Orio, a silent doll, appears in the city of Cobble, an apparently idyllic place in which dolls and stuffed toys spend their days in useful labor. But something dark has appeared in Cobble, something that threatens to shatter the city's peace, and it might be connected to Orio herself.
What it's like to believe that you're dead
The New Scientist's Mindscapes column has a brief but fascinating profile of man identified only as "Graham" who suffers from a rare delusion known as Cotard's syndrome. Despite walking and talking and eating every day, Graham is convinced that he's dead.
The Klingon ships that didn't make it into Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness gave us a chase scene with a Klingon patrol ship, and the production team went through several possible designs for the Abrams-timeline vessels. Concept artist Harald Belker has been sharing a few potential ships that didn't make it on film.
Iron Man takes the lead during the premiere of Avengers Assemble!
This week in the world of cartoons, Princess Bubblegum goes on a date, Starfire kills Beast Boy, and we get a look at the series premiere of Avengers Assemble!
The Hunt for Alien Megastructures
When most people think about searching for extraterrestrial intelligences, they imagine someone like Ellie Arroway searching the skies for radio transmissions. But what about looking in other ways? Perhaps a highly advanced alien civilisation might build structures large enough for us to see.
The Oddest-Looking Musical Instruments on Earth
Most musical instruments look a little weird, if you stare at them for long enough. When aliens finally make contact, they'll be confused by our habit of gripping wood and metal structures and throttling sound out of them. But some devices are odder than others. Here are the strangest musical instruments of all.
Bartending robot mixes (and remixes) crowdsourced drink recipes
Start the first summer holiday off with a cool drink, courtesy of these three robotic arms. MIT Senseable City Lab, Coca Cola, and Bacardi have teamed up to bring you the Makr Shakr, an experiment in digital manufacturing and yummy beverages.
We all currently live in a system where we get paid for our labor and exchange that payment for goods and bits of information. But what sort of economic system are we going to have in another 20 years, after more improvements in computers and robotics? Will your current job even still exist?
