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This Lamp Is the Offspring of R2-D2 and Pixar’s Luxo Jr.

Could a relationship between an astromech droid and an anthropomorphised articulated desk lamp ever really work? Debatable. But it’s worth a shot, because if it did, their offspring would be this fantastic R2-D2 Architectural Desk Lamp that ThinkGeek is now selling for $60. Featuring R2-D2’s dome head for the lamp’s shade, and other astromech detailing…

The gay subtext of the relationship between Batman and Robin has been the butt of jokes for decades. Over at Slate, Glen Weldon adapts an extract from his book,The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, that examines the history of Batman’s relationship with Dick Grayson and its homoerotic undertones.

This Person and Their BB-8 Car Just Won Star Wars Fandom 

Many people consider themselves big Star Wars fans. But how many of those people not only have a ton of creativity, but the guts to put it out there for the world to see? This California resident is all that and then some. The above image, found on Reddit, says it all. An awesome BB-8…

George R.R. Martin Just Helped Build the Craziest Funhouse in Santa Fe

To call Meow Wolf an artspace would be like calling Wheel of Time a short story. This ginormous facility in Santa Fe just opened on March 17 and has been having crazy events and art installations ever since. When you enter Meow Wolf, the first thing you see is a full-sized Victorian house—and then it…

LA Will Face Blackouts This Summer Due to Its Gigantic Natural Gas Leak

Though the catastrophic natural gas leak outside of Los Angeles has been contained, the repercussions are still far from over, according to a new report. For weeks leaders of the region’s utility companies have been warning customers about potential disruptions to their energy service. Today, they’re telling Los Angeles to brace for blackouts this summer.…

Sperm Whales Are the World’s Largest Battering Rams

In 1820, a sperm whale attacked and sank the Essex, a whaling ship from Massachusetts. The incident inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick, and marine biologists have been wondering ever since if the whales actually engage in ramming behavior. A fascinating new study suggests this may be the case. Sperm whales have the most…

LIGHTSPEED Presents: ‘Dragon Brides’ by Nghi Vo

io9 is proud to present fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Once a month, we’ll be featuring a story from LIGHTSPEED’s current issue. This month’s selection is “Dragon Brides” by Nghi Vo. You can read the story below or you can listen to the podcast. Enjoy! Image © 2016 by Sam Schechter. Dragon brides are notoriously difficult…

Coolest Art Nerds Ever Taught a Computer to Create a Rembrandt

This painting below looks almost exactly like the work of the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt, and as far as science and mathematics is concerned, it is a Rembrandt. But instead of oils and brushes, researchers from Microsoft and other organizations used data points and 3D printing. To create this new Rembrandt, the team meticulously scrutinized…

Awesome Animation Shows How a Factory Makes Back to the Future Hoverboards

In my head, we screwed it all up. Our reality is an alternate timeline because our hoverboards don’t actually hover. There are people out there living in the real timeline where Back to the Future-style hoverboards actually do exist and do hover and are probably made in a factory that pumps ‘em out like in…

Google’s Parent Company (Probably) Wants to Build a City From Scratch

Rumors are swirling that Alphabet, the parent company formerly known as Google, wants to build its own techno-utopian town. But the size and feasibility of a town “built from the internet up” remains in question. Sidewalk Labs, a company under the Alphabet umbrella, is rumored to be spearheading the project. Sidewalk CEO Dan Doctoroff hinted…

Watch the First Episode of 12 Monkeys Season Two Right Now

How on Earth can 12 Monkeys continue after that out-of-left-field ending to season one? Here’s your first glimpse. Syfy has posted the entire first episode of season two online, ahead of its April 18 premiere date. The episode is available to Syfy subscribers via Hulu, Syfy.com or the Syfy Now app. Or you can just…

This Is the Source of Those Mysterious Radio Bursts From Space

Two months ago, astronomers picked up and then pinpointed a location of a weird burst of radio waves from space, prompting heated debate about just what was sending them. Now, new data has finally revealed that source. “Part of the scientific process is investigating findings to see if they hold up. In this case, it…

All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in April

Spring is here, and so are some great beach reads! What does April have in store? Two Terry Pratchett tributes. New books from C.J. Cherryh, Harry Turtledove and M.R. Carey. Wish-granting moonshine! New space opera! And much, much more. Here are the most essential science fiction and fantasy books in April. Shooting the Rift by…

Why on Earth Is China Shooting Crude Oil Into Space?

On April 6th, China’s SJ-10 satellite will launch into orbit from the remote Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi desert. The event would be unremarkable if not for the satellite’s rather unusual payload: six titanium cylinders of crude oil, compressed to 500 times standard atmospheric pressure. Launching stuff into orbit is expensive, and we don’t exactly…

Watch This 45-Minute Documentary on the Making of Disney’s Zootopia

The year is still relatively young, but one of the biggest surprises on the big screen has to be Zootopia. The early footage looked okay, but no one could have guessed Disney Animation had made one of their best films in decades. We’ve written extensively about the making of Zootopia, which was quite the roller…

Forget The Rift, Gear VR is the Only Headset Worth Buying

After years of stomach-churning anticipation, it’s all over—the VR headsets of the future are here. The Rift gives you an engaging experience with a handful of excellent games. Meanwhile, the Vive gives you unprecedented control of your virtual surroundings. But as extraordinary as both devices are, they’re absolute bunk compared to the best VR headset…

The Guy Who Screwed Up Deadpool Is Glad Someone Finally Got Him Right

Tim Miller’s Deadpool movie is so good and so true to the character, it’s hopefully wiped out most memories you had about his first incarnation as a gooey ninja who couldn’t speak at the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Now the director of that film, Gavin Hood, has explained why his version was so bad…

Sick Swordfighting Skills Keep This Drone From Crashing

Obstacle detection and avoidance is one area in which drones fail utterly, which is too bad because human pilots just aren’t that good at flying them. The obvious solution? Teach a drone to think like fencer. Ross Allen and Marco Pavone, researchers at Stanford University’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, have been trying to perfect…

The Pentagon Has No Idea Who to Call if There’s a Cyber Attack

As our inevitable descent into digital anarchy looms large, there is some comfort to be taken in the fact that powerful, well-funded entities like the Department of Defense are there to provide protection and security. Psych! According to a report released on Monday by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Pentagon doesn’t have…

How Do Glasses Actually Help Us See Better?

It’s pretty simple. The cornea and the lens needs to focus light right onto the retina in the back of the eye in order for us to see clearly. If our corneas and lenses are screwed up, it’ll pinpoint the light in front of or behind the retina causing us to only be able to…