Alasdair Wilkins, Author at Gizmodo

When oil runs out, chicken feathers will be the new plastic

We usually think of fossil fuels as an energy source, but petroleum is also the raw materials used in all the world’s plastics. Now leftover chicken feathers could allow us to keep using plastics in a world after oil. The latest breakthrough is the work of researchers at the University of Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

io9’s March Movie Madness Final Four: Blade Runner Vs. Serenity

In the first half of the final four, The Empire Strikes Back absolutely clobbered the original Star Wars. Now it’s Replicants vs. Browncoats as Blade Runner takes on Serenity. Are we headed for an all Harrison Ford championship? Vote now! It’s time to choose which worthy competitor will step into the ring against The Empire…

Movies Alasdair Wilkins and Meredith Woerner

James Cameron wants the Avatar sequels to look even more like reality. Plus tons of X-Men: First Class secrets!

Oliver Platt explains his mysterious X-Men character, plus details on the film’s dark opening, a newly announced actor, and a surprise cameo. Plus a sci-fi legend voices a Transformer, Zack Snyder talks Superman effects, and an insane Doctor Who rumor! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Falling Skies. Avatar 2 and 3 James…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

The search is on for water on Mercury

NASA’s Messenger probe has already taken thousands of photos of Mercury’s surface after coming into orbit around the planet earlier this week. And it’s got plenty still to do, including searching for hidden pockets of ice on Mercury’s boiling surface. Mercury’s surface temperatures can reach well over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the planet’s slow but…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The huge rhino fossil that inspired Ancient Greek myths

Over two thousand years ago, the Greeks discovered the fossilized thigh bone of a giant mammal that had roamed their country a million years ago. This bone may have helped inspire Greek legends of strange and giant creatures. As a serious, organized science, paleontology is still only a couple hundred years old, and almost all…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Breaking down Doctor Who’s epic new trailer shot by shot

Yesterday, Doctor Who unleashed its second trailer for the upcoming series six, and we’re only just now recovering from all the insanity and awesomeness. But what’s really going on in the new trailer? It’s time to break this trailer down! Before we get started, you may want to rewatch the trailer here, and you may…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Amy Adams talks playing Lois Lane in the Superman reboot. Plus James McAvoy teases X-Men: First Class 2 and 3!

Zack Snyder clarifies how his Superman movie will fit with the newly announced Justice League. Mark Ruffalo explains the Hulk’s role in The Avengers. The Powers TV adaptation is looking at a Friday Night Lights star for a main role. Spoilers from this point onward! Top image from X-Men: First Class. Thor Loki actor Tom…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Ultra-hot superconductors could spontaneously form in the vacuum of space

A hundred years ago next week, superconductivity was discovered. Now we know electric charge can flow through ultra-cold objects without resistance. How better to celebrate this anniversary than with an awesomely crazy idea about ultra-hot superconductors forming in deep space? Physicists have a pretty good handle on how regular, low-temperature superconductors work. When certain materials…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The fittest and the unfit can actually survive side by side

Survival of the fittest is, at its heart, an expression of the idea that natural selection will favor those species that are best adapted to their environment. But there might also be a place for the unfit after all. Natural selection and survival of the fittest are often seen as synonymous, even if the truth…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Barfing big-nosed monkeys like to eat their meals twice

Proboscis monkeys are unlike any other primates. The males’ noses are almost four inches long – because females find it sexy, naturally. Plus, they’re the only primates to throw up their half-digested food and eat their meals all over again. Grazing animals like cows and sheep practice something known as rumination, which means they eat…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

How many groups reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus?

In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in what is now the Bahamas, changing the world forever. But was he first non-indigenous person to reach the Americas? Vikings got there before him, and possibly Polynesians too…and those are just the sane theories. Before we get started on this, I want to make one thing clear – this…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What is Warner Bros. planning for Batman and Justice League? Plus the first description of Hawkeye’s Avengers costume!

Hugh Jackman weighs in on The Wolverine. The cast and crew of Green Lantern explain why we’ve seen so little of the film. Plus we sort through the madness to figure out the future of DC superhero movies! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Thor. The Avengers Here’s a description of Hawkeye’s costume,…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

Monkeys can count…but not on an empty stomach

Even though they’re one of our more distantly related primate cousins, macaque monkeys keep revealing remarkably human-like abilities. First they displayed self-awareness, and now it turns out they can count…but only if they don’t get to eat what they’re counting. https://gizmodo.com/game-playing-monkeys-reveal-how-we-evolved-self-awarene-5771500 Researchers at the German Primate Center tested a bunch of macaques by offering them…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

First-ever image of Mercury from orbit

This is a historic moment – for the first time ever, a probe has seen the solar system’s innermost planet from orbit, and this is the photo it took just a few short hours ago. This is the first of 364 photos that NASA’s MESSENGER – short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Every exoplanet orbiting every star discovered by the Kepler telescope

This amazing image takes all 1,235 of the candidate planets spotted by NASA’s Kepler telescope, and then shows them in orbit around their stars. And all of this is still just the tiniest fraction of the entire Milky Way. You’re going to want to expand this image, and be sure to check out the absolutely…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

We’ve seen the first 40 minutes of Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens – and they deliver the goods

With Cowboys & Aliens, Iron Man director Jon Favreau attempts to mash up the Western genre with science fiction. How well does it work? We’ve seen the first two reels, and they conjure a robust John Wayne sensibility. We also got the chance to talk to Favreau about his Western and scifi influences, and how…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

James Cameron explains how his cast will prepare for Avatar 2. Plus Duncan Jones talks Source Code and his sci-fi future!

Gary Oldman reveals which villain he’ll be sharing scenes with in The Dark Knight Rises. Captain America’s Joe Johnston discusses the movie’s debt to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Could a Justice League movie happen after all? Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Captain America. Avatar 2 James Cameron explains some of the…

Television Alasdair Wilkins

How a human virus is killing endangered gorillas

There’s fewer than 800 Mountain Gorillas left in the entire world, and their survival depends in part on people willing to pay money to go see them. But all this human interaction is bringing gorillas into contact with dangerous diseases. Although humans are most closely related to chimpanzees, gorillas rank a very respectable second, sharing…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Humanity’s first beer is an archaeological mystery

For nearly as long as humans have walked the Earth, they’ve had beer waiting for them when they got home. Beer and brewing date back thousands of years, but it’s still anyone’s guess which ancient culture drank the first beer. UC Berkeley anthropologist Christine Harstorf discussed just this conundrum in a recent lecture at New…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Even newborn chicks know Escher’s staircases are impossible

It turns out that the impossible buildings and bizarre objects dreamed up by artists like M.C. Escher tap into an incredibly primal understanding of the world’s geometry, a knowledge that is hard-wired into all vertebrates, including newly hatched chickens. Because scientists can kind of be jerks when they really want to know something, a bunch…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Alasdair Wilkins

When oil runs out, chicken feathers will be the new plastic

io9’s March Movie Madness Final Four: Blade Runner Vs. Serenity

James Cameron wants the Avatar sequels to look even more like reality. Plus tons of X-Men: First Class secrets!

The search is on for water on Mercury

The huge rhino fossil that inspired Ancient Greek myths

Breaking down Doctor Who’s epic new trailer shot by shot

Amy Adams talks playing Lois Lane in the Superman reboot. Plus James McAvoy teases X-Men: First Class 2 and 3!

Ultra-hot superconductors could spontaneously form in the vacuum of space

The fittest and the unfit can actually survive side by side

Barfing big-nosed monkeys like to eat their meals twice

How many groups reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus?

What is Warner Bros. planning for Batman and Justice League? Plus the first description of Hawkeye’s Avengers costume!

Monkeys can count…but not on an empty stomach

First-ever image of Mercury from orbit

Every exoplanet orbiting every star discovered by the Kepler telescope

We’ve seen the first 40 minutes of Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens – and they deliver the goods

James Cameron explains how his cast will prepare for Avatar 2. Plus Duncan Jones talks Source Code and his sci-fi future!

How a human virus is killing endangered gorillas

Humanity’s first beer is an archaeological mystery

Even newborn chicks know Escher’s staircases are impossible

Leaked Anthropic Model Presents ‘Unprecedented Cybersecurity Risks,’ Much to Pentagon’s Pleasure

Don’t miss out: Bitdefender, One of the World’s Best Antiviruses, Is Now on Sale

The Secret to Better Sperm? It’s Probably Already on Your Schedule

Lego Is Leaning Into Your Marvel Memories With a New Helicarrier Set

Toshiba’s 65-inch Smart Fire TV Now Matches 43-Inch Pricing After 44% Drop on Amazon

Kash Patel’s Email Account Hacked, Iran-Linked Group Takes Credit

Repair Workers Accidentally Stumble Upon Lost Remains of Legendary ‘Fourth Musketeer’

Dreame Aero Pro Wet Dry Vacuum Mop Drops 20% Shortly After Launch in the Spring Cleaning Sale

Darth Maul’s Legs, Ranked

April Set to Unleash Some Wild Weather Across Parts of the US, Meteorologists Warn

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