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Researchers Train Computers to Manipulate Human Emotions with Art

A musician and a computer scientist have created a software system, called “TransProse,” that transforms written works into piano concertos. It’s all done by training the software to understand how words and sounds create emotional responses in humans. Here’s what A Clockwork Orange sounds like. In a recently published paper, the two researchers—Hannah Davis and…

Live-action Akira trailer made by fans is surprisingly cool

Akira may be the greatest anime movie of all time, and thanks to the hard work of some very devoted fans, it’s been brought to life in this seriously impressive live-action trailer. The trailer has all the whiz-bang effects, drama, and fast editing you’d expect from a big-budget hollywood movie. It’s so gripping, in fact,…

A Board Game That Has You Guess Ridiculous Internet Search Predictions

How often have you found yourself scratching your head in bewilderment over the ridiculous autocomplete suggestions that Google makes for you? They can often be as hilarious as they are absurd, which is what inspired sisters Phoebe Stephens and Nikki Flowerday to turn those search engine predictions into a board game called Query. To create…

Watch an LED Light Change Color In Liquid Nitrogen

Stick a red or orange LED light into liquid nitrogen and the color will change. Why would cooling down an electrical device give it a higher-energy light? Find out! Above you can see footage of an LED light being dipped in liquid nitrogen. The light starts out relatively low-energy, but once it cools in a…

A Rainbow River in Madagascar

When freshwater rivers drain into the sea, the waters mix to form a backish estuary. The slowing river also starts to drop its load as its energy drops, depositing gravel and sediment into bars. This particular estuary is Bombetoka Bay, where Betsiboka River flows into the Mozambique Channel. The Betsiboka River is cloudy with sediments,…

How To Make Self-Igniting Fire Arrows For Your Next Medieval Siege

When you’re tasked with invading a fortified castle, the easiest way to defeat your foes is to burn their home from the inside out. And while we’ve lost some of the medieval skills mastered by our ancestors, it turns out that creating your own self-igniting fire arrows isn’t that difficult thanks to modern technology. Specifically,…

How ‘Hyperpalatable’ Foods Could Turn You Into A Food Addict

Over a third of the global population is now overweight, and the percentages are increasing. Some neuroscientists have suggested that the rise of so-called “hyperpalatable foods” may partially explain the unprecedented rates of obesity. Above: The Taco Bell Taco Waffle. Credit: Taco Bell. Our food environment has changed dramatically over the years, most notably through…

Behold, The First Look At Batman Vs. Superman‘s New Batmobile

Zack Snyder tweeted this picture of Batman’s sweet new ride in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, and, for a vehicle 85% covered by a sheet, it looks pretty sharp. Back wheels reminiscent of the Tumbler, but arching slope of the chassis hints at a more traditional Batmobile design. I approve!

The io9 Book Club Is in Session! Let’s Talk About Life After Life

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In April, we read Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! (Note: I was out last week, so the book club got delayed until today. My apologies!) For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here’s how it…

The Victorian Gothic Soap Penny Dreadful Has All the Right Moves

The logline of Penny Dreadful is both familiar and risky: “What if Every Gothic Thing?” Vampires? Ghosts? Frankenstein? Check. It could easily become 19th-century sausage. But Penny Dreadful’s kind of delightful, because it’s more interested in the pulp than the specifics. And it’s off to a great start. Spoilers ahead… Victorian Gothic is a genre…

A Design Flaw Is Turning the London Shard Hotel Into a Voyeur’s Dream

You’d think staying in the tallest skyscraper in London would afford you some privacy. But visitors at the newly-opened hotel inside of the Shard are being creeped out by the bizarre effects of a simple design flaw—which reflects the view inside of certain rooms directly onto the windows of nearby guests at night. According to…

The Last Thing We’d See If Saturn Got Close Enough To Destroy The Earth

Over the weekend, Saturn got as close to the Earth as it will get this year—but it’s still 1.3 billion kilometers away. But what if Saturn somehow left its orbit and paid us a very close visit? It would look pretty stunning before it destroyed our home planet. Animator yeti dynamics, also known as Nick,…

3D-Printed Electric Water Kettle Inspired by Nautilus Shells

The nested chambers seen inside this prototype electric water kettle by designer Guillian Graves are 3D-printed, their geometry inspired by nautilus shells—giving the project its name, Nautile. The designer’s intent was to create an appliance that would not only be beautiful in any room you find it in, but that would be energy efficient in…

The ​8 Most Superheroic Jerks In The Marvel Universe

It takes a lot of things to be a hero, but one thing that isn’t necessary is a winning personality. As the Marvel universe shows, as long as you battle the occasional supervillain, you can be a rampant asshole to pretty much anyone! Here are eight characters better at being assholes than superheroes. 1) Hank…

Why Our Bodies Actually Age

Gray hair, memory loss, wrinkles and brittle bones, sooner or later, each of us gets old (if we’re lucky). Yet scientists tell us that there is no evolutionary reason for us to age. So why do we? The Aging Process Researchers do not agree as to the causes of aging. Some claim our genes are…

Square has given up on its payment app Square Wallet and removed it from the App Store. In its stead, Square just introduced Square Order, an app that lets you pay ahead at places like coffee shops and cafes. When god closes a door he opens a… payment app.

The Pentagon’s “Star Wars” Robotic Arm Just Got FDA Approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the DEKA Arm System for amputees. Named in honor of Luke Skywalker, it’s the first prosthetic arm that can carry out simultaneous multiple movements triggered by a person’s electrical signals. The device was developed by New Hampshire-based DEKA Research and Development Corp, which was founded by Dean…

This Floating Speaker Shows You Soundwaves As It Plays

It might look a little bit like someone caged HAL in a wooden frame, but this is in fact an elegant speaker, where a spherical sound source sits suspended from its own cubic frame, so you can see how sound forces it to move. Designed by Giorgio Bonaguro and Juan Soriano Blanco, the Vitruvio speaker…

A Giant Elastic Band Could Let You Hide From Your Seatmates in Coach

Besides the leg room, free booze, and endless snacks, flying first-class also provides some much needed privacy that can make a cross-country voyage more enjoyable. It’s a big part of the reason why flying economy sucks, but a couple designers may have found a way to make your cramped coach seat feel like first class.…

Cosmos Explains How Michael Faraday Lit Up Our Lives

Tonight’s episode of Cosmos tells the story of Michael Faraday, the man who unlocked the secrets of electricity. Born to poverty, unaccomplished at school and evidently cursed with an unfortunately Elmer Fudd-like speech impediment, Faraday educated himself well enough on the subject of electricity to apprentice for the world’s foremost expert in the field, Humphry…