Annalee Newitz

Terrifying Photos of Ships Battling the Elements

Through the millennia, humans have battled typhoons and waves as high as buildings. https://gizmodo.com/18-terrifying-nautical-photos-of-merciless-seas-1680894858

Watch the Windows 10 Keynote Live

Starting at noon EST, Microsoft will be debuting Windows 10 for the public, along with possible announcements about their mobile operating system, Cortana the audio assistant, details on the Spartan browser, and maybe a few surprises about Xbox. You can watch it streaming live! The livestream is here, starting at noon. Of course we can’t…

Get Ready for Haphead, a Series About Gamer Subversives in Dystopia

This Thursday, we’ll be posting the first two episodes of Haphead, the new web series from the brain of Jim Munroe (Infest Wisely, Ghosts With Shit Jobs). Here’s the trailer. The episodes will also be screened in Toronto on Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Royal Theater. Here’s the synopsis: Ten years from now, a new…

Person of Interest Shows Us Why Stephen Hawking Is Worried About AI

In real life, many of the world’s most respected scientists are signing onto an open letter urging technologists to be careful about inventing AI. And on Person of Interest, we’re getting a good look at why they might be right. This was the final episode in a three-episode arc devoted to escalating conflict between the…

After the Soviets Won the Cold War

The secret Soviet base in the Balkans was in the perfect location for keeping the entire nation of Bulgaria under surveillance. And with the invention of the sentient helicopters, cloaked in stealth armor, there was no way that any Bulgarian could leave his house without a comrade knowing it. Todor Hristov is a concept artist…

What happens when amateur scientists doing synthetic biology as DiY projects, building new organisms and modifying old ones? A group of scientists raised the alarm about the risks of backyard synbio in Nature recently, and it’s the topic of a lively discussion on the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast. Check it out!

An Oil Pipeline Is Suspended Above Alaska’s Melting Tundra

This beautiful photograph reveals an oil pipeline hugging the shore of an Alaskan lake. The lake waters are slowly merging with the melting tundra beneath the pipeline, creating dark fissures around puzzle pieces of land. Photo: Alaska ShoreZone On the NOAA Fisheries blog, Rich Press explains what you’re seeing: Thaw Lake, Prudhoe Bay August 5,…

This Is Why Manatees Need Space Suits

This manatee lives in a hollowed-out asteroid in space. Did you really expect that humans would be the only animals from Earth who would colonize the solar system? It’s all part of a research project about how different space colonization might look than what you expect. The project was created by the Working Group on…

This Is What a Quasar Looks Like

The mysterious celestial objects called quasars are some of the brightest objects in our universe. Quasars are actually galaxies with powerful black holes at their centers, sucking in matter and spitting out gouts of x-rays that create a massive, broiling-hot cloud. Image credit: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/R.C.Reis et al; Optical: NASA/STScI Like many astronomical images that…

Holy Shit, Person of Interest. That Episode Was My Everything.

Last night’s episode gave us everything, and then took it all away. We got some well-written comedy, a major dose of fan service for shippers, incredibly interesting insights on how an artificial intelligence might experience reality, and a heart-disintegrating tragedy. I am still reeling. Written by Denise Thé, “If, Then, Else,” is part of a…

The Most Mind-Bogglingly Awful Line on Last Night’s Scorpion

In the ongoing saga of the “special” kid who helps the mentally-enabled Scorpion team, we got this gem. It turns out that the boss mental enabler Walter taught genius child Ralph how to be “ten encryptions deep” on a game. But that’s not the worst thing! As Ralph tells the mean government agent in this…

We’re Waiting for the Last Ships to Leave

It’s time to go. This planet won’t be habitable for at least four generations. We’ve finished installing all the environment machines. It’s up to the engineering robots to finish the job now. We wish them luck. Eytan Zana is a concept artist in Santa Monica. See more of his incredible work on his Art Station…

David Cronenberg Says Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrecking Film Criticism

David Cronenberg, director of culty arthouse classics like Videodrome, The Fly and A History of Violence, says film criticism is no longer “effective.” And he blames sites like Rotten Tomatoes, that offer aggregate opinions rather than reasoned ideas. Photo by charles taylor via Shutterstock A movie critic’s job is to offer informed analysis of a…

io9 Book Club Is in Session! Let’s Talk About The Three Body Problem

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In December, we read Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, translated by Ken Liu. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here’s how it works: You read the book. We create a special book club…

A Planet Whose Oceans Are 10 Billion Years Old

Earth’s oceans have been around for about 4 billion years, but they’ve changed a lot since the early millennia when they covered the whole planet and harbored methane-loving microbes. On a super-Earth, however, oceans might persist for more than twice as long — with intriguing results. Photo by bierchen via Shutterstock A group of researchers…

Learn About the Latest Tech That Will Help Us Live in Space

Want to learn about NASA’s plans for futuristic technologies that will help us become a space-faring civilization? Then join the space agency at a public conference in Cocoa Beach, Florida, later this month! Image via NASA Here’s what you can expect at the conference, according to NASA: All are invited to attend this Symposium which…

We already knew that your car could be made of trees, and now we’ve discovered that your tires could be made from dandelions. In Kazakhstan, researchers are experimenting with converting the colorful yellow flowers into a more environmentally friendly version of rubber. I love the future.

This New, High-Def View of the Eagle Nebula Is Awe-Inspiring

To celebrate 25 years of space-based telescope images, the Hubble telescope has taken a new, high-def version of its famous 1995 photograph of the Eagle Nebula’s “Pillars of Creation.” And of course, it’s glorious. In a release, the Hubble team writes: The pillars are bathed in the blistering ultraviolet light from a grouping of young,…

Yes, “Selfing” Is a Scientific Term

One of the most widely-studied worms in the world is the tiny, humble vinegar worm, known to science as C. elegans. And this worm has a really interesting way of reproducing. It’s called selfing. Image via Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience Over at This View of Life, Carl Zimmer has a terrific article on these worms,…

How Two 18th Century Women Fell in Love and Invented Modern Romance

Romance hasn’t always been the stuff of bodice rippers and bad vampire movies. Back in the 18th century, the word “romantic” meant something akin to “foolish” or “fanciful.” But then a bunch of hipster sentimentalists changed everything — and invented the idea of love as we know it today. Saucy illustration “Archers,” by Adam Buck…