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weird toys

A Taste of the Comic-Con Expo Floor

After waiting in long lines to get into the San Diego convention center, the big event Wednesday night was visiting the Expo floor before things get really crazy on Thursday. Mostly, the io9 crew focused on a few hapless action figures that got in the way of our videocamera. I love this giant table full of a million Batmans and Darth Vaders. Comic-Con is many things, but one of them is that it's a place where grown people can scream about toys — especially toys with really giant breasts. Yes, we've got some work-safe breasts in a video below. More »

12:45 AM on Thu Jul 24 2008
By Annalee Newitz
439 views, Comment

The Day the Earth Stood Still

First Look At Klaatu's Space Ride

Two new The Day The Earth Stood Still posters have come out, showing more of the imposing Gort and Klaatu's sweet spaceship. Question: does Klaatu drive a planet? If so, isn't that a lot of room for just one spaceman and Gort? Which makes me question, how dangerous Klaatu is this year? Is he bringing a bigger weapon than before, possibly the size of a planet? Or will Klaatu's people be launching an assault on foot? I'm game for a total stone-faced alien military occupation of Earth. Click through for a better look at the spaceship and more pictures of the universe's best robot body guard. More »

6:46 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Meredith Woerner
1,826 views, 15 comments

Latest by Taed: In the original short story, Klatuu dies in the opening scene. Gort is inert for years (they can't move it, so they build a museum around it), but then it eventually wakes up and is pissed. Very pissed. Klatuu was more »

Volcanoes in Alaska Are "Hopping," Says Scientist

Witness the glory of one of the two massive volcanoes erupting today in Alaska. Here you can see a satellite's-eye-view of the plumes from Okmok Caldera, floating out between the clouds over the coast. Though Okmok has been erupting for several days, it was joined recently by Mount Cleveland, off the coast in the Aleutian Islands. More eruption below. More »

4:17 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Annalee Newitz
856 views, 3 comments

Latest by pixelwax: What's this about a Cleveland steamer? /shows self out more »

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network Brings Comic Rodents, Dragons To TV

It's not just big budget summer blockbusters anymore; now cable television is looking to the world of comics for material. Cartoon Network announced today that it's adapting three indie comics into made-for-TV movies, making sure that the adults of the future will have fond memories of warrior mice, teenage dragons and time-traveling families to look back on in years to come. More »

3:30 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Graeme McMillan
1,165 views, 1 comment

mad medicine

Now You Have an Even Better Excuse to Snarf Ritalin

It turns out that there's a valid medical reason for your burning urge to eat huge piles of Ritalin in order to feel speedy, erm I mean, increase your powers of concentration. According to a new study, doctors have increasingly been diagnosing ADHD in young adults over the age of 12, despite the fact that attention deficit disorder is traditionally found in kids around age 7. Could it be that ADHD is sweeping the entire human population, becoming an adult problem as well as something that afflicts hyperactive elementary school kids? More »

3:00 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Annalee Newitz
1,395 views, 44 comments

Latest by Dereks: ADHD is as much of a disease, as bad mood or an empty stomach. more »

Robot Chicken Star Wars: Making All Your Action Figure Dreams Come True

Kings of stop-action figure animation, Robot Chicken, are bringing us another Star Wars-themed special. And if it's half as good as the previous Emperor Darth Vader Office Call, we're all in for a good time. Who can forget when the killing of Jar Jar Binks over and over, thanks to RC. The special premieres November 16. Adult Swim]

5 comments

Contest

Mad Science Contest: Build a Lifeform and We'll Send You to Hong Kong or Give You $1000

You still have over a month to enter io9's mad science contest to build a lifeform. Synthetic biology is the science of the future! You can never have too many garage laboratories and mad scientists devoted to it. That's why io9 is sponsoring a contest to find two of the best synthetic life forms you can design for us. The winners in our two categories will get either an all-expenses-paid trip to the kickass Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong this October, or $1000 and a chance to have their creature drawn by a cool comic book artist. Find out more by checking out our official contest announcement. Deadline is August 25th!

2:00 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Annalee Newitz
264 views, Comment

The Dark Knight

Just Call Harvey Dent The Comeback Kid

Don't give up on Harvey Dent! Gotham City's crusading district attorney wouldn't give up on you, so why shouldn't you have faith in his comeback chops? Actor Aaron Eckhart is ready — eager, even — to reprise the "white knight" role from The Dark Knight in a third Batman movie. Spoilers ahead, kiddies. More »

1:30 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
5,284 views, 63 comments

retro futurism

Ford Says Electric Cars “Commercially Feasible” By 1977

Move over, EV Smart Car, here comes your granny—the Ford Comuta! Two test models of the tiny (80 inch long) electric car were built by Ford in 1967 and demonstrated in the U.S. and Britain. Powered by batteries located in the wheel hubs, the Comuta’s top speed was a mere 25 mph. More »

1:00 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Lynn Peril
486 views, 9 comments

book trailers

Show Your Book Trailer To Movie Audiences — And Stephen King

We've already told you about the hot trend of Youtube trailers for books, and now it's going to the next level — a book trailer chosen by Stephen King will appear in movie theaters. More »

12:40 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
966 views, 10 comments

Latest by SomnambulantHobbit: @Smeagol92055: I agree, it made great sense and added a HUGE whoa WTF to his books. I loved the ending of the one where he used fake news articles, "Stephen King, Author, Dead" Sorry my mind is drawing more »

conceptual design

Syd Mead Tells All About the "Erotic Machine" that Got Cut from Bladerunner

Today on BoingBoing TV, you can see the final part of Joel Johnson's epic interview with conceptual designer Syd Mead, the man who made the citiscapes of Bladerunner into some of the most memorable futuristic settings ever committed to film. Mead talks about the many alternate openings he created for the movie (one of which was deemed "too Holocaust" by the studio), as well as the "erotic machine" he crafted for replicant Zhora, a kind of breast-shaped dreampod that got cut when director Ridley Scott hit the outer limits of his budget. Watch the video below. More »

12:28 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Annalee Newitz
4,373 views, 16 comments

Latest by BeFrugalNotCheap: Can we at least see some concept sketches or drawings of this so-called "erotic machine"?? more »

ben 10

William S Preston, Esq, To Direct Ben 10 Live-Action Movie

Cartoon Network are taking another opportunity to miss the point of their name by planning a second live-action TV movie based upon their successful Ben 10 franchise, following on from last year's record-breakingly successful Ben 10: Race Against Time movie. Unlike the first movie, however, this sequel will introduce a scary new component: teenagers. More »

12:01 PM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Graeme McMillan
1,004 views, 11 comments

Comic-con 08

How to Track io9 at Comic-Con

We've arrived in sunny San Diego for the culture industry's biggest event of the year: Comic-Con, where over 100 thousand fans, journalists, and creators gather together to see what kinds of stories we're in for next year. Expect reports on everything from Terminator 4 and Watchmen, to upcoming TV series Fringe and Dollhouse — as well as what's up with publishing from comic houses Marvel and DC, and scifi novel houses Tor, Ace, and Del Rey. Want to keep up with everything, or get a nice filtered view of the madness? Here's how. More »

11:00 AM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Annalee Newitz
699 views, 14 comments

Latest by Log1c: @ComicDork: No booth, then I'll have no news of SDCC's events! more »

Starship Troopers Marauder

Exclusive Starship Troopers Clip: Sing Along With "A Good Day To Die"

Follow the bouncing ball, and sing along with Starship Troopers 3 Marauder's Sky Marshall Omar Anoke. On a stage crammed with military propaganda and backed by singing soldiers, Anoke revs up the masses for more bug slaughter. I love that this is our possible future, a world so completely driven by the military that even our pop stars are psychic Sky Marshals. More »

10:40 AM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Meredith Woerner
2,019 views, 18 comments

Monsters Vs. Aliens

Giant Monster-Alien Smackdown... In Your Face!

Now that you've been spat on by Brendan Fraser and you're all pumped up for 3-D movies, you're ready to discover the true use of 3-D: depicting a 50-foot-tall woman fighting evil aliens. Dreamworks is putting the finishing touches on Monsters vs. Aliens, its 3-D epic whose title is self-explanatory. Based on the comic Rex Havoc And The Ass-Kickers Of The Fantastic, the movie features an alien attack, and the only way to save Earth is to bring some 1950s giant monsters out of cold storage. More »

10:26 AM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
1,634 views, 22 comments

Latest by dOk: oh yea... btw... Rex Havoc And The Ass-Kickers Of The Fantastic!... nope its Rex Havoc And The Ass-Kickers Of The Fantastics! "Fantastics"... being all of the monsters in the world who came out of hiding to live among humans... but weer still really more »

Y The Last Man

Shia The Last Man In 2010?

He may not have won your hearts as Mutt in this summer's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but Shia LeBeouf is still trying to make you fall in love with his dubious charms, even if he has to be the last man on Earth for it to happen. And, apparently, that's exactly what we're going to see in the summer of 2010, according to Y The Last Man director DJ Caruso. More »

10:00 AM on Wed Jul 23 2008
By Graeme McMillan
4,017 views, 55 comments

Welcome to the Gattaca Dating Service!

It's the perfect dating site for the personal genome age: Genepartner will take your genetic material and hook you up with people whose genetic profiles match yours. Because you wouldn't want to date somebody with a nasty genetic profile. According to the site, "Our formula is based on research on hundreds of couples and analyzes the pattern of genetic combinations found in successful relationships. Using this formula we will determine the probability for a satisfying and long-lasting romantic relationship between two people. This probability is highest when two people are genetically compatible." This is way more squicky than cloning, if you ask me. [GenePartner via MedGadget]

23 comments

A Taste of the Comic-Con Expo Floor

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