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The Craziest Scientific Theory About What Causes Flu Pandemics

For centuries, influenza presented a deadly puzzle—it was a disease without any apparent cause that could kill millions almost instantly. Desperate for an explanation, some scientists concluded that flu viruses came from outer space. They even had evidence. Although influenza has afflicted humans for thousands of years, medical historians believe the first true pandemic occurred…

Harrison Ford’s Injury May Have Completely Screwed Up Episode VII

Uh-oh. Please take out your official Star Wars: Episode VII Salt Lick, but now that it’s been officially revealed that Harrison Ford’s leg is broken, the rumor is he’ll be sidelined for six full months — which means the movie’s either getting delayed or massively rewritten. The potential news comes from the UK-based site Jedi…

A Fighter Jet’s Flares Fire Off in a Shower of Sparks

Documentary filmmaker Artur Sarkisyan captured this incredible shot of a formation of MiG-29 Fulcrums discharging flares as they streak over the 3624th Air Base Erebuni, Armenia. According to reports from The Aviationist, these jets are just a few of the aerial reinforcements Russia’s parking at the airbase—one that’s located less than 13 miles from a…

A Map Showing Lightning Strikes Around The World In Real Time

A small German group called Blitzortung has developed a crowd-sourced map that shows real-time lightning strikes around the world. The maps are driven by a network of volunteers who have set up a $275 detection kit consisting of an antenna system, amplifier, and controller. Each station can detect radio signals from a lightning strike and…

A Power-Packed Charger That Gives Your Phone Two Extra Lives For Just $15

Anker’s made a name for itself with high-capacity portable chargers that are still compact and easy to travel with. But the company is now launching a new smartphone accessories brand called Zolo that it hopes will also become synonymous with ‘affordable’ through the use of a crowdfunding campaign to cut out middle man markup. The…

Here’s What Yesterday’s Successful Missile Defense Test Really Means

On Sunday, a ground-based interceptor fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base destroyed a mock enemy warhead launched from the Marshall Islands. The Pentagon hailed it as a major success for the troubled national missile defense system, which has cost $40 billion since 2004. But, in truth, it changes little. As I previously wrote, the U.S.…

GE Designed a Compact Kitchen Just For Super-Tiny Apartments

Apartment sizers are getting smaller and smaller across the board. And lest the world’s city-dwellers go without appliances, GE is working on a solution: Meet the Micro Kitchen, an innocuous-looking drawer that contains every appliance you could need. According to the most recent census, 81 percent of Americans now live in cities. That means that…

31 Essential Science Fiction Terms And Where They Came From

There are so many words and phrases that we use in science fiction—and even science—without giving it much thought. But where did we get terms like “death ray,” “terraforming,” “hive mind,” “telepathy,” and “parallel universe”? Top image from Philip Barshofsky’s One Prehistoric Night as published in Wonder Stories, an early science fiction example of using…

American Workers Are Getting Screwed

Over the past 50 years, Americans have increased their productivity and are working longer hours than their European counterparts. Yet we’re seeing few of the gains you’d expect of a modern society. American wages are stagnant, and things like paid vacation time or even paid maternity leave are luxuries afforded to few people. Technology was…

The Best Way Shop For a Camera Online: Look for Its Crappiest Pictures

It’s easy to fall into a vortex of never-ending camera research when you’re looking to buy. Even if you’ve consulted the most comprehensive reviews, there can still be an itch to seek further evidence of what’s best. Allan Murabayashi over at PexaPixel wishes for better quality photos in reviews. I would argue that the contrary…

Deals: Tablets Galore, Cheap Monoprice Gadgets, $15 Amazon Gift Card

In my opinion, a ~5,000 mAh external charger is the perfect balance between size and capacity, as long as you can charge it every night. RAVPower makes some of the best chargers around, and their 5600mAh variety is only $15 today. [RAVPower 5600mAh External Battery Charger, $15 after promo code C4VIOZCK] Today on eBay, take…

A Mesmerizing Site That Tracks and Displays Real-Time Lightning Strikes

Did you know that a lightning strike emits a broadband pulse of radio waves that can be detected thousands of miles away? It’s that phenomenon which allows a website called Blitzortung to show lightning strikes as they happen all around the world, in real-time. If you thought it was hard to tear your eyes away…

Sprint is launching its own take on the Galaxy S5: The S5 Sport, which will come with a fitness-tracking platform called Sprint Fit Live, powered by the Under Armour-owned MapMyFitness. Buyers will get 12 free months of the Fit service, as well as $50 off Samsung Gear Fit.

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meeting 7/7 to Discuss The Memory Garden

This month, the io9 Book Club is reading The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert. We’ll meet on July 7 to discuss it. Join us! We’re hoping Rickert will join us later that week to talk about the book. What is this io9 Book Club all about? We meet once a month to discuss a book…

Things Could Be Far Worse Than Ben Affleck As Batman

When Ben Affleck was given the role of Batman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman, the Internet didn’t seem thrilled (though he handled the controversy well). Still, what few seemed to realize is that there could be worse actors to play Batman. FOX’s Animation Domination High-Def shows us what a future full of other actors…

Here’s A Survey To Determine How Much People Lie In Surveys

What percentage of your income do you give to charity? If you saw an injured bunny rabbit, would you try to help it? These are questions with a “right” answer. And there’s another survey to determine whether the person answering is likely to give that “right” answer, no matter what they’d actually do. People lie…

Okay Fine, the 3Doodler Can Do At Least One Cool Thing

After trying it out at CES earlier this year, we weren’t completely blown away with what the 3Doodler—a sort of handheld 3D printer—was capable of. Producing anything remotely recognizable requires an enormous amount of time and patience, which Matt Butchard must have in spades since he used the pen to create a 3D-printed model plane…

This Week’s TV: A Girl Gets Mind Control Powers. What Could Go Wrong?

Change is coming to The Legend of Korra when Book 3 premieres this week. A new TV movie gives a teenage girl a boy-controlling smartphone app. Teen Wolf heads to Mexico in its fourth season premiere, and Fionna and Cake return to Adventure Time! See the latest details and clips from this week’s TV! Tonight…

9 of the Most Expensive Things You Can Find on Amazon

It’s pretty easy to blow all your money buying stuff on Amazon (and Amazon’s new Fire Phone will make it even easier ). But if you want to clear out your savings account right now in one fell swoop, here are some of the biggest-ticket items we could find in the Everything Store. A little…

The easy scientific method to make foolproof eggs Benedict

The chef of the Waldorf Hotel created the Eggs Benedict in 1894 when a customer asked for buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a hooker of hollandaise to cure his hangover. But everyone knows that cooking them at home is a real nightmare, well, it was. This is how to do them according to…