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Leggings, yoga pants, call them what you will — the point is they're everywhere. And while there's something to be said about the marvels of body-shaping attire, the fact remains that ass-hugging tight-pants — which typically come in some form of white, grey, or black — are becoming a bit commonplace... boring, even. More »
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This happens like clockwork once every few months. A perfectly nice Halloween costume manufacturer sends us the latest disguises based on [insert upcoming $150-million movie's name here] and we have an ethical obligation to make fun of them. More »
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Nebraska's Hastings Museum recently commissioned Staab Studios to build a model of a bony prehistoric predator from the genus Xiphactinus. Staab helpfully recorded their progress sculpting this beast in silent repose. If you ever need to build an extinct underwater horror for your rumpus room, this video is a good place to start. More »
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You may recognize artist Keith Thompson's work from Scott Westerfield's Leviathan books and as those creepy doodles from the remake of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. In addition to those projects, Thompson's crafted a nightmare fuel gallery of necrotic creatures with pedigrees in both science fiction and fantasy. Just behold that stomach-churning Pripyat Beast above. We're sorry. More »
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We've seen some pretty spectacular LEGO brick recreations of The Lord of The Rings, and it looks like the toy manufacturer has noticed these fan dioramas as well. To coincide with the upcoming release of The Hobbit, LEGO is releasing a series of LOTR playsets this summer. More »
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Here's something that should appeal to fans of Gōjin Ishihara's profoundly weird children's art. In 1969. a Japanese magazine published these exceedingly intense depictions of life at the center of our planet. Taking cues from Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Lost World, these drawings and diagrams are the strange remnants of some plesiosaur-filled fever dream. I love the heck out of them all.

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Later this year, Dark Horse Comics will release The Massive, a new ongoing comic book from writer/illustrator Brian Wood (DMZ, Channel Zero, Northlanders). More »
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When you're living a nomadic lifestyle, you need to travel light. But that doesn't mean you can't have a deluxe roof above your head. Here, videographer Dan Grossman filmed Shagdarsuren Herelchuluun's family punching out a multiperson ger (or yurt) outside of northern Mongolia's Lake Hovsgol. The whole process took give or take 67 minutes, but here's the instant house's construction in two. More »
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What if diagnosing salmonella or colorectal cancer was as easy as looking in the toilet? Scientists and designers are collaborating to create a new type of bacteria that beautifies your fecal matter while diagnosing your illness. More »
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Take a video tour of Michael Garnier's amazing replica of the Ewok Village from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. This former Green Beret built a forrest full of interconnected treehouses — in Oregon! And for a reasonable fee, you can stay in this treetop wonderland and recreate the ending of RoTJ. Yub Nub, y'all! More »
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We've seen the X-Men receive the club kid treatment. Now artist Viria13 has given the Disney Princess pantheon new duds (presumably in the spirit of a certain internet meme). More »
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You don't need to be an eccentric billionaire or rugged survivalist to take up residence in a cave. All around the globe, living in an rocky recess is just a fact of life and can be way more homey than any manmade structure. Here are some real estate destinations to investigate should you attempt to cultivate that post-modern caveman chic.

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We've seen kaiju inserted into yard sale paintings and vampiric 1800s facsimiles of Nicolas Cage. In the spirit of such portraiture comes Alex Gross' series of science fiction cabinet cards, in which he takes poor dead bastards who kicked it 100+ years ago and repaints them as pop icons. Gross will be presenting a new batch of cards in Los Angeles next month. Here are some of our favorites.

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Marvel's gearing up for the release of The Avengers with some curious promotions, but here's one that's pretty magnificent. Come April, Marvel will give select comics variant covers depicting Earth's Mightiest Heroes as illustrated by the likes of Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Monet. Here's what they've unveiled so far. I wouldn't mind having that Georges Seurat hang in my boudoir one iota.

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We've been loving The Midnight Archive's ghoulishly chipper web shorts (previously: 1, 2, 3). Their latest episode takes us to the studio of artist Sigrid Sarda, who specializes in creating wax mannequins. Says the show's producers, "The charmingly perverse Sarda has taught herself the ancient art of sculpting in wax and it is every bit as creepy and interesting as you might expect." For more of Sarda's malleable humanoids, see her website. More »
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DC Comics finally unveiled their new logo today. Even though the uncolored, leaked versions of the logo made it look like a sinister law firm, the official design can be delightfully tailored to each and every individual character. For example, there could theoretically be a Spider Jerusalem logo barking blue language at would-be consumers: More »
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Impulse buy alert! We here at io9 have a thing for creepy fiberglass dinosaur sculptures (as seen at destinations like these). So we were visibly jazzed when tipster Laura informed us that someone was selling a 10-foot-tall, three-toed-sloth sculpture for a bargain $4000. More »
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Have you ever wanted to know the mathematical formula for fusilli, or wondered about the geometric calculation for quadrefiore? Well wonder no more, for London architects Marco Guarnieri and George L. Legendre have written Pasta by Design. More »
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This is by far the sexiest thing we've seen all day. And yes, that just so happens to be the Tengwar inscription from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. These lovely nails come to you courtesy of Billy the Brime. More »
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The last bit of animated steampunkery we saw from Disney was Atlantis: The Lost Empire. And sadly, most of the gadgets and steam-powered gizmos were quickly swapped for fluorescent face paint. Fortunately, we've spied the perfect bit of Disneyesque concept art that's a perfect starting place for a princess with plenty of technological know-how! More »
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Few people can resist the urge to doodle in the margins when confronted with a long-drawn presentation, lecture, or meeting — but few of us can make a page of scientific instruction look as stunning as Paula Swisher, the artist behind the captivating pieces seen here. More »
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Last Friday, Gallery 1988's Adult Swim art show opened in Los Angeles. The show presented a mixed media approach to such famously oddball shows as The Venture Bros. and Sealab 2021 — here's but a sampling of the many prints that were on display. The show runs until February 4. More »
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You've seen the painting, now watch the film! And what's more, it's a musical! Sebastian Cosor has filled in the backstory for the oft stolen expressionist painting with this surreal little tableau. Here's how Munch described the inspiration for the painting in 1892: More »
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Every now and again the internet has the capacity to blow our dinky craniums to smithereens — this happens to be one of those moments. Some unplaceable Herculean conviction drove LEGO architect Ryan McNaught to build a 5.76-meter-tall recreation of the Saturn V rocket used for Apollo 11 out of 120,000 plastic bricks. More »
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Architect Tiago Barras has seen the future of public roadways, and said future resembles a moonshine-fueled car chase. As part of his whimsical High-Speed Car Ramp design, the designer suggests adding a jump ramp to Lisbon's Segunda Circular highway. More »
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Alien vs. Predator was by no means brain candy, but that doesn't mean you and an opponent can't settle your differences using this natty Xenomorph versus Yautja chessboard. Hell, go the extra mile and indulge in some chessboxing. Emulate AVP's hammy fight scenes! More »
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Is the future of housing round? The Elkinoid Project envisions a future where housing shortages are solved with sustainable, off-the-grid towns made up of thousands of orb-shaped houses. And each structure would take less than a week to build. More »
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Reality inched closer to Sim City (or Starcraft, pump out those barracks!) last month when China's Broad Corporation built a 30-story hotel prototype using prefabricated materials in 360 hours. Watch a time-lapse video of the construction site above. More »
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You're looking at just one print from a collection that comprises dozens of spellbinding maps and charts based on the results of the 1870 US census — the ninth census ever conducted, and the first to be performed in the years following the Civil War. More »
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And Doctor Octopus wants to play voyeur too! Crafter Riley Replicas built this groovy Spider-Man wall panel for a friend's home. Hilariously enough, the panel ended up in "the pondering room." Explains the builder of this project: More »
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How does one build a single turret that a grown man can scale up, aided only by a hair rope, without the whole thing toppling over? Kate Bernheimer and Andrew Bernheimer have created a fascinating series over at Design Observer, where a batch of slick architects and designers have plotted out the blueprints for various fairy tale abodes. Let's start with Rapunzel by Guy Nordenson and Associates. More »
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In the novel Foucault's Pendulum, two characters discuss a house that is not what it appears to be. People "walk by" this certain house in Paris, we read, "and they don't know the truth. That the house is a fake. It's a facade, an enclosure with no room, no interior. It is really a chimney, a ventilation flue that serves to release the vapors of the regional Métro. And once you know this you feel you are standing at the mouth of the underworld..." More »
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How will we remember flowers in a world where they've gone extinct? Perhaps we'll recreate them from textbooks, carefully cutting them out of a thin layer of steel. Here is one artist's look at a flower bed of the future. More »
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You may remember Kevin Wada and Max Wittert's haute couture remixes of the X-Men's superheroing outfits. The artists have now drafted a new batch of mutant apparel that ranges from Chamber's plasma frock to Cyclops' quartz slab sunglasses to Namor's winged anklets. Which, to be perfectly honest, I would wear the living hell out of. Air Imperious Rex!

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Like any reasonable person, you've thought to yourself, "Self, I truly would love to store some Earl Grey in the likeness of DeForest Kelley's cranium." Well, sculptor Mark Nathan Stafford has acted on this notion and crafted this "Doctor Bones" teapot out of Leonard McCoy's knowledge-filled head. This was created for the Ossuaries project, and the water comes out of his left ear. Anyone up for making a Karl Urban model?

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The greatest sculpture of all time? Perhaps! Outside of the 20,000-person Chinese town of Erlian on the Mongolian border, you can find this statue of two amorous sauropods making out for all the world to see. Built to showcase the region's reputation as a fossil hotspot, this reptile snog session instead is a stark reminder that if you build a tourist trap, it's never guaranteed that anyone will show. More »
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For New Year's Eve in Ecuador, massive paper-and-wood figures known as "años viejos" (Spanish for "old years") are burnt to usher out the past 365 days. These elaborate sculptures depict everyone from Chucky the evil doll to Cable from the X-Men, who are all summarily incinerated as the clock runs down. More »
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These safety-pin-like sunglasses by designer Doktor A (who's modeling them) take their visual cue from H.R. Giger's painting "Illuminatus II." I desperately want to wear these in Chur, Switzerland while listening to my Pioneer stereo and dreaming of xenomorphs sporting aviators. More »
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We've seen the plastic spaceship design of LEGO craftsman Sven Junga previously — now check out his take on the Terran battlecruiser Hyperion from Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. As you can see, Junga is also assembling a larger Terran brick army to boot. More »
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Artist Andy Gracie is attempting to breed a strain of fruit fly that could survive on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The first stage of his work, The Quest for Drosophila Titanus, is part of an exhibition currently touring the UK. More »
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