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A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost talk about the magic of menstruation

The second episode of Being Human’s new season didn’t really need to be a whole episode — but that’s OK, because it did have this completely batshit insane scene. In which a bunch of supernatural creatures talk about the magic behind the menses. And now we all have to live with that. Spoilers ahead… Overall,…

Television Meredith Woerner Jan 21 '14

A broken billboard looks psychedelically drugged out

It’s okay. It’s not just you. You didn’t pop a pill you shouldn’t have before your afternoon coffee. You’re not in a dream world. The billboard actually looks like that in real life and apparently it’s on purpose, the broken electronic billboard is being tested for all working colors. I see acid. The picture, recently…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 21 '14

The Drone, Writ Long

The latest Elizabeth Velvdon track is quite distinct from other recent work of hers. Where her “The Pure Water, Filled with Light”” was a solo piano work marked by brief moments of melodic fragments and sudden stoppages, her “The Frost Is Setting In” is a deep, “longform” drone that tests the listener’s patience at the…

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum Jan 21 '14

Sometimes you need to do cosplay thousands of feet in the air

This GoPro picture of costumed skydiving captures exactly how I feel some days on the internet. This photo by Mike Escamilla is from the GoPro photo website. (Spotted on Abduzeedo)

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 21 '14

City Siren

The Outdoor Public Warning System siren at the corner of 21st Ave and Geary in San Francisco.

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum Jan 21 '14

Chopin Installation

Wall text from Jason Lazarus exhibit at Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum Jan 21 '14

First teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain attacks New York City

You’ve seen the rat covered viral videos promoting the infestation that is soon to hit in Guillermo del Toro’s vampire TV series, The Strain. Now check out the first “official” trailer. This is the first vampire show in ages that you won’t want to miss. Set in New York City, this television show will be…

Trailers Meredith Woerner Jan 21 '14

The watermelon might be the best thing to see explode in slow motion

What’s your favorite thing to see explode? Never thought about it? How could you. I think it might have to be the watermelon The hard outer shell of the fruit makes for perfect fragmentation, the watermelon’s shape holds an explosive pretty darn well and its red flesh makes for colorfully gory splashes (especially against the…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 21 '14

Just how much science should science fiction have?

Just how much real science should science fiction use? The iceberg theory of science fiction may hold the answer. Molecular biologist Jeremy Ellis and sci-fi author Scott Sigler, who have collaborated on some science fiction projects, responded to a reader question from PeteRR, on how much of the scientific details an author should share with…

io9 Ria Misra Jan 21 '14

So now Homeland Security can detain suspected movie pirates?

This story is all kinds of weird. A guy wearing Google Glass in an Ohio movie theater was detained for hours by agents from . . . the Department of Homeland Security. What? Was this guy a terrorist with awful taste in consumer electronics? Nope. He was suspected of piracy. OK, OK I get that…

Movies Annalee Newitz Jan 21 '14

This Smartphone-Powered Microscope Now Even Works Underwater

Sometimes, you never knew you wanted something until someone drops it in your lap. That’s exactly what Bodelin Technologies has done with their smartphone-powered ProScope Micro Mobile microscope. This genius little thing now works underwater. Truth be told, the ProScope Micro Mobile has been around for a while, but this upgrade opens it up for…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jan 21 '14

Watch 60 years of global warming in 15 seconds

NASA has released a new visualization showing how global temperatures have risen since 1950. It’s pretty much what you’d expect given that the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is currently higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. This visualization was put together by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).…

io9 George Dvorsky Jan 21 '14

Mysterious 3,650 year-old pharaoh and “lost dynasty” found in Egypt

In the centuries leading up to the New Kingdom of Egypt that rose in 1500 BCE, many kingdoms in the region warred with each other. Now archaeologists have discovered evidence of one of these lost kingdoms, complete with the tomb of one of its leaders. Pharaoh Senebkay ruled a kingdom that existed centuries before Egypt…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 21 '14

World’s first front flip forward bike flip trick is a real spin cycle

It’s amazing the new tricks that people can just invent with their bikes. Once you think that everything has been done before, someone decides to murder the laws of physics. This new trick though might be more impressive because I’m getting the spins just looking at it. How does the rider manage to land such…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 21 '14

This pole-climbing rheopectic fluid might one day keep you alive

There are some kinds of sludge, like quicksand, that you sink into. There are some kinds of sludge, like custard, you can walk on. And there are some kinds of sludge that just get stronger the more you stand on them. Are you about to step onto some suspicious sludge? I don’t judge you for…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jan 21 '14

Mud Wars, Sex in the Park, and Crimes Committed for Truffles

This week’s roundup includes sex, violence, and truffles—the last of which is not unlike the drug trade, with a surprisingly shady underside. So, without further ado, here’s this week’s R-rated landscape reads. Mud as a weapon of war The supply line for guerrilla fighters in Southern Vietnam included hundreds of miles of dirt roads nicknamed…

Tech News Sarah Zhang Jan 21 '14

Real-Life Locations That Would Make Badass Supervillain Lairs

If you’re a supervillain, one thing you need to think long and hard about is real estate. Where can you store all of your evil gadgets? How can you stay off of a superhero’s radar while remaining comfy? Where will the minions live? We have a few ideas based on real places from around the…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 21 '14

How Do We De-Suburbanize the Suburbs?

Phoenix, Arizona, is a famously fast-growing city. But, instead of growing up, the city has almost uniformly grown out, with terracotta-tiled subdivisions consuming the adjacent desert at a frightening rate: some estimates claim its suburbs grew an acre per hour during the early 2000s housing boom. A story on Marketplace discusses how Phoenix has been…

Tech News Alissa Walker Jan 21 '14

This Laser Bike Light Is Like a Bat Signal For Cyclists

Cyclists can adorn themselves from head to toe in flashing lights, but it’s still possible that pedestrians and drivers won’t see them until it’s too late. It’s a problem the Blaze Laserlight hopes to solve by projecting an early warning signal 16 to 20 feet ahead of a cyclist, so that others on the road…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jan 21 '14

A Smart (and Totally Unsolicited) Design For Obama’s Official Library

Last week, we asked you where you thought Obama’s forthcoming presidential library should be built: Chicago, Hawaii, or (psh) New York? Chicago was the popular winner, and now the first speculative design for a Chicago library has been published online. Michael Sorkin, a New York architect who has designed masterplans everywhere from Chicago to China,…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jan 21 '14

A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost talk about the magic of menstruation

A broken billboard looks psychedelically drugged out

The Drone, Writ Long

Sometimes you need to do cosplay thousands of feet in the air

City Siren

Chopin Installation

First teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain attacks New York City

The watermelon might be the best thing to see explode in slow motion

Just how much science should science fiction have?

So now Homeland Security can detain suspected movie pirates?

This Smartphone-Powered Microscope Now Even Works Underwater

Watch 60 years of global warming in 15 seconds

Mysterious 3,650 year-old pharaoh and “lost dynasty” found in Egypt

World’s first front flip forward bike flip trick is a real spin cycle

This pole-climbing rheopectic fluid might one day keep you alive

Mud Wars, Sex in the Park, and Crimes Committed for Truffles

Real-Life Locations That Would Make Badass Supervillain Lairs

How Do We De-Suburbanize the Suburbs?

This Laser Bike Light Is Like a Bat Signal For Cyclists

A Smart (and Totally Unsolicited) Design For Obama’s Official Library

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