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Beware the tiny monsters lurking in your popcorn | January 6, 2013 |
 These fluffy creatures invade movie theaters and sleepovers, disguising themselves among their edible doppelgängers. Their one weakness: an irresistible attraction to the smell of butter, which occasionally causes them to forget their mission and end up crunched between a set of human chompers. More » More.. |
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Watch a trippy, alien-filled animation by the director of Yellow Submarine | January 6, 2013 |
 After finishing his work on the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, director and animator George Dunning made a surreal science fiction short, 1970's Moon Rock. Turn on this 10-minute cartoon in which an astronaut encounters the strange creatures of a bizarre alien world, and let yourself get swept up in its peculiar dream-like logic. More » More.. |
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Concept art reveals the double-decker chase scene cut from The Amazing Spider-Man | January 6, 2013 |
 Concept artist Josh Nizzi gives us a visual play-by-play account of a scene that didn't quite make it into The Amazing Spider-Man. Through his images, he shows us an unseen battle between Spider-Man and the Lizard, carried out atop one of New York city's two-tiered tourist buses. More » More.. |
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We can dye hair with real gold nanoparticles | January 6, 2013 |
 If we can bedazzle body parts and attach precious stones to our nails, isn't it time we look for a way to appropriately deck our hair with reprehensible displays of wealth? Science to the rescue! You can now turn your hair brown, with real gold. More » More.. |
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Witness Back to the Future II's homages to It's a Wonderful Life | January 6, 2013 |
 Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis is a great fan of that alternate reality holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life, and he's never made a secret of the fact that the Biff-ruled Hill Valley of Back to the Future Part II is an homage to the neon-filled Pottersville George Bailey travels through. This video, made by YouTube user skeejay, shows just how close Marty McFly and George Bailey really are. More » More.. |
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How would the William Gibson of 1984 have described the Internet of 2013? | January 6, 2013 |
 William Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" and he's still predicting the myriad possibilities of our technological tomorrows, but how might Gibson have described our modern Internet at the time he was writing Neuromancer? Over at Something Awful, Zack Parsons' short parody of Gibson's writing style imagines how our laptop present might look from the perspective of our cyberpunk past. More » More.. |
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Anatomical illustrations painted directly on human bodies | January 6, 2013 |
 Artist Danny Quirk has created anatomical illustrations for scientific publications, but his latest series of illustrations don't appear on the page; they appear on real, breathing human beings. By using people as his canvases, Quirk turns his work from illustration into sculpture, and offers a striking sense of what goes on in our bodies beneath the skin. More » More.. |
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This hilarious hip-hop Hobbit video packs more plot than the entire first movie | January 6, 2013 |
 Playing off the Hilltop Hoods song "I Love It," Gabbott Productions gives us the "Hilltop Hobbits," a hip-hop retelling of Bilbo's quest. Be sure to turn on the closed caption button so you don't miss any of the lyrics, and keep an eye out for a few unexpected guests in this unexpected music video. More » More.. |
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These colorful sculptures are actually painted spider webs | January 6, 2013 |
 Artist Michael Anthony Simon employs some unusual helpers in creating his gauzy, brightly-hued sculptures: spiders. To create these unique pieces, Simon invites industrious arachnids into his studio and sets them to doing that thing they do best. More » More.. |
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It's Doc versus a Giant Crustacean in a slew of new Venture Bros. images | January 6, 2013 |
 We won't get to see the Season 5 premiere of The Venture Bros. until March (at the earliest), but the AstroBase team has most of that season already in the can. To reward Venture fans for our grumbling patience, co-creator Jackson Publick has posted a ton of teaser images to his Tumblr and LiveJournal blogs. So what, aside from a kaiju crayfish, is ahead for Team Venture? Spoilers below. More » More.. |
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The Indiana Jones Movies, Retold as Maps | January 6, 2013 |
 Andrew DeGraff is an artist who has a particular knack for reinterpreting popular movies as maps. You may have seen his series of Star Wars movie maps floating around the Internet over the last few days, offering an incredible, deconstructed view of a series we thought we'd seen every which way. Given that the Indiana Jones films are about pulp archaeology, they seem particularly well suited to having their stories retold via map. More » More.. |
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New edition of 1984 will feature a "censored" blacked out cover | January 6, 2013 |
 Penguin is releasing new editions of five of books by George Orwell, with covers by designer David Pearson. Perhaps the best of the new designs is Pearson's simple but brilliant idea for 1984, with the title and author's name apparently censored with black foiling. More » More.. |
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Martin Freeman is Tim Baggins when The Office goes to Middle Earth | January 6, 2013 |
 This bizarre mashup video from EagerBeaverFilms, which pastes the faces and voices of characters from the British version of The Office over the bodies of characters from The Hobbit, gives us a double dose of Martin Freeman. But while David Brent the Grey may think he's the star, it's the perfect casting of Gollum that steals the show. More » More.. |
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Let's Celebrate the Return of DC Nation! | January 6, 2013 |
 This week in the world of cartoons, DC Nation returns and we learn what happens when a Clone Trooper forgets he is a Clone Trooper! More » More.. |
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Watch an eerie mockup animation of Neil Gaiman's fable about a heroic black cat | January 6, 2013 |
 It's been more than a year since we first learned of Christopher Salmon's quest to bring Neil Gaiman's short story "The Price" to life as an animated film. This week, he offered a clearer sense of his vision, posting the full-length animatic he used to pitch the project to Gaiman. More » More.. |
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Stanley Kubrick worried the psychotic HAL 9000 would offend IBM | January 6, 2013 |
 When making the film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke consulted with IBM. Given that one of the film's major plot points centers on an insane artificial intelligence, Kubrick was a tad bit worried that IBM might be displeased with their association with the film. More » More.. |
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Saturday Webcomic: In Saint for Rent, an inn for time travelers receives a monstrous guest | January 6, 2013 |
 In the last few months, a few gently animated webcomics have popped up online, using the magic of animated gifs to add an extra dimension to their visuals. It could be tempting to go overboard with your webcomic animation, but Ru's Saint for Rent is one webcomic where it's done well, using small animated sequences to convey motion and glow. More » More.. |
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Dollar bill presidents get made over as the Justice League | January 6, 2013 |
 Aslan Malik decided to give his US cash a colorful makeover by transforming the presidents on different denominations into members of the Justice League. Behold the faces of SuperGrant, Wonder Jackson, and the Green Franklin. More » More.. |
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Baby Dalek dress is perfect for your infant cyborg-in-training | January 6, 2013 |
 Put your little one in this knit Dalek jumper and make sure that her first word is "exterminate," and she'll be on the road to Doctor Who fandom or becoming a murderous cyborg. Either way, she'll look adorable during those formative early years. More » More.. |
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What it's like when a hungry polar bear decides you're lunch | January 6, 2013 |
 Very few predators think humans would make a tasty treat, but polar bears are members of that exclusive club. While shooting his BBC documentary series The Polar Bear Family and Me, filmmaker Gordon Buchanan was approached by a hungry, 1,000-pound polar bear as he sat in his plexiglass pod. He marvels at her strength and power (and very frightening jaws) as she looks for a weak point in his pod. I hope she didn't waste too much energy that could have been spent on a more promising meal target. More » More.. |
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Ventriloquist Harley carries a Jokerface doll in these Batman villain mashups | January 6, 2013 |
 Artist Gingashi imagines an alternate Gotham City in which Batman has half as many foes who are twice as dastardly, giving us the mashed-up rogues Poison Cat, Two-Clay Face, Madcrow, and Jokernigma. More » More.. |
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Gorgeous pop-up book lets you dissect a unicorn organ by magical organ | January 6, 2013 |
 What does a unicorn look like on the inside? Heirloom, Alison Woodward's lovely pop-up "book" dissects a tiny dead unicorn and suggests that even in death, this creature has a capacity for unexpected beauty. More » More.. |
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Forget steam: Some Victorian era machines were powered by dogs | January 6, 2013 |
 Coal, steam, and human power helped bridge the gap between the machines that kicked off the industrial revolution and the advent of electricity and internal combustion engines, but in some places, man's best friend provided the power that kept machines moving. More » More.. |
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Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Retro Fads of the Future | January 6, 2013 |
 The cool kids of the future find themselves perusing Discmen and casette players in this week's Concept Art Writing Prompt. Do you have a story about tomorrow's retro fetishists? Post it right here. More » More.. |
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Best of the Week: December 29, 2012 - Jan. 4, 2013 | January 5, 2013 |
 THIS STRANGE AND LOVELY WORLD | The Alps look like an alien planet in this photo taken from the International Space Station. See more lovely and alien-looking visions of our planet, as seen from space, here. More » More.. |
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Hackers are the ultimate superheroes, on Person of Interest | January 5, 2013 |
 We've described Person of Interest as a superhero show, where the heroes' superpowers come from a computer — but last night, more than ever, we got to see Finch as a superhero hacker. And he helped with the origin story of another hacker superhero, who can achieve greatness if he just overcomes his self-destructive tendencies. More » More.. |
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All the Best Reasons to Love Comics in 2013! | January 5, 2013 |
 This is going to be a great year for comic book movies — but it's also shaping up to be a fantastic year for comics as well. There are tons of inventive, strange and just plain thrilling comics coming out in 2013. Including a Sandman prequel, a new DC Universe mega-event, Greg Rucka creating a brand new heroine, and a graphic novel from the Secret Six team of Gail Simone and Jim Califiore. More » More.. |
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Universal appears to be thinking about Middle-Earth: The Theme Park | January 5, 2013 |
 Rumors around the Infotainment Supernetway indicate that Universal is looking into adding a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit-inspired section to their Universal Studios theme parks, which would instantly be the new nerdiest place on Earth. Supposedly talks are far enough along that the Tolkien Estate people have already talked with J.K. Rowling to see how she felt Universal treated Harry Potter in making The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and she gave them a big thumbs up. More » More.. |
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The Ironic End of the Man who Made Himself Immune to Poison | January 5, 2013 |
 Legend has it, there was an ancient king who resisted Rome. And he ended the way that most people who resisted Rome did. But, because of his research into poisons, and immunity to poison in particular, his end had an ironic twist that many Romans would have appreciated. Learn about the sad, ironic death of the poison-resistant Mithridates. More » More.. |
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How to Explain to Children Why, in Space, No One Can Hear Them Scream | January 5, 2013 |
 We all love that famous movie tagline, but it can be tough for kids to understand. Here's a basic experiment you can do with kids — or for your own curiosity — to demonstrate exactly how a vacuum can eliminate sound. All it takes is a bottle, a bell, and a couple of matches. Try it out! More » More.. |
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Photography is science not math — and here's why that matters | January 5, 2013 |
 Over at The Online Photographer, Ctein has a great essay about the difference between science and mathematics, and why you confuse the two at your peril. And how this relates to photography, which must concern itself with real physical phenomena: More » More.. |
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Bruce Sterling's Advice for New Science Fiction Authors: "Trying to ace your way through collapsing industries is a drag" | January 5, 2013 |
 There's a must-read interview with legendary Cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling over at FortyKey, where Cory Doctorow, Paul Di Filippo and a bunch of other people ask him questions about writing and the future. In particular, Di Filippo asks him what his strategy would be for breaking in as a new science fiction writer in 2013, and Sterling responds: More » More.. |
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10 of the Most Pointless Action Figures Ever Made | January 5, 2013 |
 We've all known the joy and insanity of action figure addiction. When you really love a particular superhero comic or TV show, there's nothing cooler than owning a tiny plastic approximation of your heroes. But you know you've hit rock bottom when you start amassing figures that have absolutely no purpose, and no way to play with them. More » More.. |
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Why does winter make you so SAD? | January 5, 2013 |
 Why do people get depressed during winter? Odds are you've heard of seasonal affective disorder, or you've experienced it for yourself. Fittingly abbreviated "SAD," this periodic melancholy is most often seen in Northern latitudes with the long nights and short days of nature's coldest season. More » More.. |
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Against all odds, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters may be good and here's why | January 5, 2013 |
 If you'd immediately dismissed Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters as another one of the abundant "dark fairy tale" movies currently cluttering the cultural landscape, well, I couldn't blame you, because I did the exact same thing. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by this new red-band trailer for the movie, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hansel and Gretel's tongues are planted firmly in their cheeks. It's almost a parody at this point, which is 100% all right with me. Honestly, how could I possibly not want to a movie about Hansel and Gretel fighting witches in the most graphically, hilariously violent ways possible, but which also includes the line "If there's one thing this job has taught me over the years... don't eat the fucking candy"? I'm not made of stone, people. More » More.. |
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The Science Fiction Publisher That's Helping to Bring Back a Classic Computer Game | January 5, 2013 |
 Recently a Kickstarter campaign launched for Elite: Dangerous, a sequel to the classic 1980s space game Elite. The campaign, which ends later today, was seeking £1.25 million — but it got more than that amount, and £13,000 came via Gollancz, the venerable science fiction publisher, which bought the rights to do a book tie-in to the new game. More » More.. |
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Why can't any recent Sherlock Holmes adaptation get Irene Adler right? | January 5, 2013 |
 Irene Adler only appeared in one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, but she's considered a pivotal figure in the Holmes canon, nonetheless. And we've seen several of the latest Sherlock Holmes interpretations debut their own versions of Irene Adler in recent years. On the plus side, these 21st Century Adlers are more action oriented — but in several key ways, they actually seem more old-fashioned than Doyle's 19th Century original. More » More.. |
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Watch the beautiful opening scene from the CG-free space movie C: 299 792 km/s | January 5, 2013 |
 We've kept Derek Van Gorder and Otto Stockmeier's short movie C: 299 792 km/s on our radar, after they announced they would be making a space picture without ANY green screen or CG. So take a look at the ultra slick opening scene, made with miniatures and practical FX. You can practically feel the hard metallic texture of those spaceships. More » More.. |
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The number of planets in our galaxy alone is downright staggering | January 5, 2013 |
 Caltech astronomer John Johnson, co-author of a newly published study on the formation of planetary systems, calls the distribution of planets in our galaxy "mind-boggling." His team's are the latest in a string of predictions that pin the number of planets in the Milky Way at upwards of 100-billion. And these are conservative estimates. More » More.. |
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How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes — And Have a Better Life | January 5, 2013 |
 He's not just a snacky master of deduction. Sherlock Holmes also has some profound psychological lessons to teach. Learn from the brilliant detective's strategy of mindfulness in this excerpt from psychology researcher Maria Konnikova's new book Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. More » More.. |
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Can you guess the subject of this photograph? | January 5, 2013 |
 If you said "blood vessels" or "bronchi" you'd be wrong, but those would both be very good guesses. There's a reason this false-colour image of the Mississippi Delta — photographed by Japan's Advanced Land Observing Satellite — bears such a striking resemblance to ramifying vasculature; as Unpopular Science explains, it all boils down to efficiency: More » More.. |
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