- Tech News
Try to Top My Airbnb Horror Story
I should start by saying I do not hate Airbnb. Actually, despite its shortcomings, I love it, and I use the app almost exclusively when I’m traveling for leisure. I’ve had plenty of great experiences: a villa on the beach of a surf island in the Philippines, a cabin in Scotland with a fireplace complete … Continued
- EartherClimate Change
Record-Breaking Heat in California Led to Home-Destroying Wildfires
Record-setting heat plagued much of southern California Friday, with temperatures touching as high as 117 degrees during the day. The unseasonably hot weather sparked a number of brush fires that swept across hundreds of acres of land and destroyed several homes. The National Weather Service reported that at several locations in California saw new, all-time … Continued
By AJ Dellinger - Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Twitter is Suspending More Than One Million Accounts Per Day in Latest Purge
Apparently sick of being criticized by everyone from US Congress to Seth Rogan for not doing enough to purge its platform of bots, trolls, and malicious foreign actors, Twitter has started liberally dropping the ban hammer on suspicious accounts, suspending more than 70 million users over the course of May and June. The massive purge, … Continued
By AJ Dellinger - io9Movies
For Your Convenience, an Ant-Man and the Wasp Spoiler Discussion Zone
The “long-awaited” Avengers: Infinity War follow-up is here! This dynamic duo’s adventures may not exactly change the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it (or maybe they do, who knows?), but there’s still plenty of great stuff to talk about. Spoil away, my pretties! Down below. In the comments. Away from here. As of posting … Continued
- io9Comics
Comic Book Legend Steve Ditko Is Dead
Legendary comic book creator and artist Steve Ditko has died at the age of 90. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ditko was found in his New York apartment on June 29, but was believed to have been dead for up to two days before that. Ditko was best known for creating Spider-Man along with Stan … Continued
- io9Toys and Collectibles
This Might Actually Be the Most Weirdly Boring Star Trek “Action” Figure Ever Made
Star Trek has never been the most, ugh, toyetic of franchises. Cool ships, weird aliens, big teams of characters to collect, sure, but it’s a franchise about exploration and science more than it really is about action. That’s not stopped Star Trek toy lines though, leading to some very weird merch… like this exciting figure … Continued
- io9Movies
A Woman Tries to Survive a High-Octane but Slightly Confusing Hunt in the Short Film BALLiSTIC
Hold up, what exactly is going on here? Filmmaker Ryan Connolly’s newest short film BALLiSTIC expands an ongoing scifi series that’s remained as beautiful as it is bewildering. But even if the saga’s mystery still doesn’t make a lot of sense yet, there’s still some amazing acting, camerawork, and special effects in there. Someone get … Continued
- Tech NewsNews
Network Outages at Disney Make ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ Kind of a Bummer [Update: Parks Back Online]
Disney’s massively popular resorts on both coasts of the United States are in a state of meltdown, as a company-wide network outage has knocked a bunch of the company’s online services and apps offline. The outage has been ongoing since at least 4pm ET. Walt Disney World News Today first reported the outage. According to … Continued
By AJ Dellinger - Tech NewsNews
Hobbyists Lose Fight to Escape the FAA’s Toy Drone Rules
The skies aren’t big enough for everyone. On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit reversed a ruling from last year that found the FAA cannot regulate small drones used by hobbyists. New regulations are expected to come soon, which should please companies that are trying to break into the commercial drone … Continued
By Rhett Jones - io9Comics
The Heroes of This Week’s Best New Comics Are Just Trying to Get Somewhere to Save the World
In the deepest, darkest depths of hell, there is a train station that will take you wherever you want to go. As fabulous as that sounds, it is hell—and so there’s a catch. The train will transport you to wherever, yes, but the platform is packed full of demons. This is an accurate description … Continued
- SciencePhysics
Weird New Quantum Diamonds Offer Hope for a Quantum Internet
“Diamonds are forever” is a cliche that fails to fully encapsulate the many strange properties of diamonds. But a new kind of diamond, one loaded with impurities, relies on a sort of foreverness that could be useful in future quantum technology—maybe even a quantum internet. That probably sounds meaningless, so let’s back up. Diamonds are … Continued
- io9Comics
Meet the Professor Who’s Going to Teach a College Course All About Batman
Baltimore isn’t Gotham City—keep your jokes to yourselves—but, come this fall, it’s going to be one of the best places to learn about the Dark Knight’s publishing history through the decades. This August, the University of Baltimore will be offering a course called “The Evolution of Batman,” taught by award-winning poet Steven Leyva. When we … Continued
- Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
There’s a New Resource List for Domestic Abuse Victims Targeted Through the Internet of Things
Last month, the New York Times published a report detailing ways in which domestic abusers have weaponized smart home technology, exploiting devices such as internet-connected doorbells, speakers, and thermostats to harass their partners. This month, a research team at University College London published a resource list for victims of domestic abuse, specifically through the exploitation … Continued
- EartherExtreme Weather
It Was Absurdly Hot in North Africa Yesterday
Heat waves have unfortunately been very on trend this year. Following sweltering temperatures in the northeastern U.S. and a ridiculously hot, smoky Siberia, we have what may be the hottest temperature ever recorded in Africa. Weather reports from Ouargla, a city of 190,000 in Algeria, indicate the mercury cracked 51.3 degrees Celsius (123.4 degrees Fahrenheit) … Continued
By Brian Kahn - Tech News
The Tech Gods Won’t Save You
In times of great strife and uncertainty, it’s natural to look for heroes, leaders whom we can point to and say, “that right there, that’s what we believe in.” In a more armorial age, these heroes were warriors and generals. Throughout the political turmoil of the 20th century, champions of conscience earned our admiration. These … Continued
By Hudson Hongo - io9Toys and Collectibles
A Cavalcade of Gorgeous Marvel Hot Toys, and More of the Fanciest Toys of the Week
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s regular roundup of all things toys. This week, San Diego Comic-Con marches ever closer with even more exclusives, Batman Ninja strikes at your shelf, and Nerf is getting into laser tag. Check it out! Hot Toys Ant-Man and the Wasp Sixth-Scale Wasp Figure Evangeline Lilly… is that you? We … Continued
- Tech NewsNews
I Survived Navigating Los Angeles Using Only This Ancient Technology
When I was in high school, before phones and cars directed you to your destination, I would sharpie directions on the tops of my hands so I could read them as I drove. It was an effective (if problematic) way to get from point A to point B without looking down at printed MapQuest directions, … Continued
- ScienceSpace
How Will Future Civilizations Survive the Accelerating Expansion of the Universe?
If you think we have problems now, just wait a few billion years, when the accelerating expansion of the Universe triggers an energy crisis of cosmological proportions. Sounds grim, but as a new paper points out, an advanced civilization faced with doom won’t have to go gently into that good night—there may very well be … Continued
- io9Television
Why Don’t We Have a Star Trek Show From the Aliens’ Point of View?
Very few Star Trek fans believe that the first seasons of Deep Space Nine—focusing on the unstable relationship between the Bajoran government, its spiritual leaders, and the only-sort-of welcome Federation—are its strongest. But it’s gotten me thinking lately that it could form the basis of a fascinating Trek show in its own right. There comes … Continued
- EartherEnvironmental Justice
One of the World’s Biggest Insurers Is Ditching Coal
Earlier this week, one of the biggest re-insurance companies in the world started implementing a policy reflecting the growing risk around new coal projects. Swiss Re announced on Monday it would no longer insure companies that get 30 percent of their revenue or generate 30 percent of their power from coal burned for energy (known … Continued
By Brian Kahn