Why does the Moon make scorpions glow in the dark?
Between their pincers and poisonous stingers, you’d really think that scorpions are already more than scary enough for one species. But that still leaves their unearthly – and unexplained – ability to glow a strange blue color in ultraviolet light. Scorpions have the rather unusual ability of fluorescence, giving them an eerie blue color if … Continued
It Is Officially the Worst Allergy Season Ever
Or at least as far as we can remember. Allergies suck all around, but due to the lack of rain to wash away those hateful spores known as pollen, NYC residents are having a worse time of it this year. I wasn’t even aware physicians could specialize in allergy treatment, but apparently allergists are seeing … Continued
Colliding white dwarfs give each other a new lease on life
White dwarfs are the ultra-dense husks of stars like our own, dying remnants that are just a pale shadow of their former glory. But when two white dwarfs come together, they can create something very special: a brand new star. About 90% of all stars eventually become white dwarfs, which have nearly the mass of … Continued
Mac OS X Lion’s Safari Reading List Competing Directly with Instapaper
This Reading List feature looks even cooler with the latest build of Lion. One 9to5 Mac reader found out that webpages saved using the tool are synced with iOS devices. This makes using Instapaper on your iPad pretty redundant. As you may already know, Instapaper is a great little app for iOS and Kindle that … Continued
A tween girl designed the coolest TARDIS console yet
Check out the awesomeness of this incredibly weird TARDIS console, complete with coat-hanger, skipping rope and telephone wires that make tea. And satnav! It’s the work of Susannah Leah, a young viewer of the BBC’s Blue Peter program. Spoilers ahead… Susannah’s design was featured in yesterday’s Doctor Who adventure, “The Doctor’s Wife.” The BBC just … Continued
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s never-made adaptation of Dune is getting a documentary
While we’re on the topic of Dalí, news has come out of the Cannes Festival that director Frank Pavich is making a documentary titled Jodorowsky’s Dune that delves into the history of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s doomed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel. https://gizmodo.com/watch-destino-salvador-dalis-cartoon-team-up-with-walt-5802008 Before the 1974-1976 project went belly up, Jodorowsky’s production team for Dune was perhaps … Continued
University of Chicago’s Robotic Library Makes Your Librarian Obsolete
Tomorrow, The University of Chicago will be changing how their students will be doing their research papers. The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library will use a massive automated retrieval system, turning the whole library experience on it’s head. Even now, libraries can be a little intimidating. The Dewey Decimal System seems like one of those … Continued
Australian building crams tree-lined city street into 35 stories
The world’s first “vertical street” will soon be built in Melbourne, Australia. Every sixth floor of the 35-story building will have gardens capable of growing trees up to 10 metres tall and the entire building will be boasting the very latest in green technology. While roof gardens and landscaped balconies have been constructed in the … Continued
New Strides Toward Better Clocks, Accurate to One Second in 32 Billion Years
The slightest whisper of warmth induces miscalculations in the world’s most precise atomic clock, researchers say. Accounting for this effect can make future clocks even more precise, eventually leading to atomic clocks that lose only one second every 32 billion years – about two and a half times the age of the universe itself. Hyper-sensitive … Continued
In which a great work is finally completed: Isaac Asimov’s Forward the Foundation
Though not without its flaws, Forward the Foundation is a fascinating book, in which both author Isaac Asimov and his hero scientist Hari Seldon strive to finish the works that would define them after they were gone. It is the seventh and final day of Foundation Week at Blogging the Hugos, and time to talk … Continued
Doctor Who really is a love story after all
It turns out Doctor Who’s time-traveling misfit has always had one great love in his life. Tonight’s episode was writer Neil Gaiman’s love letter to the series, but it was also a showcase for the Doctor’s great love affair. “The Doctor’s Wife” provides a weirdly skewed take on the show’s premise, which might well serve … Continued
io9 Weekly Roundup
WEEKLY ROUNDUP: 5/8 – 5/14 | Starbuck goes Art Nouveau by Megan Lara. https://gizmodo.com/the-art-nouveau-of-scifi-heroines-5801853 What’s up with DC Comics’ dystopian reality series Flashpoint? Geoff Johns gives us hints https://gizmodo.com/whats-up-with-dc-comics-dystopian-reality-series-flashp-5801946 io9 recently caught up with DC Comics architect Geoff Johns to discuss Flashpoint, the publisher’s big summer series starring the Flash, a screwed-up timeline, and a … Continued
Light the Way and Grow a Tree Simultaneously Within This Green Lantern Concept
While the LED’s heat light might actually end up doing more harm than good to the tiny sapling growing within, I have to give a nod to the effort. What better way to promote the green initiative than put a terrarium inside a camping lantern? Designer Frank Shaw, a hat tip to you sire, and … Continued
This Wall-E PC Casemod Does Everything Save Compact the Trash
German modder Thechoozen loves Wall-E and PC casemods so much that he combined them into this swanky build that, yes, actually moves around his garden. Beyond that, the case includes dual webcams behind the eyes, which Thechoozen uses to capture 3D imagery of the yard, promiscuous neighbors or anyone else who might let their guard … Continued