Science

SpaceX Falcon Video Shows How Simple a 10-Minute Ride to Orbit Is

This is the on-rocket video of SpaceX’s successful Falcon 1 launch. The Earth gets smaller, the sky gets darker, the engines burn cleanly, all systems remain nominal, and 10 minutes later the little rocket that finally could is in orbit…as simply as that. Check out the jubilant cheers from the SpaceX team at about 2:40…

Space & Spaceflight Kit Eaton Sep 29

Real-Life Rocket Man Takes Flight Over English Channel

The best part of any superhuman story is when our fledgling hero, having recently discovered his or her powers, totally has fun with them. Think of Iron Man tinkering with his ever-evolving Mark suit, or Spider-Man figuring out how to web-sling. This morning, in the crystalline blue heavens, Swiss airline pilot Yves Rossy felt a…

io9 Nisha Gopalan Sep 26

Will the Chinese Spacewalk Lead to a Space Cold War?

Tomorrow Chinese astronauts will go spacewalking for the first time. The launch of the Shenzhou-7 spaceship on Thursday was a success, and for the first time in the history of Chinese space exploration, a human crew will spacewalk. This is the first stage in the country’s planned development of a space station. The question is,…

io9 Alex Carnevale Sep 26

2008 Science Visualization Challenge Reveals the Teeth in a Squid’s Suckers

What you see above are actually the suckers on the arm of a squid, captured with an electron microscope. The color was added for the obvious effect. The National Science Foundation and the journal Science have announced the winners of the 6th annual International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. Incredibly talented scientist/artists wielding electron microscopes…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 26

2008 Science Visualization Challenge: Amazing Images Show Science Like You Should

The 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge has just concluded with some pretty astonishing imagery in the winning slots. This picture, dubbed “Glass Forest,” is a scanning electron micrograph of diatoms (weird unicellular algae) clinging to a marine worm, and won the photography category: to my eyes it looks half like a palm tree…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Sep 26

Cool New Science Show Recreates Tesla’s High Voltage Inventions

If you’re tired of getting your science porn fix from Modern Marvels and Mega Disasters, there’s a cool new science show you should check out tomorrow night. The pilot for indie-rock/indie-tech accented History Hacker hits the airwaves on History Channel tomorrow night at 8. Host Bre Pettis (of Etsy and MAKE fame) takes you into…

Television Annalee Newitz Sep 25

Improved Vision Implants Rejuvenate Damaged Retinas Like Digicam Sensors for the Eye

The eye is a delicate thing. Most ocular implants that get too hands-on with your squishy sightballs cause rejections problems, but a new implant developed by the Boston Retinal Implant project shrinks the components significantly, allowing your eye to take on its cyborg enhancements without casting them off violently as unwelcome invaders. For people with…

Health John Mahoney Sep 25

When Worlds Collide, Literally

Do you remember that one episode of Mythbusters, when they wanted to find out what would happen if two Earth-sized planets smashed into each other, so they called in some favors and got a solar system with two Earth-sized planets, smashed them together, then showed the awesome high-speed camera footage of it over and over?…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 25

Zathura Boys Want to Make Large Hadron Collider The Movie

It’s the first in what I’m sure is going to be a long line of Large Hadron Collider-themed movies to come. Screenwriters David Koepp and John Kamps (Ghost Town, Zathura) are excited about teaming up to work on a LHC story called The Superconducting Supercollider of Sparkle Creek, Wisconsin. Their plot sounds a lot more…

Movies Meredith Woerner Sep 25

Your Remote-Controlled Robot Voyeur Army Has Arrived

You’re on vacation, but you still want to spy on what your roommates are doing in your house. Or maybe you just want to be sure your boyfriend remembers to feed your cats. Either way, you’re in luck with the new Spykee robot (pictured), a robot that’s remote-controlled via internet phone service Skype. That means…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 25

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Big, Beautiful Pictures

I am so drawn to all things Baikonur. It’s been Russia’s primary spaceport since 1955—the world’s oldest. Maybe it’s the sharpness of the pop in my mind when considering many of humankind’s most stunning moments of excelsior have originated from the dusty, rusty Kazakh steppe. Maybe it’s because Sergio Leone should have made a movie…

Space & Spaceflight John Mahoney Sep 24

People Have Been Visiting Stonehenge for 9,000 Years, Say Archaeologists

A new dig at pagan holy zone Stonehenge in England has revealed that people have been flocking to the spot for at least 9 millennia. Researchers determined this by dating rocks chipped by human hands, as well as the remnants of fires. Though it’s not clear what drew visitors through the ages, anthropologists now believe…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 24

Astronomers Find “Dark Flow” Sucking Matter Out of the Universe

There is a force called “dark flow” that exists outside our universe, and it’s tugging several galaxy clusters at 2 million mph toward an empty spot in space between Centaurus (pictured) and Vela. This isn’t like dark matter, which exerts a more localized pull: Dark flow is a force that’s operating at a universe level…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 24

Homeland Security’s ‘Hostile Thoughts’ Detection System Dubbed FAST, Not Pre-Crime

The Department of Homeland Security’s been researching a sensor system that tries to predict “hostile thoughts” in people remotely for a while, but it’s just spoken up about developments and renamed the system “Future Attribute Screening Technologies,” FAST, which sounds really non-intimidating. It was called “Project Hostile Intent.” But check out the technology’s supposed powers…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Sep 24

Sound Wave-Driven Liquid Lenses Good For Lightweight Future Phones, UAVs

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have come up with this freaky adaptive liquid-lens that can capture 250 in-focus images per second. It’s essentially droplets of water in a pair, trapped in chamber and driven by a high-frequency sound wave to oscillate.As the drops wiggle back and forth, surface tension changes the droplet’s shapes, and thus…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Sep 23

Mystery of the Off-Center Martian Ice Cap

When summer hits the south pole on Mars, only half the ice on the pole melts. This leaves behind a strangely off-center chunk of water-and-carbon-dioxide ice, as you can see in this composite satellite image of the pole in summer. After analyzing climate data for several years, researchers have figured out what causes this weird…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 22

The Most Spectacular Failed Scientific Experiments

While the Large Hadron Collider is shut down for repairs, you might be feeling pessimistic about grand scientific experiments. But that’s the cool thing about science – even when everything goes horribly wrong, we still learn something. Sometimes, what we learn from failure is more important than what we’d have gained from a success. Here…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 22

Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

Japanese scientists are so hyped up on the possibilities of building a real life space elevator that in just two months’ time the country is playing host to a conference designed to set a production timetable. Carbon nanotube technology has advanced so rapidly that a material capable of withstanding the amazing forces in the space…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Sep 22

Fungus Could Be Among Fastest Lifeforms on Earth

Slow-growing fungus may be one of the fastest lifeforms on Earth — at least when it comes time to spread its seeds. A group of scientists recently used ultra-high-speed cameras to record spores being shot out of fungi (pictured). Some of them were launched out of the fungi at 55 mph, zooming several feet before…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 22

Carbon Nanotube Supercapacitors May Replace Clunky Car Batteries

Carbon nanotubes are one of the surprising new carbon supermaterials, and it looks like their application in supercapacitors may have a role in replacing clunky old car battery tech. Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have invented a technique to make supercapacitor “paper” made from randomly tangled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer.…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Sep 22

SpaceX Falcon Video Shows How Simple a 10-Minute Ride to Orbit Is

Real-Life Rocket Man Takes Flight Over English Channel

Will the Chinese Spacewalk Lead to a Space Cold War?

2008 Science Visualization Challenge Reveals the Teeth in a Squid’s Suckers

2008 Science Visualization Challenge: Amazing Images Show Science Like You Should

Cool New Science Show Recreates Tesla’s High Voltage Inventions

Improved Vision Implants Rejuvenate Damaged Retinas Like Digicam Sensors for the Eye

When Worlds Collide, Literally

Zathura Boys Want to Make Large Hadron Collider The Movie

Your Remote-Controlled Robot Voyeur Army Has Arrived

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Big, Beautiful Pictures

People Have Been Visiting Stonehenge for 9,000 Years, Say Archaeologists

Astronomers Find “Dark Flow” Sucking Matter Out of the Universe

Homeland Security’s ‘Hostile Thoughts’ Detection System Dubbed FAST, Not Pre-Crime

Sound Wave-Driven Liquid Lenses Good For Lightweight Future Phones, UAVs

Mystery of the Off-Center Martian Ice Cap

The Most Spectacular Failed Scientific Experiments

Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

Fungus Could Be Among Fastest Lifeforms on Earth

Carbon Nanotube Supercapacitors May Replace Clunky Car Batteries

Claude Mythos Preview Has Officially Frightened the British

Apple’s New Wearables Push Will Start with Glasses In 2027, Report Says

Crypto Investor at Center of Trump Corruption Allegations Now Sees Himself as ‘Victim’

Southwest Is About to Limit Power Banks on Flights

Damn, the ‘Power Rangers’ Reboot Could’ve Had Four Movies

The Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Team Wants to Go the Distance

‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Will Please Gross Horror Fans

Somehow Paramount’s ‘Avatar’ Movie Has Leaked, Too

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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