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This Guy Spent $16,000 On a Virtual Sword Before The Game Was Released

This man is holding an image of a sword that doesn’t exist in real life. In fact, it doesn’t even really exist on a virtual world—he paid $16,000 for a game sword that he can’t play yet. He got the virtual sword at an auction to celebrate the launch of a highly anticipated game called…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Dec 28

Take a psychedelic trip through 700 layers of the human brain

When I was in elementary school, I was obsessed with the Visible Human Project. The idea that a person could be frozen solid and subsequently sliced from head-to-toe, one-third of a millimeter at a time (a process known as cryosectioning) was almost too incredible for my adolescent brain to handle. It’s hard to imagine how…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 28

How to Disembowel 30 Salmon in Under a Minute

The world consumes more than 2 million metric tons of Salmon annually—both farmed and wild. That’s a lot of lox. And to get that much fish to market in a timely manner, one can’t gut them by hand. That’s why there’s the Gutmaster8000. To minimize spoilage and avoid the “fishy” smell that comes with it,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 28

Evidence of extraterrestrial life could be sitting on the Moon at this very moment

When you consider the utter vastness of space, it isn’t hard to accept that, somewhere out there, extraterrestrial life probably exists. That being said, one can just as soon reason that the Universe is so immense, the odds of us actually finding evidence for the existence of alien organisms are probably pretty slim. Given the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 28

Smack All SOPA Supporters With This Automated Robocall Service

This is going to feel good: now you can call all supporters of SOPA and PIPA, the dreadful US internet censorship laws, using a simple web site. Just record your very own message, pay some dollars and fire away. The service is called Reverse Robocall. It will robocall proponents of the Stop Online Privacy Act…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Dec 28

Would you buy a beautifully restored Blu-ray of Manos: The Hands of Fate?

Not only is Manos: The Hands of Fate widely considered one of the worst movies ever made, it’s also in terrible shape. The only version of Manos that pretty much anybody has ever seen is an nth-generation VHS dub that suffered tons of damage — and that includes the version lampooned by Mystery Science Theater…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 28

Supernatural flock of birds mourn dead North Korean despot Kim Jong-Il

As if the synchronized weeping and lachrymose snowstorms weren’t enough, North Korean state news is now reporting that divinely anointed flocks of magpies have been flocking to a monument of Kim Jong-Il’s father, Kim Il-sung. On December 18, a few dozen magpies landed near a memorial statue in Unsan county and just would not leave.…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Dec 28

The Best Rants of the Year

We really hated hated hated these things. Like, almost as much as we hate Nazis. That’s a lot of HATE. So we ranted about them. You should read these because… well, because these aggressions shall not stand, man. 1. PowerBalance Admits Their Wristbands Are a Scam I don’t think this would surprise anyone, but PowerBalance—manufacturers…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Dec 28

Martin Freeman reveals his first encounter with Gollum in The Hobbit!

A Community star might be in the new Evil Dead. What do action figures reveal about the plot of The Dark Knight Rises? Damon Lindelof breaks down the Alien connections in Prometheus. Plus lots more on Bryan Fuller’s Munsters reboot! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Prometheus. The Dark Knight Rises I can’t…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Dec 28

The Eye of Satan Is Watching You From Space

Repent, sinners! SATAN EXISTS! And his evil eye is looking at you from space! I mean, if there is an Eye of God* in space, there has to be an Eye of Satan in a permanent staring contest, right? At least, it looks like a really evil eye to me. It’s a photo of the…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Dec 28

I Want This 18th Century English Tower Turned Into Awesome Home

I always wanted to live in a lighthouse. Now I want to live in a lighthouse reformed like the Round Tower, this old English building that was restored and extended into a dream house by architects De Matos Ryan. Some historians say that the Round Tower started its life as a windmill circa 1790 on…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Dec 28

This Stupid Prada Phone Is the Best Looking Android I’ve Ever Seen

This is pathetic. Motorola and HTC, with their circus vixen’s arsenal of makeup slathered over Google’s native UI, ought to be ashamed. This idiotic LG/Prada luxury phone that nobody will buy has one thing going for it: it looks nice. The hardware is nothing special—black rectangle, tacky branded back, gloss, etc. A phone made for…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 27

Picture of the Day: December 27, 2011

BRAND NEW ISLAND | Volcanic eruption in the Red Sea creates a totally new island. Via Earth Observatory. Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 27

The most unusual sexual fetish also has the most ridiculous special effects [NSFW]

A woman is shrunk to the size of a doll to punish her for “unsanctioned fornication,” in this fantastic clip from the movie Cinderella 2000. It’s the year 2047 — yes, even though the movie has 2000 in the title — and sexual activity is strictly regulated by the government. Have sex with the wrong…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 27

Sony Needs to Revive This Gorgeous Sliding Radio As a Bluetooth Speaker

Sometimes Sony can make some questionable business decisions, but rarely am I able to fault them on design. Particularly back in the 1970s—just look at this cubic portable AM radio. As far as radios go today, a single set of sliders for volume and tuning are pretty low-tech. But were the TR-1825 resurrected as a…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Dec 27

Two millipede species have set up a 150 mile long insect demilitarized zone

The Australian island Tasmania is home to two species of millipedes. These insects only ever meet on a tiny, 300 feet wide patch of land running right down the island. It’s a bizarre arrangement, and it has biologists completely baffled. It’s not uncommon for two similar species to occupy territories that meet but don’t overlap…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Dec 27

Is dark energy changing over time?

Dark energy accounts for 70% of everything in the universe, and yet we know almost nothing about it. Now a new model meant to explain some impossibly massive galaxy clusters is here, to make dark energy even more fiendishly complex. We’re not here to dispute the existence of dark energy — for that discussion, check…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Dec 27

The Best Songs Ever Written About A Robot Friend

Grandaddy’s magnificent album from the year 2000, The Sophtware Slump, features a recurring character, a humanoid robot called Jed. After his creators tire of him, Jed gets drunk, and his system crashes. But first, he writes some poems. I love this fan-made video about Jed’s poetry, for the song “Jed’s Other Poem, Beautiful Ground.” And…

Tech News Mat Honan Dec 27

How does the second season of Syfy’s Being Human stack up to the first? Read our review!

Syfy’s remake of the British show Being Human surprised us with its strong storytelling and its mostly solid cast. Now a second season is right around the corner — and can the show repeat its first-year achievements? We’ve seen the first two episodes — here is our slightly spoilery run-down on the new season. We…

Television Meredith Woerner Dec 27

Amazing video explains how Firefly fans saved free speech on campus

Remember when that Wisconsin professor put a Firefly poster on his door? And the college authorities freaked out and threatened him with criminal charges? https://gizmodo.com/college-professor-threatened-with-criminal-charges-for-5844035 The good news is, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) took Professor Miller’s case, partly to defend free speech and partly because Firefly rules. And FIRE, with the…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 27

This Guy Spent $16,000 On a Virtual Sword Before The Game Was Released

Take a psychedelic trip through 700 layers of the human brain

How to Disembowel 30 Salmon in Under a Minute

Evidence of extraterrestrial life could be sitting on the Moon at this very moment

Smack All SOPA Supporters With This Automated Robocall Service

Would you buy a beautifully restored Blu-ray of Manos: The Hands of Fate?

Supernatural flock of birds mourn dead North Korean despot Kim Jong-Il

The Best Rants of the Year

Martin Freeman reveals his first encounter with Gollum in The Hobbit!

The Eye of Satan Is Watching You From Space

I Want This 18th Century English Tower Turned Into Awesome Home

This Stupid Prada Phone Is the Best Looking Android I’ve Ever Seen

Picture of the Day: December 27, 2011

The most unusual sexual fetish also has the most ridiculous special effects [NSFW]

Sony Needs to Revive This Gorgeous Sliding Radio As a Bluetooth Speaker

Two millipede species have set up a 150 mile long insect demilitarized zone

Is dark energy changing over time?

The Best Songs Ever Written About A Robot Friend

How does the second season of Syfy’s Being Human stack up to the first? Read our review!

Amazing video explains how Firefly fans saved free speech on campus

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