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New Star Trek comic to explain those darned 1990s Eugenics Wars

Khan Noonien Singh was truly the greatest genetically enhanced soldier who fought in the Eugenic Wars of the 1990s — the only problem is that no one seems to remember them happening. IDW will try to correct this problem by releasing Star Trek: Khan, a comic that explains whatever the hell happened. Regular readers might…

Broken Satellite? The Next Generation Canadarm Will Fix What Ails You

Commander Chris Hadfield may be the new poster boy for the Canadian Space Agency, but before the Mustachioed Ontarian hit the scene that crown was held by the supremely versatile Canadarm telerobotic system. Now a new generation of robo-arms are taking to the skies, where they’ll act as orbiting satellite mechanics. The Canadarm is a…

Astronomers have discovered a blue planet beyond our solar system

In a major breakthrough, researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope have seen the true color of a planet outside our solar system. HD 189733b, as the gas giant is called, is blue. A deep, vibrant, cobalt blue. And just wait til you hear why it’s that color. An international team of researchers led by Oxford…

We asked the writer of Sharknado some very serious questions

Tonight, Syfy debuts the greatest shark disaster epic since Sharktopus. It’s called Sharknado. And yeah, it’s about a tornado — full of sharks. Thunder Levin wrote the script, and we caught up with him to ask some philosophical questions about this important film that forces us to question the very nature of reality itself. io9:…

Nokia Lumia 1020: A Great Camera in a Real Phone

Phones in cameras are so good now. Sort of. They’re good when you compare their output to the smudgy, iffy images we put up with so many years, but an S95 can still blow them out of the skies. Maybe that changes with the Nokia Lumia 1020, which we’ll meet today. The camera is 41…

An Excerpt from Dave Goldberg’s “Universe in the Rearview Mirror”

The day is finally here! My new book, The Universe in the Rearview Mirror, is being released today! Many of the topics in the book were prompted by all of the great questions from the io9 community, and I wanted to thank you again by offering you this free excerpt. Also, starting right now (2pm…

The Mastermind of 9/11 Kept Sane in Jail by Designing a Vacuum Cleaner

Besides being waterboarded and kept awake for 180 hours, there’s not an awful lot to do when you’re in the custody of the CIA for orchestrating the biggest terrorist attack in American history. So after he spilled all the secrets he could spill, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed did what anyone in his position would…

Perfect Spacewalk Photos of the Real Luca Skywalker

No doubt: the following spacewalk photos are the best I have seen in a very long time. I just cannot stop staring at the stunning photos captured during the spacewalk of ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA’s Chris Cassidy, on the 9th of July, released by the European Space Agency today on its webpage and…

These RPG Campaigns Will Keep You Busy All Summer Long

The best way to spend summer vacation is playing tabletop RPGs with your friends, obviously. Whether you’re into swords and wizards or prefer technomancers and secret agents, here are eight awesome RPG campaigns to occupy those hazy afternoons and summer nights. The eight role-playing systems here run the gamut, from old-school simulationist dice-fests to more…

I dearly love Joss Whedon, but everything Buffy the Vampire Slayer did, Xena: Warrior Princess did first. Read the rest of this epic comment here.

Watch Cities Rise Decade by Decade in These Amazing 3D Animations

It’s hard to imagine that the vast skylines of our major cities were once empty space and unused tracts of land. But the rapid urban growth over the last century is nothing short of astounding, especially when condensed down to simple two minute animations. The 3D flyover renderings were created by a real-estate company called…

Why does this fire keep burning, even after you smother it?

Want to see a fire that’s so determined that it will burn merrily away even though you rob it of oxygen? Then grab a big block of dry ice and some magnesium and prepare for horror! …and cool visual effects. Dry ice, which is carbon dioxide in its frozen form, is generally a great way…

Everything This Electric Bike Needs Is Crammed Into Its Front Left Fork

It’s usually pretty easy to spot an electric bike coming down the road. Besides the lack of pedaling, they also feature over-sized frames packed with batteries, or bulbous hubs on the side of the wheels for the electric motor. But not Electrolyte’s e-bikes. All of the required components—including the battery, electronics, and electric motor—are hidden…

Oh, good, Day of the Dead is getting remade… again

George Romero’s Day of the Dead didn’t exactly burn up the box office when it came outin 1985, but it was a smash compared to the very loosely adapted “remake,” which was released straight-to-DVD in 2008. But someone is remaking it again, so maybe the third time will be the charm (probably not, though). The…

Microsoft’s Corporate Shakeup Further Merges Windows Products

In a move that only further closes the gap between the quickly merging Windows worlds, Microsoft has shuffled itself around in what Steve Ballmer terms “a far-reaching realignment of the company.” More specifically, Terry Myerson—formerly of Windows phone fame specifically—will be heading up the entire OS department, including Windows and Xbox software and systems. Additionally,…

10 Science Fiction TV Spin-offs That Are Great in their Own Right

Soon enough, we’re going to be watching spin-offs of The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time, proving that too much of a good thing is never enough. Spin-offs often seem like pointless cash grabs — but there have been some fantastic exceptions. Here are 10 science fiction and fantasy spin-offs that actually rule. 10.…

9 Vintage Vending Machines From a Time When They’d Sell Anything

Vending machines didn’t always just sling soda and smokes. Did you know the automated peddlers have been around for about two thousand years? In fact, the very first vending machine was invented by first-century mathematician Hero of Alexandria to dispense holy water using a series of valves, pulleys, and weights. And they’ve been stuffed with…

Sophisticated chatbot poses as teenage girl to lure pedophiles

Spanish researchers have developed an advanced — and extremely convincing — chatbot that poses as a 14-year-old girl. Called Negobot, the system will help authorities detect sexual predators in chatrooms and social networks. To sniff out pedophilic behavior, the “conversational agent” utilizes natural language processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and even game theory — a…

Prepare for a Nerf apocalypse with the new Zombie Strike line!

Who says the zombie apocalypse can’t be fun? io9 is proud to bring you the exclusive reveal of Nerf’s awesome new Zombie Strike line, featuring shotguns, crossbow, swords and more. All aspiring zombie hunters are going to want to get their hands on these ASAP, so check out the entire 2013-14 line-up! Above is the…

Holy crap this waterspout is enormous

A positively massive and downright otherworldy waterspout vortex formed over Tampa Bay, Florida on Tuesday. WDRB meteorologist Jeremy Kappell shared the above photograph to Facebook. Said one commenter: “Thats freakin aliens stealing our water………” In fact, waterspouts are just non-supercell tornados that form over water. Via the American Meteorological Society: Waterspouts occur most frequently in…