charge them in minutes, without any need for hardware tweaks. Technology Review reportsthat a startup called Qnovo is developing software that constantly monitors and adjusts the flow…

Which Marvel Project Is Vin Diesel Teasing Now?

Dave Filoni explains away any contradictions created by Star Wars Rebels. A new Batman v. Superman actor says that some of the rumors are actually true. A Game of Thrones actor confirms his return for season five. And early reviews of the Doctor Who premiere and Outlander episode 2. Spoilers now! Top image: Star Wars…

No, this isn’t an alien forest, but a collection of organisms called rangemorphs. One of the first complex organisms ever to exist on Earth, around 575 40 million years ago, a new study reveals that their strange structure evolved to maximize the quantity of nutrients they could absorb from their aqueous surroundings. [PNASvia New Scientist]

Why Fire Hydrants Don’t Freeze and Burst During Winter

The fire hydrant that we know today traces its origins back to fire plugs. Water mains that transported fresh water in a city or town used to be made of hollowed out logs buried beneath the streets. Whenever there was a fire and firefighters needed water, they dug up the cobblestone street and drilled a…

This Is What It’s Like to Drive a Car From a Drone’s Point of View

Imagine driving a car from a third-person point of view, as seen by a drone hovering in the sky. It sounds fun but dangerous, like a computer game made real—which is why Tom Scott decided to try it out in real life. Equipped with a filming drone, some video goggles, a Mazda MX-5 Miata and…

Star Trek Writer’s Defense of Diversity in Sci-Fi Is Damn Near Perfect

When a reader wrote in to say that a recent plotline in David Mack’s Star Trek books — one where a Vulcan had an affair with a Klingon spy, and they both happened to be women — meant that they wouldn’t be reading his books anymore, they didn’t expect a response. But they got one.…

Report: Apple in Talks With Major Hospitals to Work With HealthKit

Apple’s new HealthKit API is designed to help keep all the important information about your body in one place. Now though, according to Reuters, the company is in discussion with major healthcare providers ahead of its launch to make it a tool used by physicians, too. According to the news agency, Apple is in talks…

Google Funds An Undersea Cable to Connect the US to Asia at 60 Tbps

The US and Asia will soon be connected by a trans-Pacific cable network that will carry data at — hold your breath — 60 terabits per second. The high-speed network, named FASTER (you know, than just about everything else on the planet), will connect Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Oregon and Seattle to Chikura and…

“Blank Is My Middle Name” Is Over 100 Years Old

This trope has moved from being a badass boast to being a joke fairly recently, considering that it peaked in the 80s and can be traced to 1902. Esoteric is our other middle name. Watching this supercut made me wonder who popularized this trope. Thankfully,Stephen Chrisomalis at Glossographia had already done the legwork for me.…