Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

On Person of Interest, it’s time to store Polish gangsters in the trunk of your car

I can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad development that Person of Interest seems to be leaving its dystopian premise behind in favor of goofy crime procedural nonsense. I know some of those ponderous speeches about surveillance and Big Brother could get a little tedious, but I liked them. Apparently people in the writers’…

Television Annalee Newitz Oct 21

Mortgage defaults are causing health problems in people over 50

For people who’ve had to foreclose on their mortgages over the past few years, the consequences can be more than financial. A group of epidemiologists have discovered that people over the age of 50 who’ve suffered through mortgage defaults are also facing deteriorating health as a result. The study was led by University of Maryland…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 21

io9 Meetup in San Francisco tonight, 10/21!

Get ready for another io9 meetup in San Francisco – once again in our favorite bookstore cafe, Borderlands. We’ll meet tonight, October 21, from 7-9 PM. Come out to meet io9 editors, writers, and readers. Discuss the new Avengers trailer, the new Martian rover, and whether or not hurricanes could catch on fire! (Do not…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 21

According to BitTorrent and Netflix, people prefer to pirate science fiction

What’s the difference between movies that people will pay to rent, and movies that people will risk the wrath of the MPAA to pirate? Apparently, it’s all in the genre. Download-obsessed site Torrent Freak researched popular downloads by looking at public BitTorrent trackers. They found that the most popularly-shared movies were science fiction, followed by…

Movies Annalee Newitz Oct 21

A gorgeous airship model kit from the sustainable future

We’ve always loved Ian McQue’s incredible jalopy ship designs, and now Industria Mechanika is selling a super limited-edition version of this Remora ship as a model. If you love putting together models and painting them, this beauty could be your next project. Supplies are limited on these $150 kits, so zip over to Industria Mechanika…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

Group sex among the giant cuttlefish

In this excerpt from the BBC/Discovery documentary Life, we learn about a mating strategy that’s fairly common in the animal world. A female cuttlefish is courted by two males. One is large and dominant, fighting off other males in order to fertilize the female’s eggs. The other is what’s known rather judgmentally among zoologists as…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

We need an engineering solution to climate change

We hear a lot about slowing climate change by recycling, cutting fossil fuel use, and just generally limiting our carbon footprints. But scientists and engineers believe there could be solutions that go beyond that. These are so-called geoengineering solutions, which include everything from squirting particles into the stratosphere to cool the planet, to creating massive…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

io9 Meetup in San Francisco tomorrow, 10/21!

Get ready for another io9 meetup in San Francisco – once again in our favorite bookstore cafe, Borderlands. We’ll meet tomorrow, October 21, from 7-9 PM. Come out to meet io9 editors, writers, and readers. Discuss the new Avengers trailer, the new Martian rover, and whether or not hurricanes could catch on fire! (Do not…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

Nine substances (and one sound) that can induce fear, anxiety and dread

So you want to terrify somebody. It’s the kind of thing we all want, some of the time — and it turns out there are some substances (and sounds) you can use to do it fairly reliably. For your morbid edification, we present this list of fear-inducing chemicals, proteins, hormones, and frequencies. Please do not…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

Picture of the Day: October 19, 2011

Jumping Spider Pumpkin | Amazing jumping spider pumpkin carved and sculpted by entomologists and photographed by Morgan D Jackson. Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 20

MIT’s Technology Review publishes a special science fiction issue about the future

MIT’s venerable science and technology magazine, Technology Review, has just published a gorgeous one-off issue devoted to science fiction that’s inspired by “today’s emerging technologies.” Called TRSF, the issue acknowledges the strong connections between science and its fictional counterpart — and showcases short stories by some of the best writers in the field. Technology Review…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 19

VH1’s Behind the Music + Dungeons & Dragons = Most Awesome Music Video Ever

MC Frontalot’s latest single, “Critical Hit,” is one of the best genre mashups I’ve seen in a while. Only the feverish mind of Frontalot could conceive of a way to turn pop music stardom into a D&D campaign. You can get this song and more awesomeness on the new Frontalot album, Solved.

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 19

What makes sea anemones immortal?

They’re tiny sea creatures who attach themselves to rocks, and look a bit like colorful sacks topped with delicate tentacles. They’re one of the most ancient animals on Earth, and share a common ancestor with humans (along with all other vertebrates). And they’re immortal. No, really. I spoke with genomics researcher Daniel Rokhsar, who worked…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 19

A very special Yom Kippur episode of Supernatural

Last night’s episode of Supernatural, “Defending Your Life,” was all about guilt and how to purge it. Plus, it was hopefully the only time Sam and Dean will become entangled in one of those Star Trek-style “putting humanity and/or Data on trial” episodes that are frankly never a good idea. It was a pretty uneven…

Television Annalee Newitz Oct 15

The Thing prequel is a fun horror film with one fatal flaw

The Thing, a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 gory scifi thriller of the same name, is a solid horror movie with a great leading performance from Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a heroic scientist with a flamethrower. It’s tense, creepy, and even has a pretty well-developed sense of wonder. Though it’s definitely worth seeing, the movie…

Movies Annalee Newitz Oct 14

Your brain won’t allow you to believe the apocalypse could actually happen

You may love stories about the end of the world, but that’s probably because, deep down, you don’t believe it could ever happen. But that’s not because you’re realistic. It’s actually a quirk of the human brain, recently explored by a group of neuroscientists, which prevents us from adjusting our expectations about the future —…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 14

io9 Meetup in San Francisco, October 21

Get ready for another io9 meetup in San Francisco – this time in our favorite bookstore cafe, Borderlands. We’ll meet next Friday, October 21, from 7-9 PM. Come out to meet io9 editors, writers, and readers. Discuss the new Avengers trailer, the new Martian rover, and whether or not hurricanes could catch on fire! (Do…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 14

An incredible short story told from the perspective of the alien in John Carpenter’s The Thing

If you love the John Carpenter version of The Thing and are dreading the remake coming to a theater near you, or if you just love stories that successfully represent a truly alien point of view, then you need to read Peter Watts’ Hugo-nominated story “The Things.” It’s the John Carpenter flick, but from the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 14

What if humans had sex like giraffes?

Roxy Palmer is an artist who asks the big questions, like “why is human sex so boring?” We all wonder about that sometimes, especially after contemplating the sex lives of giraffes (who sample the urine of their mates before getting busy), or slugs (who dangle from the ceiling while having their slimy fun). If you…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz Oct 14

Today’s little lesson in how to use Occam’s Razor

Over at Ars Technica, Brian Switeck has a hilarious article about the story from earlier this week about giant, prehistoric krakens creating self-portraits of themselves using the bones of their prey. I know this may come as a surprise to you, but this theory may not have been based on the most reasonable explanation for…

io9 Annalee Newitz Oct 13

Annalee Newitz

On Person of Interest, it’s time to store Polish gangsters in the trunk of your car

Mortgage defaults are causing health problems in people over 50

io9 Meetup in San Francisco tonight, 10/21!

According to BitTorrent and Netflix, people prefer to pirate science fiction

A gorgeous airship model kit from the sustainable future

Group sex among the giant cuttlefish

We need an engineering solution to climate change

io9 Meetup in San Francisco tomorrow, 10/21!

Nine substances (and one sound) that can induce fear, anxiety and dread

Picture of the Day: October 19, 2011

MIT’s Technology Review publishes a special science fiction issue about the future

VH1’s Behind the Music + Dungeons & Dragons = Most Awesome Music Video Ever

What makes sea anemones immortal?

A very special Yom Kippur episode of Supernatural

The Thing prequel is a fun horror film with one fatal flaw

Your brain won’t allow you to believe the apocalypse could actually happen

io9 Meetup in San Francisco, October 21

An incredible short story told from the perspective of the alien in John Carpenter’s The Thing

What if humans had sex like giraffes?

Today’s little lesson in how to use Occam’s Razor

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

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