Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

Titanium foam could make your bones as strong as Wolverine’s

It’s not quite an adamantium skeleton, but new titanium foam could revolutionize bone implants. The material can integrate with the patient’s natural bone, reducing the stress on both the original bone and the implant and making the overall skeleton stronger. Currently, bone implants use solid metal, most often titanium. These integrate well with the body’s…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes

Black holes might be infinitely weirder than simply ultra-dense masses from which even light can’t escape – they might actually be the end result of the collapse of five-dimensional objects known as black strings. Yeah…this one’s going to get weird. We only experience four dimensions – three spatial plus time – but certain cutting edge…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Ultra-accurate clocks prove time moves faster at your face than your feet

Einstein’s theory of relativity says that time passes more slowly the closer you get to the ground, because you’re closer to Earth’s gravitational field. It’s a tiny difference, but big enough for a pair of laser-powered clocks to actually measure. Time dilation is one of the more famous aspects of Einstein’s theory, although most people…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Spider-Man may have cast Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. Plus updates on Cloverfield 2, Ghostbusters 3 and Underworld 4!

Has the Spider-Man reboot found its leading ladies? The Hobbit isn’t waiting for an official green light to start casting. Sigourney Weaver is cautiously optimistic about Ghostbusters 3. Cloverfield 2 could still happen! JMS is rewriting Underworld 4. Spoiler rampage! Spider-Man Reboot: A new report claims Alice in Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska and Zombieland and…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Alien astronomers could spot Neptune through the cosmic dust…but maybe not Earth

Any alien astronomers searching for life-supporting exoplanets could be in for a disappointment if they look at our solar system – the massive amount of dust in the outer solar system could make all the planets except Neptune effectively invisible. Although we tend to think of our solar system as the Sun plus the eight…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Dublin’s long-lost Viking sister city finally rediscovered

Vikings raided and plundered Ireland for much of the ninth century, eventually establishing two outposts. The fates of those two settlements couldn’t be more different. The Dúbh Linn outpost became, well, Dublin, but the other was lost forever… until now. According to the fifteenth century history work The Annals of Ulster, the Vikings started wreaking…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Honey bees can get drunk, just like humans

Alcohol consumption might seem like a particularly human trait, but animals can get drunk too… as long as researchers supply the booze. It turns out bees are the perfect little drunkards, which provides a great way to study alcohol abuse. The reliably awesome NCBI ROFL has the story: In this study, the effects of ethanol…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Earth and Venus have completely different atmospheres… but the exact same lightning

Venus’s atmosphere is 93 times heaver than Earth’s, the air is mostly carbon dioxide, the planet is covered in sulfur dioxide clouds,and ground temperatures reach 860 degrees. And yet lightning works exactly the same way on both planets. If you take the two atmospheres out of the equation, it’s no wonder that astronomers often refer…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Black Widow could get her own Avengers spin-off. Plus why the Wachowskis’ Iraq War romance is also science fiction

James McAvoy explains Patrick Stewart’s influence on his performance in X-Men: First Class. Steven Moffat drops some crazy hints for what lies ahead on Doctor Who. Breaking Dawn might not start out as 3D. Smallville casts another major Superman alum. X-Men – First Class: James McAvoy jokes that he wants to “bury” Patrick Stewart’s work…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Watch Captain America’s New York come alive. Plus the search for Bella’s vampire daughter has begun!

The British city of Manchester is heading back in time and across the Atlantic to play 1940s New York in Captain America. Watch a scene from Never Let Me Go. Steven Moffat promises answers to Doctor Who’s River Song mystery. Captain America: This video shows the crew transforming 2010 Manchester into 1940s New York. The…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

A high-tech sensor that works in 1100 degree heat

A major challenge holding back the accurate prediction of volcanic eruptions is we don’t really have the ability to put sophisticated monitoring equipment right in the heart of the hot magma. Now there’s technology that thrives in such extreme heat. The new technology is made out of silicon carbide electronics and is built to withstand…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Arctic microbes spend 100 million years in frozen sleep before waking up again

Bacteria found on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean might have the longest life-cycle on Earth, surviving for as much as 100 million years in hibernation while waiting for the ice to thaw enough for them to be viable again. These remarkable creatures were discovered when researchers at the UK’s Newcastle University were testing sediment…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Bat echolocation could be a form of communication

Echolocation in bats is generally seen as a sort of natural sonar, in which the bats use ultrasonic clicks to navigate the night sky and find prey. But it may also be a rudimentary language, transmitting greetings and social information. Many animals do, in a sense, possess a basic form of language that they can…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Super 8 rounds out its cast. Linda Hamilton talks Chuck. Plus news on the Frankenweenie and TimeCop remakes!

J.J. Abrams’ Super 8, X-Men: First Class and Tim Burton’s full-length remake of Frankenweenie all gain castmembers. Linda Hamilton talks about her crucial role on Chuck. Discover the truth about the TimeCop remake! Plus Supernatural, Smallville and No Ordinary Family. Super 8 J.J. Abrams’ homage to E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Warrior worm parasites with huge mouths could be the future of biomedicine

Parasitic worm colonies are known to invade and castrate a tiny California horn snail, spawning thousands of tiny soldiers that take up 25% of the snail’s body weight. These tiny warriors could actually revolutionize how we fight infections in humans. As much as these colonies are bad news for the snail – at least if…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Genetically-modified “super potato” could save lives

Tired of potatoes that only leave you 62.5% full? Now a new genetically-modified potato has 1.6 times the protein of normal potatoes and way more amino acids. The next generation of transgenic tubers has arrived. Insufficient proteins in the diet can negatively affect healthy growth and development, and it can even contribute to increased risk…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Archaeologists trap the last pure air particles on Earth

In order to understand how the Industrial Revolution affected the air we breathe, environmental engineers need to find pristine air particles. To do that, they have to go 130 feet above the remotest corners of the Amazon rainforest. Finding air that is still in an essentially pre-industrial state is a surprisingly difficult task, but without…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

New stone tool discovery suggests humans left Africa much earlier than we thought

Current genetic evidence says the ancestors of modern humans left Africa 60,000 years ago. But recently discovered stone tools in the Arabian peninsula and India suggest humans actually started exploring the world as much as 120,000 years ago. Although earlier relatives – like Homo erectus and Neanderthals of modern humans – left Africa earlier, genetic…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The first two castmembers for J.J. Abrams’s Super 8, plus new promo videos and photos for every sci-fi show on TV!

We finally learn something about J.J. Abrams’s top secret movie project, with two great actors cast. There are new videos and photos out for Fringe, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Smallville, Caprica, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and so much more! Spoiler-ha! Super 8: J.J. Abrams’s super secret Spielberg homage has reportedly gained its first two actors,…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Deleting a gene creates super-smart mice…and maybe humans too

Switching off a single gene in mice unlocks a part of their brain that is otherwise inactive, boosting learning and memory. The same gene seems to serve a similar purpose in humans, creating hope that humans could enjoy similar benefits. The RGS14 gene has been the subject of intense scrutiny by researchers since its discovery…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

Titanium foam could make your bones as strong as Wolverine’s

Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes

Ultra-accurate clocks prove time moves faster at your face than your feet

Spider-Man may have cast Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. Plus updates on Cloverfield 2, Ghostbusters 3 and Underworld 4!

Alien astronomers could spot Neptune through the cosmic dust…but maybe not Earth

Dublin’s long-lost Viking sister city finally rediscovered

Honey bees can get drunk, just like humans

Earth and Venus have completely different atmospheres… but the exact same lightning

Black Widow could get her own Avengers spin-off. Plus why the Wachowskis’ Iraq War romance is also science fiction

Watch Captain America’s New York come alive. Plus the search for Bella’s vampire daughter has begun!

A high-tech sensor that works in 1100 degree heat

Arctic microbes spend 100 million years in frozen sleep before waking up again

Bat echolocation could be a form of communication

Super 8 rounds out its cast. Linda Hamilton talks Chuck. Plus news on the Frankenweenie and TimeCop remakes!

Warrior worm parasites with huge mouths could be the future of biomedicine

Genetically-modified “super potato” could save lives

Archaeologists trap the last pure air particles on Earth

New stone tool discovery suggests humans left Africa much earlier than we thought

The first two castmembers for J.J. Abrams’s Super 8, plus new promo videos and photos for every sci-fi show on TV!

Deleting a gene creates super-smart mice…and maybe humans too

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?

Meta Has More Smart Glasses Coming Whether You Want Them or Not

Apple Requires Device-Level Age Verification in the UK Now. Could the US Be Next?

Astronomers Say Recent Rash of Meteor Sightings ‘Warrants Serious Investigation’

Did AMD Just Make the Best CPU for Gamers and Creators?

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