Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

J.J. Abrams confirms that he wants Benicio del Toro to play the villain in the Star Trek sequel!

For old time’s sake, we’ve got one last absolutely insane The Dark Knight Rises casting rumor… and it’s a doozy. The Prometheus cast seems to disagree about whether this is an Alien movie. Tom Hiddleston reveals his Hulk-related Avengers injuries. All that plus Kenneth Branagh says Patty Jenkins is the right choice to direct Thor…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Cichlid fish are secretly monogamous

When animals practice monogamy, we can generally tell right away. After all, couples like to hang out together, whether they’re humans or squirrels or hawks. But one fish keeps its monogamy so top-secret that researchers actually called their pairings “invisible.” The cichlid fish species Xenotilapia rotundiventralis is only 5 centimeters long and lives in vast…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

io9’s Field Guide to Martians

Science fiction is overrun with Martians, from monstrous invaders to shapeshifting superheroes to Santa-kidnapping buffoons. To make sense of over a century’s worth of Martians, we present this grid ranking scifi Martians on their goodness and just how alien they are (click to expand). We figure all Martians can be assessed on two basic rubrics:…

Movies Alasdair Wilkins and Sophie Bushwick

Weird experiment recreates the sounds our distant ancestors made 3 million years ago

Humanity language is the result of some dramatic evolutionary changes over the last few million years, which have reshaped our old primate vocal organs into the more sophisticated organs we use today. So what did all this change sound like? That’s the question University of Amsterdam researcher Bart de Boer attempted to find out, using…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What makes a psychopath’s brain different?

There’s no neurological disorder quite as infamous as psychopathy, and yet figuring out exactly what goes on in a psychopath’s brain is extraordinarily difficult. We’ve now got an answer…and all it took was scanning the brains of forty medium-security prisoners. Specifically, the new findings come from brain imaging performed on forty inmates at a medium-security…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Gary Oldman explains why Bane is the perfect villain for The Dark Knight Rises. Plus a new Hunger Games photo!

The would-be star of Ender’s Game says he’s ready to do the movie. Benedict Cumberbatch reveals the secrets of playing Smaug in The Hobbit. An actual Japanese person might be cast in Akira. Plus lots of Walking Dead hints! Nothing but spoilers from here on out! Top image from Doctor Who. The Dark Knight Rises…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

The weird, sad story of Egyptian animal mummies

Pharaohs were far from the only ancient Egyptians to be mummified. An entire ancient industry grew up around supplying people with mummified pets to accompany them into the afterlife. Business was even big enough to drive entire species extinct. According to Egyptologists, bringing a pet with you to the afterlife conferred all sorts of benefits.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Shrimp-like species can create ultra-sticky silk that’s as strong as steel

The marine animal Crassicorophium bonellii looks like a shrimp, but it acts more like a spider. The creature uses its legs to spin silk that’s both incredibly hard and super sticky… and could be of great medical use to humans. Researchers from the Oxford Silk Group have studied the creature’s silk-making, which it uses to…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What is the best way to locate the galaxy’s habitable planets?

We’ve officially found over 700 exoplanets, and with so many worlds to explore the big question is which, if any, could support life. But should we be looking for Earth-like planets — or is life hiding on far more alien worlds? Based on our current rate of discovery, it’s entirely probable that we will have…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Astronomers discover the first unchanged relics of the Big Bang

Located some 11 billion light-years from Earth are two clouds of gas. Just two billion years younger than the Big Bang itself, they appear to be the first known clouds that are completely unaltered since the birth of the universe. The elements that make up a cloud of gas or other cosmic structure can help…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Henry Cavill reveals which unlikely comic story helped him find the heart of Superman. Plus the latest crazy Avengers villain rumor!

The Amazing Spider-Man is back in New York, and some new set photos give us the best look at the movie’s villain. Screenwriter John Logan takes us inside Darren Aronofsky’s Noah’s Ark epic. Matt Smith talks Doctor Who’s future. Plus the first Skyfall set photos! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from The Amazing…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

How Agriculture Made Our Mouths Too Small for our Teeth

The rise of agriculture allowed for the development of complex societies and technologies that likely wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. It also wreaked havoc on human health. And we can add a new downside to the list: our misshapen mouths. That’s the finding of University of Kent researcher Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, who examined 295 human…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Fairy wasps shrink to the size of amoeba by sacrificing their neurons

Fairy wasps are some of the tiniest creatures on Earth, an entire insect roughly the size of a single-celled organism like an amoeba. That means their individual cells must be incredibly tiny…and that requires losing much of their nervous system. The fairy wasp, otherwise known as the fairyfly, is a parasitic insect that can measure…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Does this 150,000 year old skull show the first case of human-on-human violence?

An ancient human skull found in China shows evidence of blunt force trauma, meaning some other human probably hit him on the head. Considering how old the skull is, this might as well be considered the invention of violence. Of course, violence – even of the human-on-human variety – existed long before this human got…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Four separate species of rats evolved to mooch off humans

Rat are notorious pests, with populations throughout the world living off the scraps and garbage left behind by humans. Rats, it seems, are just born to mooch off humans, since they’ve gone down this same evolutionary path four different times. Smithsonian Institution researcher Ken Aplin, along with an international team of collaborators, recently undertook the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Christian Bale says The Dark Knight Rises will show who Bruce Wayne really is

How will The Dark Knight Rises put Batman through more pain than he’s already faced in the first two Christopher Nolan films? And what will Batman learn from this torment? Christian Bale explains how The Dark Knight Rises will force Bruce Wayne to confront who he really is. Plus one possible explanation emerges for Michael…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Has the long-awaited Ender’s Game movie found its young star?

At least one white dude won’t be in the Akira remake. Martin Scorsese explains why his family-friendly fantasy Hugo is in 3D. A Joss Whedon veteran joins Grimm. Plus hints for the upcoming batshit insanity of American Horror Story! It’s spoilers all the way down! Top image from Doctor Who. The Avengers Here’s a bunch…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Frogs’ incredible jumping ability comes from their tendons, not their muscles

Frogs really should have fantastically strong leg muscles to jump as far as they do. And yet their leg muscles are only a fraction as powerful as they would need to be…so where does this leaping power really come from? That question has long baffled scientists, but now Brown researcher Henry Astley thinks he’s found…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

NASA releases the most detailed elevation map of the Moon ever

Thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can now see the Moon’s mountains and craters in unprecedented detail. This beautiful topographic map is going to be an invaluable resource in planning the next generation of lunar missions. The map covers about 98.2% of the lunar surface, with the sole exception of some eternally dark polar…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The Arctic could be a tropical rainforest by the 23rd century

Most climate change predictions have only examined the next hundred years. But now a new, even more long-term model suggests that temperatures could rise as much as ten degrees Celsius by 2300 — creating conditions not seen for 34 million years. This is one of four scenarios predicted by an international team of climate scientists,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

J.J. Abrams confirms that he wants Benicio del Toro to play the villain in the Star Trek sequel!

Cichlid fish are secretly monogamous

io9’s Field Guide to Martians

Weird experiment recreates the sounds our distant ancestors made 3 million years ago

What makes a psychopath’s brain different?

Gary Oldman explains why Bane is the perfect villain for The Dark Knight Rises. Plus a new Hunger Games photo!

The weird, sad story of Egyptian animal mummies

Shrimp-like species can create ultra-sticky silk that’s as strong as steel

What is the best way to locate the galaxy’s habitable planets?

Astronomers discover the first unchanged relics of the Big Bang

Henry Cavill reveals which unlikely comic story helped him find the heart of Superman. Plus the latest crazy Avengers villain rumor!

How Agriculture Made Our Mouths Too Small for our Teeth

Fairy wasps shrink to the size of amoeba by sacrificing their neurons

Does this 150,000 year old skull show the first case of human-on-human violence?

Four separate species of rats evolved to mooch off humans

Christian Bale says The Dark Knight Rises will show who Bruce Wayne really is

Has the long-awaited Ender’s Game movie found its young star?

Frogs’ incredible jumping ability comes from their tendons, not their muscles

NASA releases the most detailed elevation map of the Moon ever

The Arctic could be a tropical rainforest by the 23rd century

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