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Why Cities Are Better at Fighting Climate Change Than Countries

As the second week of global climate negotiations gets underway, the world waits for national leaders to make meaningful commitments to save the planet. But it’s become clear that cities, not countries, are leading the way in the fight against climate change. There’s a good reason for that: the world’s cities account for 70 percent…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 8 '15

This Beautiful Zootopia Concept Art Explains How All Animals Live Together In One City

Disney Animation has been on a roll recently and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Their next film, Zootopia, hits theaters March 4 and it features a world just like ours, except it’s totally populated by animals. But animals are all so different. Different sizes, different climates, different diets. How the…

io9 Germain Lussier Dec 8 '15

Why Algae Could Be the Greatest—and Trickiest—Fuel Source of All

From powering airplanes to replacing nuclear energy, algae has been touted as a green energy miracle. So if our waterways are already filled with the stuff, why isn’t it filling the world’s skies with biofueled planes? Algae is a tricky creature that presents a lot of challenges and misconceptions. Here’s why it’s difficult to harness—and…

Climate Change Bryan Lufkin Dec 8 '15

The Stinkbird’s Diet is Surprisingly Close to Our Own

Stinkbirds, otherwise known as hoatzins, have spread out across South America in part because they have something in common with humans and other mammals. The clue is in the name “stinkbird.” That’s right, the hoatzin stinks. It doesn’t secrete anything particularly noxious, nor does it have special glands that coat its feathers in a substance…

Biology Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 8 '15

Drax Drunkenly Explains His Tattoos in This New Guardians of the Galaxy Deleted Scene

Tucked away in the recently released Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 Blu-ray megaset are a few never-before-seen deleted scenes, including this one, where a drunken Drax the Destroyer discusses the origins of his tattoos with a couple of DT hallucinations. Hmm? Those aren’t delusions spurred from Drax’s alcohol abuse, but instead are early CG versions…

Movies Rob Bricken Dec 8 '15

Here’s the first footage of US Navy’s new bad ass Zumwalt-class destroyer at sea

Wow. Here’s the first footage of the US Navy’s brand new Zumwalt-class destroyer at sea. It’s the most advanced warship that the US Navy has ever made and it totally looks the part, completely bad ass like an Imperial Star Destroyer for the ocean. Just watching it cut through the sea is so damn cool…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 8 '15

Margaret Atwood Is Writing A Part-Cat, Part-Owl, Part-Human Superhero Comic

This is perhaps one of the silliest, yet most exciting strings of words I’ve ever had to contemplate: Dark Horse have announced that iconic Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood is writing her first ever graphic novel. It’s called Angel Catbird, and it’s basically Atwood getting her hands on Cat-Hawkman. Update: An earlier version of…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Dec 8 '15

Reliable Harvard Scientists Say E-Cig Flavors Can Cause “Popcorn Lung”

In the weird world of vaping research, it’s hard to find a scientist who isn’t funded by a tobacco company or an anti-smoking organization. However, in a government-funded study, a team of Harvard scientists made a grisly discovery. Candy-flavored e-cig liquid contains chemicals that cause a horrible condition called “popcorn lung.” The study revealed that…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Dec 8 '15

Nevada Is Getting a Hyperloop Test Track

Hyperloop Technologies plans to build a hyperloop test track for in North Las Vegas—and it wants to start testing early next year. The AP talked to the California company (which takes its name from Elon Musk’s proposed invention, but isn’t associated with him) about its plans to create a testing ground for the transit technology.…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Dec 8 '15

A Teenager Takes Charge of Her Psychic Powers In This Eerie Short

We don’t know who she is, or what’s happened to her in the past, but the mute young protagonist of short science fiction film Strawberries has a very special talent—and she’s had just about enough of the mysterious man who’s been ordering her how to use it. Explains director Rowan Spiers-Floyd: “My goal was to…

io9 Cheryl Eddy Dec 8 '15

Lionsgate Really Wants To Make Some Hunger Games Prequels

Looking for more from the world of Panem after Mockingjay came to a conclusion last month? Well, so is Lionsgate. It’s been discussed before repeatedly, but a new comment from Vice Chairman Michael Burns makes it sound like the odds for some Hunger Games prequels are ever in our favor. Speaking at the UBS Global…

Movies James Whitbrook Dec 8 '15

This Is How We Can Secure Our Food Supply and Stabilize Our Climate

As the Paris climate summit draws to a close and world leaders scramble to find more ways to make a dent in humanity’s carbon problem, a commonsense but oft-ignored strategy has made its way onto the table: sticking carbon back in the soil. Worldwide, soils contain more carbon than live vegetation and the atmosphere combined.…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Dec 8 '15

Rumor: Apple Watch 2, 4-Inch iPhone To Appear In March

That iPhone 6c rumor just got a little more real with a report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman. Sources tell Gurman that Apple is planning their next-gen Watch event for March, but the kicker here is that a new iPhone could also be appearing. The next generation of the Apple Watch has the potential to make…

Tech News Kaila Hale-Stern Dec 8 '15

The 14 Most Horrible Smurfs

If you found a group of tiny blue communists living in mushrooms in your backyard, you would call an exterminator. In Belgium, they made them stars–the Smurfs have been featured in comics, cartoons and movies for over 50 years. But not all Smurfs are as benign as this propaganda would have you believe. 1) Jokey…

io9 Rob Bricken Dec 8 '15

You Can Now Buy the Pixel C–the 100 Percent All-Google Tablet

Google threw a bit of a curveball at its Nexus event earlier this year: A 100 percent Google-made tablet brandishing the company’s well-known Chromebook moniker. It was called the Pixel C. It was all Google hardware, like the Pixels that came before it, and its software was pure Android Marshmallow. The only thing that remained…

Tech News Darren Orf Dec 8 '15

French Scientist Claims the “Real” Mona Lisa Is Hidden Underneath the Famous Painting

After a decade of work, French scientist Pascal Cotte claims there are hidden portraits underneath the Mona Lisa—including one of a distinctly different woman. Art experts are skeptical. As the BBC reports, Cotte used a technique called Layer Amplification Method (LAM) to analyze the da Vinci masterpiece, which was painted between 1503 and 1517. After…

Tech News George Dvorsky Dec 8 '15

io9 Book Club Is In Session: Let’s Talk About Cecelia Holland’s Dragon Heart!

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. This month, we’ve read Dragon Heart by Cecelia Holland.. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! What is this io9 Book Club all about? We meet once a month to discuss a book we’ve all read together, and then we have an online…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 8 '15

Of Course These Excellent New Spaceballs Posters Spoof a Set of Star Wars Posters

When one generation thinks of Star Wars, they think of the original films. Another generation grew up with The Phantom Menace. But sandwiched in between, there are people who learned about Star Wars because of Mel Brooks’ 1987 comedy Spaceballs. The Star Wars spoof was released four years after Return of the Jedi, and not…

Movies Germain Lussier Dec 8 '15

What It’s Like To Step Inside The World of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians

Lev Grossman’s Magicians trilogy has won legions of fans, in large part thanks to its vividly described world. And now, Syfy is bringing that world to life, and we’ve been there. We sat in the front row at Brakebills’ magic lab, hung out in the Physical Kids’ Cottage, and met the cast of The Magicians.…

io9 Kaila Hale-Stern Dec 8 '15

10 Tricks That’ll Make You an iMovie Master

If you’ve got an iOS or OS X device in your possession, then you can also get iMovie, Apple’s user-friendly video editor that’s simple enough for beginners to understand while offering a handful of features to tempt more professional users, too. Whether you’ve spent years working with iMovie or have yet to try out the…

Gadgets David Nield Dec 8 '15

Why Cities Are Better at Fighting Climate Change Than Countries

This Beautiful Zootopia Concept Art Explains How All Animals Live Together In One City

Why Algae Could Be the Greatest—and Trickiest—Fuel Source of All

The Stinkbird’s Diet is Surprisingly Close to Our Own

Drax Drunkenly Explains His Tattoos in This New Guardians of the Galaxy Deleted Scene

Here’s the first footage of US Navy’s new bad ass Zumwalt-class destroyer at sea

Margaret Atwood Is Writing A Part-Cat, Part-Owl, Part-Human Superhero Comic

Reliable Harvard Scientists Say E-Cig Flavors Can Cause “Popcorn Lung”

Nevada Is Getting a Hyperloop Test Track

A Teenager Takes Charge of Her Psychic Powers In This Eerie Short

Lionsgate Really Wants To Make Some Hunger Games Prequels

This Is How We Can Secure Our Food Supply and Stabilize Our Climate

Rumor: Apple Watch 2, 4-Inch iPhone To Appear In March

The 14 Most Horrible Smurfs

You Can Now Buy the Pixel C–the 100 Percent All-Google Tablet

French Scientist Claims the “Real” Mona Lisa Is Hidden Underneath the Famous Painting

io9 Book Club Is In Session: Let’s Talk About Cecelia Holland’s Dragon Heart!

Of Course These Excellent New Spaceballs Posters Spoof a Set of Star Wars Posters

What It’s Like To Step Inside The World of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians

10 Tricks That’ll Make You an iMovie Master

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