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People want to live inside pieces of San Francisco’s old Bay Bridge

It’s like some terrible parody of William Gibson’s novel Virtual Light, where squatters occupy the trashed remains of the Bay Bridge. A techie wants to “upcycle” part of the decommissioned bridge span into an Airbnb rental. Now that the newly-constructed span of the Bay Bridge is open for traffic, the city has to decide what…

io9 Annalee Newitz

A musician tackles his anxiety by arguing with his own subsconscious

Tom Moody is a musician struggling to find the confidence to sing. He’ll have to take a surreal journey into his own mind and argue with himself and his memories of the past. Ainslie Henderson wrote, directed, and animated I Am Tom Moody, which was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Animation. It’s a…

io9 Lauren Davis

This Modular Toy Car Has Steering and Suspension Like the Real Thing

Toy cars are a compromise: the simple ones “drive” like a roller skate, and the really serious ones are too intricate (and expensive) to just hand over to a mere child. Modarri Cars wants to change that with fun, customizable, modular toy cars with spring suspension and steering just like the real thing. Battery-operated radio…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich

Are any animals truly monogamous?

As Henry Reich explains in this installment of Minute Earth, yes, monogamy does exist in the animal kingdom – though fewer creatures practice it than you probably realize. Monogamy is observed in just over a quarter of primates and only around 3–5% of mammals, overall. How it evolved in humans is still the subject of…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Economic study suggests we’re heading for a Blade Runner future

Earlier this month, a group of economists released the results of a massive study looking at the economic prospects of people from across the United States. What they found was that the U.S. is like a patchwork quilt of different countries, where some regions offer people the economic prospects of a typical developed nation —…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Why Facebook Was Smart to Spend $16 Billion on WhatsApp

Facebook has had its fair share of stumbles trying to get a handle on how to take over your phone. I mean, remember Facebook Home? But with its $16 billion purchase of messaging app WhatApp, it’s now poised to own the best way to chat on a smartphone and win the kiddies back all at…

Social Media Eric Limer

This Last of Us concept art is the coolest post-apocalyptic art in ages

The Playstation game The Last of Us is one of the most important post-apocalyptic stories of the past few years, so it’s not surprising that the game’s concept art is also pretty astonishing. Artist John Sweeney shared a ton of the concept art he created for The Last of Us over at the Concept Art…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

It’s So Perfect that Mars Dunes Look Like Starfleet Logos

NASA says a combo of wind and sand were responsible for forming these V-shaped drifts on Mars. Sure. OR: The crew of the USS Enterprise felt like stamping the Starfleet insignia all over the planet. The dune field was spotted by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in a large crater near Mawrth…

Tech News Jordan Kushins

It’s hard to believe these water droplets are not computer generated

Adobe asked artist Alex Trochut to recreate the company’s logo “using the technique of his choice.” This is the impressive result, which I love because of its use of color and the fact that he didn’t use digital software to create these perfect bubbles. Listen to Alex explaining how he made them: SPLOID is a…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

Can New York City Achieve a New Goal of Zero Traffic Deaths Per Year?

In one of the most ambitious announcements of his term so far, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged yesterday to eliminate traffic deaths in New York City. In 2013, there were 286 traffic-related fatalities. The 42-page plan includes changes to both the design of streets and enforcement of traffic flow, according to the New York Times:…

Tech News Alissa Walker

Shocking image of Kiev’s Independence Square before and after the riots

Kiev grows more violent every day as Ukrainians riot against its authoritarian government. Witnessing the transformation through media outlets could never sum up the amount of devastation conveyed in this single image of the city’s Independence Square. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid Nicholas Stango

Sleep tight with this surreal supercut of movie dream sequences

Actually, this whole supercut seems really sinister, despite the fact that it contains bits of The Big Lebowski in it, so if anything it’ll probably keep you up at night. It’s still a neat watch, though. And it gets bonus points for not using the Inception “BRAAHMM” theme, too.

io9 Rob Bricken

Military Drones Are Looking More and More Like Star Wars Characters

When you think about military drones, chances are your mind conjures up the image of a grey airplane-shaped object with a windowless cockpit. But actually, combat drones come in all shapes and sizes—including some very futuristic ones. Take the Honeywell RQ-16A T-Hawk, for instance. (T-Hawk is short for tarantula hawk, which is an absolutely horrifying…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

In a Dark Cyberpunk Future, Murder and Surveillance Meet Cool Hair

Check out the new music video for “Gimme Your Love” by Kensington Kross, in which the dark Blade Runner future collides with nuSoul stylings and a vague storyline about murder and jealous cyborgs with red glowing eyes. I’m tempted to say this is a musical Voight-Kampff test, because if this song doesn’t get a little…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Cultural Stereotypes As Revealed By The Ultimate Collection Of Selfies

First came the Tumblrs, then the think pieces, then the distinction of being word of the year. What else could there possibly be for selfies? What about a huge data project analyzing how selfies around the world differ in everything from mood to mouthgape to head tilt? https://jezebel.com/a-passionate-defense-of-selfies-at-funerals-1455095190 Selfiecity—which compares photos from Bangkok, Berlin, Moscow,…

Tech News Sarah Zhang

The First Picture Ever Taken of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in Costume

When the first pictures came out of the Eleventh Doctor and his new companion Amy, we all pored over them. But here’s the actual first picture of them in costume, via Karen Gillan. Yesterday, Gillan tweeted this image with the caption: “1st pic of Matt and I in character was released 4 yrs ago today,…

io9 Meredith Woerner

Entire Wild Trees Grow On The Walls of These Hong Kong High Rises

https://gizmodo.com/these-photos-of-hong-kong-are-not-post-apocalptical-ren-1525905645

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

No wonder this sculptor is one of Guillermo del Toro’s favorite artists

Kris Kuksi creates ornate, beautiful sculptures that reveal more and more fantastical details the longer you stare at them. It’s easy to see why Guillermo del Toro says “Kuksi manages to evoke, at once, a sanctum and a mausoleum for our suffocated spirit.” We’ve featured Kuksi’s artwork before, but his latest works are just too…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

This Perfectly Counterbalanced Supervillain Table Will Never Fall Over

When decorating their over-the-top headquarters, supervillains need to choose bold office furniture that matches their even bolder schemes to take over the world. And designer Toni Grilo delivers with this gravity-defying coffee table, which looks like it’s perpetually on the verge of falling over. But like any great supervillain, the Lithos Table is actually really…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Pixar artist turns R-rated movies into awesome kids book illustrations

Josh Cooley has a good sense of humor which is probably what led him to start drawing R-rated scenes from famous movies in the style of a children’s book. Alien, Fight Club, The Godfather, Jaws—they’re all there. And they’re for sale. Cooley’s new book, Movies R Fun!: A Collection of Cinematic Classics for the Pre-(Film)…

Sploid Adam Clark Estes

People want to live inside pieces of San Francisco’s old Bay Bridge

A musician tackles his anxiety by arguing with his own subsconscious

This Modular Toy Car Has Steering and Suspension Like the Real Thing

Are any animals truly monogamous?

Economic study suggests we’re heading for a Blade Runner future

Why Facebook Was Smart to Spend $16 Billion on WhatsApp

This Last of Us concept art is the coolest post-apocalyptic art in ages

It’s So Perfect that Mars Dunes Look Like Starfleet Logos

It’s hard to believe these water droplets are not computer generated

Can New York City Achieve a New Goal of Zero Traffic Deaths Per Year?

Shocking image of Kiev’s Independence Square before and after the riots

Sleep tight with this surreal supercut of movie dream sequences

Military Drones Are Looking More and More Like Star Wars Characters

In a Dark Cyberpunk Future, Murder and Surveillance Meet Cool Hair

Cultural Stereotypes As Revealed By The Ultimate Collection Of Selfies

The First Picture Ever Taken of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in Costume

Entire Wild Trees Grow On The Walls of These Hong Kong High Rises

No wonder this sculptor is one of Guillermo del Toro’s favorite artists

This Perfectly Counterbalanced Supervillain Table Will Never Fall Over

Pixar artist turns R-rated movies into awesome kids book illustrations

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