Japan’s SLIM is on the Moon and is sending data to Earth, but the situation looks grim. Officials with Japanese space agency JAXA say the lander’s solar cells are not generating sufficient amounts of electricity, raising uncertainties about the mission’s future.Read more... | Continue reading
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are getting ready to make their fifth movie together and, for the first time ever, this one is going to suck. That’s because it’s about vampires. Or so the rumors say.Read more... | Continue reading
In April 2023, SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off for the first time, sending chunks of debris thousands of feet across the South Texas landscape and sparking a fire in a nearby state park. It was an environmental nightmare; the launchpad is surrounded by a wildlife habi … | Continue reading
Tired of dealing with popups begging you to accept cookies? Blame the EU. In 2018, Europe unleashed a groundbreaking privacy law called the GDPR that, among a billion other things, makes websites ask permission before tracking you with cookies. A lot of companies switched their w … | Continue reading
Star Trek’s idyllic utopia might try to move past it, but it is defined by conflict. From the long moral question of whether or not Starfleet is a military or scientific organization at its core, to the deadly wars that have pushed it to defend its greatest ideals, Star Trek as w … | Continue reading
Those diving into Apple’s new mixed reality headset might be missing a few of their favorite apps as they navigate the Cupertino company’s new “spatial” environment. Pre-orders for the Vision Pro go live Friday, but if you’re considering dropping $3,500 on this big-budget headset … | Continue reading
Another year, another round of inscrutable price increases for many prescription drugs. Over 700 medicines are seeing their list prices shoot up this January, according to an analysis by the organization 46brooklyn Research. The average price increase is slightly below the trend … | Continue reading
Christopher Landon next film after exiting Scream 7 is a werewolf horror. Get a look at Slimer’s return in Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire. Schmigadoon is no more. Plus, Clone High returns for round two of its revival. To me, my spoilers!Read more... | Continue reading
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.Read more... | Continue reading
The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023 caused widespread devastation and killed more than 50,000 people. Now, a team of geoscientists have released striking images and drone footage of the fault line that shifted the ground across the region, and used it … | Continue reading
On average, smartphone users take about 20 photos a day. While that number seems low, I know there have been plenty of times I’ve looked back at photos I’ve taken and thought, “That’d make a nice printout,” and never followed through because printing is a bit of a hassle. I spent … | Continue reading
The legacy of invention and technology that comes out of Disney Imagineering is some of the closest we’ll get to a sci-fi future. And two of Disney Parks’ most recent incredible projects come from Lanny Smoot, a Disney legend who has already patented over 100 inventions, 74 of wh … | Continue reading
The arrival of Steamboat Willie—and with it, the first steps of Mickey Mouse himself—into the public domain at the start of 2024 has been a milestone that, in just under three weeks, already seen a bevy of horrifying riffs and a look ahead to what other stalwarts of culture will … | Continue reading
Walt Disney World’s best and most underrated festival is going on right now at Epcot. Disney Parks’ International Festival of the Arts happens at the start of the year and showcases amazing artists debuting Disney-inspired art—and it’s truly any fandom print collector’s dream des … | Continue reading
A disturbing cyberattack on Discord reportedly sent some University of California, Irvine students to the hospital on Wednesday, according to a CBS News report. Hackers infiltrated student Discord servers and bombarded them with graphic images that reportedly traumatized students … | Continue reading
California Forever, the quixotic, billionaire-backed project to build a new city in the Bay Area, is chugging along. Despite the fact that locals seem to hate it, the Silicon Valley dreamers behind the project remain undeterred. The team planning the city released more details ab … | Continue reading
We’ve watched a lot of Indiana Jones stories over the years but we’ve very rarely been able to put on the fedora ourselves. That changes later this year with the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for Xbox.Read more... | Continue reading
Panera Bread and its Charged Lemonade are once again headed to court. This week, a Rhode Island woman filed a lawsuit alleging that the highly caffeinated beverage caused her to develop long-term heart problems. The suit follows two wrongful death claims brought against the chain … | Continue reading
David Benioff and Dan Weiss are currently promoting their upcoming sci-fi series for Netflix, 3 Body Problem, but that doesn’t mean people have stopped asking them about Game of Thrones. It’s been five years since it ended, and though they say they miss working on the HBO hit, th … | Continue reading
The internet is quickly becoming a slurry of AI-generated garbage, and Google has decided to just let us all marinate in it. Anyone online can see that Google Search is getting worse, but now it’s becoming clear why. Google News is boosting AI-generated garbage over real, human j … | Continue reading
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom already has its home release dates, and they’re closer than you may think. While there’s no word yet on when it’ll debut on Max, the film will be available digitally next week on January 23, ahead of its DVD/Blu-ray/4K release on March 12. One would e … | Continue reading
A team of scientists found a compact object 40,000 light-years from Earth that is either a very massive neutron star or an itsy-bitsy black hole, but they’re not sure which.Read more... | Continue reading
In a modern movie landscape dominated by mega franchises, 2024 is looking mighty odd indeed. Yes, we’ve got films coming from DC, Marvel, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, and a few others, but almost all of them are slightly off-brand. The Transformers and Lord of the Rings movie … | Continue reading
Japan chooses to go to the Moon, and it’s doing so with a strong emphasis on accuracy. With SLIM, the nation’s space agency is aiming for an autonomous, high-precision landing within an impressive 328 feet (100 meters) of its intended target inside Shioli Crater.Read more... | Continue reading
An outbreak of measles in Philadelphia is growing larger. This week, health officials announced a newly discovered case of the highly contagious viral disease in the area—the ninth reported to date. Many of these cases, including the latest one, have been traced back to a single … | Continue reading
In a few months, one of the most infamous episodes of Star Trek ever made will turn 28, a title that manages to whip Trekkies up into a frenzy worthy of a courtroom drama in just a single portmanteau: “Tuvix.” Perhaps one of the most stinging indictments of Voyager’s episodic nat … | Continue reading
More than 75 million people use Alexa, but by Amazon’s standards, the service is a total failure. The problem is Alexa doesn’t make any money, and the service is a huge drain on company resources. Apparently, Amazon has a last-ditch plan to save its digital assistant by superchar … | Continue reading
Why play classic Monopoly, with its boring old Boardwalk and all those railroads, when you can play a snazzy special edition branded to your favorite pop culture property? The options for Monopoly variations are startlingly robust. Here are 10 we found—all currently available onl … | Continue reading
The saga of Peregrine is coming to a tragic end, with the lunar lander scheduled for reentry through Earth’s atmosphere after failing to touch down on the Moon.Read more... | Continue reading
Just Wednesday, it was announced that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit refused to extend the pause on the temporary ban on Apple Watches and ordered it to officially halt sales of the watches by 5 pm ET on Thursday, January 18. According to 9to5Mac’s latest report, … | Continue reading
Zipping far above Earth, it’s not exactly easy for satellites to find a corner gas station when the fuel gauge gets low. To tackle this cosmic conundrum, a Space Force-funded initiative is working on an innovative solution to refuel distant satellites on-the-fly.Read more... | Continue reading
Google pledged to stop tracking user visits to abortion clinics shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, which killed off the United States’ largest federal abortion protection. The measure aimed to protect abortion seekers from prosecutors, especially in the 14 sta … | Continue reading
Samsung devoted the vast majority of its latest Unpacked showcase to AI. Even if the star of the show is still the Galaxy S24, Samsung wants all its fans to hitch themselves up to the AI bandwagon, but once you look at the fine print, the company may also need users to pay up for … | Continue reading
Daisy Ridley discusses her expectations for her new Star Wars movie. Channing Tatum’s Maxx adaptation is going ahead at Paramount. Jenna Ortrega talks practical effects and Beatlejuice 2. Plus, what’s to come as La Brea nears its end. Spoilers get!Read more... | Continue reading
SpaceX is collaborating with agricultural industry giant John Deere to provide satellite internet connectivity, enabling its tractors to operate autonomously and communicate with each other in rural areas.Read more... | Continue reading
A new study published today is diving deep into how a dog’s size can affect their health. The study found evidence that larger dogs tend to have a higher risk of many health problems and generally shorter lifespans, while also showing that smaller dog breeds can have their own un … | Continue reading
Many places in the Midwest and northern United States could shrink drastically by the turn of the century, according to a new study based on five climate scenarios. By the same token, according to the researchers, the populations of 40% of U.S. cities could grow by 2100.Read more … | Continue reading
After a years-long legal battle, Apple is finally opening up its App Store to external payment processors—although there will be a stiff cost for app developers who want to cash in on that new opportunity. Read more... | Continue reading
After a years-long legal battle, Apple is finally opening up its “walled garden” to external payment processors—although there will be a stiff cost for app developers who want to cash in on that new opportunity. Read more... | Continue reading
Sheryl Sandberg, original girlboss and longtime fixture at Facebook, is formally stepping down from her position on Meta’s board. Sandberg announced her transition away from the company on Wednesday in a post that she made, appropriately, on Facebook. Read more... | Continue reading
At Universal Studios Japan, Super Nintendo World’s “jumping” Donkey Kong ride puts visitors in the mine-cart action of the video game, broken tracks and all. That’s right, you’ll be experiencing a very realistic simulation of being in Kong’s cart and jumping onto a completely dif … | Continue reading
Just Tuesday, we reported on Apple trying to circumvent the import ban by dropping the blood-oxygen monitoring sensor on it. Until the new watches without the sensor were out, the ban was temporarily lifted, allowing Apple to start selling again. CNBC just reported that the Cuper … | Continue reading
Smartphones, AI, and rings, oh my! Samsung is at it again, coming out with its latest Samsung Galaxy S24 series phone with a list of long-expected features, a new titanium frame on the $1,300 Ultra edition, and a whole smattering of artificial intelligence surrounding every featu … | Continue reading
Unlike certain other io9 staffers, I’m not too much of a gamer—but I am a big horror fan, and that’s what made me interested in 2015's Until Dawn, an interactive tale about a bunch of kids stranded on a mountain haunted by past tragedies and crawling with menacing creatures. It’s … | Continue reading
Sam Altman, the Jimmy Neutron-looking OpenAI CEO, had a lot to say at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. During an interview, Altman implied that his industry should lean into nuclear power to keep up with its growing energy footprint. That’s not exactl … | Continue reading
The Doctor Who and Criminal Record actor talks about a sci-fi film that should be remade. | Continue reading
Players will need to feel a fair bit more “comfortable” with the idea of subscription models and, to a greater extent, not actually owning anything they buy. This week, Ubisoft rejiggered its entire subscription model, but to sell players and the industry on its new move, one com … | Continue reading
Last week, David Gordon Green—director of 2023's The Exorcist: Believer, as well as the recent Halloween films—announced he was stepping down from directing the previously announced second film in the revival trilogy, The Exorcist: Deceiver. Today, we’re sorting through this demo … | Continue reading