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Image: Cryptozoic / Image: Stonemaier Games / Image: Iello / Image: Fantasy Flight Games

Wingspan Expands, Magic: The Gathering Enters the Hall of Fame, and More in Tabletop News

Welcome back to Gaming Shelf, io9’s regular column all about board games and tabletop roleplaying games. The holidays are fast approaching, so it’s time to start thinking about cool gaming gift ideas for you and your loved ones (also me, please and thank you). Luckily, we’ve got you covered with Wingspan’s first expansion, a dice…

Games Beth Elderkin Nov 12

So…Let’s Talk About That Mandalorian Ending

If you’re lucky enough to live in a country where Disney has launched its vast, occasionally breaking, and petrifyingly all-encompassing new streaming service today, you’ve probably watched the first episode of The Mandalorian by now. Shall we talk about it? Let’s talk about it. What actually happens in the first chapter of Jon Favreau and…

io9 James Whitbrook Nov 12

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

DNA Could Be One of a Million Possible Genetic Molecules

There could be a million different structures with the ability to store genetic information, according to a recent paper. DNA stores the genetic information that describes all of Earth’s life, in the form of a twisted scaffold lined with a sequence composed of four data-encoding molecules. But is DNA the best way to store biological…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 12

Facebook Launches Its Venmo Competitor, and What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Facebook, a company best known for its societal fuckery and gross mismanagement of user data, has announced the launch of its Venmo competitor, Facebook Pay. A real treat for anyone looking to share even more of their valuable data with what is arguably one of the most reckless companies in the world. According to a…

Social Media Catie Keck Nov 12

‘There Is a Point Where a Person Can’t Do Anymore’

On Monday, we reported that dirt-cheap transcription service Rev was lowering the already precarious minimum pay for its independently contracted workforce by over 3o percent. The change wasn’t even announced in an email, according to multiple Rev workers. It’s far from the only example of gig economy jobs that, feeling the pinch of an unworkable…

Tech News Avery Ellis Nov 12

Curiosity Finds Mysterious Oxygen Fluctuations on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover sniffed out an unexpected seasonal variation to the oxygen on Mars, according to new research. Curiosity has long been returning some appropriately curious results. After locating methane on the planet, studies from its spot in Gale crater found regular changes to the methane unexplainable by the environmental factors that scientists are already…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 12

A Brief Explanation of Facebook’s Scary New iPhone Bug

A handful of folks recently spotted an unwelcome addition to the Facebook app for iPhone. Some stray swipes on the News Feed would inexplicably reveal the viewfinder for the phone’s rear camera. It’s unclear if the camera was recording, but there it was lurking in the background of an app that’s infamous for running all…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Nov 12

Black Lightning Has Become an Active War Zone

Black Lightning has been using the supposed attack from the Markovians to give its heroes reason to be on high alert, but the past few episodes have made it clear that the war is already in Freeland. And it’s only going to get more brutal. While the bulk of Freelend is living under the American…

Books & Comics Charles Pulliam-Moore Nov 12

Japan’s Asteroid Probe Is Finally Returning to Earth With Its Precious Cargo

The Japanese space agency has declared an end to the exploratory phase of the Hayabusa2 mission. Beginning tomorrow, the overachieving spacecraft will leave Ryugu and head back to Earth, bringing—hopefully—its asteroid samples along with it. After a year and a half of exploratory work around the Ryugu asteroid, the time has finally come for JAXA’s…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Nov 12

Intel Reportedly Warned of Critical Chip Security Flaws a Year Ago

Security researchers who played a role in uncovering the Spectre and Meltdown attacks that targeted microprocessors revealed on Tuesday a new vulnerability in Intel chips which they claim the company failed to address after it was first alerted a year ago. While Intel has said it’s received no reports of real-world exploits linked to this…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron Nov 12

Microsoft Bets Big on AR With U.S. Launch of Minecraft Earth In Early Access

Just in case you forgot that Microsoft is deep into augmented reality, the early access version of Minecraft Earth is finally available on iOS and Android for Americans to get a taste of the future. The mobile AR game was announced back in May as a joint effort between Microsoft and Mojang. Per the release,…

Tech News Victoria Song Nov 12

Reminder: The Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers Movie Is Coming Soon to Bring Joy to Our Lives

So much is going on in entertainment these days, it’s easy for something relatively big to slip through the cracks. Like, for example, that a Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers movie is coming out next weekend. Yes, really! Directed by Marielle Heller, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the true story of a journalist (Matthew…

Trailers Germain Lussier Nov 12

WeWork Reportedly Knew About Its Toxic Phone Booths For Months

Leadership at WeWork knew that the company’s custom phone booths had elevated amounts of formaldehyde for months before it warned its customers about sitting inside the small toxic cells, according to a report from Bloomberg. Most WeWork members learned in mid-October that the phone booths posed a potential health hazard when the company sent out…

Tech News Jennings Brown Nov 12

Several Steve Wozniak Tweets and One Discrimination Probe Later, Goldman Sachs Will Gladly Take a Look at Your Apple Card Credit Limit

Last night, Goldman Sachs issued a second statement dimly alluding to the algorithmic voodoo behind the Apple Card’s allegedly discriminatory determinations of creditworthiness, claiming that the banking giant “[has] not and never will make decisions based on factors like gender.” The company again hedged with the theory that women (presumed to be married women) are…

Tech News Whitney Kimball Nov 12

The Han Shot First Scene From Star Wars Has Been Changed Again on Disney+

Just when fans though a brand new live-action Star Wars TV show would be the biggest headline with the launch of Disney+, a historical change is there to challenge for the title. Yes, it’s true. The Han shot first scene has been altered. Again. And this time, it’s kind of hilarious. https://gizmodo.com/what-if-greedo-really-shot-first-5323912 The Han and…

Movies Germain Lussier Nov 12

Japan to Reinvent Fukushima as a Renewable Energy Hub

Plans have been announced to convert abandoned areas in Fukushima to a renewable energy hub, a scheme that will involve the construction of new solar plants, wind farms, and a power transmission grid that will feed Tokyo with electricity. It’s been eight years since an earthquake and tsunami triggered a catastrophic meltdown at the Fukushima…

Energy George Dvorsky Nov 12

In His Dark Materials, Lyra Uncovers a Major Secret…and So Do We

His Dark Materials has no intention of slowing down. The sophomore episode of the new Philip Pullman adaptation continues to raise the stakes, with Lyra on a mission to find Roger and snuff out the truth about Mrs. Coulter. Through all the conspiracies, investigations, and ultimate betrayals, His Dark Materials also includes a major departure from…

io9 Beth Elderkin Nov 12

Researchers Create a Metal Structure That Will Not Sink or Stay Submerged Under Water

Inspired by the way diving bell spiders and fire ants use their water-repelling legs and bodies to trap air in order to float on water, researchers from the University of Rochester have found a way to make solid metal structures float on water, potentially paving the way for unsinkable boats or smartphones that won’t immediately…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Nov 12

34 Million Americans Know Someone Who Died Without Being Able to Afford Medical Care, Survey Estimates

A heartbreaking number of Americans know someone who has died after not being able to afford medical treatment, according to the results of a new Gallup survey out Tuesday. Within the last five years, it found, some 34 million Americans believe they’ve lost someone in exactly that way, and even more Americans currently struggle to…

Health Ed Cara Nov 12

The U.S. Is Facing a Record Cold Snap This Week

The Midwest woke up this week to weather colder than somewhere between Mars and a witch’s tit. Record-setting temperatures have already been recorded across the U.S. The chill will continue to push into the East Coast on Tuesday, raising the odds of more temperature records falling. A powerful cold front has dropped out of Canada…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 12

Wingspan Expands, Magic: The Gathering Enters the Hall of Fame, and More in Tabletop News

So…Let’s Talk About That Mandalorian Ending

DNA Could Be One of a Million Possible Genetic Molecules

Facebook Launches Its Venmo Competitor, and What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

‘There Is a Point Where a Person Can’t Do Anymore’

Curiosity Finds Mysterious Oxygen Fluctuations on Mars

A Brief Explanation of Facebook’s Scary New iPhone Bug

Black Lightning Has Become an Active War Zone

Japan’s Asteroid Probe Is Finally Returning to Earth With Its Precious Cargo

Intel Reportedly Warned of Critical Chip Security Flaws a Year Ago

Microsoft Bets Big on AR With U.S. Launch of Minecraft Earth In Early Access

Reminder: The Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers Movie Is Coming Soon to Bring Joy to Our Lives

WeWork Reportedly Knew About Its Toxic Phone Booths For Months

Several Steve Wozniak Tweets and One Discrimination Probe Later, Goldman Sachs Will Gladly Take a Look at Your Apple Card Credit Limit

The Han Shot First Scene From Star Wars Has Been Changed Again on Disney+

Japan to Reinvent Fukushima as a Renewable Energy Hub

In His Dark Materials, Lyra Uncovers a Major Secret…and So Do We

Researchers Create a Metal Structure That Will Not Sink or Stay Submerged Under Water

34 Million Americans Know Someone Who Died Without Being Able to Afford Medical Care, Survey Estimates

The U.S. Is Facing a Record Cold Snap This Week

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