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Which Dystopias Are Too Realistic to be Enjoyable?

Everybody likes to watch civilization crushed by flaming alien weapons from space, or eaten from the inside out by zombies. But sometimes a dystopia goes too far, getting so bleakly realistic that you can no longer enjoy the carnage. What dystopian stories were like that for you? Tell us your answers in comments below —…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 21 '14

Historical Slang Terms For Having Sex, From 1351 Through Today

In earlier times, when English-speaking people wanted to get down and dirty, they might say they were playing at couch quail, engage in pup-noddy, make butter with one’s tale, or ride a dragon upon Saint George. Want to brush up on your historical sexy slang? These charts can help. Linguist Jonathon Green, author of Green’s…

io9 Lauren Davis Jul 21 '14

Why Are Lego Washing Up on the Beaches of Cornwall?

The beaches at Cornwall in England are beautiful, majestic … and the repository for some seriously weird plastic garbage. For years, Lego pieces with nautical themes have been washing up on these shores. But why? Image of a beached Lego octopus via BBC Basically, the answer is that the deep currents in the Atlantic ocean…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 21 '14

Carl Sagan explains why aliens are not visiting us all the time

If all the reports of UFO sightings are real, then Earth must be the most popular destination in the Universe. Obviously, that’s a ridiculous anthropocentric notion, as Dr. Carl Sagan explains in the must-see 1966 CBS documentary UFO: Friend, Foe, or Fantasy hosted by Walter Cronkite. Listen to Sagan at the 51:55 mark. I like…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jul 21 '14

Scientists Can Now Cut HIV Out of Human DNA

HIV is a sneaky virus. Its MO involves integrating its own genes into your DNA, so that even as antiretrovirals hold everything in check, HIV lurks quietly inside your cells. Now scientists have found a way to edit the virus straight out of the human genome—a potential cure for even latent infections. Genome editing is…

Health Sarah Zhang Jul 21 '14

Leaked Windows 9 Screenshots Show a Start Menu and a Little More Windows

Microsoft has been steadily improving Windows 8, but naturally there’s still a new version in the works. And according to some leaked screenshots of a dev build obtained by Myce, it’ll include both the Start Menu we know is on the way, but also windowed Metro/Modern-style apps. The duo of screenshots obtained by Myce are…

Tech News Eric Limer Jul 21 '14

Kangaroos and koalas have three vaginas

Here’s a little fun fact for your next Australia-themed dinner party: female marsupials all have three vaginas. That includes kangaroos, koalas, quokkas, and those cube-pooping wombats. https://gizmodo.com/wombat-poop-is-cube-shaped-1603606922 From Ed Yong at National Geographic: This set-up is shared by all marsupials – the group of mammals that raise their young in pouches. Koalas, wombats and Tasmanian…

Tech News Matt Novak Jul 21 '14

Fill This Cooler With Icy Water and It Doubles As an Air Conditioner

There’s not an ice-cold beverage in the world that can refresh and cool you as effectively as an air-conditioned room can, but the IcyBreeze cooler offers up both options, just in case. Fill it with ice and it keeps drinks cold all day long, but add a little water and extend the hose on top…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jul 21 '14

The Right Way to Flip a Coin (And Other Things Going Deep Taught Us)

One of the most earth-shattering things that David Rees has learned about flipping a coin: It’s not random. “It’s a physical process,” he says. “And if you can reduce the number of variables involved, you can control the outcome.” Yes, it is possible to learn how to flip a coin, and Rees can show you…

Tech News Alissa Walker Jul 21 '14

Why Do We Have Blood Types?

More than a century after their discovery, we still don’t really know what blood types are for. Do they really matter? Reporter Carl Zimmer investigates. Illustration © Elena Boils When my parents informed me that my blood type was A+, I felt a strange sense of pride. If A+ was the top grade in school,…

io9 Carl Zimmer Jul 21 '14

The Leftovers Celebrates An Unmerry Post-Rapture Christmas

It’s the holiday season on The Leftovers, but no one is very happy. While Kevin Garvey deals with a missing Baby Jesus and the Guilty Remnant’s latest stunt, young Tom Garvey is dealing with something very freaky on the road with his fellow cultist. The Leftovers finally feels like it’s settling in. After the palette…

io9 Lauren Davis Jul 21 '14

What You Need to Know About the Sneakiest New Online Tracking Tool

What do the White House and YouPorn have in common? Their websites both use canvas fingerprinting, a newer form of online tracking designed to make it hard to hide. ProPublica investigated the pervasive shadowing method, developed as an insidious alternative to cookies so websites can keep tabs on where their visitors browse online. [Update: YouPorn…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Jul 21 '14

New Super Software Tracks Every Cell in an Organism as It Develops

Imagine if we could track every single cell in an organism as it develops. The sheer volume of information about how life forms and works would be invaluable for scientific research. The only problem is the startling amount to computational power it would take to crunch that much data. At least, until now it was.…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jul 21 '14

Wow, all these rotating white dots are actually moving in straight lines

It looks like the white dots in this optical illusion are all orbiting an imaginary point in space that, at the same time, is orbiting the center of that red circle. They are not. In reality, they are all moving in straight lines going from one side of the red circle to the opposite one.…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jul 21 '14

Simpsons World: Every Simpsons Episode Ever, Online For Free (Sort Of)

Until now, Simpsons fans have been relegated to rewatching old episodes on grubby DVDs or downloading them one-by-one on iTunes. A new portal called Simpsons World will launch in October that will allow anyone to browse episodes and share clips—however, to actually watch all the episodes, your cable plan will have to include FXX. As…

Television Alissa Walker Jul 21 '14

This Lovely Music Video Is Also a Lesson in How Cells Grow

British digital artist Andy Lomas has created a virtual model of cellular growth, allowing us to watch as intricate bio-inspired sculptures slowly take shape. Recently, he collaborated with techno-producer Max Cooper to create a music video titled Seething, named for the unstoppable and unrelenting propagation of life. As Lomas explains: Structures are created out of…

io9 Mark Strauss Jul 21 '14

Everything That’s Changed in the New iTunes 12.0

Apple just released the latest build of OS X Yosemite, including a brand new iTunes. It’s only a little bit anti-climactic. Version 12.0 does indeed look a lot like Version 11.3, the version that’s probably on your computer. But it’s got some neat little treats nevertheless. The first thing you’ll notice, of course, is the…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jul 21 '14

Good Chocolate, Like Good Steel, Must Be Tempered

The process of tempering, in both steel and chocolate, is the same. The material is heated and cooled until its internal structure is such that it can be carried by a warrior with honor. Here’s how to make chocolate, or a sword, or a chocolate sword. You can buy, or prepare, all the ingredients for…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jul 21 '14

A never-ending ocean of 4.5 million flowers in Japan

The Hitachi Seaside Park is one of the most beautiful parks in the planet: A place where millions of flowers grow every year in the most amazing displays of colors imaginable. Here you can see about 4.5 million baby-blue nemophilas blossoming in April—but there’s more, much more. Top image by Teerayut Hiruntaraporn. Photo by azure…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jul 21 '14

43 states allow tipped employees to be paid less than minimum wage

Tipping culture in the United States is a mess. In fact, it’s perfectly legal for many employers to pay restaurant servers and bartenders less than minimum wage. There are just seven states where tipped and non-tipped employees have the same minimum wage. Below you can read more about the history of tipping in America, and…

Tech News Matt Novak Jul 21 '14

Which Dystopias Are Too Realistic to be Enjoyable?

Historical Slang Terms For Having Sex, From 1351 Through Today

Why Are Lego Washing Up on the Beaches of Cornwall?

Carl Sagan explains why aliens are not visiting us all the time

Scientists Can Now Cut HIV Out of Human DNA

Leaked Windows 9 Screenshots Show a Start Menu and a Little More Windows

Kangaroos and koalas have three vaginas

Fill This Cooler With Icy Water and It Doubles As an Air Conditioner

The Right Way to Flip a Coin (And Other Things Going Deep Taught Us)

Why Do We Have Blood Types?

The Leftovers Celebrates An Unmerry Post-Rapture Christmas

What You Need to Know About the Sneakiest New Online Tracking Tool

New Super Software Tracks Every Cell in an Organism as It Develops

Wow, all these rotating white dots are actually moving in straight lines

Simpsons World: Every Simpsons Episode Ever, Online For Free (Sort Of)

This Lovely Music Video Is Also a Lesson in How Cells Grow

Everything That’s Changed in the New iTunes 12.0

Good Chocolate, Like Good Steel, Must Be Tempered

A never-ending ocean of 4.5 million flowers in Japan

43 states allow tipped employees to be paid less than minimum wage

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