Benedict Cumberbatch aside, the best part of Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie was the animated spells the magical characters could generate out of thin air. Given our world lacks real magic, a Japanese cosplayer has found a way to simulate the same effect using a modded Nerf blaster and a spinning LED wand.
High-temperature electricity without resistance could revolutionize electronics. It could take less energy to move electric charge, meaning better-performing, more-efficient electronics that are cheaper to run. It could cut down on energy costs, and might even help researchers realize better quantum computers.…
Last year, the British Library launched a Harry Potter-themed exhibition of rare art and manuscripts not just from the beloved series, but artifacts from folklores and mystical beliefs from across the world. Thanks to the rabid desires of the Potter fanbase, tickets quickly sold out—but if you missed out, you can now…
For decades, Magic: The Gathering has built up characters and worlds for its expansions in all the little details—snippets of story in the “flavor text” on cards, to novels, and more regularly these days, online short fiction. But its next set, Dominaria, is taking Magic’s story back to the setting it started in 25…
We’ve featured Seb Lester’s remarkable calligraphy talents before, but in this video, instead of hand-lettering iconic corporate logos, he’s seemingly performing calligraphic magic by making beautifully stylized letters appear right before your eyes with just a few drops of ink.
You won’t feel as proud of yourself for being able to shuffle a split deck at poker night after you watch the card manipulating skills of Huron Low, Kevin Ho, and Daren Yeow. The trio, also known as Virtuoso, can make a deck of cards leap through the air as if the effects of gravity aren’t actually felt during a…
The playground you frequented as a kid was probably blanketed in sand to help soften the impact every time you tumbled off the jungle gym. But did you know that something magical happens when you pump a pile of sand full of air? It suddenly enters a liquid-like state.
From Harry Potter to Little Witch Academia, the appeal of schools dedicated to witchcraft and wizardry is strong today—so now DC Comics is getting on it all by taking its most famous magician, Zatanna Zatara, and sending her off to magical college.
Witches have come in all shapes, sizes, and powers over the centuries, but there’s one thing they usually have in common: They’re women. Image’s powerful series Redlands highlights the link between womanhood and witchcraft, showing the misogyny behind the mythology.
The next addition to the realms of Magic: The Gathering is taking players to the desert oasis of Amonkhet, a magical land that’s essentially Magic’s own take on the mysticism of Ancient Egypt. Ahead of the 74th expansion’s arrival in stores later this month, io9 is proud to debut a few of the new cards and the art…
Obviously, we all know that Gerard Butler has nothing but the best sense when it comes to picking projects. However, maybe his true talents lay in producing. He’ll soon team with mega-producer Neal Moritz to produce turn the awesome YA fantasy A Darker Shade of Magic into a movie.
A few weeks ago, the internet was wowed by a video of a magic marker stick figure doodle that appeared to magically come to life with a little water. Many assumed there were some unseen shenanigans that made the stick figure leap off the table, but as Steve Mould explains, it’s all due to the simple science of…
If the lighting weren’t so bad, we’d be inclined to believe this video was the work of a Hollywood special effects studio, because somehow, a simple magic marker doodle of a stick figure appears to come to life with nothing more than some spilled liquid.
If you had a power that no one else had, when would you choose to unleash it? That seems to be one of the questions at the center of Sleight. The main character can do something amazing, but when to do it is the real problem.
It’s more fun to believe in a world where magic can possibly exist but then you see a different camera angle of a cool magic trick and realize it’s all just misdirection, tricks, and fantastic finger dexterity. But still it’s worth it just for that brief moment where you absolutely have no idea how the magician did…
Syfy just shared the first trailer for the second season of The Magicians, and there are dark times ahead. In season two, which draws its plot from the third book in Lev Grossman’s fantasy series, magic is dying and the fate of the world is in the hands of our heroes, whose plan is “crazy vague” at best.
In this clip from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander uses magic to smoothly reassemble a room that’s been torn to pieces by one of his escaped creatures, hoping to cover his tracks. And he almost gets away with it. Too bad the hairless little critter makes a grand entrance and blows his cover.
Characters in horror movies usually work to keep demons away. In A Dark Song, it’s the opposite. As you can see in this first trailer, when two characters tirelessly work to raise the undead, the result is as creepy as it is surprising.
Magic is mostly just how good you are with your hands. Here are three really easy magic tricks that you can pull with just a pen: making it disappear, making it appear out of nowhere, and making it look super small. Oscar Owen breaks down the techniques for each and they only involve super quick finger movements. The…
