#paleontology

Bones of the Gigantomachy

How does one make the skeleton of Hercules? Take a bunch of mastodon bones and mix well. More »

03:00 PM

1,790

By Geoff Manaugh - BLDGBLOG

#exclusive

The stars of No Ordinary Family explain how the show balances comedy and vigilantism

We spoke with Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz, No Ordinary Family's Jim and Stephanie Powell, and they explained how the show is getting funnier and darker, plus whether we'll ever see the Powells turn into one big crime-fighting family. More »

02:15 PM

856

By Alasdair Wilkins

#photography

Bill Murray straps on his proton pack one more time

At the Spike Scream Awards last night, Bill Murray showed up dressed as Peter Venkman PhD to accept his Best Cameo award for Zombieland. Yes Bill, the kids love you. [AP Photo/Chris Pizzello]

01:20 PM

6,749

By Cyriaque Lamar

#smallvillerecap

The 200th episode of Smallville = James Marsters, time travel, and a class reunion

Friday's Smallville, "Homecoming," was a change of pace from what we've seen thus far this season. An old villain returned in an unexpected way, Clark flash-forwarded to the Metropolis of 2017, and 90% of the episode took place in Smallville. More »

01:10 PM

4,501

By Cyriaque Lamar

#madscience

Your kitchen sink is the perfect model for the event horizon of a white hole

White holes, which are basically reversed black holes, may not even exist in our universe, but you can create a perfect substitute for them in your kitchen. Water flowing from a tap obeys exactly the same laws as white holes. More »

01:00 PM

2,877

By Alasdair Wilkins

#madscience

The universe might have to end in 3.7 billion years so that the laws of physics make sense

The laws of physics only work in a finite universe, but we likely live in an infinite multiverse. Resolving this discrepancy could mean a 50-50 chance time will end in 3.7 billion years. Yeah, this one's going to get weird. More »

11:30 AM

9,055

By Alasdair Wilkins

#madscience

Blotting out the Sun to slow down global warming could be outlawed

Blocking out the Sun is being seriously considered as a temporary solution to slow down global warming. But the U.N. might ban these solar shades, perhaps because someone there knows The Simpsons already did it...and it didn't work out well. More »

10:30 AM

5,305

By Alasdair Wilkins

#dancingrobots

This dancing Japanese robot will be your next pop overlord

Japanese roboticists are trying to challenge Janelle Monae's monopoly on robotic pop stardom. The cutesy HRP-4C dancebot recently debuted at Tokyo's Digital Content Expo. Her choreography was a little stiff, but this robot was dancing totally untethered. More »

09:55 AM

4,161

By Cyriaque Lamar

#bookreview

"Out of the Dark" is a fun alien invasion tale that doesn't make an impression

Out of the Dark, David Weber's new tale of alien invasion and human resistance, is a lot of fun, but it's no instant classic. More »

09:00 AM

4,864

By Kelly Faircloth

#retrofuturism

Here's what Facebook would look like in 1984

What would Facebook resemble if it was invented 26 years ago? According to artist Mark Penney, it'd be green, DOS-friendly, and your photo would be 100% typography. At least you can update it from your Analog Motorola DynaTAC 8000x! More »

08:30 AM

8,536

By Cyriaque Lamar

#doctorwho

Omnipresent scifi character actor Mark Sheppard is headed to Doctor Who

The inevitable (and awesome) has finally happened: Mark Sheppard, the man behind Badger/Romo Lampkin/Benedict Valda/Crowley/Manservant Neville/every other shifty but strangely lovable science fiction character of the last decade is playing a "huge role" on the next series of Doctor Who. More »

08:15 AM

7,279

118

By Alasdair Wilkins

#topcarblogger

Connecticut's Ghost Parking Lot

In 1978, an artist half-buried and covered two dozen junker cars from the 60s and 70s with pavement in a suburban Connecticut mall parking lot. There the ghost cars sat for 25 years. [Jalopnik]

08:00 AM

60,333

118

By Thewantslip

Yesterday - October 16, 2010

#phantompenis

A phantom penis tends to be a pleasurable sensation, notes historical study

A recent historical survey reports that men who've undergone a penectomy will occasionally experience a phantom John Thomas, and it's usually not a painful experience. In fact, some men will experience phantom erections and illusory ejaculation. What a silver lining! More »

06:40 PM

8,827

112

By Cyriaque Lamar

#triviagasm

The 10 best scenes from The Manitou, an Exorcist rip-off about a naked laser dwarf shaman

What if The Exorcist was about a tumor on a woman's neck that turned into a lil' evil Indian shaman who can fire lasers out of his hands? Then you'd have The Manitou, the best movie about warlock teratomas ever. More »

05:00 PM

10,932

By Cyriaque Lamar

#tvrecap

On Supernatural, Bobby knows when to walk away - and when to run

Last night on Supernatural, we gained a new appreciation for all the crap Bobby has to put up with - and how much of a mommy figure he is to all the hunters out in the field. More »

02:22 PM

5,613

By Annalee Newitz

#military

The Batcave's been discovered in Okinawa using Google Maps

Batman's secret hideout has been discovered using the magic of the internet, and surprisingly it's not under Wayne Manor. No, it's located on a US military base in Okinawa. Who'd have thunk? More »

02:02 PM

9,849

By Cyriaque Lamar

#weirdweather

How does the Sun create a pillar of light in the sky?

The right weather conditions can send pillars of light shooting up across the sky. Find out how nature forms its own spotlights. More »

01:40 PM

20,541

By Esther Inglis-Arkell

#doctorwho

Man discovers Dalek in the rings of a tree, claims it's Jesus

When Bill Johnson of Midway, North Carolina noticed a strange marking in the interior of a downed tree, he thought it resembled Jesus Christ. However, anyone who's seen Doctor Who knows that this mark has a much more sinister connotation. More »

12:20 PM

29,743

148

By Cyriaque Lamar

#computerscience

Bringing back Babbage

11:45 AM

3,013

#skynet

Robots are stealing our jobs and the love of our children

10:50 AM

5,664

#webcomics

The peculiar, pragmatic adventures of a wombat engineer

The webcomic Digger features an unusual epic protagonist. For one thing, she's a wombat. For another, in contrast to the dead gods, shadow demons, hyena warriors, and vampire squash around her, Digger is decidedly down to earth. More »

09:30 AM

5,686

By Lauren Davis

#physics

How heat can cross a vacuum

08:50 AM

4,903

#conceptart

The Harry Potter books, each outlined as a poster-sized comic

Cartoonist Lucy Knisley is on a mission: to create seven cartoon posters, each outlining the plot of one of the Harry Potter books. Here's what she has so far. More »

08:05 AM

17,388

By Lauren Davis

#holycrapwtf

Comic book coloring flub turns Darkseid into the universe's most evil pornographer (NSFW)

In this cover by Jack Kirby, Darkseid's supposed to be lighting a stick of dynamite that will blow up in his foe's face. Thanks to a coloration error, the dynamite becomes something more illicit, but there's still blowing going on. More »

07:40 AM

21,357

By Cyriaque Lamar

#dinosaurs

Tyrannosaurus Rex was a cannibal, say paleontologists

07:00 AM

5,224

Friday - October 15, 2010

#moviereview

"Monsters" is a creature feature that's too preachy for its own good

Giant land octopuses from space have invaded Mexico, and the U.S. has erected a great wall at its border to keep those Latin aliens out. What starts as a great B-movie premise, unfortunately, degenerates into clueless moralism. Spoilers below. More »

06:06 PM

14,306

134

By Annalee Newitz

#books

Popular Mechanics releases a gorgeously-illustrated guide to retro futurism

The Wonderful Future That Never Was is a coffee-table book from Popular Mechanics and scifi author Gregory Benford, which chronicles the bizarre (and sometimes correct) predictions that futurists and scientists made between 1903 and 1969. Here's a sneak peek. More »

05:04 PM

11,299

By Annalee Newitz

#exclusive

Eliza Dushku on what Dollhouse taught her, and what it can teach us

Dollhouse season two is on DVD, which means it's time to rediscover Joss Whedon's most challenging show. We spoke to star/producer Eliza Dushku about the show's challenges, the criticisms Dollhouse faced...and the Echo/Paul outtakes that were too much for TV. More »

05:00 PM

23,531

125

By Charlie Jane Anders

#babyspiderman

Spider-Man is casting an even younger Peter Parker, and the Lizard's son!

04:30 PM

5,098

#threelaws

Robot arm punches human to obey Asimov's rules

Isaac Asimov would probably have been horrified at the experiments under way in a robotics lab in Slovenia. More »

03:19 PM

11,622

By Paul Marks - New Scientist

#hauntedhouses

The 10 scariest Haunted Houses in America

We've rounded up a list of some of the most thrilling haunted houses across the United States. Including one peculiar "experience" where you have to walk barefoot and alone through the entire thing — no exceptions. More »

03:09 PM

52,410

155

By Meredith Woerner

#midnightmoviereview

Terrarium, the worst-rated scifi movie on IMDB, is actually pretty good

Weeks ago, we took a look at the IMDB worst-rated sci-fi films. Hours later, the writer/director of one of them offered to send a DVD. Here's a look at the low budget sci-fi horror film Terrarium. More »

02:40 PM

9,373

By Esther Inglis-Arkell

#peterjackson

"The Hobbit" starts production in February

01:51 PM

2,732

#moviereview

"Red" proves the action movie and the comic book movie have finally converged

Comic-book movies and action movies have so much in common: the unrealistic action, the loopy characterization, the WTF-laden plots. But now that more straight-up action movies are being made based on comics, the two genres have merged. Exhibit A: Red. More »

01:41 PM

12,578

By Charlie Jane Anders

#skepticism

Does the Earthlike planet Zarmina actually exist? Some say no.

It's not a fun question to ask, but anytime a discovery of this magnitude comes along, it's a good idea to hang on to a little skepticism. So let's sort through the biggest questions about Earth's newly discovered sibling. More »

12:55 PM

13,107

117

By Alasdair Wilkins

#daredevils

The Well of Death: India's Automobile Centrifuge

Board-track racing was a popular event in the early days of automobiles, but once the cars got too fast and the centrifugal forces too strong, it became an attraction for only the craziest motorcycle daredevils... at least in the US. [Gawker.TV]

12:35 PM

12,315

By Chris Wyman

#books

Blast off with StarShipSofa's new fiction collection - it's 20% off cover price in October!

12:00 PM

1,036

#politicalsciencefiction

Zombies, nukes and demon sheep: Scariest political ads of all time!

11:48 AM

4,013

#scifashion

Learn how to pilot an Apollo moon lander by looking at your necktie

If you're ever stuck flying an Apollo Program module, you'd better hope you're wearing this necktie, which is silk-screened with schematics from NASA's newly declassified Apollo Operations Handbook. It's just one entrant in NASA's new contest, in partnership with Etsy.com. More »

11:30 AM

4,164

By Charlie Jane Anders

#spaceporn

Magnetar has magnetic fields that are mysteriously intense

Pulsars, or neutron stars, are the universe's densest objects other than black holes. Special pulsars known as magnetars can have intense magnetic fields up to a trillion times stronger than our Sun...but one strange magnetar has been hiding its powers. More »

11:14 AM

8,474

By Alasdair Wilkins

#hulktv