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Chances are, you've heard about the gorgeous cinematography and visual effects in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. But now you can see for yourself — the studio sent us a ton of high-res stills. Including the notorious dinosaurs. More »
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When it comes to cost-saving exercises NASA should consider, harvesting water from the moon to cut down on rocket fuel costs may be one of the less commonly suggested ones. But that doesn't mean that it wouldn't work, apparently. More »
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This isn't the mysterious landscape of an alien world. It's a closeup of annealed organic solar cells, complete with device-ruining cracks. It's just one of the amazing images from this year's Art Of Science competition. More »
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Fringe writer J.R. Orci posted this image showing where he's finding ideas for upcoming episodes. Will a ragtag startup crack nuclear fusion? Or will bisexual animals reveal "atonist sun secrets"? The truth is there, somewhere. More »
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For a long time, it seemed as if a medical discovery that Science called "one of the greatest of 2007" might never get covered by the mainstream media because it was just too complicated. But then an enterprising journalist and artist with the Philadelphia Inquirer boldly went where no reporters dared go. Writer Tom Avril and artist Cynthia Greer figured out how to simplify this complicated discovery into a completely-accurate cartoon (pictured). More »
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"Wheke," the giant calamari that invaded New Zealand in January 2000, went on display in Paris today. The massive tentacles almost make Wheke look like a space marauder or crazed mutant by themselves, but they're not what make him science-fictional. Rather, it's the process used to preserve Wheke so he can go on display for years to come: he's the first creature to be "plastinated," meaning that he was totally dehydrated and all fluids were replaced by a special plastic resin. The next step: to create a living plastic, so plastinated creatures can continue to move and even think. Click through for a gallery of Wheke pictures. More »
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Here's the world's first video of an electron in motion, showing how an electron rides on a light wave after having just been pulled away from an atom. Electrons move so fast, it's almost impossible to generate a short enough burst of light to be able to see them move. But a new camera generates "attosecond pulses." (An attosecond is to a regular second as a second is to the age of the universe, says the MARS blog.) The next step: Film an electron colliding with an atom. [Attosecond Physics and High-Order Harmonic Generation] More »
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NASA tests the next generation of space parachute inside the world's largest wind tunnel, built to hold a Boeing 737. The 165-foot-long parachute opens to a diameter of nearly 55 feet, holds more air than a 3,000 square foot house, and can survive loads of over 80,000 pounds. NASA hopes to launch its new Mars Science Lab in 2009, which will put the next generation of rover on the surface of Mars in 2010. Click through for a couple of images of the new rover in progress. More »
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The latest electron microscopes can create three-dimensional images of the smallest structures, turning an agricultural pest into a work of art. This is the cowpea mosaic virus, scourge of legume farmers everywhere, vitrified and subjected to a single particle reconstruction procedure by FEI Corp. You can easily make out the blue outer protein shell and the yellow viral genomic material inside. Maybe soon we'll be able to hack viruses as easily as we can image them. Image by FEI Corp. [FEI] More »
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Every science fiction lover starts out by taking the world around them apart: unscrewing the cover from the cable box, putting shit in the microwave to watch it explode, asking their teachers and parents WHY the dog can't talk, or WHY we have to work for money instead of donuts. That's why this image delights me. Aaron Messing took a foam peanut, sliced it thinly, and put it under the microscope. The result? Beautiful deconstructed foam. [Aaron Messing Microscopy Gallery] More »
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There are more robot space probes now than any other time in history, says MSNBC. Blame the new space race: Europe, Japan, China, India, Canada and South Korea have all launched probes, or will soon. A gallery of this international flotilla, after the jump. More »
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This looks like a rocket entering a wormhole, but it's actually a robot camera designed to function on the ocean floor under the Anatarctic ice. The Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging (SCINI) can fit through a hole in the ice as small as 15 cm. Similar cameras could one day probe a buried ocean on Saturn's moon for unknown life forms. Click through to see the sea life under the polar ice. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=336501&view=rss&microfeed=true A new science porn magazine, Science Illustrated, hit the stands this week. Packed with ultra-glossy pictures, the magazine is a cross between Scientific American and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Best factoid in the image-packed, editorially slim first issue: tooth marks on T Rex skeletons suggest the beasts had rough sex and the smaller males had to bite bigger females to convince them to mate. More »
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You can vote for the sexiest image of Saturn and its moons from the Cassini space probe, until Dec. 30. You even get to rate every space photo from 1 to 10, bringing a whole new meaning to "science porn." This pic shows the "dragon storm" on Saturn, a disturbance so fierce it kicked up radio waves. More »
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This creepy monster skull is actually a snapdragon seed pod, magnified by an electron microscope. Just as you'd always suspected, the microscopic world turns out to contain nothing but slimy textures and sinister craggy shapes, judging from Karin Jones' haunting microscopy photos. More »
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Japanese researchers tested out a new robot designed to take care of elderly people, at a Waseda University lab today. Despite its 244-pound bulk and menacing pincer-arms, the battery-powered Twendy-One is supposed to handle old people gently. [Photo by Koji Sasahara for AP] More »
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The car of the future will have sleek plastic on the outside, but hand-woven seats on the inside. Harsha Ravi's designs for the car of 2017 won Wheels magazine's design prize. They're an awesome mixture of high-tech (cutting-edge carbon-neutral bioplastic) with zero-tech. It's all part of an urban car that's customizeable and cheap, but also green. More »
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Japanese truckers could soon be having some surreal encounters. Not only will this ladybug robot scrub the floor and dodge around people, it will also try to engage them in conversation. Are people ready for a chatty cleaning bot? The Lady Bird will understand simple speech and respond. You can ask about local traffic conditions, and it'll have the latest info. Between this and the kneeling office bot, Japan could be swarming with officious (but adorable) answer-bots by 2010.Image from Yomiuri. More »
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This is the Nuna4, which won the World Solar Challenge in Australia — the fourth time in a row the University of Delft has won the race. The Nuna4 weighs less than 190 kg (without driver), and its lightweight construction means it can get up to an average speed of 90.87 km/hour. Image by Erik Van 'T Woud/AFP/Getty Images More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=325168&view=rss&microfeed=true From "Can algae save the world?" an exhibit at the Science Museum in London running until April 2008. Scientists are hoping the entire planet will use algae as biofuels in the future. More menacing algae after the jump. Images by Kirsty Wigglesworth for AP. More »
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