- Tech News
Scientists Name Protein After Minions, America’s Favorite Movie Characters
Minions sit next to Guy Fieri atop my list of uncool things I’m not supposed to like that I’m actually an enormous fan of. A team of scientists must have heard my call: Science NEEDS more minions. Scientists at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation have discovered a tiny new protein they’re calling … Continued
- io9
The New Mutants Movie Has Found Its Sunspot, But Why Are Marvel and Fox Whitewashing Him?
Fox’s upcoming New Mutants has found its Roberto Da Costa (Sunspot) in 23-year-old actor Henry Zaga of Teen Wolf and 13 Reasons Why fame. For some fans, the news was another positive step towards the New Mutants finally making their cinematic debut. For others, though, word of Zaga’s casting was bittersweet. While both Roberto Da … Continued
- Tech News
This Robotic Exosuit Could Turn You Into a Super Athlete
Researchers from Wyss Institute and Harvard SEAS have developed a soft robotic exosuit that significantly boosts a person’s running performance. The device requires a tether and external power supply to work, but once it becomes portable, it could help athletes run faster and further than before, smashing their existing running records without having to undergo … Continued
- io9Books & Comics
Diamond Toys Unveils Marvelous SDCC-Exclusive Ironheart Sculpture
Get ready to be jealous if you’re not attending this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, because Ironheart’s gonna be there… or at least this bitching sculpture of her will be. Marvel has unveiled two of its upcoming Diamond Select Toys sculptures for San Diego Comic-Con, which will be sold exclusively at its booth #2607. The first … Continued
- EartherClimate Change
Elon Musk Quits Donald Trump
Mere minutes after Donald Trump finished his batshit bonkers speech about exiting the Paris Climate Accord, White House advisory council member Elon Musk did what many have urged him to do for months: he quit. Which poses the question: Why did Elon Musk join Donald Trump’s presidential councils in the first place? Late last year, … Continued
- Tech News
Tesla Fires Female Engineer Who Alleged Sexual Harassment and Wage Discrimination
Tesla fired a female engineer this week, just months after she publicly raised concerns about sexual harassment and wage discrimination at the company. AJ Vandermeyden sued Tesla last year and went public with her allegations in a February interview with the Guardian, but continued working at Tesla until her firing this week. In February, Vandermeyden … Continued
By Kate Conger - io9Movies
Reminder: The Live-Action Movie Isn’t the Only Awesome Wonder Woman Film
Wonder Woman smashes onto the silver screen this week with her first ever live-action movie (our review is here), but it’s not the first time she’s actually headlined a movie. She starred in her own animated, direct-to-DVD movie nearly a decade ago, and although it stumbled in spots, it still remains one of the best … Continued
- Tech News
The Climate Deniers Have Won
At President Trumps’ behest, the US is joining Syria and Nicaragua in abdicating from the Paris Agreement, a coalition of 147 nations to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions. While Trump faced heavy international pressure to remain within the agreement, from the Pope during his trip to the Vatican, China’s President Xi and European … Continued
- io9
This Creepy Powerpuff Girls Theory Isn’t True, Thank God
An unsettling rumor’s been making the rounds about a character in The Powerpuff Girls, with claims that one of the writers inserted himself in the story as a romantic lead for one of the girls. Only thing is… that’s not what actually happened. A thread on 4chan, which made the rounds on Tumblr and Twitter … Continued
- io9
Of Course the New Star Trek RPG Comes in a Borg Cube Box
Cubes are, after all, an easy shape for a box—and convenient for storage, too, especially when said cube is jam packed with everything you’ll need to play the brand new Star Trek tabletop roleplaying game. The fancy edition of Modiphus’ Star Trek Adventures is set to go up for preorder next week, and it’s both … Continued
- io9
How Wookieepedia Tackles the Insanely Difficult Task of Chronicling the Entire Star Wars Universe
There are a number of fan wikis out there, but none of them have probably ever undergone as big a change as Fandom’s Wookieepedia did when years of careful archiving of Star Wars lore was suddenly declared to no longer be canon. io9 talked to two Wookieepedia editors about that radical change, the challenge of … Continued
- EartherClimate Change
Here’s How to Watch President Trump Make An Ass of Himself By Pulling Out of the Climate Agreement
Donald Trump is set to announce his intention to pull out of the Paris Accord this afternoon, a global climate agreement that virtually every country in the world has signed up for. The move is seen as flatly idiotic by anyone with a modicum of common sense and desire to see humans flourish on planet … Continued
By Matt Novak - ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
SpaceX to Fly a Recycled Spacecraft for the First Time Tonight
SpaceX is gearing up to get its proverbial ass to Mars. For the first time tonight, the aerospace company will launch an already-used Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS), carrying 6,000 lbs (2,721 kilograms) of supplies and science experiments. The spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space … Continued
By Rae Paoletta - Tech News
Watching Lightning Strike a Building in Super Slow Motion Is Freaky as Hell
For the first time ever, scientists have captured high-speed footage of lightning striking a building. It’s dramatic as hell, but the video could also change the way lightning rods are used to protect buildings. The unprecedented video—captured by physicist Marcelo Saba and his team from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research—shows branches of lightning hurtling … Continued
- io9
The Goddess Athena Shows Up on Justice League Action to Take Away Wonder Woman and Deliver Sick Burns
You might have that one auntie who displays a level of sass and verbal kung-fu that is simultaneously cool and frightening. For Wonder Woman, that auntie is Athena, which makes it very entertaining when the goddess of wisdom and war visits the World’s Greatest Superheroes. One of this weekend’s upcoming episodes of Justice League Action … Continued
- io9
Netflix Has Cancelled Sense8 After Only Two Seasons
After a mere two seasons of streaming on Netflix, the Wachowskis’ Sense8 has been cancelled, according to Netflix VP of original content Cindy Holland. “After 23 episodes, 16 cities and 13 countries, the story of the Sense8 cluster is coming to an end,” Holland said in a statement. “It is everything we and the fans … Continued
- io9
Make Your Game of Thrones Knowledge Even More Pretentious With This Harvard Course
Harvard University, one of the most prestigious schools in the world, is now tricking students into learning medieval mythology by watching Game of Thrones. And Fox News says college doesn’t prepare kids for the real world. The Ivy League college is now offering a medieval history course called “The Real Game of Thrones: From Modern … Continued
- EartherClimate Change
Hundreds of Giant Seafloor Craters Produced By Explosive Methane Farts
Researchers working in the Barents Sea have discovered hundreds of craters on the Arctic Sea floor, some measuring over a kilometer in width. These craters, which date back to the end of the last Ice Age, were formed when large reserves of methane exploded in the wake of retreating ice sheets. Because methane is a … Continued
- io9Movies
Patty Jenkins Wanted Thor 2 To Be a Love Story Influenced by Romeo and Juliet
Years before Patty Jenkins directed Wonder Woman, she was linked to another superhero: Thor. Jenkins was the first director attached to what would become 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, but she left the project long before cameras started rolling. “It was painful and sad because I really loved those guys and I loved the idea … Continued
- Tech NewsSploid
Here’s Where Gorillaz Get All Their Unusual Samples
Daft Punk isn’t the only musical group who packs its hits full of obscure and eclectic samples. Gorillaz have been borrowing funky beats and catchy rhythms from other artists for over 16 years now, and YouTube’s Kirima Nagi has found the source of almost every last one in this comprehensive quarter-hour video. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-where-all-of-daft-punks-impossibly-catchy-sampl-1793437260 All five … Continued