io9

It’s Like a Heatwave Burnin’ In the Subcutaneous Layer of Your Skin

The terms “U.S. Marines” and “non-lethal” seem pretty antithetical to each other, but the Leathernecks are close putting in an order for Raytheon’s Silent Guardian millimeter wave defense system. As far as non-lethal weapons go, this one’s pretty hardcore – it slowly cooks you from the inside. But they swear it will stop before it … Continued

io9

Cosmocopia author Paul Di Filippo launched a new column at Barnes & Nobel’s website today, and his first column is a memorial of Thomas M. Disch. Di Filippo does a great job putting Disch’s life and work into context and puts the late author on a footing with novelist Evelyn Waugh, where he belongs. Well … Continued

io9

Hospitals in the American South 70% More Likely to Kill You

If you are brought to the hospital with a stroke or heart attack, your geographic location could mean the difference between life and death. A study released today by hospital rating organization HealthGrades shows that people in the nation’s highest-ranked hospitals (most of which are in the midwest) are 70% less likely to die than … Continued

io9

Redheaded Lost Minx Signs Up For Some Goat

Lost’s Rebecca Mader joins up with George Clooney as a lead in the movie adaptation of Men Who Stare At Goats. The movie is based on Jon Ronson’s novel about US soldiers who were trained to use psychic powers in battle (i.e., killing a goat just by staring at it). Also in the Goat cast … Continued

io9

Hallowe’en Comes Two Weeks Early In This Week’s Comics

It’s quite clearly heading towards Hallowe’en judging by this week’s new releases to comic book stores, which are suitably full of monsters, ghosts, things that go bump in the night… and Stephen Colbert. Quite how he fits in, we’re leaving up to your imagination, but as always on Tuesdays at 9am, these are New Comics … Continued

io9

Declassified Government Documents Reveal the Truth About UFOs

As any viewer of Fringe or The X-Files will tell you, the governments of the world know more about UFOs and alien life than they’re letting on. The party line may be that UFO sightings are mere misunderstandings and close encounters a fantasy, but not every government official agrees. We’ve rifled through tons of declassified … Continued

io9

Terrence Howard’s War Machine Replaced By Don Cheadle

Terrence Howard’s dreams of being a comic book superhero are crushed: Marvel has replaced him with Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2. Hollywood Reporter says that even though Howard wanted to return as Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) bestie and future partner in crime fighting Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, that won’t be happening. Why would … Continued

io9

Scifi Sports Franchises Demand Your Fandom

Before basketball season, the new Oklahoma City franchise had to pick a new basketball nickname — the first new one since Toronto chose the Raptors in 1995, on the heels of the popularity of Jurassic Park. We’re disappointed to report that Oklahoma City decided to call its team the Thunder. Maybe Oklahoma City Dark Knights … Continued

io9

Street Fighter Poster Does The Impossible: Uglies Up Kristin Kreuk

The live action Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun Li movie team has managed to accomplish the impossible. The new posters for the big action video game movie not only make the main character sexy-kicking-legs-for-days Chun Li look like a pasty albino but also manage to present the gorgeous Kristin Kreuk photoshopped beyond all recognition. … Continued

io9Television

If the Writers Don’t Kill Half the Characters on Heroes Now, I Will

Once a fun show, Heroes has become an unrelenting barrage of new characters whose faces blur together like the hours of a crazed night spent with six hookers and a pound of bug powder. Why can’t the writers have the decency to at least kill a bunch of people before introducing ten new ones? I … Continued

io9Movies

This Week in VUDU: 70 Movie Update

This week, VUDU has 63 new HD movies and 7 new titles available on HDX. That’s a pretty big fall off from last week’s release 63 HDX movies alone. Hopefully VUDU won’t lose too much momentum on their Blu-ray-challenging digital format. Here’s the full list:HD: Chariots of Fire Little Shop of Horrors The Devil’s Advocate … Continued

io9

Is This The New Doctor Who?

With the future of the BBC’s top scifi franchise almost entirely uncertain following next year’s special episodes, one source is claiming to know what – or rather, who – is the future of Doctor Who under the reign of new executive producer Steven Moffat. And, yes, that means someone to replace David Tennant, apparently. Meet … Continued

io9Television

Two New Possibilities For BSG’s Final Cylon

Are you running out of candidates for the final Cylon on Battlestar Galactica? We noticed a couple of guest stars appearing in the last few episodes, who are so out of left field, they could just be the answer. Meanwhile, Ludacris tells us the secrets of the dystopian game-playing movie Game, and we have some … Continued

io9Books & Comics

America’s Biggest Universities Build 78-Terabyte Library, Still Missing Front Door

Today, 23 of the biggest public and private universities in California, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois and other states* announced a 2-million book online library made of 78 terabytes of information, 16 percent of which are free of copyright and ready for public consumption. Even though the press release says “public domain materials will be available for … Continued

io9Television

Joost Flash Player Launches Tonight, Has Serious Hulu Envy

The poor kids at Joost—and their partners at Viacom—thought the future of TV on the computer would be a discrete app that blended a slick TV emulator with internets! power. They were wrong, Hulu and Google were right: It’s all about the browser. So that’s where Joost is going. Its Flash-based player officially launches full-throttle … Continued

io9

Science, Murder and the Sex Lives of Conjoined Twins in 1951

Somehow, Z-movie director Harry “White Gorilla” Fraser managed to convince real-life conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton to appear in a bizarre movie called Chained for Life in 1951. The women had made their first cinematic appearance in Tod Browning’s intense 1930s movie Freaks, and apparently the public outcry at that movie hadn’t soured them … Continued

io9

Phallic Fangs All A Twitter On This Weeks True Blood

If you thought that True Blood might get tired of peen and sex talk, then you think again. This week, sadness is sexy as the characters mourn the best way they know how: by getting naked and humping one another. Also, learn the not-so-subtle connection between sexual stimulation and vampire fangs. Who needs porn when … Continued

io9Television

The Silverhawks Will Defend Us From Economic Limbo

How can you not love a team of heroes introduced in a series premiere called, “The Origin Story” that features a conflict on the planet of Limbo? The first season of Lorimar’s follow-up to Thundercats hits DVD tomorrow, and there’s no time like the present to pick it up. Preserved in steel, “partly metal, partly … Continued

io9

Look Into The Parasitic Beady Eyes Of Your Alien Foe

Concept artist Goddam has released some crazy cool new artwork for an “undisclosed independent horror film.” The only clues we have about this flick are one, it’s about aliens and two, these aliens are parasites. I know they’re supposed to be terrifying but I got to admit when you take a close look they’re pretty … Continued

io9

Brick Director Rian Johnson Explains His New Time Travel Movie

Brick, Rian Johnson’s high-school noir movie, was one of my favorite films of the past few years. He was in town promoting his new con-man romance, The Brothers Bloom, and we got the chance to ask him about his planned third movie, a time-travel thriller called Looper. And he explained why you are probably trapped … Continued