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Which Big Names Is X-Men: Apocalypse Considering for Jean Grey?

The big bad of Captain America 3 could be someone we’ve already met. Who’s playing a key figure in Batman v. Superman? Take our first look at Pixar’s Inside Out. Natalie Dormer explains how she thinks Margaery Tyrell should die on Game of Thrones. And could another Flash/Arrow crossover happen soon? Spoilers now! Top image:…

The Luckiest Kid In the Galaxy Has an Amazing Towering Groot Swing

James Gunn, the director of this summer’s monstrous blockbuster hit Guardians of the Galaxy, posted this image of an amazing Groot-themed swingset to his Instagram (now MIA) and Tumblr accounts yesterday. Apparently the swing was created by some truly devoted fans as part of an upcoming reality show called Super Fans, Super Builds, which they’ll…

Dear ESA: Please Turn These Space Chips Into Wearables

Dear European Space Agency. While landing on a comet was a freaking awesome milestone in the history of space exploration, for Christmas can you pretty please make these awesome little space microchips real? What, exactly, are these cool looking thingies? The ESA explains: These are microsections taken from printed circuit boards (PCBs), being considered for…

A spectral sunset over a creepy war plane. Airmen from the 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron work on an AC-130U Spooky Gunship at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California on November 3rd. [Senior Airman Christopher Callaway/U.S. Air Force]

Neil deGrasse explains the theoretical principles behind Interstellar

Neil deGrasse Tyson didn’t like many things in Interstellar, but he completely figured out the movie plot, its ending, and the physics that make it all possible. He explains the entire thing clearly in this video. [Spoilers ahead, obviously] SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

The UK Is Crowdfunding a Trip to the Moon

A team of plucky Brits has decided to make its way to the moon—using funds gathered from the public via Kickstarter. The rather ambitious plan aims to raise £500m—that’s almost $800m—for the project via donations made by the public. The planned mission, known as Lunar Mission One, will set a robotic probe down on the…

Graphene Foam Sure Looks Stunning Up-Close

This isn’t some tortured starfish or CGIed brain synapse. Nope: you’re looking at an extreme close-up of graphene foam, captured using an electron microscope. Graphene foam is made by casting a fine, metallic mesh which is then layered up with sheets of graphene. The metal is then dissolved away using chemical vapor, leaving behind a…

Inside the Weird Brains of Real-Time Translators

The world’s most powerful computers can’t perform accurate real-time translation. Yet interpreters do it with ease. Geoff Watts meets the neuroscientists who are starting to explain this remarkable ability. One morning this summer I paid a visit to the sole United Nations agency in London. The headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) sit on…

PBS has announced its new series, continuing to devote Wednesdays to nature, science, and technology. Joining the existing line-up are the Earth A New Wild hosted by Dr. M. Sanjayan; the Ken Burns-producer Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies; and First Peoples, a look at how early humans evolved. [Variety]

Mysterious huge flash illuminates Russian skies, puzzles scientists

This is really, really weird: Multiple sightings and dashcam videos of a gigantic yellow flash that covered the skies of the Sverdlovsk region, in Russia, have been reported on the night of November 14. Scientists and local authorities still don’t know what it is or where did it come from. Here’s another video of the…

Report: Uber Can Track Any Customer Using Its ‘God View’ Tool

Uber changed its privacy policy yesterday, but even that may not cover its back this time. Because its top New York executive, Josh Mohrer, has been using an internal tool called God View to track a journalist without her permission. Buzzfeed reports that one of its journalists, Johana Bhuiyan, used Uber to travel to a…

Forever Won Tuesday Night TV With a Single Line

Forever’s promos are like performance art at this point. While this episode technically had to do with changing jazz history, it was mostly about parents being awful at connecting with their kids. Spoilers… This week’s case is all about a jazz composition called “6 A.M.” and the murder that accompany it. Ostensibly the reason for…

What Conan Thinks People Will Do With a Ten-Second Earthquake Warning

So, you’ve installed an app on your phone that gives you a full ten second warning before an earthquake hits. But what are you going to use those vital moments for? Conan thinks he knows. https://gizmodo.com/early-earthquake-warning-app-can-give-you-a-head-start-1656585210 Largely, panic, I guess? But stress can do funny things to people, too—especially if the end is nigh. Better…

Toronto—North America’s fourth-largest city—is asking courts to shut down Uber in the region.

Android Lollipop Trusted Places: Never Unlock Your Phone at Home Again

Google’s new version of Android, Lollipop, is wonderful. And now, one of our very few niggles—that its smart unlocking features didn’t also react to location—is fixed. https://gizmodo.com/i-cant-believe-how-great-android-lollipop-is-so-far-1654225045 You probably unlock your phone a lot, though you probably find there are places, like at home or maybe in your office if you trust your co-workers, where…

A Rare Look Inside a Magnificent South African Wildlife Reserve

Jason G. Goldman is currently in South Africa, getting up close and personal with the animals there. He visited the Nambiti Private Game Reserve, where he snapped all these beautiful photos of the lions there. Read all about it, and learn the lions’ names, below. https://gizmodo.com/photo-safari-lions-1660494576

If Chris Pratt’s the Star of Cowboy Ninja Viking, It’s Perfect Casting

We’ve blown far past the point where any Chris Pratt casting seems out of left field. He could say yes to anything now, and we’d all shrug and go “Okay. I’d see it.” So if Collider‘s sources are right that he’s going to be the lead in Cowboy Ninja Viking, that sounds pretty much perfect.…

Photo Safari: Lions

I always thought it was odd that lions were called the King of the Jungle when, in truth, they live on the savannah and in the bush. Still, they’re definitely royalty among the African megafauna. Above, a lioness bares her teeth – it may appear aggressive, but the truth is I managed to catch her…

Map of record-breaking cold blanket covering the US

It’s not only Buffalo engulfed in a terrifying snow wall. Yesterday was the coldest November morning since 1976: More than 85% of the surface of the contiguous United States reached or fell below freezing. This is much more anomalous than last year’s polar vertex: Ten degrees celsius below normal temperatures! According to Dr. Ryan Maue,…

Quadcopter And Unmanned Helicopter Combo Is Great At Fighting Fire

Forest fires are a persistent problem for the U.S, and our best line of defence is still all too often just men on the ground with backhoes. But combining a remotely-piloted quadcopter with Kaman’s unmanned K-Max helicopter could make for a fearsome alternative to smokejumpers. The joint unmanned K-Max helicopter is already a well-established program,…