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The brain disorder that makes the world into a bad claymation film

The eye is just a pinhole that leaks light onto a bunch of reactive cells. It’s the brain that “sees” things. And if something goes wrong in the brain, all kinds of things can appear distorted. But one particular crossed wire brings moving objects to a standstill. It’s called akinetopsia. The first documented case of…

Watch This Wedding Photographer’s Hair Catch on Fire (Because Apparently It’s Fun)

Photographer Jacki Bruniquel’s hair got too close to a candle and caught fire while shooting Murray and Emma Burton’s wedding ceremony. Thankfully, one of the groomsmen quickly ran after her to extinguish the flames and everyone started to laugh. Because, let’s admit it, people burning is fun. At least in South Africa. The moral of…

Does Your Bottle Cap Fire Off a Cannon When You Open It?

UK booze brand Strongbow has designed what it’s touting as the world’s first digital bottle cap that doubles as a rudimentary remote. Using RFID technology, the StartCap can do everything from turning off the lights to powering up your stereo when you crack open a cold one. When the bottle cap is removed a hidden,…

First trailer for Now You See Me asks: What if David Blaine started a magic gang of thieves?

Can modern day magic ever really be “cool” again? The art form has been pretty brutalized by folks like Criss Angel and David Blaine, and yet Hollywood still thinks they can presto-changeo modern perception into some kind of “Oceans 11 with magic” movie with the upcoming Now You See Me. But can it work? Jesse…

All hail the world’s greatest Agent Coulson action figure, i.e. the world’s greatest action figure

The fine folks at Hot Toys – who I am completely convinced have been performing some kind of dark, ritual sacrifice to gain the power to sculpt such uncannily realistic likeness over the years – have revealed the latest installment in their 12-inch Avengers Movie Masterpiece toyline, and they’ve saved the best for last (assuming…

Is This an Over-the-Top Watch Winder, a Spaceship, Or a Time Machine?

Reminiscent of a NASA zero-gravity trainer, or the giant machine that catapulted Jodie Foster’s character across the universe in Contact, this mesmerizing spinning contraption is actually a watch winder from Döttling. For a mere $15,000 it keeps your kinetically wound watch powered and entertains at the same time. Kinetic-automatic movement-powered watches wind themselves from the…

Rob Bricken joins io9’s staff, and even Mr. Potato Head is marginally excited

Greetings, denizens of io9! I’m Rob Bricken, a new Senior Editor here (I’m the one on the right, for the record). You may or may not know me as the former editor of ToplessRobot.com, which you may or may not have read, and which you may or may not have liked. If you did like…

Anonymous Is Losing Its War Against Israel

While shells and interceptor missiles started flying between Israel and Gaza, Anonymous did what it does best: swore vengeance against a superpower. It had some swagger at first. But as the days go by, we’re seeing a weak, confused Anon, not a group of Internet freedom fighters. https://gizmodo.com/anonymous-targets-israel-by-taking-down-hundreds-of-web-5961399 If you need proof, just look at…

A microscopic organism that eats DNA instead of having sex

For the past 80 million years, a tiny water-borne organism called the bdelloid rotifer has lived and thrived without the benefits of sexual reproduction. Now, while asexual reproduction is nothing new to science, the way that these rotifers go about it is particularly unique: They eat DNA found in organic debris. The discovery shows that…

Rumor: OS X 10.9 Will Get Siri and Apple Maps Integration

Apple is reportedly testing Siri and Apple Maps integration for the next-gen version of its operating system, OS X 10.9. It makes perfect sense that they’d test two marquee (if controversial) features on the desktop. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be in the final product. Mountain Lion, of course, already has dictation. Rolling Siri into…

In this species of frog, males rear the young… in their mouths

Happy Monday, people. We hope you’re ready for some weird, because we’re about to bring it in the form of a wriggling frog-sac full of tinier frogs. First discovered in the forests of South America by Charles Darwin, Rhinoderma darwinii employ one of the most interesting child-rearing techniques we’ve ever seen. The male members of…

Intel CEO Paul Otellini Will Retire This May After 40 Year Tenure

At this point, there aren’t that many people who’ve worked at Intel as long as CEO Paul Otellini has. But after 40 years at the 45-year old chip maker—the last eight of them as CEO—he’s hanging up his stirrups this May. His timing couldn’t be better. Otellini ushered Intel through some of its most profitable…

Someone actually sounds like they have a legitimate shot at directing Star Wars: Episode VII!

Check out the first teaser trailer for Game of Thrones season three! Also, there are tons of new images and videos from the set of Thor: The Dark World. Transformers 4 might head to China. Chris Pine talks Kirk’s journey in Star Trek Into Darkness. Plus Doctor Who, Fringe, and more! Spoilers from here on…

Crystal Meth Could Stave Off the Flu

As winter draws in, the threat of flu looms large. But getting a preventative shot might not be the best line of defense any more—because new research suggests a small dose of crystal meth might be effective, too. https://gizmodo.com/human-mutation-is-what-makes-the-flu-deadly-5896377 Researchers, from the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan and the University of Regensburg in Germany,…

OK Slingshot Man, This Poison Arrow Is Officially Going Too Far

Watching watermelons and sheets of plywood meet their demise at the hands of a twisted slingshot creation is entertaining. But Joerg Sprave’s latest creation, a custom crossbow bolt that’s been modified to deliver a lethal dose of poison, is a little disheartening since it was created for killing, not just smashin’ stuff. And it goes…

Netflix is now available on Nintendo’s Wii U despite rumors it’d be delayed ’til December. Hurry up, Hulu. [CNET]

Nokia Leak Suggests There’s a Windows Phone 7.x Between 7.8 and 8

We’ve been expecting Windows Phone 7 to halt dead at 7.8, leaving users with older handsets in the lurch. But now a leak from Nokia suggests there’s life in the old OS yet. https://gizmodo.com/sorry-but-microsoft-screwing-windows-phone-fans-is-the-5919993 A leaked slide, which has popped up on WParea (in German) hints at the existence of WinPho 7.x, presumably a further…

The Nexus 4 Does Have LTE, It’s Just Not Switched On (Updated)

Following that iFixit teardown of the Nexus 4, it looks like LG and Google did kit out their new flagship with LTE after all—at least, there’s a Qualcomm multi-band LTE chip in there—it’s just not active. But why whack in a 4G chip and not bother to use it? https://gizmodo.com/nexus-4-teardown-what-the-guts-look-like-5961357 There are a couple of…

Amazon Drops Monthly Prime Subscriptions After Just Two Weeks

Amazon has axed its new $8-per-month Prime subscription plan, which placed the retailer as a more direct competitor to Hulu and Netflix, after just a fortnight. Speaking to All Things D, an Amazon spokesperson explained: “We regularly test new options for our customers. At this time, we’ve completed our test and are no longer signing…

Over 44 million hacking attempts have been made on Israeli government web sites since last Wednesday. Ouch. [Reuters]