Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

Depression might be caused by too much light when you’re sleeping

The causes of depression are many and complex, but who’d have thought too much light could be part of the problem? Hamsters who sleep in total darkness are less susceptible to depression, and the same could be true of humans. Ohio State neuroscientist Tracy Bedrosian placed hamsters in one of two different environments. In the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

“Impossible” planet from beyond the Milky Way discovered

It’s not quite the impossible planet, but it’s certainly very improbable. A planet has been discovered around a type of ancient star that scientists once believed couldn’t support planets. Even more incredibly, the planet formed outside our galaxy. Before the discovery of this gas giant, it was incredibly rare to find planets orbiting ancient stars…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

No Ordinary Family redeems itself with a legitimately great episode

Just when I was ready to give up on No Ordinary Family, the show pulls out its best episode yet, full of deepening mythology, effective humor, strong conflicts, likable characters, and, most shockingly of all, some very smart writing. Let me be perfectly clear – if you stopped watching No Ordinary Family (and I can’t…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

The possible identity of Tom Hardy’s Dark Knight Rises character. Plus Denis Leary has a big role in Spider-Man!

We’ve got the most reasonable speculation yet on which villain Tom Hardy might play in The Dark Knight Rises. Denis Leary could join the Spider-Man reboot, but Robert Downey Jr. is defying Gravity. Plus Avengers, Green Lantern and Doctor Who! The Dark Knight Rises An inside source is claiming they know who Tom Hardy is…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

The Avengers heads to the west coast, plus Men in Black 3 is going on hiatus!

The Avengers are relocating from New York to Los Angeles, at least for filming purposes. Men in Black 3 is taking a post-Christmas break, but why? Is Dr. William Bell returning to Fringe? True Blood’s Sam promises naked insanity. Spoiler-licious! The Avengers Although the film is still planning to shoot some scenes in New York,…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Were humans really using tools 3.4 million years ago?

Animal bones were recently discovered that suggested humans were using tools 3.4 million years ago – 800,000 years earlier than previously thought. But that finding is being challenged, and the story of human evolution hangs in the balance. Shannon McPherron and his team at the Max Planck Institute reported back in August that they had…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Stem cells transform injured mice into super-strong mega-rodents

Scientists gave injured mice stem cells to boost their recovery. The treatment worked unbelievably well – in days, the rodents’ muscles grew back twice as big as before, and they remained super-strong for the rest of their lives. Researchers at the University of Boulder injected stem cells into young mice with leg injuries. The stem…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Spacetime invisibility cloaks can hide entire events inside temporal voids

Invisibility cloaks are taking baby steps from science fiction to science fact. But there’s an even stranger and more incredible possibility – an invisibility cloak that works in both space and time, shielding whole events from history itself. The basic idea is surprisingly simple. We see things because our eyes are able to interpret information…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Hayley Atwell explains her Captain America character, plus the lowdown on Harry Potter’s steamy kissing scene!

Captain America costar Hayley Atwell explains why her character Peggy Carter is more than a match for Steve Rogers. Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates discuss the most scintillating scene in all the Harry Potter movies. Bring out your spoilers! Captain America Hayley Atwell explains how she sees her character, Peggy Carter: “I likened her…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

3D images show us how fast and strong a single animal cell can be

Cells are amazing self-contained, organic machines. They can also, when needed, grow “arms” that move them around and are extraordinarily strong. Now, scientists have used 3D modeling to determine just how much force a single cell can exert. Cells generally grow within a larger matrix of other cells. There are tiny spaces between each cell,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

190 million year old dinosaur eggs are the world’s oldest preserved embryos

Dinosaur eggs dating back to the early Jurassic are revealing amazing secrets about dinosaurs. These particular dinosaurs were born quadrupedal, then learned how to walk upright, revealing drastic physical changes and a very human-like reliance on their parents during infancy. These eggs are the oldest embryos ever found for a land-based vertebrate. Despite their unimaginable…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The fastest way to send humans to Mars is to not worry about bringing them back

All current plans to send human explorers to Mars suggest the first mission is 25 years away. But a one-way journey could actually be possible very soon, and it might be just what we need to kick-start human space exploration. That’s the only slightly crazy idea put forward by Washington State’s Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Arizona…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

New Cowboys and Aliens trailer shows Daniel Craig at his most brutal

We got an early look at Wednesday’s Cowboys & Aliens trailer. Daniel Craig’s alien-fighting cowboy puts James Bond to shame; Harrison Ford has never been nastier; and this really is both a serious western and serious alien invasion movie. Last week, we were one of a handful of sites invited to the edit bay for…

Trailers Alasdair Wilkins

Avatar 2 is staying on Pandora, plus why The Dark Knight Rises isn’t 3D!

Avatar 2 will go underwater, but don’t expect any trips off-world. Christopher Nolan’s cinematographer explains why Batman isn’t going 3D. Colin Farrell really is starring in Total Recall, but Zac Efron’s not in Akira. Plus tons of Doctor Who/Torchwood spoilers. Avatar 2 Producer Jon Landau says the next film will remain focused on Pandora, and…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins bio

Alasdair Wilkins is a reporter at io9. He mostly specializes in science pieces, some of which are even accurate. He recently relocated to Los Angeles and is hard at work slowly transforming himself into every horrible Southern California (sorry, sorry…SoCal) stereotype ever. This is to make up for utterly failing to turn into a walking…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The web’s best optical illusion videos…and how they trick your brain

The human brain is one of the most remarkable things on this planet…but that doesn’t mean it can’t make mistakes, particularly when it comes to how we see the world. Here are five mind-blowing optical illusions and how they work. Before we get started, I just want to assure everyone – these videos are all…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Bat brains boost the volume of sounds they really need to hear

Even in loud settings with tons of different noises, we seem to have a knack for focusing in on the most important sounds, particularly sounds of danger. If we’re anything like bats, it’s because our neurons make those sounds louder. Our ability to know what sounds to focus in on and which to ignore is…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A good night’s sleep is crucial to remembering the waking world

Humans spend about a third our their entire lives asleep…at least, that’s the theory. Lots of people get by on significantly less sleep, but this has its trade-offs. And memory is one of the biggest victims of not enough sleep. Many people, either by necessity or by choice, don’t get as much sleep as researchers…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

New discovery could be best hint yet of the elusive Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is the missing particle that would complete the standard model of particle physics, but so far we’ve found little to even suggest it actually exists. But a new finding might just have come from a decaying Higgs. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector is one of several individual detectors that comprise the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Necropanspermia: was life created by zombie cells from outer space?

Sure, that’s maybe the most ridiculous question we’ve posed. But a new theory suggests life’s building blocks did originate in outer space, although they couldn’t have survived traveling to Earth. And with an awesome name like necropanspermia, it’s worth considering. Panspermia often gets mixed up with a lot of bonkers theories about ancient aliens seeding…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

Depression might be caused by too much light when you’re sleeping

“Impossible” planet from beyond the Milky Way discovered

No Ordinary Family redeems itself with a legitimately great episode

The possible identity of Tom Hardy’s Dark Knight Rises character. Plus Denis Leary has a big role in Spider-Man!

The Avengers heads to the west coast, plus Men in Black 3 is going on hiatus!

Were humans really using tools 3.4 million years ago?

Stem cells transform injured mice into super-strong mega-rodents

Spacetime invisibility cloaks can hide entire events inside temporal voids

Hayley Atwell explains her Captain America character, plus the lowdown on Harry Potter’s steamy kissing scene!

3D images show us how fast and strong a single animal cell can be

190 million year old dinosaur eggs are the world’s oldest preserved embryos

The fastest way to send humans to Mars is to not worry about bringing them back

New Cowboys and Aliens trailer shows Daniel Craig at his most brutal

Avatar 2 is staying on Pandora, plus why The Dark Knight Rises isn’t 3D!

Alasdair Wilkins bio

The web’s best optical illusion videos…and how they trick your brain

Bat brains boost the volume of sounds they really need to hear

A good night’s sleep is crucial to remembering the waking world

New discovery could be best hint yet of the elusive Higgs boson

Necropanspermia: was life created by zombie cells from outer space?

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Travelers Experiencing the Longest Security Lines in TSA History

Could There Be a ‘Project Hail Mary’ Sequel?

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees