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These fish could be harbingers of a major human health crisis

Bad news, everyone. Researchers have discovered that 15% of the coral trout living in Australia’s great Barrier Reef are suffering from what’s been described as a scalier version of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. That’s unsettling for a number of reasons, but there are two big ones that should immediately give you pause.…

AT&T will shut down its whole 2G network by 2017. [WSJ]

How To Defeat Your Enemies on the Internet

The internet began as a pure place, free of malice and bad manners. Today, rudeness and horror abound. From friends you know and people you’ve never met, abuse comes in many forms. Maybe it’s a nasty comment on a Facebook photo. Maybe it’s an insulting tweet. Maybe it’s writing “FUCK U SLUT” on your wall…

The Singularity is Sexy: The Loveliest Robot and Cyborg Art [NSFW]

We’re all scared of killer robots, but deep down we hope that one day our robot creations will be our friends. And lovers. There’s something disturbing about the notion of a robot sex slave, but we like to imagine that one day robots will love us of their own free will. And that some of…

Robots and Cyborgs gallery #2

“Gynoid #11” by Hajime Sorayama, via Miscellaneous Pics “Gynoids” by Hajime Sorayama, via Miscellaneous Pics “Heart Gynoid” by Dan Redding, Fine Art America “Machinery Freedom and Visual Literature by Jeffery Scott, via Factory 1019 Robot Girl by CK, via Fembots are Sexy by Laughing in the Mechanism, via Asphyxium and Fembots are Sexy Sorayama-Esque Robot…

This Hot Wheels Elite Ferrari 412 T2 Is Your Vroom-Vroom Deal of the Day

I had a decent Hot Wheels collection back in the day. Even had one of those garages with the little plastic trays for storing them. Hundreds of cars easily collected and thrown around the room. My own personal use for them usually evolved beyond the race track to alien cars that could speak and fight…

Read Carl Sagan’s letter (politely) telling Warner Bros. their Contact script sucked

You may have recently encountered Carl Sagan’s 1954 reading list out in the internet. But the Library of Congress has posted some much more interesting papers from the scientist, novelist and all around fascinating guy: a draft of the 1995 letter he sent to Warner Brothers about the adaptation of Contact. The first two pages…

Can “cliodynamics” help historians predict future unrest?

Unlike physicists and chemists, historians have been unable to formulate grand equations or immutable laws. The trends of history, it would seem, are outside the scope of reproducible science. But a new discipline called “cliodynamics” is looking to change all that. After studying and mapping key indicators of history, University of Connecticut’s Peter Turchin believes…

Assemble This Strikingly Spartan Lamp Any Way You Want To

There’s elegance in simplicity, and with this DIY, multi-configuration lamp, you can decide what kind of elegant simplicity is just right for you. Dino Sanchez’s lamp kit aims to give you that pleasure of putting things together with your hands without having to sift through a bunch of non-nonsensical IKEA-like instructions. With just a Phillips-head…

The Real Reason Why Mondo’s Posters Look So Much Cooler Than Regular Movie Posters

The genius of Mondo’s posters is the way they make us see familiar science fiction and fantasy classics anew. They take the images that we’ve grown up with, and reimagine them. Sometimes with minimalism, sometimes with incredible ornateness. What’s the secret of Mondo‘s success? We sat down with creative director Justin Ishmael and poster artist…

Samsung thinks kids call the iPhone Home Button a “Bellybutton.” What the hell is going on in that courtroom? [Twitter]

A stylish film about what happens when Superman’s dog goes to the bathroom

Well, I didn’t anticipate writing that headline this morning, but Brett Underhill’s sleek (albeit scatological) short about the bodily functions of Superman’s dog Krypto forced my hand. Explains Underhill of Superman’s Best Friend, “After a long day working two jobs, Superman’s duties never seem to end when Krypto decides that this must be the place.”…

Proof That Futurama Is the Smartest Show on Television

Good news, everyone! It’s the Futurama appreciation episode. We pay tribute to our favorite moments in the series, and talk about other scifi comedy TV shows you can watch when you’ve watched every Futurama episode twelve times. Bay Area Science Festival director Kishore Hari helps us (and several volunteers) act out the solution to the…

Built-In Cutting Board Drawer Is a Secret Place To Slice and Dice

When it was time for Serena Thompson—a contributing editor at Country Living Magazine—to upgrade her farmhouse kitchen, she wanted to find ways to maximize the space while still keeping it functional. Which led to the creation of this fantastic cutting board drawer that sits atop a second bag-lined drawer for catching food scraps. You will…

What the Internet and Modern Medicine Really Cost Us

So we may not have gotten the future we wanted with flying cars, robot butlers, and vacations on the moon. But we did end up with fantastic advances in science and modern medicine, and the internet. However, there was a catch. A very costly addition to the fine print that proves you don’t get something…

10 Greatest Unintentionally Hilarious Lines from Science Fiction and Fantasy

One of the great joys of watching science fiction and fantasy is to appreciate the unintentionally hilarious lines that come out of people’s mouths sometimes. It’s inevitable that when you’re exploring mind-expanding premises and weird worlds, you’re bound to run into some really insane conversations. Sometimes our favorite movies and TV shows feature some hideously…

Home on a Hairpin Turn: Needs More Hazard Lights

Peru’s 2.8x Architects took on a challenge with the Mirador House—how do you build something beautiful when the land you have to work with is an uneven plot situated on a steep bend? The design they went with is a airy terraced home perfectly positioned into a difficult piece of land just east of Lima.…

Why Did Dog Thefts Jump 32% Last Year?

From the ASPCA, we received this piece of alarming news: Pet theft is on the rise. The American Kennel Club, which has been tracking pet thefts since 2007, reported a 32% increase in dog thefts last year. While some animals are snatched from their yards or during home invasions, opportunistic thieves most commonly steal dogs…

Zombie HP TouchPad Gets Android Jellybean Before Almost Every Android Tablet

Unless you’ve got a Google Nexus 7, you’re going to be waiting a while for the official release of Jelly Bean for your tablet. Which is why it’s a little surprising—and dare we say funny—that it’s already popped up on HP’s aborted TouchPad If you’re the proud owner of a TouchPad you can get Jelly…

WOLVERINES! The very first Red Dawn footage is out

We’re not sure what to think about the remake of Red Dawn. The movie was plagued with issues (the villains changed from the Chinese to the North Koreans following a crapload of controversy) and shelved for years, but now it’s coming out and this is the very first look at the footage from the flick.…