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What’s the most overrated science fiction or fantasy movie?

There are so many classic science fiction and fantasy movies that have earned our love and respect, with their unforgettable characters and clever action. And then… there are the movies that somehow got a great rep that they didn’t quite deserve. What’s your pick for the most overrated SF movie? Please share your choice below…

Buy Popular Mechanics’ 1955 House of the Future For Only $1.8 Million

“I’m just completing a new house that is a mechanical masterpiece,” writes Popular Mechanics editor Thomas Stimson in a 1955 article proudly titled I Chose a Steel-Frame House. “The house has a steel frame like an office building. To a large extent it was put together with a welding torch instead of hammer and nails.”…

This amazing Optimus Prime painting was made in two and a half minutes

It was also made in eight months! That’s how long artist Robert Burden — whose amazing, intricate painting of classic toys are always wonderful to behold — took to create this giant masterpiece of the Autobot leader. Then it took over 2,000 photos to assemble this time-lapse video of the painting coming to life, which…

The Ultimate Video of People Being Idiots in Shopping Carts (Ouch)

Look at all the stupid people. I mean, there’s probably more to say here, about responsibility or exhibition of reckless behavior brought on by the wired age, but really, like… look at all these stupid people. Idiots, using shopping carts stupidly. Enjoy. [YouTube]

Oh my god we need this giant Kaiju skull from Pacific Rim immediately

First, that is one awesome-looking Guillermo del Toro monster. Second, it has been TOO DAMN LONG sense we’ve seen a new GDT monster with this eyeless esthetic and we’ve missed it. Pacific Rim, get here now. [via ComingSoon]

Google Play Music All Access Hands-On: All You Want (Minus Friends)

Today at its I/O developer’s conference, Google launched Google Play All Access, its long-anticipated subscription music service. I just spent some time exploring the on-demand catalog as well as its radio and music discovery features. The service’s UI is impressively fast and fluid. Indeed, it’s minimal in all the right ways. If only it wasn’t…

Karl Urban reveals the softie inside Star Trek’s Bones

Karl Urban is back as Leonard “Bones” McCoy, the curmudgeonly doctor with a heart of gold and a crap-load of sass, in Star Trek Into Darkness. How does one man spout so many outlandish metaphors without getting kicked off the deck of the Enterprise? We asked Karl Urban, and he told us about delivering a…

The BUM Seat: Style, Portability, and Charity for Your Butt

It’s almost camping season. Is your tukus prepared? If not, here’s the BUM stool, a stylish chair created by BAGGU and UM Project especially for Reclaim x2, a Hurricane Sandy relief fund created by local designers. Quick disclaimer: at $300, these stools are ridiculously expensive. But we love them for their stylishness and portability, and…

A Human Stem Cell Has Been Cloned For the First Time

Almost two decades ago, scientists succeeded in cloning Dolly the sheep. Now, the same process has been allowed scientists to clone embryonic stem cells from fetal human skin cells for the very first time. There are no more barriers between us and creating human clones. Cloning in and of itself has been within our reach…

Federal Judge: Only Powered-Off Cell Phones Deserve Privacy Protections

A federal magistrate judge in New York recently ruled that cell phone location data deserves no protection under the Fourth Amendment and that accordingly, the government can engage in real-time location surveillance without a search warrant. In an opinion straight from the Twilight Zone, magistrate judge Gary Brown ruled two weeks ago that “cell phone…

These monkeys don’t think much of Shyamalan’s After Earth either

A new clip from M. Night Shayamalan’s After Earth titled “Monkey Discovery” has been released. In it, young Jaden Smith does indeed discover a monkey, who is extremely upset at being forced to star in an M. Night Shyamalan film. Justly so, I think. Meanwhile, I think we can safely say that Shyamalan hasn’t lost…

Arcade Alarm Clock: The Konami Code Won’t Buy You More Shuteye

It might have given you invincibility or unlimited ammo on the countless games that acknowledged it, but sadly the Konami code won’t buy you a single second of extra sleep on this custom Xronos alarm clock. But the large scoreboard-like LED display and use of authentic console buttons will have you wondering if you fell…

Everything Google Tried to Kill at Google I/O

Google just dropped a metric ton of Google on us. Sorting through it all, it’s clear that the company’s not just trying to put new goodness into the world; it’s trying to blow plenty of existing products and services out of the water. Here are all the things Google’s looking to unseat and uppercut into…

Watch a Caterpillar Transform Into a Butterfly From Inside the Cocoon

If you ever stared at a chrysalis as a kid, patiently waiting for a beautiful new butterfly to emerge, you were probably left wondering just what was going on inside there. Was the caterpillar reconfiguring itself like a Transformer? Was it morphing like a Terminator? Nobody knows—except now everyone does thanks to these fascinating micro-CT…

How did The CW become THE go-to network for fantastical television?

Not long ago, The CW seemed like the home of Gossip Girl and 90210, with one night of fantasy fare like Supernatural or Vampire Diaries. But this week, the network is airing finales of five genre shows. Season finales, not series. And next season, The CW adds four more SF/fantasy shows. And most of these…

Tony Stark one ups Justin Timberlake with “Suits That Fly”

This music parody video from wekejay of Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” has a ton of good in it: a spot-on Tony Stark, an excellent merging of the set from the original Timberlake video and the Stark Expo from Iron Man 2, Rhodey’s guest rap… It’s not just a clever video, the lyrics are pretty…

This Is How the Web Was Built, According To Google

It might seem impossible to comprehend the web existing before Google but it did! And the company built on search has had a significant impact on how the web looks and works today. During today’s I/O keynote, this little video was shown and it’s so disgustingly cute for such a nerdy topic that I just…

The new Google Play Music and Google Search are live in the Play Store right now!

Gripping Photos Capture the Mirror Worlds of North and South Korea

Architectural photographer Dieter Leistner was born the same year East Germany began construction on the Berlin Wall. He was 37 when it fell. Maybe that’s why his interest in North and South Korea feels so personal—he spent forty years in another divided country. Leistner’s new book, Korea – Korea, is a compendium of images that…

Spirit Foxes and Raunchy Demons in Japanese Netsuke Art

Japanese carved figurines, called netsuke, weren’t just cool works of art — they served a practical purpose as wardrobe accessories. A well-dressed Japanese man prior to the twentieth century could display his wealth and taste, with beautiful and intricate carvings of demons and cavorting spirits. Traditional Japanese clothing lacked pockets but a man still needed…