Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

io9 Roundup: April 1, 2012

THE BATTLE FOR THE IRON THRONE CONTINUES | Game of Thrones returns tonight. Grab your wineskin, curl up with your favorite direwolf, and enjoy. Red Keep at King’s Landing by Ted Nasmith, thanks to Andreas. Here there be White Walkers in stylized Game of Thrones maps https://gizmodo.com/here-there-be-white-walkers-in-stylized-game-of-thrones-5897972 We’ve seen tons of attempts to map the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

The most sensitive weight scale ever can weigh individual protons

A new subatomic weight scale can measure masses as tiny as one yoctogram. Less than the mass of a proton, a yoctogram is equivalent to a billionth of a billionth of a millionth of a gram. A yoctogram is so tiny that it’s effectively the endpoint of the metric system – there aren’t any prefixes…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

Dodos were always too dumb to live, even 4000 years ago

Well, “too dumb to live” might be an unfair characterization. But dodos are legendary for their complete lack of a survival instinct when it came to humans. Turns out humans weren’t the only threat they just never quite understood. Native to the island of Mauritius, dodos had evolved without fear of humans, because why would…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

Ugliness is nature’s way of keeping species from interbreeding

Some species share the exact same territories, rely on the exact same resources, and are sufficiently closely related that they can easily interbreed. So why don’t these just merge into a single population? Because they simply don’t want to interbreed. Our current theories about biodiversity have trouble explaining just how a bunch of very closely…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

Pulsar stars could be the perfect interstellar GPS system

When humanity sends spacecraft beyond our solar system, those starships will have to know exactly where they are at all times. A newly proposed cosmic GPS system can track a spacecraft’s location to within five kilometers anywhere in the galaxy. The secrets to this system are pulsars, a special type of neutron star that rotate…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

This weird optical illusion makes a moving spiral appear out of nowhere

It’s not unusual for optical illusions to create afterimages, ghostly reflections that show up after staring at something too long. This particular afterimage is a bit different. For one thing, it looks nothing like the original image. Also, it moves. Discovered by game designer Hjalmar Snoep, this optical illusion of lots of tiny interlocking spirals…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Apr 1 '12

Touch No Longer The Worst Show on Television

After last week’s disaster, Touch really had nowhere to go but up. And yesterday’s episode was a definite improvement, reining in the hokey coincidences and hinting at a way to turn its themes of interconnectivity into a mildly interesting show. I’m not here to bury Touch, but I’m not exactly here to praise it either.…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Mar 30 '12

Tons More Hints to Get You Ready for the Return of Game of Thrones!

James Cameron hints at the long-term future of Avatar. The cast of Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon’s new science fiction Western takes shape. ABC reveals all about its two fantastical pilots. Plus videos for Cabin in the Woods, Battleship, and Skyfall! It’s spoilers all the way down! Top image from Game of Thrones. Man of…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Mar 30 '12

October 8, 1871: The Night America Burned

The Great Chicago Fire is the most famous inferno in American history. But it wasn’t even the worst fire that night. This is the story of America’s most fiery night, and the crackpot theory about a lost comet that’s meant to explain what really happened. The Reasonably Great Chicago Fire Citywide fires are now largely…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 29 '12

io9’s March Movie Madness reaches the Final Four: Battlefield Earth vs. The Adventures of Pluto Nash!

It’s time to vote on which two titans of terrible science fiction will battle it out in our championship game. Will Catwoman’s underdog run continue against The Last Airbender? And who makes the worst scifi: John Travolta or Eddie Murphy? These are the questions, as you vote on the Final Four of March Movie Madness.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins and Meredith Woerner Mar 29 '12

Interactive tool lets you scan all of the Milky Way’s billion stars

The stars you see above represent just one tiny selection from an absolutely gargantuan new image of the Milky Way’s galactic plane. Combining thousands of images taken over the last two years, it’s the ultimate landscape of the night sky. The new mosaic is the result of ten years of data-gathering by a pair of…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 29 '12

Ridley Scott reveals key Prometheus details, and a Dark Knight Rises rumor is confirmed!

Clark Gregg promises that you’ll love The Avengers. A Dark Knight Rises rumor is 100% confirmed. An Alcatraz showrunner reveals what to expect next season… if there’s a next season. Plus photos for Dark Shadows and Cabin in the Woods! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from The Dark Knight Rises. The Dark Knight…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Mar 29 '12

What is the biological equivalent of discovering the Higgs Boson?

It looks like we’re nearing the endgame in the hunt for the Higgs boson, the missing elementary particle of the Standard Model. Its discovery will send shockwaves through the physics community and likely capture the public imagination. So the question, then, is what can other fields do to complete with all that? What events outside…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28 '12

Newly discovered exoplanets are over 13 billion years old

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly remarkable about star HIP 11952 and its two planets. But its iron-poor composition reveals these planets are 13 billion years old — almost as ancient as the Big Bang itself. While HIP 11952 is just 375 light-years away, we can determine just how ancient it…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28 '12

Our ancestor Lucy shared her world with another, completely different humanoid species

The world’s most famous hominin fossil is Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis that had a chimp-like brain but walked upright like a human. Now a new discovery reveals that Lucy actually shared her world with another, very different hominin species. Both Lucy and this newly discovered fossil date back between 3.2 and 3.4 million years ago,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28 '12

DNA reveals that cows were almost impossible to domesticate

Cows are quite possibly the most important domesticated animal in human history, providing vast quantities of meat, dairy products, leather, and let’s not forget manure for fertilizer. And yet DNA analysis reveals ancient humans almost didn’t succeed in domesticating cows at all. There are about 1.3 billion cows in the world today. That makes just…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28 '12

Emma Stone and Marc Webb reveal everything you need to know about Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man!

Michael Bay explains just what’s going on with the umpteenth Ninja Turtles controversy. Tom Hiddleston discusses Loki’s future. Jack Gleeson reveals what’s ahead for Joffrey on Game of Thrones. Plus Prometheus, Lockout, Awake, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, and more! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from The Amazing Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man Director…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 28 '12

In search of Ancient Egypt’s very own watery answer to Venice

Long before the canals of Venice sprung up in the swamps of the Adriatic, the ancient Egyptians are said to have used their own waterways to build an entire city into the Nile River. Now at last, we might actually find it. The city of Thebes was never really lost, but the ruins of the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 27 '12

What created these mysterious hollows on the surface of Mercury?

Until NASA’s spacecraft MESSENGER took up orbit around Mercury last year, the surface of the solar system’s innermost planet was a great mystery. Now we’ve gotten a good look — and we have no idea what we’re looking at. These features spotted by MESSENGER have been dubbed “hollows.” Though they don’t actually glow bluish green…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 27 '12

Is The Legend of Korra anti-science?

The long-awaited Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel series is set to debut next month. It follows the new avatar as she takes on the Equalists, an anti-bending faction. And I just have one small problem with this set-up… I kind of agree with the bad guys. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still very excited…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 27 '12

Alasdair Wilkins

io9 Roundup: April 1, 2012

The most sensitive weight scale ever can weigh individual protons

Dodos were always too dumb to live, even 4000 years ago

Ugliness is nature’s way of keeping species from interbreeding

Pulsar stars could be the perfect interstellar GPS system

This weird optical illusion makes a moving spiral appear out of nowhere

Touch No Longer The Worst Show on Television

Tons More Hints to Get You Ready for the Return of Game of Thrones!

October 8, 1871: The Night America Burned

io9’s March Movie Madness reaches the Final Four: Battlefield Earth vs. The Adventures of Pluto Nash!

Interactive tool lets you scan all of the Milky Way’s billion stars

Ridley Scott reveals key Prometheus details, and a Dark Knight Rises rumor is confirmed!

What is the biological equivalent of discovering the Higgs Boson?

Newly discovered exoplanets are over 13 billion years old

Our ancestor Lucy shared her world with another, completely different humanoid species

DNA reveals that cows were almost impossible to domesticate

Emma Stone and Marc Webb reveal everything you need to know about Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man!

In search of Ancient Egypt’s very own watery answer to Venice

What created these mysterious hollows on the surface of Mercury?

Is The Legend of Korra anti-science?

Google DeepMind Gets Into Gaming, Purchases Stake in the Company Behind EVE Online

This Experimental Low-Waste Fuel Could Transform Nuclear Reactors

Lower Your Phone Bill With Mint Mobile, Plans Start at $10 per Month With New Promo Code

‘Fantastic Four’ Director Matt Shakman Will Helm Next ‘Planet of the Apes’ Movie

Elon Musk Teams Up With Anthropic, a Company He’s Called ‘Evil’

Alaska’s Famous Fjords Are Becoming a Cruise Ship Nightmare

‘The Testaments’ Just Brought Back Another Surprising ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Character

Ford Is Trying to Beat China and Bring a $30,000 Truck to the U.S.

The Russos Say Making Spider-Man Responsible for Uncle Ben’s Death Would’ve Made Him Too ‘Intense’

Watch NASA’s Curiosity Rover Struggle to Break Loose From a Rock on Mars

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G Review: Not Worth It at Full Price

Logitech G G512 X Review: The Tasting Menu of a Pro Gaming Keyboard

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone Review: AI Can’t Save This Robot Vacuum

The Best Tech Gifts for Mother’s Day 2026

Asus’ Dual-Display Gaming Laptop Will Ruin Your Single-Screen Lifestyle

Steam Controller Review: Trackpads Change Everything for PC Gaming

Soundcore Space 2 Review: A Shockingly Stellar Value for Budget ANC Wireless Headphones

Anker’s UV Printer Can Handle Almost Anything… If You Know What You’re Doing

HP’s EliteBoard Keyboard-Computer Proves We Can Stick a PC in Anything

Sleep-Tracking Earbuds Didn’t Fix Me, but They Did Open My Eyes