Pareidolia

The Seagull Nebula spreads its wings across 100 light-years

This beautiful image is an up-close look at one of the universe’s best examples of pareidolia: the Seagull Nebula, also known as the Parrot Nebula or Eagle Nebula, depending on your ornithological preference. Point is, this is one gargantuan bird. Just like the Man in the Moon, the face on Mars, and, for some reason,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 8

An Egyptian reptile alien lives on the back of Barack Obama’s skull

Did you know that some genus of extraterrestrial reptilian lives on the back of the POTUS’ skull. It’s true! Like the spawn of some fantastical Stargate/Harry Potter/Super Mario Brothers: The Movie slash fiction, Barack Obama’s cranium has become the host to a reptile invader from Dimension Haircut. We wouldn’t have this problem if phrenology was…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Feb 20

Sonogram reveals that woman is giving birth to the supervillain Venom

When Redditor OzLebowski saw his wife’s sonogram, he realized that something was horribly amiss — namely, that she was giving birth to Venom the alien symbiote from The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. Venom’s weaknesses include extreme heat and sonic blasts, so this sonogram probably did a good deal to annoy the baby extraterrestrial — this…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar Feb 7

Who do you see in this massive silhouette in space?

The fierce ultraviolet radiation given off by the young stars of NGC 3324 has carved this giant cavity in space. And, thanks to our old friend pareidolia, that boundary between different gases looks an awful lot like a person’s profile. In fact, the astronomers at the La Silla Observatory in Chile’s Coquimbo Region have taken…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 5

Ghost of Princess Diana haunts Glasgow church, entire damn planet is rapt

In the spirit of such Earth-shattering news as Thor’s cameo on Google Maps and the Dalek Christ log, Princess Di has now been found haunting a Glaswegian church. She’s freaking out confused tourists, given that the afterlife’s a crashing bore. Strange occurrence habitué Michael Cohen claims that this ghost is the Princess of Wales, but…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 18

Google Maps discovers mysterious sky creatures in Switzerland

Along a lonely stretch of road in Quarten, Switzerland, two strange figures and/or camera smudges survey the terrain, planning nefarious and/or blurry machinations. The figures follow the camera as it travels down the road. Some commenters on Reddit are claiming this is a gateway to Valhalla, but I’m of the mind that Galactus and the…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Nov 19

Behold the terrifying claws of Mars

This Halloween eve, look upon in horror at the mark of a strange and terrible beast that roams the plains of the red planet. What horrible monster could leave such an eerie footprint? Also, it’s over six miles long. Of course, this isn’t so much a gigantic footprint actually as it is a geological formation,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Oct 30

Meet the monster who lives in the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

This nebula is located about 2,400 light-years from Earth. It gets its nickname from its elongated, trunk-like shape, but this close-up on the main body of the nebula reveals something else…is that a monster staring back at us? Of course, any weird faces you might see in the nebula are merely a case of cosmic…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 25

The Seagull Nebula spreads its wings across 100 light-years

An Egyptian reptile alien lives on the back of Barack Obama’s skull

Sonogram reveals that woman is giving birth to the supervillain Venom

Who do you see in this massive silhouette in space?

Ghost of Princess Diana haunts Glasgow church, entire damn planet is rapt

Google Maps discovers mysterious sky creatures in Switzerland

Behold the terrifying claws of Mars

Meet the monster who lives in the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

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