House of the Dragon’s first season is racing towards an inevitable climax: the breakout of civil war between the myriad factions of the titular House Targaryen. But where does it go from here? Well, the good news is that George R.R. Martin knows exactly where, and how long it’ll take.

No matter how many cameras or sensors they use, autonomous cars will never be perfect, but research coming out of Japan suggests that a simple upgrade could help reduce the risk of self-driving cars hitting undetected pedestrians: a pair of animated googly eyes that make it obvious what the vehicle has or hasn’t…Read more...

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Heather Langenkamp wants Nightmare on Elm Street to get the Halloween reboot treatment. Tenoch Huerta hopes Namor gets people talking in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Plus, a glimpse at the She-Hulk finale, and behind the scenes on Madame Web. To me, my spoilers!

Researchers have determined that the country is dotted with tens of thousands of locations that may be contaminated by PFAS, which are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances—aka forever chemicals that do not disintegrate over time in nature or in the human body. Now, they’re mapping those sites to help regulators better…Read more...

A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud after he set up a hoax in which he claimed people had spray-painted left-wing messages on his garage, including “Biden 2020,” an anarchy symbol, and “BLM,” and set fire to several vehicles, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. It’s not…Read more...

During his spotlight at New York Comic Con, Oscar Isaac brought on stage a couple of his creative collaborators: illustrator Christian Ward and writer Brian Buccellato. The three teamed up last year to help bring Head Wounds: Sparrow to life via Kickstarter, in collaboration with Legendary Comics.

It’s week two of io9's annual costume show and we’re getting into the Halloween spirit of things with some throwbacks and four-legged cult hit looks. Special thanks to all our comment submissions who are helping us kick into gear for spooky time. We’ve also got a couple editorial team submissions thanks to our…Read more...

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New research this week is the latest to suggest that some drugs meant to treat type 2 diabetes might also help prevent dementia in high-risk groups. The study found that older people who used a relatively older class of antidiabetic medication were less likely to develop dementia than those who used other common…Read more...

The rough bustle of humanity covered every square inch of the New York Comic Con show floor. Among the rows of tables of Artist Alley, it felt more like being driven by a tide rather than an exploration through the minds of some of the most creative people in the comics scene.Read more...

Airlines would love you to believe that simply checking a box on the internet can erase the environmental impact of jetting across the Atlantic. Yet unfortunately for the companies, the Kardashians, and the climate, it’s not true.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it would take steps to redefine how the federal government distinguishes “employees” from “independent contractors,” a proposal that could, potentially, allow millions of so-called gig workers to demand workplace rights like a minimum wage and overtime pay.Read more...

It seems more and more likely that Elon Musk will be forced to buy Twitter, despite his months of attempts to squirm out of the deal. If the billionaire does get handed the keys to Twitter, big changes are likely on the horizon. First and foremost is the possibility that Musk would reinstate a host of trolls,…Read more...

Microsoft Office and Teams are coming to Meta Quest, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, having Microsoft 365 on Meta’s Quest headset will allow users to “create, communicate, and collaborate in completely new ways.”Read more...

The results are in from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, which attempted to deflect an asteroid: NASA has forever reshaped the Didymos-Dimorphos system. The successful test points to a possible planetary defense strategy for protecting Earth against hazardous near-Earth objects.Read more...

The inimitable veteran actress Dame Angela Lansbury, a musical performer who went from stage in shows like Sweeney Todd as Mrs. Lovett, to screen in Disney’s animated classic Beauty and the Beast as Mrs. Potts, has passed away. Her family shared in a statement, “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce…Read more...

Tom Cruise is gearing up for the ultimate, gravity-defying stunt where he will be hanging off of a space station as it orbits the Earth at an altitude of 254 miles (408 kilometers).Read more...

You may know TikTok as the platform responsible for popularizing viral teen dance moves and constantly bringing Republican lawmakers’ blood to a boil, but newly posted job listings reveal a potentially new direction for the company: e-commerce giant.Read more...

Director Ryan Coogler and his Black Panther ensemble pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman’s memory in a new behind the scenes look at Wakanda Forever. The Marvel Studios sequel pressed on after the untimely death of the beloved actor, who so memorably portrayed King T’Challa onscreen.Read more...

Some of the members on Reddit aren’t happy with Taco Bell. The website’s avid Taco Bell fandom is vocalizing its discontent over the restaurant’s new ad campaign featuring Pete Davidson, an outrage that is spilling out onto other parts of the site.Read more...

“Legs,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg exclaimed during his 2022 Meta Connect keynote. The camera then zoomed back to show his Horizon World avatar standing, actually standing. Truly, it’s a new era.

Disney has announced a major overhaul of its upcoming release schedule, including big delays for Marvel’s future—including the pushing of the launch of the MCU’s Phase 6 to 2025.

Over the weekend, Harvey Guillén, who plays Guillermo de la Cruz on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, hosted a spotlight panel at New York City Comic Con, recording a live episode of his podcast Behind the Shadows. He was joined by Hocus Pocus 2 star Belissa Escobedo, who will be in the upcoming Blue Beetle film…Read more...

At the Meta Connect conference on Tuesday, the company made a big deal out of saying VR has transformed from a solitary to a social and shared experience. The company accentuated that in Horizon Worlds, people play games, record podcasts, make music, and “roast marshmallows.”And beginning next year, folks will also…Read more...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company’s Meta Connect conference today with expected, but still highly anticipated news: The company’s next virtual reality headset will be called the Meta Quest Pro, and will also be the first Quest product to offer a mixed reality experience, bringing the metaverse and the…Read more...

Private aerospace company Firefly declared its “To the Black” mission a success with the inaugural launch of its Alpha rocket despite the majority of the rocket’s payload having reentered through the atmosphere.Read more...

After Stranger Things, Netflix knew that it had a star in Millie Bobby Brown, and the Enola Holmes franchise is the perfect vehicle for the fresh-faced actress. Brown stars as Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister, a post-Doyle addition by young adult author Nancy Springer. The new films are adaptations of her series, which…Read more...

It is “Spooky Season,” so it just makes sense we’d be seeing, or at least hearing, some famous tech folks coming back from the dead. Steve Jobs often feels like he’s still got two feet out of the grave for how often the tech entrepreneur is brought up in conversation by folks both in and out of the company he…Read more...

If you enjoy the cringe comedy stylings of master manipulator and Canadian business school graduate Nathan Fielder, know that you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in company with everyone’s favorite richest man on Earth. Elon Musk also apparently feels a deep connection to Fielder’s off-kilter humor, and is sure that he…Read more...

While Archie Comics has had no problem pitting its main characters against werewolves, zombies, and more, the realm of spooks and specters has always been more the domain of Sabrina the Teenage Witch... and her cursed cat, Salem. Now, the feline familiar will get his own chance to battle the forces of darkness when…Read more...

England baked under several heat waves throughout this summer. It didn’t just push the country into uncomfortable days—the heat waves also caused more than 2,800 additional people aged 65 and up in England to die, according to a new analysis from the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Office for National…Read more...

I’m not one to make much of curses, but it really does seem like the Blade—Marvel’s feature film starring Mahershala Ali as the daywalker, Eric Brooks—is running into quite a string of bad luck. After director Bassim Tariq quietly exited the production two weeks ago, citing scheduling conflicts, it appeared as if…Read more...

Chucky may be currently terrorizing the airwaves, but another distressing toy is making her presence known: the high-tech robot creation poised to trigger all your uncanny valley fears in M3GAN. The movie’s coming in January from producers James Wan (The Conjuring) and Blumhouse (Halloween), but you can get your…Read more...

BeReal, the increasingly popular social media app that every other platform wants to be, is seeing some major traction in 2022. New data indicates that the app—which is particularly popular with the Gen Z crowd—has racked up 53 million downloads so far this year. While the app is doing well in terms of downloads, it…Read more...

The Twitter v. Musk lawsuit may be on hold for now, but information about the stayed case continues to emerge. In the latest revelation, the billionaire’s legal team accused the social media company of making its former executive (and current whistleblower) Peiter “Mudge” Zatko destroy documentation of his time at…Read more...

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An alarming share of drivers using partially automated driver assistance features overestimate their vehicles’ supposed self-driving capabilities. Around one in four Tesla Autopilot drivers and an even higher 53% of Cadillac Super Cruise users surveyed in a new report said they feel “comfortable” treating their…Read more...

With the holidays fast approaching, ‘tis the season for companies to reveal all the shiny new gadgets they want showing up on wish lists. Today is Meta’s turn, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to reveal all the details on Project Cambria (rumored to be called the Meta Quest Pro)—its next generation virtual reality…Read more...

Chainsaws have an interesting place in pop culture. Whether it’s movies or film, they’re one of the handiest tools to have on hand during a zombie apocalypse (or believed to be, anyway). Video games like Gears of War and Dead Rising have further turned the power tool into punchlines where the joke is absurd display of…Read more...

A year after releasing the BlowerBaby, a battery-powered duster that dealt with dirt and crumbs using a 44 MPH blast of air, Nitecore is already revealing a follow-up, the BB2, that increases the power and the windspeed but also introduces adjustable power settings to help stretch battery life.Read more...

Astronomer Marc Buie has been tracing the shadows of a swarm of rocky bodies as they pass in front of stars, leaving behind a distinct imprint of their shape. These space rocks are known as the Trojan asteroids, two groups of asteroids that lead and follow Jupiter as they orbit the Sun.Read more...

Rug-pull, verb: “to pull the rug out from under someone,” dramatically upsetting the status quo.Read more...

A new Jumanji could be on the way. Get another close look at the new Black Panther with more Wakanda Forever merch. Jamie Lee Curtis wants a Freaky Friday sequel. Plus, another look at Mayfair Witches, and what’s coming on Quantum Leap. Spoilers, away!

In case you missed the Ryzen 7000 Series news that’s been bombarding the techie scene, AMD’s Zen 4 processors have officially been released into the wild. Adopting new technologies and pushing beyond 5.0 GHz on boost speeds across multiple cores, these CPUs are part of AMD’s plans to release the fastest gaming…Read more...

Google has big plans for ChromeOS beyond catering to students and those looking for an ultra-affordable computer. The company is priming ChromeOS to help fill the gaping hole that Stadia left behind, and it’s partnering with what used to be its cloud gaming competition to do it.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is finally here, arriving after one of the most contentious graphics card generations in recent memory. While the performance for Ampere-based cards like the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 was definitely there, the cards themselves noticeably were not. Like many other things, the pandemic led to a…Read more...

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a link to an event that was part of New York’s Climate Week. The panel’s title was “Choosing a climatarian diet: the case for including beef”; the description promised a discussion of the “role beef production plays in a climate-smart food system.” I’ve never clicked a “register”…Read more...

Apple’s finally positioning the Apple Watch as a tool for adventurous types with the Ultra model, so companies that’ve traditionally dominated this category are now facing stiffer competition. This includes Garmin, which plans to fend off Apple with a major upgrade to its MARQ smartwatch, including a much improved…Read more...

On your first visit to the website for Der Spiegel, Germany’s leading online news source, you’re faced with a choice: buy a €4.99 monthly subscription or give up your data.