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For his upcoming book Mail-Order Mysteries, author Kirk Demarais assessed dozens of craptacular items you could purchase from the sensationalist comic book ads of yore. Here's his video investigation — the ventriloquist dummy is particularly creepy. It's more disappointing than that soothsaying robotic brain. More »
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When you have x-ray vision, a trip on the subway means you always know who is behind every newspaper - and what people are carrying in their pockets. Nick Veasey's photos reveal what lurks beneath the surface of everyday life. More »
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Any theories on why science-fiction theater tends to be so lame? Does the naturalism of the stage thwart suspension of disbelief? In any case, a good one, called The Assember Dilator, seems to've just finished brewing in the East Village. More »
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So many of our superheroes are animal-themed because we perceive non-primates as having remarkable powers. Ants have their super-strength, bats have flight and sonar, and canines have sharp teeth and the ability to detect an open bag of kibble from half a mile away. But a recent study reveals that, from the perspective of the animal kingdom, humans have a superpower of our own: “x-ray” vision. More »
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Superman used to be just strong and sort of invulnerable, but now his powers are officially out of control. According to Superman II, he can erase your mind just by kissing you, not to mention his super-breath, super-hearing and super-ventriloquism. But Superman's out-of-control power really started with his super-peepers, which have a whole arsenal of eye-related powers. Check out our list of Superman's overcharged eyeball abilities. More »
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What does this one-micron sized object look like to you? Despite what Freud would say, that boldly thrusting little guy is a microcrystal, once classified as a powder too tiny to be imaged using X-rays. But a bunch of European X-ray fiends have rigged up a special X-ray diffractor at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and presto — what was once unseeable powder is now a crystal! This discovery means we can see crystals today that are 10 times smaller than ones we could see yesterday. More »
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