io9 
Enter your username and password.
-
more about #russia more comments → Roklimber: Lemme guess... the Russians detected a signal from Venus directed to the Nazca plains of Peru... more » Sockatume: "Plots"? Really, BBC? It's not the cold war any more, we don't have to worry that they'll steal all the green-skinned alien space babes. As good a ti... more » Anekanta - Go Play!: They plan to set up an outpost for the first interplanetary mail-order bride scam... more » OlavRokne: 1985 is not "over three decades ago." more » Bill-Lee: Lame jokes aside, I think it is important to study all of the planets in the Solar System so we better understand the conditions that make life here o... more » lightninglouie: Yeah, this should go well until duplicates of the survey team's dead spouses start showing up. more » firehunter5: Choose your fate... death by.. 1. extremely high pressure co2 atmosphere 2. nonstop lightning strikes in the cloudformations 3. unrelenting sulfuric... more » Grey_Area: The excitement for Venereal Discovery is contagious! more » diverguy: Venus is an interesting study in global warming run amok, but from a more immediate and somewhat more practical sense, Mars is the better option for m... more » AngryEddy: The Mars VS. Venus wars are going to be a long and bloody affair. more » OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear: Get your ass to Venus just doesn't sound right. more » twophrasebark: "Even the UN signals disapproval, as Saint Petersburg could be stripped of its title as a UNESCO world heritage site." This makes it sound like some ... more » MargaretMoony: It's kinda cool and looks like a Christmas tree ornament. more » strideo: Why should the U.N.'s opinion on architecture really matter? more » BadUncle: It's beautiful. And I think the St. Petersburgers will get over it. Parisians initially hated the Eiffel Tower. more » -
#venus
Forget Mars — Russia Sets Its Sights on Venus
While other space programs are sending probes to explore the surface of Mars or the moon, Russian scientists have their eyes on another target: Venus, a planet last explored by Soviet scientists over two decades ago. More » -
#architecture
Europe's Tallest Skyscraper Will Also Be Its Greenest
At 77 stories, Saint Petersburg's Okhta Tower will be the tallest building in Europe, and will boast sustainable features for heating, lighting, and ventilation. But Saint Petersburg residents aren't exactly pleased about the tower's construction. More » -
#crapfuturism
In A Couple Of Years, Sarah Palin's House Could Be In Russia
A Russian social scientist is making waves with his prediction, floated since 1998, that the United States will split into a set of independent republics by 2010. Are we finally going to see Ecotopia? -
#spaceprogram
Russia's Space Program Could Crush the U.S. Over the Next Decade
When NASA retires its three space shuttles in 2010, US astronauts will have to rely on the Russian space program to gain entry to space and the International Space Station. Until 2015, when the Constellation program is scheduled to begin launching the Orion spacecraft, the US plans to purchase seats on the Russian Soyuz craft. Now some NASA officials are warning that America's presence in space could be hindered further by US-Russian tensions and the emerging Chinese program. More » -
#romantictragediesofspace
Love Is Like a Rocket Smashing to Earth on a Steep Ballistic Reentry Course
Nothing like the smoking ruins left behind after a rocket smashes to Earth on a fast, steep reentry course. I love this set of images showing the results of the Russian Soyuz rocket's return to Earth in April of this year. Recently uncovered by Dark Roasted Blend, the images show the rocket's burning tear through a field of grain, and then close in on the blackened husk of the reentry cone itself. More » -
#sciencefictionart
In Soviet Russia, Space Opera Really Was Operatic
Look at the Russian cover for Robert Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land: It's like one of Caravaggio's Bible scenes: lurid, fiery, over-the-top and awesome. It should surprise nobody that Heinlein and Philip K. Dick were fantastically popular in the U.S.S.R., with their sharp social commentary and crazy plot devices. The Russian Science Fiction page (in English, luckily) has a bunch of Heinlein and Dick covers, and we have a gallery of our favorites below. More » -
-
#peniscopter
In Russia, the Flying Penises of Second Life Are Real
Kiddies, I remember the days when flying penises could only attack public figures in virtual world Second Life. Who doesn't remember the day when virtual real estate mogul Anshe Chung, the richest lady in Second Life, was attacked during a virtual press conference by giant virtual penises (left)? Clearly, Russian protesters haven't forgotten. A group of pro-government rabble-rousers sent a peniscopter (right) into the air recently during an anti-Putin speech from former chess champ and political activist Victor Kasparov. More » -
#spaceexploration
The Future Of Space Exploration?
Black smoke belches out of a grinding old engine as it hauls Russia's latest Soyuz space capsule across a Kazakh wasteland, while armed guards keep watch. This mixture of high and low technology is probably the future of space exploration, as resources get scarcer and more small governments and independent operators get into the space game. More images of Soyuz in the wasteland, and its launch to the International Space Station, below. More » -
#retrofuturism
Nuclear Missiles Are Rock Stars In Moscow
Russians prepare to parade nuclear missiles through Red Square as part of the annual Victory Day celebrations. The procession of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, a scary Cold War tradition, ended after the Soviet Union fell, but now Russia is reviving it. Call it apocalyptic retro-futurist nostalgia. Or maybe just overcompensation. Either way, Russians will be screaming and maybe throwing their underwear at these shiny gray WMDs. A gallery of weapon-porn, after the jump. More » -
#architecture
St. Petersburg Starts Process of Becoming a Domed City
It's not quite a glass-domed city yet, but St. Petersberg has taken the first steps towards that goal. British architecture firm Wilkinson Eyre, best known for the design of the Gateshead Millenium Bridge in Newcastle, unveiled a bold new plan to revamp the old market of St. Petersburg, Russia by putting it entirely under glass. Over the next few years they'll be putting a giant sheet of reinforced glass over Aprasin Dvor, a shopping district. A matching glass bridge will span the river. We've got some interesting facts about the project. More » -
#reallygiantmachines
Diving Into the Russian Nuclear Sub Wreck
The Kursk was a Russian nuclear cruise missile submarine that was lost under mysterious circumstances involving some explosions in 2000. Here it is a year later, dredged up from the waters by a Dutch crew. Want to see the insides? More »
