Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

Watch five minutes of gravity-defying craziness from the space prison movie Lockout!

Next month’s Lockout sends wisecracking, loose-cannon federal agent Guy Pearce up to an outer space prison, to save the President’s daughter from rioting convicts. The Wondercon panel premiered five minutes of footage, and you can watch it online now! The panel mostly focused on the new footage, which you can check out above, via IGN.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Our First Look at Battleship‘s Mysterious Aliens

Universal’s board game adaptation ditches the round pegs and plastic destroyers of the original Battleship for a high-seas skirmish between the US Navy and aliens. The Wonder-Con panel featured tons of new footage, showing us the movie’s aliens and its zany sense of humor. And we heard Rihanna’s answer to “Hasta la vista, baby.” Spoilers…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

See the timeline of Weyland Industries and witness the birth of the David android

The full Prometheus trailer isn’t the only exciting new media Ridley Scott is sharing today. The Weyland Industries website has been updated with a timeline of the corporation, along with a video of the birth of a certain android. Minor spoilers. If you head over to the Weyland Industries site, you can see the full…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter footage features vampire decapitations on an exploding train!

We’ve seen WonderCon’s exclusive Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter footage, and it’s chock full of our sixteenth president taking his trusty axe to evil vampires’s chests. It’s exactly the sort of crazy over-the-top action you’d expect from the director of Wanted! The footage starts with Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) and his longtime friend and valet Will…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Ridley Scott and the cast of Prometheus talk the film’s human-like androids and Alien‘s influence

The trailer for Prometheus, director Ridley Scott’s epic return to science fiction and the Alien universe in particular, is set to debut later tonight. But we got an early sneak peek at WonderCon, and here’s our spoiler-y report! The trailer begins with a shot of waterfalls on an alien world, while Charlize Theron’s corporate character…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Watch Honest Abe wield his blessed axe in the new Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer

The action-packed second trailer is out for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and it gives us more insight into the president-to-be’s vampire hunting history. Watch Lincoln consecrate his axe blade with holy water and send those antebellum bloodsuckers back to Hell. [via Comic Book Movie]

Trailers Alasdair Wilkins

io9 March Movie Madness: Pick more of the worst science fiction movies ever made!

Vote now on the rest of science fiction’s worst movies for our March Movie Madness first round. Today’s craptacular selection includes Attack of the Clones Star Trek: Nemesis, The Last Airbender, Green Lantern… and sentimental favorite Manos: The Hands of Fate! This year, you are tasked with crowning the world’s worst science fiction movie ever…

Movies Alasdair Wilkins and Meredith Woerner

Gary Ross explains why the Hunger Games movies will never, ever be in 3D. Plus more hints for Game of Thrones!

Joss Whedon name-checks The Dirty Dozen and Black Hawk Down as huge influences on The Avengers. Nathan Fillion joins the Percy Jackson sequel, while Felicia Day goes to Supernatural. Brad Bird explains the biggest challenge to making The Incredibles 2. It’s spoilers all the way down! Top image from The Avengers. The Avengers Joss Whedon…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

NASA releases infrared map of the entire universe

After fourteen years of preparation and three years of collecting data, we now have an atlas of the entire infrared sky. This image is just the capstone for a cosmic map that contains 18000 images and 560 million different objects. This represents the culmination of years of work by NASA’s WISE satellite and the astronomers…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Ancient humans beat out Neanderthals by being in the right place at the right time

Modern humans evolved about 200000 years ago — and by 20000 years ago we had taken over the world, wiping out all our would-be competitors, like Neanderthals. It’s all because we chose the right place to wait out the Ice Age. That’s the theory being put forward by John Stewart of Bournemouth University and Chris…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Squids evolved giant eyes to watch out for sperm whales

The colossal and giant squids that lurk in the ocean depths are truly remarkable creatures. If there’s one feature that’s really striking, it’s their gigantic eyes, which are any times bigger than any other known marine organism’s eyes. Considering the huge discontinuity between the size of these squids’ eyes and those of all other oceangoing…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Joss Whedon promises he is putting the Avengers in real danger. Plus the first reactions to Dark Shadows!

That Y the Last Man movie might not be dead after all. A new Avengers rumor points to an unexpected choice for the identity of Loki’s army. Plus new Riddick set photos shows off Vin Diesel’s latest adversaries. Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Dark Shadows. The Avengers Director Joss Whedon says that…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Most violent fossil ever shows the final record of a three-way hunt

150 million years ago, a flying reptile saw a fish in the waters of the Jurassic Ocean. The reptile caught its prey…and then was almost immediately grabbed by a much larger fish. That’s when things really started to go wrong. It’s rare to see a fossil that records the final moments of two different creatures,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Scientists may have just discovered a brand new species of human

This skull has a weird mix of ancient and modern traits. It was discovered in a cave in southwest China and dates to between 14,500 and 11,500 years ago. And it might represent the newest humanoid species to coexist with humans. First, there were the Neanderthals, which were first discovered in Germany 150 years ago…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Galaxies all grew more violent, when they became “teenagers”

This huge panorama of the constellation Cetus shows countless galaxies, all at different distances from Earth, and at different stages of their evolution. It reveals the huge cosmic shift in how galaxies go about growing bigger and bigger. This image was created using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. For the purposes of this…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is history’s most startling mental disorder

In the 1870s, something very strange happened to the French-Canadians working as lumberjacks in Northern Maine. When startled, they would jump in the air, imitate those around them, and even obey random commands. This was the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine disorder. Top image: Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine may not be the weirdest…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The cast of The Hunger Games reveals all. And do we already know The Walking Dead‘s big secret?

Get the lowdown on the first five episodes of season two of Game of Thrones. Dark Shadows is finally getting a trailer. There’s potentially some bad news for World War Z. Plus prepare for the return of Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from The Hunger Games. X-Men: First…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

When rats are as smart as humans

In a battle of wits, humans and rats are way more evenly matched than you’d think. While we obviously have an advantage in overall intelligence, our ability to read situations and make decisions is actually no better than a rat’s. In what has got to be great news for anyone who has ever tried and…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Even a toddler is smarter than the smartest AI

Sure, when it comes to making calculations and accumulating knowledge, computers have long since left most of us in the dust. But for tasks involving even a little nuance and uncertainty, computers can’t even compete with your average preschooler. https://gizmodo.com/this-computer-program-is-smarter-than-96-percent-of-hum-5885904 Indeed, when it comes to raw learning ability, young children arguably have no equal. Their…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Earth’s simplest organisms are part of the food chain after all

Archaea are some of the most abundant and least understood, organisms on the planet. These single-celled creatures weren’t even properly discovered until the 1970s, and big questions about them remain unanswered, such as whether other organisms ever eat them. That might seem like the sort of thing we can take for granted – of course…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

Watch five minutes of gravity-defying craziness from the space prison movie Lockout!

Our First Look at Battleship‘s Mysterious Aliens

See the timeline of Weyland Industries and witness the birth of the David android

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter footage features vampire decapitations on an exploding train!

Ridley Scott and the cast of Prometheus talk the film’s human-like androids and Alien‘s influence

Watch Honest Abe wield his blessed axe in the new Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer

io9 March Movie Madness: Pick more of the worst science fiction movies ever made!

Gary Ross explains why the Hunger Games movies will never, ever be in 3D. Plus more hints for Game of Thrones!

NASA releases infrared map of the entire universe

Ancient humans beat out Neanderthals by being in the right place at the right time

Squids evolved giant eyes to watch out for sperm whales

Joss Whedon promises he is putting the Avengers in real danger. Plus the first reactions to Dark Shadows!

Most violent fossil ever shows the final record of a three-way hunt

Scientists may have just discovered a brand new species of human

Galaxies all grew more violent, when they became “teenagers”

The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is history’s most startling mental disorder

The cast of The Hunger Games reveals all. And do we already know The Walking Dead‘s big secret?

When rats are as smart as humans

Even a toddler is smarter than the smartest AI

Earth’s simplest organisms are part of the food chain after all

‘Butt Birth’-ing Rhinoceros from Ace Ventura Sequel Sold at Auction for a Whopping $60,000

The Ryan Gosling Sci-Fi Streak Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Study Challenges Popular Theory on Why Primordial Bugs Were So Darn Huge

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

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