George R.R. Martin is no stranger to killing off beloved characters. HBO’s Game of Thrones, and his A Song of Ice and Fire series that inspired it, are littered with the corpses of heroes, villains, and everyone in between. How did Martin become so comfortable with shocking his audience? Because when he was a kid,…
If you haven’t taken a moment to really look at butterflies, you’re missing out. They’re more than just colorful bugs—they’re a group of insects consisting of almost 20,000 species of all sorts of incredible shapes and sizes. Their magic truly comes alive when you look up close.
It’s always a beautiful day in the neighborhood, even half a century later. PBS is teaming with Twitch once again to stream every episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, in celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary, as well as what would’ve been Fred Rogers’ 90th birthday.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is something I recall as a feeling rather than a specific set of memories. Wikipedia claims there was a whole cast of characters—Mr. McFeely, Pilot Ito, Officer Clemmons, and a few dozen puppets—but I don’t remember them. With the passage of time, the show’s details have collapsed into a…
Some animals are born with natural camouflage that allows them to hide in their native habitats. But what happens when the ebb and flow of the daily tides is constantly changing your home turf? If you’re the the decorator crab, you simply grab whatever sea plants you can find and use them to disguise yourself.
In an effort to capture never-before-seen footage of animals in their natural habitats, the BBC’s Spy in the Wild series created robotic versions of meerkats, monkeys, and other creatures designed to blend in with their real-life counterparts. The robots are remarkably lifelike, until you remove all of their fur and…
Continuing its proud tradition of supporting scientific inquiry, PBS conducted its own experiment this week, filming the Libertarian and Green Party candidates for president with no one to watch it and asking if it made a sound.
There are a few things that make America great, and blowing shit up on the Fourth of July is one of them. So when PBS decided to digitally add stock footage of fireworks to its “live” coverage of the Capitol’s Independence Day celebration, some viewers were left unimpressed. Faking shit? Very Un-American.
There’s a new teaser out for the upcoming Victorian-era Sherlock special. In it, Watson will break all of the bones in your body while naming them, because he’s a doctor.
Good news, everyone! BBC One has announced the title and airdate for the Victorian Sherlock special! Sherlock: The Abominable Bride will air on January 1st, 2016.
Everybody knows that Omni was the coolest magazine of the 1980s, mashing up science, science fiction, and a healthy dash of pseudo-science. But what many fans of the magazine might not know is that it nearly had a different name. It was supposed to be called Nova.
Don’t tell me you having thought about it. It’s only natural to think about the expulsion of your bodily gas as a rocket launch and then imagine what it’d be like in space. At least that’s why I tell myself. But could it actual propel you? Yes and no.
Lower Manhattan of the 1880s was a wonderland of futuristic technology and engineering: The city's first cable car arced over the harbor. A spindly new steel bridge was forming to connect Williamsburg to the city. And on the Lower East Side, Edison was tearing up the streets to build the first permanent power…
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]
Steven Johnson is the host of the new PBS show How We Got To Now, which celebrates the everyday folks who you've probably never heard of—but who changed the world. We'll have him here starting at 2pm EST to answer all your questions about inventors and scientists that helped shape the world we live in.
I don't care much for cars. But even though I'm ambivalent about automobiles, I'm incredibly passionate about the radio show Car Talk. Sadly, one half of the Car Talk brothers, Tom Magliozzi, died today at 77, which sent me searching for this documentary they made in 2008—the first time I saw "Click and Clack" in…
In 2014 we live pretty comfortable lives, free of rampant disease and inconvenience that plagued our not-too-distant ancestors. The people who helped us get to this point are not necessarily rich or famous but they're no less important for it. PBS celebrates these folks in its new series, How We Got To Now, hosted by…
Ever wondered exactly how your favorite alcoholic beverage that isn't scotch is made? PBS's wonderful "It's Okay to Be Smart" series reveals the science of beer, from hops to bacteria to why we like it so damn much. Take notes; when the apocalypse comes you'll be glad you have 'em.
Call them what you want — Coywolf, Coyote/Wolf Hybrid, Freakin' Terrifying — but the fact is, we've got a new predator and it lives in our forests, our suburbs and even our cities.
You loved Reading Rainbow as a kid. Everyone did! But since the show went off the air in 2006, your ol' pal LeVar Burton's now trying to bring it back via the internet. He just needs a little Kickstarter help to do it.
