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This Tiny Plane Just Flew Using Fuel Made Out Of Seawater

This scaled-down replica of a World War II-era fighter plane may not look so unusual on the outside. But inside of the engine is something exceptional: a fuel made with a new process using seawater. The plane, and the fuel inside it, are the work of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, who announced that they’ve…

io9 Ria Misra Apr 9 '14

The terribly sad case of the woman who has fifty orgasms a day

24-year-old Amanda Gryce is having an orgasm in this photo. She has them uncontrollably, up to fifty times a day. It sounds fun, right? Actually, it’s really awful. Even more awful is the fact that she can’t have sex with her boyfriend, per doctor’s orders. Amanda has a rare medical condition called Persistent Sexual Arousal…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Apr 9 '14

A Watch That’s Made for Wasting Time and Telling It

Smartwatch makers can boast about how their devices will boost our productivity, but eventually they’ll all mostly be used for gaming when it’s inappropriate to access our phones. But as Valbray’s Oculus Minotaurus demonstrates, your watch doesn’t need to be particularly smart to be entertaining. Hidden beneath what looks like a camera’s 16-blade shutter is…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Apr 9 '14

Zombie Lego Stop-Motion Music Video Madness

Ask and ye shall receive! Here is nice music video that uses stop-motion to animate (or maybe reanimate) a horde of under-payed, zombie, lego workers. The song is “Night of the Living Wage,” by Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, and the video itself was made by Adam Volerich and Nikolas Long. It’s topical too, considering…

Tech News Jason Krell Apr 9 '14

The One Scientific Field Most Likely to Get Humanity Into Space

If humans are actually going to live on other planets or space stations one day, we’re going to need more than rocket fuel and futuristic propulsion systems. We’re going to need environmental science. Here are some fundamental reasons why. I’m cheating a little bit by using the phrase “environmental science” because that can mean a…

io9 Annalee Newitz Apr 9 '14

These color pencils are actually a color drawing

This is not a photo of a box of color pencils. It’s a digital drawing made from scratch in Photoshop. I wish the artist actually used color pencils to make it—because I love when things come full circle—but I’m equally impressed with his digital brush skills. Here are some screenshots of the process. SPLOID is…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Apr 9 '14

YouTube’s Fun Fibonacci Easter Egg Will Make Math Nerds Giggle

The Fibonacci number (or sequence, or series) is the mathematical rule that defines the golden spiral, a beautiful growing pattern that appears in many places in nature. It also appears on YouTube when you search “Fibonacci,” and it’s just silly enough to make us smile. Watch closely; when you search Fibonacci, the results show up…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich Apr 9 '14

This Parasite Can Hijack A Plant’s Reproductive System

Researchers in the UK have unlocked the mystery behind a freaky bacterial pathogen that hijacks a plant’s reproductive capacities — a nefarious process that essentially converts hosts into the living dead. Top image: The top row shows a normal Arabidopsis plant — flowers and all. The bottom row shows a parasitized “zombie plant,” one that…

io9 George Dvorsky Apr 9 '14

This Plane Will Circle the World Using Only the Power of the Sun

You’ve probably heard about the ambitious, almost impossible-sounding project to fly a solar-powered plane around the world without refueling. But now, about a year before the voyage is scheduled to begin, you get your first look at the plane itself. It’s unlike any plane you’ve seen before. Behold: the Solar Impulse 2. With a wingspan…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Apr 9 '14

What are these giant concrete rings built by the Nazis?

These huge concrete rings were built by the Germans during World War II on the coast of the Barents Sea. For decades, the Soviet military limited access to them after the war was over, fueling speculation about their purpose. Conspiracy theorists and local folk claimed they were test grounds for Nazi wonderweapons and antigravity devices.…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Apr 9 '14

Every Helicopter in the US Military Could Soon Be a Drone

The MQ-8 Fire Scout might be the US military’s marquee pilotless helicopter, but it’s not the only one. A pair of R/C Kaman K-Max K-1200 choppers have proven their value resupplying forward operating bases in Afghanistan and, now, the DoD is developing a system to turn any helicopter into a remotely operated whirley bird. Dubbed…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Apr 9 '14

The Wolf Among Us, Herzog Blu-rays, Samsung TVs [Deals]

A late addition to yesterday’s deals, this awesome limited edition Werner Herzog Collection releases on July 29. It features 16 of Herzog’s films all on blu-ray for the first time. The set is currently $10 cheaper on ShoutFactory than Amazon, but not so fast. Amazon offers pre-order price guarantee, so ordering from them will almost…

io9 Shane Roberts Apr 9 '14

Your Newest Comic Movie Is Vertigo’s Hit Federal Bureau Of Physics

A major favorite at io9 HQ, Vertigo’s FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics will make the leap from page to screen courtesy of Warner Bros., naturally. It’s about the titular government agency, which deals in quantum disasters in a world where physics can change just like the weather. But there’s some good news and bad news…

Movies Rob Bricken Apr 9 '14

Check Out How Weird Vikings Has Gotten Lately

The History Channel’s Vikings always wanted to be sort of like a more historically valid Game of Thrones, but now it’s getting seriously fantasy-ish. Just check out this creeptastic exclusive clip, in which Ragnar consults with a seer but gets more comfort from his snake. This scene comes from the next episode “Blood Eagle,” which…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Apr 9 '14

How an Odd Property of Acid Created Self-Healing Iron

An odd quirk of iron led, eventually, to the first self-healing materials. An iron bar, dipped in strong acid, was just fine. Dipped in weak acid, it was eaten away to nothing. Here’s why a diluted acid will succeed when a strong acid fails. The Industrious Michael Faraday Michael Faraday spent the first half of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 9 '14

Jon Stewart Sends Noah Haters Back To Bible School

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah premiered to a flood of negative nellies, naysaying about the gritty manner in which their favorite Biblical character was handled. “There wasn’t enough God! Why was Noah drunk?” some complained. Thank goodness for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, who actually picked up a Bible to educate the haters about their religion.…

Movies Meredith Woerner Apr 9 '14

Scientists Build Incredible “Mars In A Bottle” Simulation Chamber

Environmental conditions on Mars are uniquely suited to destroying the billions of dollars of scientific equipment we send to study the Red Planet. To better protect our investments, three researchers have built a simulation chamber to assess the resilience of high-tech instruments before they are launched. The schematics of the chamber, called MARTE, are described…

io9 Mark Strauss Apr 9 '14

New Cheapo T-Mobile Plan Has Unlimited Talk & Text, 500MB Data for $40

Looking for a cheap smartphone plan that favors talking over browsing? T-Mobile just rolled out an entry-level plan that lets you talk or text all you want, but limits you to 500MB of high-speed data for $40 a month. The Simple Starter plan‘s 500MB of 4G LTE doesn’t follow T-Mobile’s usual practice of throttling users…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich Apr 9 '14

Techno Cosmonauts Discover an Ancient Floating City in this Video

This music video is a stunning piece of otherworldly concept artistry, set to creamy techno beats and full of funky touches like cosmonauts with silver sequined spacesuits, incredible planet environments, and a city of floating buildings. Just relax, listen and watch. This is Beat Market’s new music video for their single “Aviator 2000.” The video…

io9 Annalee Newitz Apr 9 '14

Atmospheric Layers at Sunset

Snapped off the coast of Australia by an Expedition 28 astronaut on the International Space Station, this is a beautiful photograph illustrating atmospheric layers. The black at the bottom of photograph is the Earth, followed by saturated orange troposphere illuminated by a setting sun. The troposphere is the lowest and densest atmospheric layer. It abruptly…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Apr 9 '14

This Tiny Plane Just Flew Using Fuel Made Out Of Seawater

The terribly sad case of the woman who has fifty orgasms a day

A Watch That’s Made for Wasting Time and Telling It

Zombie Lego Stop-Motion Music Video Madness

The One Scientific Field Most Likely to Get Humanity Into Space

These color pencils are actually a color drawing

YouTube’s Fun Fibonacci Easter Egg Will Make Math Nerds Giggle

This Parasite Can Hijack A Plant’s Reproductive System

This Plane Will Circle the World Using Only the Power of the Sun

What are these giant concrete rings built by the Nazis?

Every Helicopter in the US Military Could Soon Be a Drone

The Wolf Among Us, Herzog Blu-rays, Samsung TVs [Deals]

Your Newest Comic Movie Is Vertigo’s Hit Federal Bureau Of Physics

Check Out How Weird Vikings Has Gotten Lately

How an Odd Property of Acid Created Self-Healing Iron

Jon Stewart Sends Noah Haters Back To Bible School

Scientists Build Incredible “Mars In A Bottle” Simulation Chamber

New Cheapo T-Mobile Plan Has Unlimited Talk & Text, 500MB Data for $40

Techno Cosmonauts Discover an Ancient Floating City in this Video

Atmospheric Layers at Sunset

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