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San Francisco, 2:18 PM
Thu Mar 18
25 posts in the last 24 hours

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#exclusive

Breaking Down Repo Men's Influences: Monty Python, RoboCop, Brazil and QVC

Click here to read Breaking Down Repo Men's Influences: Monty Python, RoboCop, Brazil and QVC
Repo Men is a smorgasbord of absurdist futurism references. It draws on surreal science fiction classics, from Brazil to Clockwork Orange. We sorted out the best with director Miguel Sapochnik. And no, Repo! The Genetic Opera isn't on the list. More »
02:15 PM
33 views on this post
0
By Meredith Woerner
Image of Ruthless if you let me Ruthless if you let me 02:09 PM

I was inordinately excited to get a message from io9 on Facebook just now. Then I read it. The message was only saying that the old Facebook page was going away, and a new page had been started.

#addictedtoio9

#observationdeck Reply

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Image of Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. 01:46 PM


Soon I will be starting a lengthy fast so that when this comes out I will have room in by belly so I can simply "Shut up and eat my Awesome."

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Ruthless if you let me Ruthless if you let me 02:03 PM

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: Holy crap. August 13 has been marked on my calendar.

#observationdeck Reply

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#review Click here to read Cyborg Woman vs. Rich Housewife On "Caprica"

Cyborg Woman vs. Rich Housewife On "Caprica"

Last week's episode of Caprica, "The Imperfections of Memory," confirmed my sense that this show isn't about powerful Graystones vs. immigrant Adamas. Instead it's about a futuristic cyborg, Zoe, vs. a crazy housewife, Amanda. This is both awesome and frustrating. More »
01:01 PM
1,0331,033 views on this post, 34 new visitors
14
By Annalee Newitz
#bookawards Click here to read Manga And Folk Tales Rule The 2009 Tiptree Awards

Manga And Folk Tales Rule The 2009 Tiptree Awards

The mighty James Tiptree Jr. Awards have surveyed another year of science fiction and fantasy relating to gender. This year's best gender-related SF books: Greer Gilman's trippy folk tales and, for the first time, a Manga series. More »
01:00 PM
379379 views on this post, 9 new visitors
1
By Charlie Jane Anders
#comicbooks Click here to read Image Comics Zings Marvel With Fake Avengers Ads

Image Comics Zings Marvel With Fake Avengers Ads

To promote the upcoming Invincible spin-off Guardians of the Globe, Image Comics has released promos lampooning Marvel's recent Avengers ads. But are Image's ads a light-hearted parody or a piss-take on Marvel's über-marketable Avengers teams? More »
12:02 PM
5,3075,307 views on this post, 76 new visitors
33
By Cyriaque Lamar
Image of BullfightsOnAcid BullfightsOnAcid 11:42 AM

New Game Theory Book Claims to Predict the Future

In his new book, The Predictioneer (The Predictioneer's Game in the US), he describes a computer model based on game theory which he - and others - claim can predict the future with remarkable accuracy.

[www.newscientist.com]

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 12:55 PM

@BullfightsOnAcid:

Interesting article. I'm sure many people here and elsewhere will dismiss it as impossible, but it turns out that the ideas behind this (Game Theory and Bayesian statistics) are pretty solid.

The real key, though, as pointed out in the article, is in the input data. Data of low quality will result in inaccurate predictions.

Also of key importance is another aspect pointed out in the article, namely, that the mathematical analysis involved deals with predicting the behavior of a few individuals who have a great deal of influence (and very specific goals) on the issue at hand, and not with predicting the behavior of large numbers of people who each have little influence on the outcome. Also, these are not random events, but events with specific likelihoods.

All of the above conspires to make such predictions possible.

#tips Reply

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#giantmonsters Click here to read Dinocroc Vs. Supergator Trailer Takes A Bite Out Of Your Mind!

Dinocroc Vs. Supergator Trailer Takes A Bite Out Of Your Mind!

The Dinocroc Vs. Supergator trailer crams more torso-biting deaths into its first 45 seconds than most movies manage in two hours. Scientists, tourists and bikini-girls only exist to get chomped. And then, the showdown... Plus Syfy announces Lake Placid 3! More »
11:30 AM
1,8891,889 views on this post, 125 new visitors
38
By Charlie Jane Anders
#spaceporn

Gorgeous New Views Of Saturn's Rings From Cassini

Years of research into Saturn's rings, plus new information from the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around the ringed gas giant, have resulted in a comprehensive new study of the planet. These images are among the most stunning from that study. More »
11:00 AM
2,6142,614 views on this post, 187 new visitors
22
By Annalee Newitz
#hotchip Click here to read Hot Chip's "I Feel Better" Video Makes Us All Feel Better — With Alien Carnage

Hot Chip's "I Feel Better" Video Makes Us All Feel Better — With Alien Carnage

The latest video music video hotness from the genre loving group Hot Chip unleashes a group of laser-vomiting aliens on the muscled-up boy band. Stick with the video through the end — it pays off. More »
10:30 AM
1,9511,951 views on this post, 80 new visitors
22
By Meredith Woerner
#conceptart Click here to read Water Silos Could Tap Underground Lake In Sudan

Water Silos Could Tap Underground Lake In Sudan

These baobab-inspired towers from Polish firm H3AR are designed to pump water from the 19,110 sq. mile lake under Darfur. And although they exist only in concept, these water-gathering monoliths could ostensibly slake the thirst of this drought-plagued region. More »
10:05 AM
1,6941,694 views on this post, 34 new visitors
37
By Cyriaque Lamar
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 09:47 AM

Another post unrelated to science or sci-fi, but interesting nonetheless. (Not many science-related news today, as far as I can tell)

According to some statistics, danes are considerably happier with their jobs than the average European citizen, 74% to 50%.

Danes love their jobs
[www.cphpost.dk]

===

Now, this next one is science-related. It's again about Denmark, but I think it reflects a common reality everywhere.

My opinion? I totally agree. There is no reason why women should not be as successful in scientific careers as men are.

Opinion: We need more women in science
[www.cphpost.dk]

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Ruthless if you let me Ruthless if you let me 10:38 AM

@Roklimber: Aren't danes supposed to be the happiest people on Earth anyway?

===

Opinion: Agreed.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of matthewabel matthewabel 10:43 AM

@Roklimber: I assumed all Danes were moody and spent their time talking to skulls and convincing young ladies to become nuns.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 10:44 AM

@Ruthless if you let me:

"Aren't danes supposed to be the happiest people on Earth anyway?"

They are (supposed to).

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 10:48 AM


@matthewabel:

I'm pretty sure that's changed a bit since Hamlet. BTW, Hamlet's castle - Kronborg - is awesome (see pic).

[en.wikipedia.org]

#observationdeck Reply

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Image of firstofnormalin firstofnormalin 09:39 AM

I was going to post an immensely interesting and learned piece on how the universe immediately after the Big Bang could be modeled in the same way as Jabba the Hutt's rear, but this is much more fun:

Octopusses prefer HDTV and crabs, complete with a video.

[news.bbc.co.uk]
Octopuses like to watch high-definition television (HDTV), say scientists.
In experiments evaluating how the cephalopods [sic?] respond to moving images, they responded far more vigorously to HDTV than standard definition TV.
It appears their eyesight or behaviour is too sophisticated to react to lower quality images, say researchers in The Journal of Experimental Biology.
Knowing that octopuses prefer to watch HDTV gives scientists an important tool that can be used to study elements of their behaviour, [sic. It's the BBC news site] such as personality.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

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#conceptart

If Only Michael Bay's Transformers Looked This Cool — Behold The Zombie Samurai Transformer!

Classic Transformers artist Don Figueroa uploaded hundreds of amazing pieces of concept art to his DeviantArt page, mostly for the new Transformers Ongoing comic. Behold Bludgeon, the "zombie samurai" Transformer, plus Megatron and Unicron the way they deserve to look. More »
09:30 AM
5,5915,591 views on this post, 171 new visitors
38
By Charlie Jane Anders
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 09:18 AM

Brain Naturally Follows Scientific Method? Less Effort to Register 'Predictable' Images
[www.sciencedaily.com]

One implication of this study is that when you enter the office the image of your colleague at his desk, who has the annoying trait of always being there before you, will require very little effort for your brain to register. The image of your mother in law sitting on the same chair, however, would make your brain go haywire. Not necessarily because you are not fond of this person but because this image makes it clear to your brain that it is doing a lousy job at predicting what is going to happen next and that it will have to make an effort to improve its predictions. This suggests that the brain's main job, alike that of a scientist, is to generate hypotheses about what is going on in the outside world.

And, yet, so many people deny so many scientific facts. Sigh...

#tips #sciencetips #biology #brain #neuroscience Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 09:08 AM

Ok, this has nothing to do with science, science-fiction, or anything else related to io9 other than that it's funny stuff.

Watch this one all the way to the end, because there's a surprise. Also, many of the other ones are really funny too.

Well-worth wasting some time and risking being fired while watching this at work.

(Then, again, if you do get fired for watching this at work, don't blame me. You've been warned)

13 Cutest Animals Falling Asleep (VIDEOS)
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Ruthless if you let me Ruthless if you let me 10:14 AM

@Roklimber: Dozer, one of my Boston Terriers does the same thing. He is able to actually sleep while sitting and not fall over. He can even do it in the car and not fall over from the starts, stops, or turns.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Kevin Howell -The Unseen Commentor Kevin Howell -The Unseen Commentor 12:04 PM

@Roklimber: Me and my wife really liked that video. Our pug looks just like that except she always circles around and cuddles up to sleep. Really starnge noises are made by her though.

#observationdeck Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 12:09 PM

@Kevin Howell -The Unseen Commentor:

"Me and my wife really liked that video. Our pug looks just like that except she always circles around and cuddles up to sleep. Really starnge noises are made by her though."

Wait... your wife circles around, cuddles up, and makes strange noises before she falls asleep????

(No offense intended)

Glad you had fun watching it/them.

#observationdeck Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 03/18/10 12:10 PM

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#medicine

A Pill That Could Halt Cigarette Damage In Lungs

Click here to read A Pill That Could Halt Cigarette Damage In Lungs
What if you could smoke without damaging your lungs? Researchers have discovered that blocking just one protein can prevent the lung inflammation caused by smoking, reducing the risk of some lung diseases in smokers. More »
09:00 AM
3,8673,867 views on this post, 207 new visitors
83
By Annalee Newitz
Image of AlexKap AlexKap 08:37 AM

Question for the o-deck.

If you could get ONE posthuman upgrade, what would it be?

Remember, it can be only one (minor and realistic things like prosthetic body parts don't count). However, it can't be anything overly fanciful or implausible. Should you choose to become immortal, you cannot be "a constant in space and time" à la Captain Jack.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 09:21 AM

@AlexKap:

So many choices....

I think I'd like to have nanobots circulating in my body, continuously fixing any problems with my organs, cells, and cell processes. That would essentially make me immortal, and it would improve all aspects of the way my body functions.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of AlexKap AlexKap 09:29 AM

@Roklimber: While that sounds very tempting, I doubt that I'd go for relative immortality. But I'd love to boost my powers of concentration/ get some sort of brain upgrade. Granted, it might no longer be me, but I hate walking around in a mental haze and understanding so little...

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 09:38 AM

@AlexKap: Ah, but see, with my choice, I get a brain boost too, because all aspects of my body will be working at peak efficiency. My lungs will be more efficient in extracting oxygen from the air and delivering it to the blood, the red blood cells will be more efficient transporting that oxygen to my brain, and my neurons will have more energy and will fire more quickly. Ergo, I'll be able to learn more and faster.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of CuriousYellow CuriousYellow 09:43 AM

@AlexKap: Could the brain upgrade result in some sort of telekinesis, or is that too far fetched? Basically I hate housework and always thought moving objects with my mind to be the obvious solution.

Otherwise, yeah increased intelligence would be cool, though I'd worry about it going all Flowers for Algernon. Super genius seems lonely.

#observationdeck Reply
AlexKap promoted this comment
Edited by CuriousYellow at 03/18/10 9:45 AM

Image of matthewabel matthewabel 10:45 AM

@AlexKap: Posthuman upgrade - nanobots that handle the immune system. They'd prevent cancer cells and allergies. Keep you in perfect health. That'd be great.

Also, gill implants. If the first thing isn't available.

#observationdeck Reply

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#books Click here to read Want An Original Philip K. Dick? It Could Cost You $6500

Want An Original Philip K. Dick? It Could Cost You $6500

The first editions of Philip K.Dick's novels saw limited runs and Dick rarely attended signings. As a result, early and signed copies of Dick's books fetch top dollar on the rare book circuit. Guess which Dick novel sold for $6.5K? More »
08:30 AM
1,0891,089 views on this post, 81 new visitors
23
By Cyriaque Lamar
#starwars Click here to read George Lucas Wants To Make "Jedi Babies" TV Series

George Lucas Wants To Make "Jedi Babies" TV Series

Get ready for the Muppet Babies version of Star Wars. Lucas is rumored to be gearing up for yet another Star Wars show, but this time it's for the even younger kids. We believe it's called "Lucas Wants More Money." More »
08:00 AM
6,5866,586 views on this post, 1,817 new visitors
107
By Meredith Woerner
#syfyupfront Click here to read Syfy Is Turning Into VH1: More Reality TV And Tracy Morgan

Syfy Is Turning Into VH1: More Reality TV And Tracy Morgan

What's on Syfy's plate for the next year? Cons: a cooking show, a home design program, and a heightened focus on reality TV. Pros: Tracy Morgan back hosting Scare Tactics, yelling whatever he damn well pleases! More »
07:30 AM
2,5512,551 views on this post, 54 new visitors
81
By Cyriaque Lamar
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