geekosystem

I don't think it had really hit me yet that the person playing Aleksei Sytsevich, as in the Rhino, in Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Paul Giamatti. Like, I knew it was Giamatti, but I still couldn't wrap my head around the idea of the guy from Lady in the Water is going to be playing a part known for its giant rhinoceros suit. But now that director Marc Webb went ahead and tweeted an image of Giamatti as Sytsevich...well, it's honestly still hard to wrap my head around it.

Most of what makes Spider-Man amazing is that he has superhuman powers, but his webs are pretty great too, and he made those things with science. Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have developed a new type of nanofiber that is simultaneously spectacularly strong and amazingly tough. They've basically made Spider-Man's webs. Now please make a wrist-mounted launcher.

Earlier this week we looked at a paper that examined the physics behind the train stop scene in Spider-Man 2 that put a little science before our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but that clearly wasn't enough for the people at Fox's Animation Domination High Def. They went a few steps further to create Scientifically Accurate Spider-Man to give us a look a what a real man/spider hybrid would look like, and it isn't pretty. It's also not safe for work, unless your work is writing about weirdly graphic Spider-Man parody cartoons. Then you're probably fine.

Geeks like to argue about things. After seeing Spider-Man 2 back in 2004, my friend and I got into a heated argument over whether or not the big train-stopping scene was possible. Would the webs hold up? Is Spidey's grip strong enough to hold the webs? Would his arms get ripped off? What about all the things he's shooting webs onto, would they hold up? Rather than argue over Chinese food like we did, some students at the University of Leicester actually used physics to settle the debate once and for all, and they published their results.

If there's one ability of Spider-Man's that it would be most useful to have, it'd be his spider-sense. Being aware of dangers or hazards before they strike is pretty much the best. It's essentially precognition, in a way. Who wouldn't want precognition? Thanks to a special suit called SpiderSense, made by University of Illinois' Victor Mateevitsi, this fantasy is that much closer to being a reality.

There are a lot of different ways to conduct a religious sermon. Sometimes a preacher can even make it fun, exciting, and easy to relate to, but few people would expect a Catholic priest to be one of them. Which is why a lot of people have homed in on Father Alvarez in Mexico, who uses the icons of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man in his weekly mass for children.

Say it ain't so, Spidey! Say it ain't so! Police say 35-year-old Philip Williams was arrested yesterday for punching a woman in Times Square. Why does that concern us? He was dressed as Spider-Man when he did it. Between J. Jonah Jameson and Dan Slott, Spidey's been getting all the bad press he can handle right now. This is the last thing old webhead needs right now.

Whether you gracefully accepted it as the next bold step in the hero's storied legacy or drove yourself to giving up on reading anything from Marvel Comics forever -- which really translates to about two weeks, let's not kid ourselves -- there's no denying that the upcoming transition of the role of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is a historic milestone for the web-slinger, with the new Spider-Man's madcap adventures in altruism starting tomorrow in Superior Spider-Man #1. As is the case with the renumbering of any comic series featuring a popular character, people who don't typically pick up funny books will fight inhibition and see what all the geeky hubbub is about, even if they're not up on the years of complex continuity. In an effort to save these valiant few the time spent reading back issues and collected editions, the fine folks at ComicVine have together a nifty video highlighting the important moments of Spider-Man and a certain villain's 50-year conflict that led to the controversial change in direction.

Since revealing that The Amazing Spider-Man would end its near 50-year run with issue #700 and restart fresh with The Superior Spider-Man #1, Marvel Comics teased their legion of unwavering Spidey devotees with the knowledge that the wise-cracking hero and his spirited sense of carpe diem would be done away with in favor of an edgier, stronger, and smarter Spider-Man that can apparently shatter mere stone with his fingertips. "Wait," cheeped the little fanboys and girls, "what could possibly turn our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man into a calculating, take-no-prisoners vigilante?" We have the startling answer, and if you're not bothered by massive spoilers and want to see what the geeky hullabaloo is all about, web swing past the jump to ruin the surprise for yourself.

A new series of super hero-themed LEGO sets based on recent and upcoming comic book films may have just confirmed, if not revealed, key plot points from Marvel's next movie, Iron Man 3, and Zach Snyder's upcoming take on Superman, Man of Steel. A list of upcoming LEGO sets, on track to come out in 2013, feature Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Superman. Though some of the sets clearly have no relationship their film counterparts, (there's a Batman-themed set called "Aquaman on Ice.") the Iron Man and Superman-themed sets match up with rumored details about Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel. For the record, the rest of this post may contain relatively detailed spoilers about Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel. Proceed at your own risk.

It turns out that reading comic books can be beneficial for the male psyche, making men perform better on tests of strength and even improving the body images of comic book fans. So take that, every guidance counselor, ever! A study conducted by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that, after seeing images of superheroes like Spider-Man and Batman, men performed better on a test of grip strength than they did without seeing the pictures.

With the new Spidey reboot only a little more than a week out of the gate, we have to ask ourselves: What would it take for me to get in on all that wall-climbing, web-slinging panache? The gents behind ASAPscience have got you covered! They explain the real-world science of Tobey Maguire Andrew Garfield Spider-Man in plain English. I need to get myself some of those retroviruses!

This is marketing at its finest.

Hey guys, remember back in 2002, there was that movie that sat in theaters for what seemed like ever, and became the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time? You know, My Big Fat Greek Webbing, about a thirty-year-old Greek woman who is going through a midlife crisis and also Spider-Man's there? While browsing a local resale shop, reddit user criscokkat came upon the above puntastic DVD. Wondering what in the world it could be, criscokkat posted a couple images to reddit, and another user pointed out that it was an old Nick Mag gag, wherein the magazine used to make fake DVD covers for people to slip into real DVD boxes.

Skyward Sword getting "finishing touches" before release (Destructoid) Welcome to ChatotRoulette! (Dueling Analogs) Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for Star Trek (PDF) (Lee Thomson) Rock Band can actually teach you how to play actual drums (Destructoid) The Japanese Spider-Man is exactly as intense as you'd expect (YouTube) How to make 6 different Rube Goldberg machines (Geeks Are Sexy) Muppets made out of balloons! (Black Cat Balloon Company on Flickr) (Pic via Cake Wrecks)