Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

The Futurama Mind-Switching Explained!

Here’s the progression of each mind through the various bodies in “The Prisoner of Benda”: The Professor —> Amy —> Bender —> Bubblegum Tate —> The Professor Amy —> The Professor —> Leela —> Hermes —> Sweet Clyde —> Amy Bender —> Amy —> Wash Bucket —> The Emperor —> Bubblegum Tate —> Bender Leela…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Ancient galaxies defy convention, crank out stars well into their old age

The universe’s oldest galaxies are showing their whippersnapper counterparts a thing or two when it comes to producing baby stars. A shockingly modern-looking galactic cluster from ten billion years ago is churning out new stars in ways never before seen. The galaxy cluster CLG J02182-05102 is a mere four billion years older than the Big…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Scientific proof that the Deepwater oil plume is over 20 miles long

Today scientists revealed the results of an investigation into the severity of the Deepwater oil spill. The plume of petroleum hydrocarbon chemicals measures a staggering 22 miles long, and has settled in a deep underwater layer (see photo). The actual existence of the plume was in some doubt until a team of researchers at Woods…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The “mother of the universe” particle is running out of hiding places

A hypothetical “inflaton” particle fueled the universe’s initial expansion out of a single atom – all in the fraction of a nanosecond. And we might soon find the particle responsible. Get the scoop via New Scientist.

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Giant star that should have been a black hole became something even stranger

A star went supernova with more than twice the mass needed to ultimately collapse into a black hole. But something weirder happened – the star became a magnetar, an asteroid-sized star with the most powerful magnetic field in the universe. The fates of stars are almost entirely determined by their mass. If a star is…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Joss Whedon discusses the Captain America script, plus Torchwood takes us inside The New World

Before starting The Avengers, Joss Whedon made sure the script for Captain America made sense. Torchwood unveils the new miniseries and new character. Guillermo del Toro gives his last, bittersweet update on Hellboy III. Spoilers for miles around! Captain America: Joss Whedon discussed his involvement as a script doctor on this upcoming Marvel film. He…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Telltale Captain America set photos! Plus a Mad Men star becomes the X-Men prequel’s main mutant.

Captain America will feature a controversial sequence after all, and we’ve got set pics to prove it. The Avengers won’t shoot in 3-D after all. Betty Draper is the X-Men’s White Queen. Plus Fringe, Chuck, True Blood, Battleship and Smallville. Captain America & The Avengers: This item applies fairly equally to both movies, so we’re…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Is evolution pushing our DNA towards diabetes?

Eighty DNA variants associated with type-1 diabetes have undergone positive selection, increasing in prevalence over recent generations. Here’s the crazy part – 58 of those variantsincrease the risk of the deadly disease. Why is evolution seemingly out to get us? The answer, of course, is that evolution can’t be out to get us – by…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Eighth grade dance marathon used to test the dangers of heavy metal headbanging

Medical science is finally paying attention to the injury risks of headbanging…only 25 years too late. They did it in the most scientifically rigorous way possible: by studying how many headbanging eighth graders got whiplash after dancing to heavy metal. Here’s the researchers’ not-at-all sadistic report: RESULTS: Of the head bangers, 81.82% of the girls…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Most extrasolar planets we’ve discovered are probably moonless

We’ve already discovered hundreds of exoplanets in other solar systems, but so far we haven’t discovered a single extrasolar moon. It may just be because they’re much harder to find – or because more extreme gravitational forces make them impossible. The majority of exoplanets we’ve discovered are known as “Hot Jupiter” planets, because they’re Jupiter-sized…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Ferroelectric data storage is eight times the density of the most advanced magnetic hard drive

An experimental “ferroelectric” data-recording device crams 4 trillion bits onto every square inch. This all-electrical method leaves magnetic and flash memory devices scrambling to catch up. The device is the work of Dr. Yasuo Cho and Kenkou Tanaka at Japan’s Tohuku University. The device is built from a ferroelectric material, which is a material where…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Supernovas could be directing the development of life throughout the universe

A basic property of Earth’s organic molecules could be caused by supernova explosions. That means massive stellar explosions indirectly governed the building blocks of life on Earth…and could be doing it elsewhere in the cosmos. In chemistry, molecules are said to be chiral if they lack symmetry – in other words, if a molecule and…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Joss Whedon talks The Avengers, X-Men prequel cast nears critical mass, and Jay & Seth want a wizard for the apocalypse

Joss Whedon talks about how he views the Hulk and how his big superhero family fits together. See a trailer for an awesome-looking alien invasion flick set in Mexico. Battleship may officially be the craziest movie ever. It’s spoilers o’clock! The Avengers: In a new interview, Joss Whedon further explained why he wanted Marc Ruffalo…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Could changing the ocean’s color wipe out most hurricanes?

The oceans aren’t really blue – thanks to chlorophyll-producing plankton, the ocean has a greenish tint. Now scientists have evidence that making the oceans truly blue could reduce hurricanes and typhoons by up to 70 percent. If you remove from the ocean all the microscopic phytoplankton, which harvest chlorophyll from sunlight, then the sunlight would…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Jupiter became king of the planets by devouring a “Super Earth”

Jupiter became the solar system’s biggest planet by consuming its chief rival, a massive rocky planet ten times bigger than Earth. New discoveries suggest Jupiter and Saturn learned a lesson from their mythological namesakes, “eating” any planet that opposed them. Both Jupiter and Saturn began life as rocky planets that were at least a few…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Are nanoparticles healing you or harming you? A new test has the answer.

Nanoparticles are tiny objects inserted into the body and used to deliver drugs to sick cells. They could revolutionize medicine – as long as we can prevent these untested particles from becoming accidentally toxic. A team of researchers at North Carolina State took up the task of developing a test of nanoparticle effectiveness. Toxicology professor…

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Bird heart controlled by infrared light is the first step toward laser pacemakers

Lasers can stimulate nerves and synchronize the pulsing of heart cells, but now they can control organs. In a breakthrough experiment, scientists used infrared light to control the beats of a quail’s heart. A team at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University took a quail embryo out of its egg and attempted to artificially speed up…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Green Lantern’s villain may have changed. Who will direct the new Superman? And Judge Dredd will kick your ass!

A new rumor reveals major plot details for Green Lantern, and singles out an unexpected villain as the real big bad. A demonic mutant joins X-Men: First Class, and Judge Dredd will bring brutal realism to post-apocalyptic ass-kicking. Spoilers ahead! Green Lantern: When we reviewed this movie’s script a while back, the main villain was…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

The mountains of Titan are formed by the moon slowly shrinking

The mountains on Saturn’s moon Titan defy easy explanation, but readings from the Cassini probe offer a fascinating new possibility: Titan is slowly releasing heat and shriveling up, causing mountains to form on its surface like wrinkles on a raisin. It’s a geological process unlike that of any other icy body, but that’s the most…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Human-powered car can reach 60 mph by turning passengers into four-cylinder engine

The HumanCar is the souped-up, street legal version of an old railroad handcar. The four-seater can reach 60 mph when all four passengers are cranking – and there’s an electric battery to keep it going when you need a break. This particular model is the HumanCar Imagine PS, the latest invention of engineer Charles Samuel…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

The Futurama Mind-Switching Explained!

Ancient galaxies defy convention, crank out stars well into their old age

Scientific proof that the Deepwater oil plume is over 20 miles long

The “mother of the universe” particle is running out of hiding places

Giant star that should have been a black hole became something even stranger

Joss Whedon discusses the Captain America script, plus Torchwood takes us inside The New World

Telltale Captain America set photos! Plus a Mad Men star becomes the X-Men prequel’s main mutant.

Is evolution pushing our DNA towards diabetes?

Eighth grade dance marathon used to test the dangers of heavy metal headbanging

Most extrasolar planets we’ve discovered are probably moonless

Ferroelectric data storage is eight times the density of the most advanced magnetic hard drive

Supernovas could be directing the development of life throughout the universe

Joss Whedon talks The Avengers, X-Men prequel cast nears critical mass, and Jay & Seth want a wizard for the apocalypse

Could changing the ocean’s color wipe out most hurricanes?

Jupiter became king of the planets by devouring a “Super Earth”

Are nanoparticles healing you or harming you? A new test has the answer.

Bird heart controlled by infrared light is the first step toward laser pacemakers

Green Lantern’s villain may have changed. Who will direct the new Superman? And Judge Dredd will kick your ass!

The mountains of Titan are formed by the moon slowly shrinking

Human-powered car can reach 60 mph by turning passengers into four-cylinder engine

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway’s Mystery’s Sci-Fi Film Has Its First Trailer

Scientists Just Found the Salt Limit That Pushes Your Heart to the Breaking Point

White House Social Media Just Had Its Covfefe Moment

Roborock F25 Ultra Steam Wet Dry Vacuum Is Now at Its Lowest Price, but Only During the Spring Sale Window

This $450 Semi-Dumb Phone Is Barely Even a Phone

Startup Successfully Ignites World’s First Fusion Rocket

Shokz OpenDots One Earbuds Hit Their Lowest Price Yet Across All Color Options, Including the New Ones

INIU Portable Power Bank Is Small in Size and Smaller in Price for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (45W, 10,000mAh)

Humans Were Already Dog People 16,000 Years Ago, DNA Suggests

California Regulator Says Tesla’s ‘Robotaxis’ Are More Like a Limo in the Eyes of the Law

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