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Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog
Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog
Angiogenesis
It's the next step on the path to robust tissue engineering and synthetic meat. Researchers today announced that they'd used special progenitor cells to grow human blood vessels inside mice. The vessels grew after scientists injected the cells into the mice, forming a "ball" of self-assembled veins that connected to each other and pumped blood.
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Scientists Grow "Ball of Human Blood Vessels" in Mice
It's the next step on the path to robust tissue engineering and synthetic meat. Researchers today announced that they'd used special progenitor cells to grow human blood vessels inside mice. The vessels grew after scientists injected the cells into the mice, forming a "ball" of self-assembled veins that connected to each other and pumped blood.
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Spaceship turbulence
Brace For Impact! A Turbulent Video Compilation
Everybody loves a crazy ship-shaking moment. Whether your starship is entering a temporal anomaly or your battlestar has taken multiple hits from Cylon missiles, there's just something awesome about watching people bounce — or fly — around the bridge of their spaceships. Here's our compilation of the greatest moments of space turbulence, to the tune of "Shake Me Up" by Enneri Blaka. Note: I had to split the video into two segments. Part two is below the fold. More »
best of the week
The Shiniest Stories on io9 Last Week
Too busy singing along to Dr. Horrible's "Freeze Ray" jingle all week? Don't worry — we've created a collection of the week's best stories for your pleasure.A New Explanation for Morgellons, the Disease that Makes Wires Grow Out of Your Skin
If you've been growing blue and red wires out of sores on your skin like hundreds of Morgellons disease sufferers have (pictured), then you may actually have a nano-fiber chemtrail infection. Or so says the "chemtrail activist" community.
The Science Fiction Stories that Inspire and Hinder Real Science
Everything from satellites and space travel to synthetic biology and robots existed in fiction before they were realized in a lab — and most science fiction fans assume that situation is somehow beneficial for scientists. We've got a big list of stories that hinder, as well as inspire, scientific innovation. More »
Terminator 4
Did Christian Bale Rob Edward Furlong Of His Big Comeback?
If there was any doubt that Christian Bale couldn't handle the role of the salvation of man, this newly released still from Terminator 4 just about clears it up. But what about the original John Connor? Would you believe the present-day Edward Furlong could replace shaven-headed Bale? Click through for a spoilery reveal as to what John Connor's got under his boot, and more about what Furlong's been up to lately. More »
Afternoon reading
George Dyson's New Scifi Story About How Google Achieves Consciousness
If you're looking for some seriously mind-blowing hard science fiction online this afternoon, look no further than a new (free online) short story, "Engineers' Dreams," by science historian George Dyson. Brother of techbiz genius Esther Dyson, George is known for his meticulous, entertaining historical investigations into secret government science projects of the twentieth century. Now he's turned his eyes to the twenty-first century, and has written a highly-informed and brainy tale of how Google could become the first true artificial intelligence. Read an excerpt below. More »
Pluton
Spanish Comedy Set To Blast Off
Obviously the new international TV trope is going to be the sci-fi sitcom. We've already told you about Boldly Going Nowhere, the new show from the creators of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, but now Spain's RTVE channel La 2 is getting in on the act with a new show called Pluton BRB Nero, set five hundred years in the future. But don't expect The Jetsons In Barcelona just yet. More »
retro futurism
Lady Astronaut or Lady Alien? Either Way, She's Got Vodka For You
Ahh, Friday. Time for a cocktail—or two. Who better to serve up your afternoon Moscow Mule than a female alien masquerading as an astronaut (which just goes to show they can be both)? This 1965 ad for Smirnoff vodka also proves that back in the first flush of America's now-curdled romance with the space program, they really would use outer-space iconography to sell anything—even if the connection didn't make a whole lot of sense. Click through for the whole picture. More »
If You Make Jazz Hands When Your Spidey Sense Tingles, This Is For You
Open auditions for the Broadway production of the Spider-Man The Musical will be held July 28th at New York City's Knitting Factory. The crew is looking to fill the part for both Mary Jane Watson and and Peter Parker. Auditions will be from 10 am to 5 pm and are open to both male and females between the ages of 16-20 who can sing. Can't wait to see all the people that show up in their Spidey PJs. [Theater Mania]
Open auditions for the Broadway production of the Spider-Man The Musical will be held July 28th at New York City's Knitting Factory. The crew is looking to fill the part for both Mary Jane Watson and and Peter Parker. Auditions will be from 10 am to 5 pm and are open to both male and females between the ages of 16-20 who can sing. Can't wait to see all the people that show up in their Spidey PJs. [Theater Mania]
point
The Dark Knight succeeds as a film because it fearlessly trashes the idea of heroism, and turns hopelessness into a motivation so pyrotechnic that even torture is a kind of seduction. Nothing escapes corruption. Even the poignant anguish of loss is an emotion summarized by gleeful beatings in police stations, innocent faces burned down to bone, and brute-force surveillance that turns an entire city into one giant spy camera. This is a movie that grabs you by the hair and mashes your cheeks against the cold, flat reality that nobody will ever save the day again. Your only joy from now on will be in destruction. And what glorious destruction it is. Spoilers ahead.
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Screw Superheroes -- Just Give Me Darkness
The Dark Knight succeeds as a film because it fearlessly trashes the idea of heroism, and turns hopelessness into a motivation so pyrotechnic that even torture is a kind of seduction. Nothing escapes corruption. Even the poignant anguish of loss is an emotion summarized by gleeful beatings in police stations, innocent faces burned down to bone, and brute-force surveillance that turns an entire city into one giant spy camera. This is a movie that grabs you by the hair and mashes your cheeks against the cold, flat reality that nobody will ever save the day again. Your only joy from now on will be in destruction. And what glorious destruction it is. Spoilers ahead.
More »
Counterpoint
After all the hype and buzz, The Dark Knight turns out to be a taut, morally ambiguous crime drama that shies away for superhero schtick in favor of something more understated and suspenseful. As long as you leave the movie somewhere around the halfway point. If you stay for the whole thing, then be prepared to put up with a movie that gets so carried away with its own cleverness and supposed daring that it manages to make even Heath Ledger's compelling performance as the Joker seem boring. Plenty of spoilers under the jump, so be warned.
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The Dark Knight Twice As Long As It Should Be
After all the hype and buzz, The Dark Knight turns out to be a taut, morally ambiguous crime drama that shies away for superhero schtick in favor of something more understated and suspenseful. As long as you leave the movie somewhere around the halfway point. If you stay for the whole thing, then be prepared to put up with a movie that gets so carried away with its own cleverness and supposed daring that it manages to make even Heath Ledger's compelling performance as the Joker seem boring. Plenty of spoilers under the jump, so be warned.
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Wonder Woman
I haven't been terribly excited about the Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD movie, not least because all the art I've seen from it has looked bland and unexciting. But this early version of the Wonder Woman poster, which director Lauren Montgomery posted on her blog, totally works for me. It looks classic and sleek in a way the finished version, with all the weird colors, doesn't. The Wonder Woman DVD movie stars Keri Russell (Waitress) and Nathan Fillion (everything good). Click through to see the full image of the early poster version.
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Wonder Woman Casts A Long Shadow
I haven't been terribly excited about the Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD movie, not least because all the art I've seen from it has looked bland and unexciting. But this early version of the Wonder Woman poster, which director Lauren Montgomery posted on her blog, totally works for me. It looks classic and sleek in a way the finished version, with all the weird colors, doesn't. The Wonder Woman DVD movie stars Keri Russell (Waitress) and Nathan Fillion (everything good). Click through to see the full image of the early poster version.
More »
robocop
Will The New RoboCop Deny Existence Of Past Robo Sequels?
The new RoboCop movie won't just be a remake of the original Detroit cyborg police saga. Instead, it'll be a sequel. But how will a new RoboCop follow-up deal with the tangled mess of sequels, TV shows and TV movies that followed the first film? Click through for details. More »
Get Ready for Ultra-Thin Invisible Body Armor
Graphene, which is as common as the flakes from your pencil when you write, is turning out to be the wonder material of the new millennium. A few years ago, researchers discovered its electrical properties, which make one-micron sheets of the stuff ideal for tiny computerized devices. Now a new study reveals that graphene may also be one of the strongest materials known to humans. It has a breaking strength of 55 newtons per meter. That means if you had a sheet of graphene that was the thickness of typical plastic wrap, it could support the weight of a 2000 kg car before breaking. Just to make things even more mega, graphene is also transparent. Ultra-thin, invisible body armor, here we come! [New Scientist] Image via Coderforfood.
watchmen
Get Fired Up For Watchmen With Some New Pics
Mega-classic graphic novel Watchmen sounds sort of like a soap opera when you try to explain it to mainstream people. That's the lesson I've learned from reading Entertainment Weekly's first big article about Zack Snyder's movie adaptation. Sally's mom forced her into the spandex life! She's trapped in a dead-end relationship with the blue guy, but she's helping Nite Owl fly his freak flag by having an affair with him! It makes me wonder if there's any better way to promote a movie based on the most famously "grown up" graphic novel. Click through for new pics from Watchmen, Dollhouse, Fringe and more. More »
Mad Chemistry
The Periodic Table of Elements, in Videos
What do you get when you mix a frizzy-haired, grandfatherly chemist with his younger, cackling, explosion-loving sidekick? The Periodic Table of Videos! Put together by a team at the University of Nottingham in the UK, this gargantuan effort of 118 short vids chronicled everything from Hydrogen (very explosive) to Oxygen (also very explosive) to Sodium (not explosive...until you add water!) on down the list all the way to Ununoctium, element 118, of which only three atoms have ever been observed. Check out the oxygen pyrotechnics below. More »
Star Trek
Spock Till You Drop, With New Star Trek Posters
Here's our first look at Zachary Quinto as Spock, from J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek sequel/prequel/reboot-apalooza. This is one of four posters that will be available at Comic-Con next weekend, representing the only official Star Trek presence at the event. The posters, which premiered in the new Entertainment Weekly, also include Chris Pine's Kirk, Zoe Saldana's Uhura and Eric Bana's villain Nero. Click through to see all four. More »
In 30 Years, Artificial Wombs Mean No More Abortions
When you ask scientists to predict the future, they don't scrimp on the weirdness. A recent article in Nature included predictions from a number of researchers asked to speculate about how humans will reproduce in 30 years. Scott Gelfland of the Ethics Center at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater said he thought the development of artificial wombs might be a boon to the religious right. He imagined that states could pass laws mandating that every aborted fetus be brought to term in artificial wombs. Gelfland had no predictions about who would raise the babies after they were born. [Nature]
When you ask scientists to predict the future, they don't scrimp on the weirdness. A recent article in Nature included predictions from a number of researchers asked to speculate about how humans will reproduce in 30 years. Scott Gelfland of the Ethics Center at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater said he thought the development of artificial wombs might be a boon to the religious right. He imagined that states could pass laws mandating that every aborted fetus be brought to term in artificial wombs. Gelfland had no predictions about who would raise the babies after they were born. [Nature]
