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These Exquisite Bee Photographs Reveal Every Delicate Hair, Antenna, and Wing

As part of their research into bees, the United States Geological Survey has compiled a drop-dead gorgeous gallery of bees. From flufftastic fuzzballs to sleek torpedoes, the variety of bees is awe-inspiring. An angel bee. The United States Geological Survey Been Inventory and Research Center has a perfect description for this bee that cannot be…

Latest Clip From Syfy’s The Magicians Shows How You Get to Magic College—With Snark

Brakebills University, the secret school of magic in Syfy’s upcoming show The Magicians, isn’t Hogwarts. You don’t get a charming letter saying you’ve gotten in. In fact, this clip shows Brakebills’ admissions are about confusion, entrance exams, and no small amount of snootiness. Syfy just showed this clip from its adaptation of Lev Grossman’s novel…

Incredibly Disgusting Zombie Mouth Cupcake Looks Like It Might Bite You Back

Update: Picture removed at the request of its creator. There are some cupcakes that look too good to eat, but this one looks almost too horrific to consume. We’re sure it’s delicious, but we can’t shake the feeling those teeth are about to start snapping. Over at Instructables, user SemadarG explains how to make this…

We Saw the First New X-Files Episode, And It Feels Like Home

The first episode of the revived X-Files was shown to packed house at New York Comic Con. Here are our spoiler-free first impressions. If there was one really big takeaway from the first episode, it was just how much of the old show had survived. Despite everything, for better or worse, this is The X-Files,…

Vin Diesel Could Play a Second Marvel Character With One Big Difference From Groot

Long before Vin Diesel was Groot, he teased fans about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So few thought saying a few words as a talking tree would be enough for the star. In a new interview with io9, Diesel teased something very different could be on the horizon. First of all, the actor explained that…

It looks like Minority Report is already on the chopping block. Fox cut the episode order on the TV adaptation from 13 episodes to 10, with plans to wrap up production after that. Insert requisite “You didn’t need a Precog to see this coming” joke here.

Prominent Exoplanet Researcher Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment

Once again, a prominent researcher is revealed to be complicit in creating a culture of oppressive harassment that alienates women from science. Can we hurry up with the cultural revolution to ditch this bullshit already? Friday, Buzzfeed broke the news that prominent exoplanet researcher Geoff Marcy was found guilty of violating his university’s sexual harassment…

The Rosetta Space Mission, Explained with Claymation

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has been posting some adorable space-themed animations, but this one detailing the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission and the landing of Philae on comet 67P is particularly charming. Can we have clay versions of all our space robots? [via The Kid Should See This]

This Glittery Gem is in Orbit Helping us Measure the Shape of our Planet

This ridiculous rhinestone-studded disco-ball is actually a high-precision laser-reflecting satellite still in orbit around the Earth. With only tiny reflectors and no active instruments, it’s provided vital data on the planet’s shape for decades. The Laser Geodynamics Satellite I (LAGEOS I) launched out of Vandenberg Airforce Base on May 4, 1976. The 407 kilogram (900…

Vin Diesel Just Told Us Who Is Directing the Extreme Sports Spy Sequel XXX 3

Vin Diesel is an incredibly busy guy. He’s got The Last Witch Hunter coming out this month; a director just signed for Fast and Furious 8, and he’s long teased a return to the world of XXX, too. We recently spoke to Diesel about all those things and he offered up some new, exclusive, information.…

In the Webcomic Stonebreaker, Demonic Slaves Have Expelled Their Human Masters from an Ancient City

Long ago, humans thrived in the great city, using golem-like demons to do their bidding. But after the demons rebelled, they forced humans to abandon the city and live on the fringes, dreaming of the day they’d reclaim their home. Peter Wartman’s webcomic Stonebreaker and its prequel Over the Wall focus on Anya, a young…

Hydrologists Tackle a Deceptively Simple Question: Where’s the Water?

Knowing just how high a river is flooding during severe storms or how empty it gets during a drought is absolutely essential for emergency managers to make informed decisions, but to get that data someone had to brave the rivers. It doesn’t even matter if a river is flooding its banks or so dry that…

There’s Going to Be an Attack on Titan Anthology Featuring Comics by Gail Simone, Scott Snyder, and More

Need more Attack on Titan in your life? Some of our favorite comics creators, including Gail Simone, Scott Snyder, Brenden Fletcher, Kevin Wada, and Faith Erin Hicks, are giving us more human-munching giants in an upcoming comics anthology. Comic Book Resources brings us the news from New York Comic Con’s Kodansha Comics panel, where the…

California’s Sweeping New Marijuana Industry Laws Are a Win For the Environment

A comprehensive suite of marijuana regulations were passed by California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday, creating much-needed government oversight over the state’s billion-dollar industry. The bill specifically addresses the environmental impact of growing marijuana, including water use during the drought. Since the state’s Compassionate Care Act was passed almost 20 years ago, marijuana cultivation has been…

A Stand-Up Comedian Tries to Cope with a World Where People Are Becoming Transhuman

In the near future of the short film Enhanced, people can undergo a procedure that blends their bodies with technology, becoming smarter, healthier, and less anxious. But one stand-up comic finds he’s uneasy with the promise of perfection. Jeremy David White just took home the Best Director prize for Enhanced in Fantastic Fest’s shorts program.…

Fantastic Software Glitch Art Is Better Than the Real World

The Rescued Film Project has a mission: It rescues long-forgotten photographs hiding on many decades of old undeveloped film rolls. But the following seven images have became outstanding accidental digital artwork. The project’s blog explains: Each image in our archive was recovered from found film from locations all over the world, and came to us…

Watch a Tyrannosaurus Rex Train for American Ninja Warrior (He’s Pretty Good!)

Okay, so it’s actually American Ninja Warrior competitor Reko Rivera in a T-Rex suit. It’s a good thing, too, since those little T-Rex arms would have trouble on the training course. The folks at Brentwood Photography got Rivera to suit up at the FTC Ninja Warrior Course in Florida. This isn’t their first foray into…

USA Killed It with Mr. Robot—They Might with Dystopian Drama Colony, Too

Mr. Robot is a dark show kinda uncharacteristic for USA. After all, it’s same network that brought us breezy comedy-mysteries like Monk and Psych. Which were great! But Colony, the decades-old channel’s upcoming series, could continue down USA’s new path of somewhat twisted genre TV. I watched the pilot and it’s great. Some spoilers within.…

Come See io9 Editors Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders at New York Comic Con!

If you’re at New York Comic Con this weekend, you can see the founding editors of this very site, in our natural habitat. Including a panel with economist and science fiction guru Paul Krugman! Today at 2 PM, io9 Editor in Chief Charlie Jane Anders is signing copies of her upcoming book All the Birds…

Tanaga Island Hides a History of Fire in a Blanket of Fog

Tanaga Island is a tiny patch of beauty, fire, and rock stranded in the Bering Sea. The picturesque island is a hidden gem of black rocks, dramatic waterfalls, velvety moss, and tendrils of fog in these fieldwork photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey. Tanaga in 2012. Image credit: Roger Clifford/AVO/USGS A history of rock and…