Politics

Congress Basically Admits They Are Reptilians

Congress Edits is a Twitter bot that tweets every time a person in US government anonymously edits Wikipedia. This is our favorite edit so far, in which an anonymous person in the House of Representatives added a denial to an article on U.S. politicians being secret alien lizards. https://gizmodo.com/congress-is-still-editing-wikipedia-a-lot-heres-how-1605295946 Here’s the passage in question, with…

​New Poll Reveals The U.S. Is Number One In Climate Change Denial

The British survey company Ipsos Mori has released its first ever Global Trends Survey, summarizing views from 20 countries on issues ranging from privacy and technology to health and the environment. On the subject of climate change, U.S. citizens revealed themselves to be more divided than any other nation. 54% of Americans agreed with the…

The ​Government Is Failing More Frequently, And Here’s Why

The Veterans Affairs scandal. The Obamacare website launch. The response to Hurricane Katrina. Government seems to be getting more and more incompetent — and now, new data supports that perception. In the past three decades, the average number of epic fails has grown from 1.6 to 3.0 per year. What’s going on here? Paul Light,…

I Origins Shows That The Science Vs. Spirituality Debate Is Played Out

Writer-director Mike Cahill made an impression with Another Earth, which used a science-fiction premise as the backdrop for a personal story. In his second feature, I Origins, the science-fictional premise is front and center — and you can see the downside of trying to tell a personal story about huge science-fiction ideas. I’m going to…

Congress Wants To Explore Europa To Seek Out New Life —And New Jobs

Earlier this week, the Planetary Society held a pep rally for Europa, where Bill Nye and climate change-denier House Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) set aside their differences to promote planetary science. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that a Europa expedition could pump millions of dollars into Congressional districts. With its subsurface ocean and active…

I Origins Went To Insane Lengths To Get Its Science Right

Mike Cahill’s new movie I Origins, out tomorrow, is about a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the human eye. And Cahill tells io9 he was absolutely determined to get the science right — not just having scientific advisers, but giving them headphones and planting them in front of monitors on set. We were lucky…

Ukrainian Science Fiction Writers Predicted the Russian Invasion

Fedor Berezin is a former Soviet military officer and science fiction writer in Ukraine. Now, two of his novels — War 2010: The Ukrainian Frontand War 2011: Against NATO — have become reality. And he’s not the only Ukrainian SF author who imagined the Russian invasion before it happened. In a fascinating story by Cathy…

Save the Internet! There’s no time to waste — Congress is trying to sneak a provision into law that would restrict broadband competition into a budget bill, and you need to call your Representative now. The EFF has more info. Update: Too late. It passed the House.

​If You Want a Glimpse of the Future Food Wars, Look to Hawaii

After Hawaii banned GMO crops, local farmers say they have no idea whether their plants are illegal or not. Plus, it’s unclear whether the state even has the right to enforce this ban in the first place. The Aloha State is about to become ground zero for the U.S. food wars. Hawaii might seem an…

Congress Is Still Editing Wikipedia a Lot — Here’s How We Know

Ever since members of Congress got busted for rewriting Wikipedia articles in 2006, anonymous editors of the online encyclopedia on Capitol Hill have become more circumspect. But the days of under-the-radar editing are over, with a new bot that monitors each and every change in real time. (Photo: Shutterstock) Created less than a week ago…

Anti-Obamacare Ads Backfired, Says A New Statistical Analysis

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act have spent an estimated $450 million on political ads attacking the law, outspending supporters of Obamacare 15-to-1. But a state-by-state comparison of negative ads and enrollment figures suggests the attacks ads actually increased public awareness of the healthcare program. Niam Yaraghi, a Brookings Institution expert on the economics of…

Politician Explains Why Sodomy Is Causing AIDS Due to “Sperm Enzyme”

Bob Frey is a Republican running for the Minnesota House of Representatives, and he’s worried about the economic cost of sodomy. He’s not against gay people, mind you — the problem, he explained yesterday, has to do with the way sperm burns our anal cavities. Here’s his theory. It turns out that Frey has a…

The recent revelations about the NSA’s clandestine electronic surveillance programs have highlighted the risks of European dependency on U.S. technology, says a new report—which adds that Germany’s spying scandals should spur the EU to revitalize its declining science and technology sectors.

Declassified Memos Debate Naming the Shuttle “Enterprise”

Star Trek and NASA have a long, productive relationship of increasing diversity in space programs, but naming the first test space shuttle Enterprise wasn’t a quick decision.

Preppers Explain Why They Joined The Organic Food Movement

Activists championing organic foods have found support among preppers. They’re sympathetic to the “government is a conspiracy and corporations are evil” idea. But what really made preppers into anti-GMO food activists is their desire to have a healthy post-apocalyptic lifestyle. (Photo: Destination America) Yes, the preppers, have gone green. You can get all sorts of…

Tim Wu’s Vision for the Future Comes Into Focus

Tim Wu is a busy man. When he’s not teaching law at Columbia or writing forThe New Yorker, he’s testifying before Congress about the FCC proposed net neutrality. And as of last month, Wu is running for lieutenant governor of New York State. Busy might not be the right term, actually. Tim Wu is brimming…

Climate Change-Denying Politicians Rant About Fluoride And Mars

The week began weird and then got weirder. First, it was reported that a Kentucky state senator said climate change is implausible because Earth and Mars share the exact same temperature. And then a U.S. congressman linked the climate change debate to the ozone hole “hoax” and the fluorination of water. So, let’s begin with…

New Website Can Tell Whether That War Footage Is Fake or Not

We often get news about conflict zones directly from video uploaded by onlookers who aren’t journalists. But are those images real scenes or faked propaganda? Amnesty International now has a site to help viewers do the detective work to find out. The ongoing civil war in Syria is the latest example of how frequently—and convincingly—fake…

Republicans Believe Uber Will Help Them Win Back America’s Cities

With each passing year, the population of urban areas is growing — and most of those cities are run by Democrats. But a key Republican believes the ride-sharing service Uber is the killer app that can create a future wedge between labor unions and Democratic politicians, driving them from power. The theory comes from the…

It’s not about ideology. It’s about thirst. Analysts in Baghdad say that the outcome of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq may come down to who controls the water supply. The water wars may be just beginning.