Latest

The Xbox One Is Turning Your Phone Into the Only Remote You Need

If you have cable, the Xbox One’s TV-controlling powers are a great feature; having a list of just the channels you watch is how all cable-surfing should be. But if you have cable, you probably also have a DVR, and the Xbox One has been useless at controlling it. Until now. With updates rolling out…

A Treasure Trove of Historic Maps

The New York Public Library scanned a huge number of maps. The maps are released under a Creative Commons license, so they’re in the public domain for you to study, modify, and modify, or whatever other cartographic desire your little heart holds. A chart of the West Indies from Cape Cod to River Oronoque. Filed…

Early Design Specs Show The Space Shuttle Could Have Been Much Cooler

The first Space Shuttle didn’t reach orbit until 1981, but NASA was working on designs for nearly a dozen years before that. And looking at the progression of these concept drawings, you can see how compromises were made and budgets were cut. Here’s the evolution of the Space Shuttle, in pictures. Top image: Rockwell Aerospace,…

Amazon’s Streaming Device: Everything We Think We Know

Amazon is hosting a TV-centric event in New York on Wednesday, where it will most likely reveal a streaming device. So what’s that lil’ thing going to look like? Here are the mostly likely answers to your biggest questions. What will it look like? Most signs point to a dongle, a la Chromecast or Roku’s…

Comedy Central’s new iOS app will allow you to watch full episodes of their popular shows the day after they air. The most recent episode will be available to everyone, but you’ll need to prove a TV subscription to go deeper into a series.

​What Are You Working On?

We’re doing a show-and-tell thread today and we want to know what you’ve been working on! Are you working on a new project or do you want to update us on one you told us about last time? Whether you’ve got a graphic novel going, a scientific experiment entering trials, or an art project you’re…

This Battery-Operated Sex Toy Was Just A Battery

More specifically, the first battery-operated sex toy was a voltaic pile, which was the primitive form of the battery. Unfortunately, this particular voltaic pile was made by Johann Ritter, who put it to unnatural, but entertaining, uses. Johann Ritter was a brilliant young scientists with many major accomplishments. His most famous scientific contribution was the…

A Compact Toolbox That Camouflages Itself As a Book On Your Shelf

Hunting down your toolbox and finding the right tool for a quick fix is never really ‘quick’ enough. And it usually leads to an ever-growing to-do list of things to fix around the house. Here’s a better solution: Strelka’s ToolBook lets you hide a basic set of screwdrivers and hex wrenches on a bookshelf, so…

Moog Spent Three Years Building a $90,000 Copy of Keith Emerson’s Synth

Keith Emerson’s massive modular synthesizer was the centerpiece of his persona as the virtuoso keyboard player in progressive rock super group Emerson, Lake, & Palmer. The custom rig was his throne. Moog just spent three years reverse engineering the thing. Who’s got $90,000 lying around to buy it? So far, Moog is only teasing the…

This Robotic Surgeon Climbs Inside Astronauts’ Belly Buttons

If you’re an astronaut on your way to Mars, there aren’t too many options if your appendix bursts. That’s why a Nebraska-based technology company has developed mini robot space surgeons that can actually climb inside of astronauts’ bodies. The first zero-gravity tests on the machine are about to begin. It sounds creepy, but this thing…

A Memory Experiment That Would Make A Good Parlor Game

There are all kinds of ways to make people misremember things. But can you make a person misremember a specific word? This might be an interesting parlor game, or an interesting mass experiment. We all know the game Taboo, in which people attempt to make their partner say a word or a phrase, while being…

A week of calamity in landscapes reads! Did microbes cause the largest mass extinction in earth’s history? Why is California sinking? What did we learn from the biggest earthquake in America fifty years ago? And, closer to home, how dangerous should a playground be? How the Biggest Earthquake in U.S. History Changed Science “There were…

The show 24 has left Netflix for the greener pastures of Amazon Instant Video, where it is now exclusively carried. Prime subscribers can stream all eight seasons of the saga of Jack Bauer starting today.

World’s Slowest Flash-Mob Plays Most Awesome Game Of Thrones Cover

A youth orchestra took to the streets of Logroño, Spain, for this spectacular flashmob performance, and when I say “flashmob” I mean “slowly assemble over the course of four minutes.” Still, don’t let this dissuade you from checking out their phenomenal cover of Game of Thrones’ opening theme. [Via Warming Glow]

Meet New io9 Staff Writer Mark Strauss

Welcome the newest staffer to join the io9 team and get his brain implant! Mark Strauss will be our tentacle in Washington DC, covering the increasingly dystopian world of politics and science, as well as other topics that strike his fancy. Mark Strauss has been an editor and journalist for more than 20 years, writing…

This Lighting Designer’s Business Card Is Only Visible In Bright Light

Your business card isn’t just some way to share your contact info. It represents you and your company, and it can be a great way to make a first impression. So how does a professional lighting designer make a big impact with his business card? With a design that’s completely dependent on light. Created by…

What Will Open The Walking Dead‘s Season 5? Plus a New Costume For Cap!

Robert Kirkman explains the thinking behind one of the mysteries of The Waking Dead’s season finale. Sebastian Stan explains his hopes for the Winter Soldier’s future. And Nikolaj Coster-Waldau talks the women in Jaime’s life in Game of Thrones. Plus, Extant adds a guest-star from Scandal. Spoilers now! Avengers: Age of Ultron Photos and video…

These Time-Warp Photos Show Six Cities In the Past and Present

Cities change: skyscrapers go up, row houses are torn down, neighborhoods gentrify, earthquakes destroy. Vintage photographs of cities can be fascinating in and of themselves, but the familiar unfamiliarity of these time-warped photographs are especially intriguing. From San Francisco to St. Petersburg, here are how cities have changed—and not changed—over the years. See history peek…

Neil Armstrong’s Amazingly Inspiring Nerd Manifesto

Neil Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first astronaut to ever set foot on the moon, and a man whose accomplishments were legendary and far-reaching—but he was also an irrepressible nerd in love with mathematics, science and engineering. This is his manifesto. This speech was delivered at the National Press Club on February 22,…

George Lucas Explains the Birth of Lightsabers

The light saber is perhaps the best ever sci-fi weapon—but how did it come to appear in the Star Wars movies? In this short documentary, George Lucas, actor Mark Hamill, and sound designer Ben Burtt discuss how the lightsaber was born. Originally created for a 2004 boxset, this 15-minute documentary has now been made freely…