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Transcendence footage turns Johnny Depp into a God

Transcendence may seem like your typical “scientist creates artificial intelligence, scientist dies, scientist is loaded into AI device and goes rogue” movie. But this new featurette is showing a whole slew of insanity. Does Johnny Depp become a living god? Check it out. This new look at Wally Pfister’s film raises more questions than answered…

Movies Meredith Woerner

I Wore the Navy’s Oculus Rift, and It Showed Me the Future of Warfare

When we think of the future of the military, we think of bigger and better weapons. Laser canons and the like. But what about the people operating those lasers? How can a behemoth like the Navy ready its future sailors for the high-tech combat of tomorrow? Believe it or not, with an Oculus Rift. At…

Tech News Brent Rose

UFO Investigations Manual is a practical guide to close encounters

Nigel Watson’s UFO Investigations Manual is partly an overview of UFO history, and partly a how-to guide for anyone interested in making UFOs a little less unknown. And it will delight you with hints of forbidden information waiting to be discovered. When I first saw this book, I was inexplicably delighted. I think it’s that…

Books & Comics Ed Grabianowski

This awesome image may be found by aliens one day, floating in space

You’re looking at alpinist Gaston Rébuffat standing proud on the Aiguille de Roc,a striking needle rock in the Alps, near Chamonix, France. It’s an outstanding image—one that aliens from another solar system or galaxy may see one day. How, you ask? It’s in Voyager’s Golden Record—along with all the images below. Impressive, right? And this…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

Watch This Harrowing Drone Footage of the Building Collapse in Harlem

On Wednesday, a sudden gas explosion leveled two buildings in Harlem, killing at least seven people. Hordes of reporters arrived within minutes to cover the story, as did a random guy with a quadcopter. And, with apologies for the autoplay, this is the footage he captured in the immediate aftermath of the collapse:

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

Solar burp

Our sun let out a mid-level solar flare yesterday, and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of it in multiple wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. The flare peaked at 6:34pm EDT on March 12th. As a mid-level flare, it’s an M9.3, just short of the more intense X-class naming scheme. This is breaking news (oooh!),…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Meet the Teams Who Are Building the World’s First Medical Tricorder

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we all had a personal medical scanning device like Star Trek’s tricorder? Now the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE is hoping to make it happen. We spoke to some contestants to learn how they’re planning to win part of the $10 million in prize money. The grand prize is worth $7 million,…

io9 George Dvorsky

A map of how the WWII bombing of Japan would have impacted the U.S.

How severe was the bombing of Japan during World War II? This map, which translates the damage to cities in the U.S. that had similar population sizes in 1940, gives a better sense of the scale. The map is the work of Alex Wellerstein, a historian at the American Institute of Physics who explains, “When…

io9 Ria Misra

This GIF Shows How Impossible It Is to Find a Plane in the Pacific

The Pacific Ocean is very, very big. Airplanes are big, too—but, compared to the Pacific Ocean, they are almost comically small. So, as rescuers finish up a week of searching unsuccessfully for Malaysia Air Flight 370, it’s worth taking a second to marvel at what an impossible a task it is to find one little…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

What happens when fantasy novels get scientific?

Marie Brennan is the author of The Tropic of Serpents, the second novel in her incredible Memoirs of Lady Trent series about the life of a 19th century naturalist who studies dragons. In this essay, Brennan talks about what it means to bring science into her fantasy writing. I’m kind of fascinated by the impulse…

Books & Comics Marie Brennan

Surprise: Phone Metadata Gives Away The Most Secret of Your Secrets

If you’re one of the masses who inexplicably thinks that NSA phone surveillance doesn’t matter, you’re in for a shock: new research reveals that simple analysis of cellphone metadata can reveal masses about you, from medical conditions to firearm ownership. A study by Jonathan Mayer and Patrick Mutchler from Stanford probed data from 546 volunteers…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe

This odd-looking cloaking device could make you invisible to sonar

Controlling the spread of sound and how it bounces off objects is not easy. But by using a few perforated sheets of plastic and a complex algorithm, researchers at Duke University have developed the world’s first 3D acoustic cloaking device. The device escapes acoustic detection by rerouting sound waves in such a way that both…

io9 George Dvorsky

10 Teen Heroes Who Grew Older With Style

This weekend, we’re reconnecting with Veronica Mars, our favorite teenage detective, after a decade apart. And she’s still rocking the camera and sass. But Veronica’s not the only teenage hero who managed to grow up without losing her mojo. Here are 10 other teen heroes who grew up but kept their style. 1) Spider-Man (Marvel…

io9 Jason Krell

Amazon Prime Is Still the Best Deal in Tech

Today, the fateful news came down that Amazon will finally increase the cost of an Amazon Prime membership. Horrors! Except, not really. Because even at $99 a year, Amazon Prime is still the single biggest bargain in tech. On the face of it, the increase from $79 to $99 seems dramatic. That’s a 25 percent…

Commerce Brian Barrett

Target Knew About Its Massive Hack—It Just Didn’t Do Anything to Stop It

Throughout the total absurditythat’s been the aftermath of Target’s massive data breach, one question has continued to persist unanswered: Why the hell didn’t one of the biggest retailers in the country have sufficient security software? Well, the thing is—it did. It just ignored it. Thanks to a Bloomberg Businessweek exclusive, we now know that Target…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg

We are very nervous about the new Something Wicked This Way Comes movie

Oh dear, we’re not sure what to make out of this news. Seth Grahame-Smith, the author behind Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (which I liked OK) and the screenplay for Dark Shadows (which everyone loathed), is getting his directorial debut remaking our beloved Something Wicked This Way Comes. Dammit, why couldn’t they start him with Battleship…

io9 Meredith Woerner

Now You Can Take a Run Down the Colorado River Rapids on StreetView

Those intrepid Googlers have been taking their cameras on more adventures: now you can take a run down the Colorado River Rapids on StreetView. Only mapped in 1869 and now America’s most endangered river, the Colorado has flowed through the western desert for 6 million years—in turn, forming the Grand Canyon. As well as running…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Did Life On Earth As We Know It Come From ‘Geological Life’?

When it comes to life on Earth, we’re not sure if it came from the outside (transported by comets) or on the inside. A new theory focuses on the “interior ” theory, saying that microbes could have evolved from non-living matter such as chemical compounds in minerals and gases. Above: Hydrothermal Vents via NOAA. “Before…

io9 Elizabeth Howell – Universe Today

Meet Orphan Black‘s newest clone!

Orphan Black’s Clone Club has a new member for Season Two. Who else will Tatiana Maslany be playing in the coming season? And what secrets does the poster for Season Two hold? Spoilers ahead. Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, we learn that our newest clone is Jennifer Fitzsimmons, a 28-year old teacher and swim coach, and,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Oklahoma news channel “accidentally” cuts Cosmos‘ mention of evolution

There’s not been a lot of discussion of evolution in Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos so far, and yet a very slight reference to it was so upsetting to Fox’s Oklahoma City affiliate that they just “happened” to run a promo for the nightly news over the show’s sole mention it, as you can see in…

io9 Rob Bricken

Transcendence footage turns Johnny Depp into a God

I Wore the Navy’s Oculus Rift, and It Showed Me the Future of Warfare

UFO Investigations Manual is a practical guide to close encounters

This awesome image may be found by aliens one day, floating in space

Watch This Harrowing Drone Footage of the Building Collapse in Harlem

Solar burp

Meet the Teams Who Are Building the World’s First Medical Tricorder

A map of how the WWII bombing of Japan would have impacted the U.S.

This GIF Shows How Impossible It Is to Find a Plane in the Pacific

What happens when fantasy novels get scientific?

Surprise: Phone Metadata Gives Away The Most Secret of Your Secrets

This odd-looking cloaking device could make you invisible to sonar

10 Teen Heroes Who Grew Older With Style

Amazon Prime Is Still the Best Deal in Tech

Target Knew About Its Massive Hack—It Just Didn’t Do Anything to Stop It

We are very nervous about the new Something Wicked This Way Comes movie

Now You Can Take a Run Down the Colorado River Rapids on StreetView

Did Life On Earth As We Know It Come From ‘Geological Life’?

Meet Orphan Black‘s newest clone!

Oklahoma news channel “accidentally” cuts Cosmos‘ mention of evolution

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