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Eureka‘s Amy Berg introduces Caper, a show about superheroes gone rogue

Amy Berg wrote some of our favorite episodes of Eureka, Leverage and Person of Interest — and now she’s creating a new digital series about superheroes who turn to crime, called Caper. She told us why superheroes would want to steal, and how to portray supers on a Youtube budget. Spoilers ahead… Berg created Caper…

Cthulhu as branding: Yesterday, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office launched a classified satellite called NROL-39, destined to carry out surveillance and security work in orbit. The official patch, above, paints a pretty vivid picture of its mission. [NASA Spaceflight; Quartz]

Gifts for Your Favorite Drone Enthusiast

To a lot of people, drones are those scary things that kill people in Afghanistan. To others, though, they’re a super-fun hobby and even a valuable tool. With the right device, you can take spectacular aerial photos and video, and, with the right accessories, you can look pretty badass while you’re doing it. The right…

Shot-for-shot, storyboard breakdown of Star Wars’ Asteroid Chase scene

Do you like watching how the Star Wars sausage is made? Of course you do! Then check out this clever little video that pairs actual footage from The Empire Strikes Back with the original storyboards. It’s damn delightful. Thanks to the official Star Wars YouTube channel for putting this together. Looks like director Irvin Kershner…

This fan-edit of The Dark Crystal is creepier than you can imagine

The Dark Crystal has always been Jim Henson’s creepiest movie, but when it was finally released it was considerably toned down from his and Frank Oz’s original vision. YouTube user scoodidabop has spent years re-editing the film, using Henson’s original notes and various deleted scenes to create a far, far creepier movie than what you…

21 Views Of Workers Struggling With Megastructures

“To paint the Forth bridge” is a modern-day phrase equivalent to a “Sisyphean task”: an endless job that can never truly be completed.* The gigantic struggle of maintaining—cleaning, painting, and repairing—the largest structures on earth is an awesome one, and it deserves recognition. That’s the goal of our collection of photos below. *Despite the popular…

Someone’s Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Internet Security Hole

Someone, somewhere, has been using a security loophole to hijack internet traffic headed to government agencies.

Fox wants to build the new Fantastic Four with the help of the X-Men

Simon Kinberg, who has produced X-Men: First Class, Elysium and is now on X-Men: Days of Future Past, is staying at Fox to set up the Fantastic Four franchise and set-up Fox’s version of the Marvel movie-verse. This is good news. THR is reporting that Kinberg just re-upped his three-year contract which will allow him…

Antarctica Looks Like a Mystical Land Shrouded in Lenticular Cloud

This might look like result of some pro-level CGI, or perhaps even a glimpse into your imagination, but in fact it’s a photograph taken in Antarctica just this last week. As part of Operation Ice Bridge—a multi-year mission to monitor conditions in Antarctica and the Arctic—NASA researchers have just been on a week-long ice-surveying mission.…

The First Drones, Used in World War I

Unmanned remote-controlled aircraft have been around longer than most people think. The Kettering “Bug,” for instance, was developed during World War I. It was a bomb-carrying unpiloted biplane that flew on a pre-set course to its target. Once its autopilot was set, the plane was on its own. Prototypes were built and successfully tested, but…

Report: Apple’s iBeacon Location-Aware Shopping in Its Stores Today

The Associated Press is reporting that Apple will switch on its new iBeacons service— which will provide location-aware services to your phone—across its 254 US stores today. iBeacons, which uses low-power Bluetooth transmitters dotted around stores, was announced with the arrival of iOS 7. But while it’s been possible for a while, Apple will, unsurprisingly,…

How to make your neighbors’ Christmas lights flicker inside your head

Feeling Scrooge-y? Here’s a basic way to be judgmental about your local Christmas decorations. Not only are you up in other people’s business, even the act of scrutiny is as obnoxious as it is possible to be — it literally involves sticking your tongue out at people. These days, some people use LED (light emitting…

This Is What Deforestation Looks Like From Space

The city of Boca do Acre is a beautiful place to live, almost completely covered by the Amazon Rainforest—for now. Because you shouldn’t be fooled by the pretty colors in this image: it actually reveals the rapid rate of deforestationin the area. It’s not the first example of deforestation visualization we’ve seen, but it is…

It’s a Photoshop Party and We’re Fixing All the Movies!

GET YOUR PHOTOSHOP READY, PEOPLE. It’s time to play a game. Have you ever been watching a movie and thought, “This would be better with robots/Muppets/sharks/animation/lasers/space ships/Tom Hiddleston/zombies/as an 18th-century period drama miniseries”? Truth bomb: You were totally right. Today, we’re taking those imaginary movies in our heads — whether it’s a mashup of a…

Google Glass Is So Helpful It Could Reveal How Awful Your Life Is

Google Glass has the potential to be the ultimate personal assistant: a little helper, always in the corner of your eye, keeping you abreast of your day-to-day life. Your humdrum, mediocre, monotonous, depressing life. It might tell you where you can get take-out when it realizes you don’t much like cooking for one; remind you…

This is why advertising works — even when you think it doesn’t

Are you unfazed by ads? Annoyed by them? Do you simply “edit them out”? It doesn’t matter what the answer is, because they probably work anyway. Advertising doesn’t have to be good, it has to rely on the “mere-exposure effect.” Does something have to be good for you to like it? No. It just has…

Verizon’s LTE Just Got Three Times Faster in a Bunch of Big Cities

Last year, Verizon bought $3.6 billion worth of spectrum, and now it’s finally making use of it: its LTE coverage just got three times faster in some big cities. While the Big Red began the roll-out last month in New York, it’s now quietly switched on its new Band 4 frequencies in cities including Chicago,…

We already know the title of the next X-Men movie, coming in 2016!

Have they cast the not-Lex Luthor villain for Man of Steel 2? Katee Sackhoff is insistent about not being in Star Wars. Go behind the scenes of The Hobbit with three new videos. There’s Warcraft casting, and Orphan Black hints. Plus, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 cast breaks down the trailer. Spoilers now! X-Men: Apocalypse We…

Dream home: a floating glass house—or superhero headquarters

Otto reports that “Dutch firm Paul de Ruiter Architects has won the ARC13 architecture prize for their project Villa Kogelhof,” which is a great excuse to feature this awesome floating house, masterfully photographed by Jeroen Musch. The house is not only simply beautiful. It’s also carbon neutral, according to DesignBoom: Protected 25 hectare plot, a…

These Lamps Make Use of Your Camera Kit While It’s Idle

You love your camera kit. Of course you do, it’s beautiful! But wouldn’t it be great if you could make use of it—by which we mean, well, look at it—while it wasn’t in use? That’s where Phlite might just come in. The idea is that Phlite transforms your camera gear into a desk, table or…