- io9Games
The New Animal Crossing Stinks
Moderately motion sick and stuck on a Connecticut-bound bus this Thanksgiving Eve, I downloaded the pick-me-up I was certain my brain required: Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. And crossed the animals did, over a shaky cellular connection and onto my iPhone as the bus lurched into stop-and-go traffic uptown. With a single thrilling tap I launched … Continued
By Harri Weber - ScienceHealth
Why Basement Biohackers Might Need to Start Fearing the FDA
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration issued a stern warning to biohackers in America: Undertaking DIY gene therapy, it warned, is risky, and selling the supplies to do it is flat-out against the law. “FDA is aware that gene therapy products intended for self-administration and ‘do it yourself’ kits to produce gene therapies for … Continued
- Tech NewsNews
Convicted Drunk Drivers Say Smartphone Breathalyzers Helped Prevent Impaired Driving
Back in August, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) gave 475 people with DUI convictions a smartphone breathalyzer, a mobile device that can estimate one’s blood alcohol level instantly. Now CDOT has surveyed the participants, and the results are hugely positive: 90 percent said the breathalyzer helped them avoid driving while impaired and 94 percent … Continued
- io9Movies
Kerry Washington and Rashida Jones Are Adapting Cute Girl-Detective Comic Goldie Vance Into a Movie
Goldie Vance is a comic book series from publisher Boom Studios that won over readers’ hearts when it first came out last year. It’s won over actresses who starred in The Office and Scandal, too, so much so that Rashida Jones and Kerry Washington are going to adapt it for film. The movie deal was … Continued
- Earther
Without Sharks, Some Reefs Would Look Completely Different
If you’ve ever taken the long way home to avoid a path that seems unsafe, you can sympathize with unicornfish in Fiji’s Votua marine reserve. A new study has shown that herbivorous reef fishes alter their foraging behavior to avoid running into sharks. In other words, even though sharks don’t eat seaweed, they help influence … Continued
David Shiffman - Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Uber to Staff: I Know You’re Not Spying On Anyone, But Please Do Not Spy On Anyone
Uber has historically gotten an edge on its competition by deploying some unsavory practices—like spying on individuals. But the company’s new chief legal officer has a message to employees who may still be surveiling humans to get ahead: “Stop it now.” The new executive, Tony West, who just filled one of the company’s vacant leadership … Continued
- io9Books
All the Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for December
December is relatively light on new book releases, but you still won’t want to miss out on what the month has to offer. There’s a new Expanse book, a new entry in George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series, a thoughtful new collection from the great Ursula K. Le Guin, and so much more! Canto Bight: … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy - Earther
Mangrove Forests Could Protect Us From Climate Change—If They Survive It
Mangroves are underappreciated. Around 100 species of these trees and shrubs blanket tropical estuaries and tidal zones across the globe. Their partially exposed, stilt-like roots extend deep into waterlogged soil, sequestering carbon and protecting coastlines against storm surges. They would seem like the hardiest of plants, but new research shows their tough living conditions may … Continued
By Ari Phillips - io9Comics
Jean Grey‘s Phoenix Force Finally Makes Its Return in the Most Melodramatic Way
Dennis Hopeless and Victor Ibenez’s Jean Grey is a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of anxiety, self-doubt, and fear. Teen Jean’s been preparing for the Phoenix’s return—the test of her life—but this week, the Phoenix decides that it’s tired of waiting for her to study up. Reckoning day’s here. Though she is a vastly different person than … Continued
- Tech News
Hopefully You Only Need to Use This Ring-Revealing iPhone Case Once
When you shell out $40 for an iPhone case, you probably expect to use it for the life of your phone. But will you really want to keep using the RokShok, a transforming iPhone case that hides a pop-up engagement ring, after you’ve popped the question? Among the many terrible, terrible things we all have … Continued
- io9Television
If You Stopped Watching Agents of SHIELD, It’s Time to Come Back
After what feels like forever—mainly thanks to the fact we had to endure the collective trauma of Inhumans before we could get here—Agents of SHIELD is finally back on our screens tonight. If you’ve drifted away from the adventures of Coulson and the gang, you really should consider coming back and seeing what’s up, because … Continued
- io9Toys and Collectibles
Even the Geniuses at Hot Toys Cannot Truly Capture the Glory of Oscar Isaac’s Face
Hot Toys’ expensive, yet gorgeous figures are known for their often jaw-dropping likenesses. The intricately detailed figures are almost like little homonculi, and we’ve frequently joked that they’ve basically captured the souls of the actors they’re depicting. But sad news ahead: Not even Hot Toys could get Poe Dameron quite right. While Hot Toys has … Continued
- ScienceAnimals
Feast Your Eyes on Some of the Year’s Best Wildlife Photography
The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual photo competition, and it features fantastic photos of fearsome predators pouncing on prey, a freakishly rare ocelot, and a crafty chameleon doing what a chameleon does best. This year’s competition was called “Capturing Ecology,” and it features photos primarily taken by international ecologists and … Continued
- io9Movies
A Timeline of Everything We Know Happened After Return of the Jedi, Up to The Last Jedi
Two years ago, the “Journey to The Force Awakens” gave us our first tentative steps into fertile new ground for Disney’s Star Wars canon: the three-decade period between Return of the Jedi and the time of the new sequel trilogy. Two years later, with The Last Jedi mere weeks away, we know so much more. … Continued
- Tech News
ThinkGeek’s Got More NES and SNES Classics to Sell You… If You Win a Contest
Despite Nintendo promising to bring back the NES Classic Edition next year, and to manufacture enough SNES Classic Editions to meet demand, both consoles are still hard to come by ahead of the looming Christmas deadline. ThinkGeek has managed to get its hands on a bunch of both consoles, but the retailer says it will … Continued
- io9Books
The 20th Anniversary Editions of Harry Potter Accidentally Added Fake Potter News
In 2017, fake news is everywhere. It’s on your Twitter feed, on your television, it’s flung out of the Trump administration like confetti. But I’m sorry to report, readers, that fake news has wormed its way into another beloved institution: the latest printing of Harry Potter. New editions of J.K. Rowling’s beloved books—emblazoned with the … Continued
- Tech News
Use This Tool to See If Your Name Was Used to Support Net Neutrality Repeal
So far, the FCC has refused to cooperate with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s investigation into identity theft during the commenting period on net neutrality repeal. So Schneiderman is using the internet to find the evidence and he needs help. On November 21st, Schneiderman wrote an open letter to the FCC that claimed the … Continued
By Rhett Jones - How To
What Do the AI Chips in New Smartphones Actually Do?
Artificial intelligence is coming to your phone. The iPhone X has a Neural Engine as part of its A11 Bionic chip; the Huawei Kiri 970 chip has what’s called a Neural Processing Unit or NPU on it; and the Pixel 2 has a secret AI-powered imaging chip that just got activated. So what exactly are … Continued
By David Nield - io9Television
No Surprise, Stranger Things Renewed for Third Season
In a move that surprises no one, either here or in the Upside Down, Netflix has announced that Stranger Things will get a third season. Netflix announced the renewal on Twitter, confirming that we’ll be revisiting Eleven and the Gang, as well as the series’ new big bad, the Mind Flayer. They added that there’s … Continued
- ScienceSpace
Binary Star System May Actually Be a Pair of Orbiting Supermassive Black Holes
Oops! Andromeda, our closest galactic neighbor, sits a measly 2.5 million light years away from Earth. Like the Milky Way, it’s a spiral galaxy packed with stars. Some of those stars orbit one another. That’s all good—but scientists have come to the realization that a particular light source, one assumed to be binary star system … Continued