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This Lego Recreation of Fallingwater Is Your Deal of the Day

When Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater was completed in 1937, it was both an artistic accomplishment and a marvel of engineering. The residence’s design—set above a waterfall—is meant to evoke harmony between house and nature, and it achieves that through cantilevered floors supported by reinforced concrete, a technology that was relatively new at the time. The…

Tech News Kif Leswing May 3 '13

Iron Man 3 Review: More Human, Less Soul

The third Iron Man could have been one of two movies. It could have gone on a light and self-referential victory lap of the Ocean’s Thirteen variety. Or it could have decided that after two outings—one great, the other basically good enough—we had enough foundation with the characters to really dig in. Either might have…

Reviews Kyle Wagner May 3 '13

They mocked her “science fantasy.” Then she wrote Empire Strikes Back.

May the Fourth! Tomorrow’s the day we celebrate all things Star Wars — which makes it the perfect day to recognize one of the great unsung contributors to the galaxy far, far away: Leigh Brackett wrote the first script draft of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and her contributions helped make the saga epic.…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders May 3 '13

DC redesigned He-Man, and holy Orko does he look terrible

I’ve been informed by my bosses at io9 that an article consisting of nothing but the vilest profanity I can think of is inappropriate for some reason, so let me only state the facts: For issue #4 of their Masters of the Universe comic, DC has redesigned He-Man’s iconic look. Care to check it out?…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken May 3 '13

Tentacle Art That Will Wrap All The Way Around Your Mind

Tentacles! They are the prehensile, snakelike limbs of our dreams. Their coiled shiny shapes slither through our imaginations. And now, a brand new art show, curated by Star Wars superfan Bonnie Burton, celebrates them like never before. Check out some great images! The art show, called simply “Tentacles!”, opens May 4 at Ltd. Art Gallery…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 3 '13

8 Totally Bizarre Celebrity Apps With No Reason to Exist

Celebrities endorsing products in weird, non-sensical combinations isn’t anything new. Ozzy Osbourne, for instance, hocked I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and Kiss wanted you to rest for eternity in your very own Kiss Kasket. But those were the dark ages. The dawn of the smartphone gave celebs an even easier, more intimate way to…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg May 3 '13

The scientist who decided what you’ll eat and whether you’ll like it

Rose Marie Pangborn has almost certainly decided what you’re going to eat today. Possibly it’ll be a soda. Maybe it will be potato chips. It could be some candy. Whatever it was, her work made it possible to understand what you’ll taste, and how much you’ll like it. Rose Marie Valdes Pangborn was born in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 3 '13

Own a Piece of Design History With Braun’s Re-Released ET66 Calc

If Braun’s ET66 calculator looks oddly familiar, like you’ve used it before, you probably have. Originally released in 1987, the ET66 shed the sliding switches of its predecessors, the ET22 released in 1976 and the ET44 released in 1978, and became an icon of product design. So much so that the iPhone’s original calculator app…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski May 3 '13

Motion Control Is Awesome for Surgeons (Or Anyone with Bloody Hands)

High fidelity motion control is awesome, but for most of us it’s not quite essential. For surgeons and murders(?) though, a motion-controlled interface like this one could be super useful. Making use of the awesome Leap Motion, Scopis Medical has developed the first hands-off surgical navigation system for use in the operating rooms of the…

Tech News Eric Limer May 3 '13

Urville: The Booming Metropolis Inside an Autistic Artist’s Mind

Spending a decade (or two) on a project isn’t uncommon amongst urban planners. Gilles Trehin is one of them. Except in Trehin’s case, the project is entirely fictional, and the scale is monumental. Trehin has devoted the past twenty years to designing Urville, a city of twelve million on an imaginary European island. He started…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan May 3 '13

Oxford has a bell that’s been ringing for 173 years

A bell has been ringing at Oxford for nearly two hundred years. Because no one is willing to stop the bell, and the demonstration that it represents, no one knows the exact mechanism that’s making it ring. Learn of the mysteries of the Oxford Electric Bell. The Oxford Electric Bell works using the same basic…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 3 '13

Your Guide To Watching this Weekend’s Halley’s Comet Meteor Shower

In the early morning hours of Sunday, May 5, debris from Halley’s Comet will light up the sky in this year’s Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Here’s everything you need to know to spot as many meteors as possible. Above: Halley’s Comet, as photographed by NASA in 1986 Halley’s Comet won’t make another appearance in our…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez May 3 '13

The Bad Lip-Reading Dead are so much more fun than The Walking Dead

We’ve shown you the wonders of “Bad Lip Reading” before, but pelase let me assure, that there has never been a better, worthier BLR target than The Walking Dead TV series. We need to get these guys to redub the entire series. Or at least just the zombies. And Andrea. Please, god, the zombies and…

io9 Rob Bricken May 3 '13

Color-Changing Gloves Alert Lab Workers To Invisible Toxins

The trickiest part of avoiding exposure to toxic substances is that they’re often invisible, odorless, and undetectable to our five senses. And as an alternative to expensive detectors and other electronic sensors, researchers at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Modular Solid State Technologies EMFT in Regensburg have created a simple pair of gloves that turn…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski May 3 '13

Super Thin Graphene Solar Panels Could Pave the Way for Powered Paint

Covering any and all things with solar panels would be an awesome way to get power, but the bulk and expense of the tech we’ve got today makes it a little less than practical. But wonder-material-at-large graphene is shaking up the scene with ultra-thin solar panels and, maybe someday, solar-powered paint. Graphene is plenty impressive…

Tech News Eric Limer May 3 '13

A Great Video That Reminds Us Short Fiction is SF’s Life Blood

It’s national short story month — and to celebrate, here are acclaimed writers Elizabeth Hand and Timothy Zahn, plus editor Ellen Datlow, to explain why short fiction keeps science fiction awesome. Zahn’s description of the role of editors in shaping his early work is particularly lovely.

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders May 3 '13

Concept art of the Superman Lives villains Nic Cage never fought

Nic Cage as Superman, Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen, Courtney Cox would play Lois Lane and Tim Allen as Brainiac. Tim Allen. This was Tim Burton’s Superman Lives. And here’s our best look yet at the movie’s villains. Conceptual artist Rolf Mohr was hired to bring the characters of Tim Burton’s Superman Lives to the…

Movies Meredith Woerner May 3 '13

NASA’s Student-Designed Explorer Launches Today

Whether you think it’s our fault or not, the simple fact of the matter is that the Earth is heating up—so much so that last summer’s heat caused surface melting along an unprecedented 97 percent of the Greenland ice sheet. Now, researchers are turning to an ever-ready solar rover to survey the damage. Dubbed the…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola May 3 '13

Watch ISS commander Chris Hadfield play with gas masks in space

I just cannot get enough of astronaut Chris Hadfield. Above is his brand new video from aboard the International Space Station, in which he has fun expelling oxygen from an expired quick-don mask tank. And sings.

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy May 3 '13

What You Should Know About the Low-carb Ketogenic Diet

Though it was originally developed to treat patients with epilepsy, interest in the ketogenic diet has taken off in recent years as we’ve learned more about its therapeutic and health benefits. Here’s what you need to know about ‘keto’ and why some health experts believe it’s good for your body — especially your brain. Fasting…

io9 George Dvorsky May 3 '13

This Lego Recreation of Fallingwater Is Your Deal of the Day

Iron Man 3 Review: More Human, Less Soul

They mocked her “science fantasy.” Then she wrote Empire Strikes Back.

DC redesigned He-Man, and holy Orko does he look terrible

Tentacle Art That Will Wrap All The Way Around Your Mind

8 Totally Bizarre Celebrity Apps With No Reason to Exist

The scientist who decided what you’ll eat and whether you’ll like it

Own a Piece of Design History With Braun’s Re-Released ET66 Calc

Motion Control Is Awesome for Surgeons (Or Anyone with Bloody Hands)

Urville: The Booming Metropolis Inside an Autistic Artist’s Mind

Oxford has a bell that’s been ringing for 173 years

Your Guide To Watching this Weekend’s Halley’s Comet Meteor Shower

The Bad Lip-Reading Dead are so much more fun than The Walking Dead

Color-Changing Gloves Alert Lab Workers To Invisible Toxins

Super Thin Graphene Solar Panels Could Pave the Way for Powered Paint

A Great Video That Reminds Us Short Fiction is SF’s Life Blood

Concept art of the Superman Lives villains Nic Cage never fought

NASA’s Student-Designed Explorer Launches Today

Watch ISS commander Chris Hadfield play with gas masks in space

What You Should Know About the Low-carb Ketogenic Diet

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