TOP GEEK CULTURE MOMENTS OF THE YEAR

Courtesy IBM

Watson Wins at Jeopardy

In February IBM’s artificially intelligent supercomputer, Watson, won more than three times as much money on Jeopardy! as either of the competing human trivia champs. Despite a few bugs in its language processing, the computer’s performance was an impressive demonstration of the increasing speed and power of ai. (And if you ask us, Watson’s mistrust of puns made it seem all the more human.)

Angry Birds Bring Physics to Phones Everywhere

This beloved mobile game has given millions of users an addictive crash course in trajectory, gravity, and mass as they topple towers armed with a slingshot and brightly colored birds. The app debuted in 2009 but scored big this year, winning Webby and Appy awards for best game, surpassing 350 million downloads, and even inspiring an amusement park in China.

Scientists Descend on Comedy Central

Comedians-slash-news anchors Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have hosted an impressive roster 
of science notables this year, including astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, neuroscientist David Eagleman, and string 
theorist Brian Greene, who called Colbert “a bag of particles governed by the laws of physics.”

Bjork Gets Biophilic

The Icelandic singer-songwriter’s latest project, called Biophilia, is one big love letter to science. Her tour, which kicked off this June in the U.K., is complete with Tesla coils, sound bites of David Attenborough, and pendulum harps that use gravity to make music.

We Lose a Tech Icon

When rumors circulated about a possible iPhone 5 release on October 14, Steve Jobs fans seized the date and declared it Steve Jobs Day, inviting people worldwide to honor the beloved CEO by wearing his trademark outfit: jeans, a black turtleneck, and tennis shoes. Jobs, who resigned as Apple CEO in August and passed away in October, revolutionized the personal computer, phone, and music industries.

MUST-SEE MOVIES

Contagion  Steven Soderbergh skillfully deploys an all-star cast in this taut pandemic thriller—made extra-terrifying by a global outbreak scenario too plausible for comfort.

Source Code  It’s got a smart, suspenseful plot played out in Groundhog Day-like time loops. And it’s the first good Jake Gyllenhaal movie in longer than we can remember.

Super 8  Director J. J. Abrams’s collaboration with producer Steven Spielberg occasionally falters under its self-consciousness, but at heart it’s a nostalgic, darker version of E.T.

X-Men: First Class  Set early in the Cold War, this origin story rejuvenates the mutants’ flagging franchise with a likable cast, snappy effects, and sly nods to the future for fans who know how the story ends.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes  The spookily believable CGI apes made this a compelling watch—even if the brain science bits were beyond shaky.

Overhyped


Transformers: Dark of the Moon  It took in more than $1 billion at the box office, but let’s be real: This film was more of a mess than it made of downtown Chicago.

Cowboys & Aliens  The guns vs. rayguns premise had potential, but the real showdown here was between sci-fi and western clichés. And a movie named Cowboys & Aliens shouldn’t take itself so seriously.

Green Lantern  Even Green Lantern’s light couldn’t fend off an abysmal script and stilted acting.

The Adjustment Bureau  
It had the makings of an Inception-style blockbuster, with great star chemistry and fast-paced action. But the film is a metaphysical muddle: We couldn’t shake the feeling we had just seen a very high-budget philosophy lecture.

MUST-READS

Incognito
by David Eagleman

Neuroscientist Eagleman plumbs the surprising power of the unconscious brain.

Unnatural Selection 

by Mara Hvistendahl

This stirring book investigates the world’s growing gender gap, where boys are increasingly outnumbering girls.

1493
by Charles C. Mann

From Columbus’s coming ashore to today, Mann tracks the global exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas.

Moonwalking With Einstein 

by Joshua Foer

Journalist Foer masters the tricks to an extraordinary memory, then tests them out at the U.S. Memory Championships.

The Quest
by Daniel Yergin

The Pulitzer Prize winner delivers a sharp, thoughtful account of how energy choices will shape our future.

OVERLOOKED GEMS

Debt
by David Graeber

Graeber, an anthropologist, chronicles the history of debt, revealing how ancient concepts of money have influenced our basic ideas of right and wrong.

Physics on the Fringe 

by Margaret Wertheim

Tales of “outsider physicists” challenging our understanding of the universe.

Season to Taste 

by Molly Birnbaum

After losing her sense of smell, an aspiring chef explores the art and science of olfaction.

MUST-SEE NEW SHOWS

Walking Dead, AMC
  Never before has a zombie apocalypse been so chillingly fun to watch. Reports of staff turmoil in the off-season 
paled in comparison with the on-screen battles against undead hordes.

Alphas, SYFY
  These ordinary-folks-turned-superheroes made a splash in the summer. Think Heroes meets X-men, without the melodrama or weird uniforms.

Returning
 Favorites

Fringe, FOX  Complete with alternate universes, time travel, and telekinesis, the otherworldly investigations of the FBI’s Fringe Division really clicked in Season 3, and Season 4 is off to a strong start.

Doctor Who, BBC
  Who could resist an alien able to travel anywhere in time or space—and survive 32 seasons on TV. This was among the show’s strongest years yet.

Good Riddance

V, ABC
  This alien invasion reboot, based on a 1980s miniseries, axed all its scientist characters—ironically, exactly what the original evil aliens wanted.

The Event, NBC 
 Mea culpa on this one. After receiving the DISCOVER seal of approval, the initially sharp conspiracy/alien invasion series turned to mush.

—M.B.G.

NATURE BOOKS WE LOVE


Sea 
by Mark Laita

Come face-to-face with ocean life through these vibrant, ethereal portraits of deadly puffer fish, stingrays, angelfish, and other exotic marine life.


100 Places to Go Before They Disappear 
by co+life

This astonishing catalog of the earth’s threatened wonders—from the low-lying islands of Tuvalu to Bolivia’s snow-covered Chacaltaya mountain—will have you reaching for your passport.

Deceptive Beauties 
by Christian Ziegler

The sneaky, sordid, and seductive survival strategies of orchids are on display in this richly photographed book, with an introduction by Michael Pollan.


Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries 
by Govert Schilling

A must-have for stargazers, this book explains and illustrates astronomy’s biggest milestones through breathtaking telescope and satellite photos.
—Valerie Ross