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Newly sequenced chocolate genome reveals the secrets of better candy

The chocolate tree genome has just been sequenced, revealing which genes are responsible for turning ordinary cacao crops into the finest chocolate. Now a little careful genetic tweaking could produce tastier, healthier, and more environmentally and economically beneficial chocolate. The particular type of chocolate genome that was sequenced was a variety Theobroma cacao known as…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Dec 26 '10

An experimental tank design inspired by The Dark Knight’s Batmobile

This transport right here is BAE Systems’ Raider, an experimental tank inspired by the Tumbler in The Dark Knight. Its designers based its wheel configuration on Wayne Industries’ cushiest ride. In a discussion with The Engineer BAE Systems Future Protected Vehicles project leader Hisham Awad openly admitted that the Raider’s design took cues from the…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Dec 26 '10

MIT’s Micron-Sized Quest for the Ice-Proof Airplane

Deicing. It’s more than just something that delays your flight as the airport searches for that missing truck—it keeps your plane from falling like a stone too! MIT scientists want to help with the delay part. Enter ice-proof planes. Working at the molecular level, the MIT folks are attempting to understand how frost forms on…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

The sad reality of a Ninja Turtle pizza party

As glamorous as a pizza smorgasbord with four genetically altered specimens of the order Testudines sounds, the reality is far less appetizing. Pepperoni just doesn’t taste the same when you’re knee-deep in human waste. [FFFFOUND via Super Punch]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Dec 26 '10

Malaysia Defeats Indonesia Thanks to Laser-Shooting Soccer Fans (Updated)

As soon as the team took to the pitch, they were bombarded with lasers to the point where they literally walked off in the 54th minute. No, this wasn’t Tron, dear readers, it was a soccer match. With laser pens! The protesting team was Indonesia. They were playing Malaysia in the Asean Football Federation Cup…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

Breaking Waves showcases the fury and fragility of the sea

Need a break from holiday commercialism? Want to send a much-needed gift to groups cleaning up one of 2010’s worst disasters? Great! Check out Breaking Waves, an anthology featuring award-winning writers like Ursula K. Le Guin and Vonda McIntyre. After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April, YA fantasy author Tiffany…

Books & Comics Josh Wimmer Dec 26 '10

Someday you will be able to print your own dinner

Here’s a news story that should stir deep horror in even the most jaded reader. Cornell University will build a food printer. Personal home technology has changed the world, and many people – for example io9 writers – depend on it for their livelihoods. Unfortunately, we have officially Gone Too Far. No, there isn’t going…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 26 '10

Nikon Patent Could Lead to DSLR Moviemaking Dream Lens

So you got a nice new DSLR for Christmas, and it can take impressive HD video too! That said, you’ll probably notice that simultaneous zooming and refocusing is less than ideal. A new Nikon lens patent aims to fix that. https://gizmodo.com/so-you-got-a-fancy-new-camera-heres-how-to-use-it-5714792 While such a lens is unsurprising, given the incredible interest in DSLR filmmaking these…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

What is the evolutionary purpose of tickling?

You probably know that you can’t tickle yourself. And although you might be able to tickle a total stranger, your brain also strongly discourages you from doing something so socially awkward. These facts offer insight into tickling’s evolutionary purpose. According to Robert R. Provine, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the…

io9 Natalie Wolchover -- Popular Science Dec 26 '10

1972 book claimed that being a hippie is a mental illness, can be inherited genetically

In 1972, a Colombian psychiatrist asserted that being a hippie is a form of mental illness that can be passed on to one’s children. Apparently a fondness for patchouli and Iron Butterfly can be traced to your chromosomes. Vaughan Bell of Mind Hacks found the book Psicopatologia y Existencia del Hippie (“Psychopathology and Existence of…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Dec 26 '10

Redsn0w 0.9.7 Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 Beta Available for Your Testing Pleasure

Want to test out the brand spankin’ new Redsn0w 0.9.7 Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 beta that just arrived this wintery weekend? Here’s how: After backing up all your important files, photos and videos, you’ll need to make sure you’re using items and software from this fine list, courtesy Redmond Pie: – Phone, iPad or…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

Does this local newspaper spoil the villain in Joss Whedon’s Avengers?

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers is gearing up to film in New Mexico, and Friday’s edition of The Albuquerque Journal included a major spoiler innocuously tucked away in a random paragraph. This article, which comes courtesy of AICN, reveals that the Avengers will be battling the Kree and Skrulls, two alien races who are perpetually at…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar Dec 26 '10

Autonomous “Raider” Combat Vehicle Takes Design Cues from the Batmobile

Those cheeky gents across the pond are taking design elements from the current incarnation of Batman and putting them into an autonomous assault vehicle called the Tumbler. Sorry, the Raider. You understand why there’s confusion—they look very similar! Designed by BAE for the British military, the Raider would be ideal for “small, highly agile autonomous…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

Abandoned chemical weapons plant is overrun with fluffy bunnies

In the early 20th century, Okunoshima Island was top-secret facility that produced poison gas for the Japanese military. Nowadays the tiny island has become the home to 300 rabbits, who tourists come to visit amongst the industrial ruins. Since the 1970s, Okunoshima Island has become a veritable bunny Eden. From Mainichi: The small island of…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Dec 26 '10

Encoded Civil War Message Arrives 147 Years Too Late

Pity the doomed Confederate leader Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. Nearly a century and a half ago he and his embattled men waited for an encoded message to arrive detailing their reinforcements. Unfortunately for him, the message arrived in 2010. Not that it would have mattered. You see, Pemberton was waiting for a message explaining…

Tech News Jack Loftus Dec 26 '10

Win a role in the new D&D movie

Did you know that there’s a new D&D movie in the works? It’s called Book of Vile Darkness, and you can actually win a walk-on role. Not only that, you get to create the character you’ll play in the movie. That’s a pretty cool contest. Silver Pictures is the production house bringing this new D&D…

Movies Ed Grabianowski -- Robot Viking Dec 26 '10

The Most Wondrous Doctor Who Christmas Special Yet

When Steven Moffat took over masterminding Doctor Who, he said his vision of the show was more akin to a fairy tale. For my money, tonight’s Christmas special was the closest he’s ever come to achieving that goal. Spoilers ahead! “A Christmas Carol” might be the second-best piece of Doctor Who Moffat’s ever done, after…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 26 '10

A Former Airship Hangar in Berlin Is Now a Huge Water Park

A gigantically excessive former Airship Hangar built on a Soviet Base in Berlin has found new life as a gigantically excessive water park. It’s like a man-made island inside with a water slide that propels people up to 44mph. Now called the Tropical Islands resort, the water theme park has a pool 4x the size…

Tech News Casey Chan Dec 25 '10

Send a Gift to a Complete Stranger’s Address

My parents taught me to never talk to strangers, but they never told me I couldn’t buy Christmas gifts for them! If you’re overdosed with Christmas spirit, Giftastranger.net generates random addresses across the world so people can send gifts to strangers. There’s probably better ways to spread your Christmas joy, like volunteering or gifting to…

Tech News Casey Chan Dec 25 '10

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Found in a Brain Scan

A close-up image of a blood vessel in the brain shows a picture that looks amazingly like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Seriously, there’s the antlers, the tail, and even the famous glowing red nose. The scientists who stumbled upon the picture were studying the inner workings of neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain.…

Tech News Casey Chan Dec 25 '10

Newly sequenced chocolate genome reveals the secrets of better candy

An experimental tank design inspired by The Dark Knight’s Batmobile

MIT’s Micron-Sized Quest for the Ice-Proof Airplane

The sad reality of a Ninja Turtle pizza party

Malaysia Defeats Indonesia Thanks to Laser-Shooting Soccer Fans (Updated)

Breaking Waves showcases the fury and fragility of the sea

Someday you will be able to print your own dinner

Nikon Patent Could Lead to DSLR Moviemaking Dream Lens

What is the evolutionary purpose of tickling?

1972 book claimed that being a hippie is a mental illness, can be inherited genetically

Redsn0w 0.9.7 Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 Beta Available for Your Testing Pleasure

Does this local newspaper spoil the villain in Joss Whedon’s Avengers?

Autonomous “Raider” Combat Vehicle Takes Design Cues from the Batmobile

Abandoned chemical weapons plant is overrun with fluffy bunnies

Encoded Civil War Message Arrives 147 Years Too Late

Win a role in the new D&D movie

The Most Wondrous Doctor Who Christmas Special Yet

A Former Airship Hangar in Berlin Is Now a Huge Water Park

Send a Gift to a Complete Stranger’s Address

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Found in a Brain Scan

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