Marvel Finally Released the Trailer Captain Marvel Needed
Ever since the first trailer for Captain Marvel dropped, I've been holding my breath. Part of it was anticipation, part of it was trepidation. The trailer looked—well, let's go with "good," but it didn't necessarily look "fun" or "exciting." This happens often with Marvel films. The first trailer is the moody stakes-setter, while subsequent ones…
Yellowstone Supervolcano Could Power Electric Cars of the Future
This story originally appeared on Newsweek and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Electric cars and smartphones of the future could be powered by supervolcanoes like Yellowstone after scientists discovered that ancient deposits within them contain huge reservoirs of lithium—a chemical element used to make lithium-ore batteries, supplies of which are increasingly dwindling. Lithium, a soft white metal…
We Need to Talk About Amazon's Awesome Forever
With little fanfare—even less spilling of its secret central conceit—Amazon released its new comedy, Forever, earlier this month. Starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen as married couple June and Oscar, it’s a show that wrings every last bit of humor out of the day-to-day humdrum of domestic partnership. It’s like if one of the odd…
Why You Should (Still) Be Playing Halo in 2019
Bursts of plasma energy fill the air around me, leaving scorch marks in the wall just feet behind my head. I hide behind a broken-down tank, my shields recharging, checking my weapons. The usual arsenal of far-out sci-fi weaponry: a plasma rifle, an alien sniper weapon. Then I make a plan, trying to chart a…
The West Is on Fire. Blame the Housing Crisis
California is on fire again. CalFire, one of the agencies charged with putting those fires out, is tracking upward of two dozen conflagrations up and down the state at the moment—Detwiller, Grade, Bridge, Wall, Alamo, Garza, on and on—ranging in size from a couple hundred acres to nearly 50,000. And it’s not just the Golden…
Why 4-Panel Comics Now Dominate Our Screens
The aliens landed on February 4, and they landed on Reddit. Their vehicle: a four-panel comic strip. "Friends arriving soon," one large-eyed extraterrestrial said to another, checking their watch. "Let us store irregular shapes inside shapes with flat surfaces." "Your home is beautiful," two other aliens coo, appearing in the doorway. "Thank you," responds the…
Climate Change Is Here. It’s Time to Talk About Geoengineering
Let's pretend that the US didn't recently pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Let's also pretend that all the other countries that scolded it for withdrawing also met their Paris pledges on deadline. Heck, let's pretend that that everyone in the whole world did their very best to cut emissions, starting today. Even if…
While You Were Offline: Look What You Made Taylor Swift Do
How to best describe the past seven days? First, there was a royal wedding, but no one even noticed because an overzealous mother turned her son into a meme. Then, folks began to wonder whether Melania Trump understands bullying at all. Also, the United States' United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley quit, and Florida was hit…
Antibiotic-Brined Chicken and Other Bad Ideas From US Farming
These days, the only thing more American than apple pie is eating an animal raised on antibiotics. Eighty percent of antibiotics sold in the US go not to human patients, but to the nation’s plate-bound pigs, cows, turkeys, and chickens. As these wonder drugs became a mainstay of modern agriculture, factory farms began churning out…
Desus & Mero Is the Future of Late-Night TV
As a genre and TV staple, the evening talk show is a static enterprise. It doesn't easily invite change. Even as newcomers like Jimmy Fallon and James Corden try to enliven the format with viral videos and karaoke bits, it hasn't evolved much since the days of Johnny Carson. Yet, if it wants to stay…