Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

Scientists discover bisexual squid of the deep

Until today, little was known of the mating practices of deep sea squids. Most of them live more than 400 meters beneath the ocean’s surface, making it very difficult for humans to observe their behavior in the crushing darkness. But now, with the help of robot submersibles, researchers have discovered that the deep sea squid…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 21

An alternate history where evolutionary theory never evolved

Designer and futurist Thomas Thwaites recently posed an interesting question. What would life be like in a world where evolutionary science never took hold, but humanity was nevertheless as scientifically developed as we are today? In a series of stories and art projects, he tries to answer that question — and explains why, in this…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 21

io9 seeks fall/winter interns

io9 is looking for interns who are obsessed with science, science fiction, and futurism. This internship is for fall/winter, and lasts from October until early February. For more details, read on! An intern works 10 hours per week, during working hours PST, learning about research, fact-checking, and contacting sources in the science and entertainment industries…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 19

Do you really have a sexual fetish?

Ever since the term “sexual fetish” was first used over a century ago, there’s been a raging scientific debate over what it means. Why does one person get off on shoes, while another gets off on certain large body parts? Are these erotic feelings signs of illness, or simply preferences that are as inexplicable and…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 16

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meeting 9/27 to Discuss Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cryoburn

The io9 Book Club meets once per month to discuss a book, and then the author usually joins us for a chat. In September, we’re meeting on the 27th to discuss Lois McMaster Bujold’s Hugo-nominated Cryoburn. Watch for a post that day announcing the book club, and jump into comments for discussion! There’s still time…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 16

A whole group of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) are living on the border of Banff and Kootenay

Lurking in the wild borderlands between Alberta, Canada ski resort town Banff and neighboring Kootenay, a group of unusually large primates live peacefully among the trees. Or so says Todd Standing, a local who says he’s found a “Bigfoot colony” and photographed it extensively. You can see Exhibit A, above. Among the groups taking this…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 16

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber

Today a group of paleontologists announced the results of an extensive study of several well-preserved dinosaur feathers encased in amber. Their work, which included samples from many stages in the evolution of feathers, bolstered the findings of other scientists who’ve suggested that dinosaurs (winged and otherwise) had multicolored and transparent feathers of the sort you…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 15

Who created these huge, mysterious wheel patterns in the Mideast thousands of years ago?

Called geoglyphs, these strange circular patterns etched into the rocky sands from Saudi Arabia to Syria have no known meaning or origin. Though archaeologists say they likely date back over 2,000 years, there are no records of who made them, nor why they would make such elaborate patterns that can only be appreciated from the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 15

Watch people constructing a 26-foot-high, fully playable Rubik’s Cube

Over at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, a group of artists from GroovLabs are building a giant, playable Rubik’s Cube as part of the museum’s “Puzzle Palooza,” starting October 1. There is truly nothing more magnificent than this Cube. Artist Mike Tyka, who is working on the project, told io9: A particularly interesting feature…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 15

Doctors transplant a man’s big toe onto his hand, creating a new thumb

In this BBC video, you’ll meet James Byrne, a paver from Bristol, UK, who lost his thumb while sawing through wood. The injury left him unable to work, and he sought desperately for some way to restore his former ability to lift and grip heavy items. At last, a team of doctors from Frenchay Hospital…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 15

I want to go to a planet where I don’t have to build a new climate just to survive

Every planet is different, but usually in the early phases of geoengineering you’re looking at a lot of volcanic work. Helps enrich the soil, warms the climate, creates bigger landmasses. If you bring your own minerals and molecular precursors — standard supplies for most terraforming operations — you can seed every eruption and tweak the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 15

Win a trip to space! (No, really.)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, the city of Seattle is holding a contest — and the winner will actually get to go into space. Or at least, you’ll get to do a suborbital ride over 60 miles above the Earth. That’s right – you’ll see the Blue Marble for yourself,…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 14

Prince Charles is worried that humans will soon go extinct

England’s Prince Charles has always been something of an environmentalist, and now he’s begun to share his concern that Earth is in the middle of a sixth mass extinction. The term “sixth extinction,” popularized by anthropologist Richard Leakey and New Yorker environment writer Elizabeth Kolbert, refers to the fact that Earth has already been through…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 14

A crop of t-shirt designs that are as good as zombies crossed with robots

Zombies may be the new everything, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop loving robots. In fact, this Zombot t-shirt may be our favorite thing we’ve seen today. Here are a few more tee designs from 604 Republic that we’d like to emblazon on our chests. Actually these designs are all from 604 Republic’s…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 14

What is public science, and why do you need it?

Did you use a browser to zoom around on the internet today? Have you ever been vaccinated? If you answered yes to either of those questions, your life has already been made better through publicly-funded science in America. Public science is basic scientific research funded by governments, and just in America alone it’s led to…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

Contagion is the first political thriller about a global epidemic

What if a deadly virus ripped through the world, shattering cities and killing millions, but you had the chance to view the carnage from sealed government labs and well-appointed boardrooms? That’s the promise of Contagion, a fascinating plague procedural from Steven Soderbergh, where more tension radiates from powerpoint presentations about viral amplification than it does…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

We found a cryptid! Meet the white cheetah.

All summer, io9 has been offering a $2000 bounty to the person who can send us a picture of an animal that’s a genuine cryptid, or mystery animal. We hoped to find a new species, or at least a real version of a long-sought animal from myth. And by gum, we found one! Our panel…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

Shut up, haters – Apollo 18‘s monsters are awesome

There have been a lot of disgruntled rumbles about the monsters in Moon landing conspiracy flick Apollo 18. I’ve even heard people say, “Well, if those are the monsters, then I’m definitely not seeing the movie.” What the hell, people? Sure there are things wrong with this movie, but the monsters are definitely not it.…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 7

What does clitoral stimulation do to your brain?

As part of a series on the science of sex at New York’s incredible World Science Festival, neuroscientist Jim Pfaus talked about how clitoral stimulation affects women’s brains. And he notes that the same structures exist in rat brains — indicating that clitoral sexual response is probably an ancient development in animal brains, predating the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 7

Here’s an entire warehouse stuffed with Marty McFly Nikes — and one pair could be yours

A whole generation of people grew up dreaming that one day they would own these shoes, worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. Now, it appears that Nike is releasing Back to the Future style Nike Kicks so that everybody can feel like they’re about to jump onto an antigrav skateboard. (Thanks…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 7

Annalee Newitz

Scientists discover bisexual squid of the deep

An alternate history where evolutionary theory never evolved

io9 seeks fall/winter interns

Do you really have a sexual fetish?

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meeting 9/27 to Discuss Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cryoburn

A whole group of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) are living on the border of Banff and Kootenay

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber

Who created these huge, mysterious wheel patterns in the Mideast thousands of years ago?

Watch people constructing a 26-foot-high, fully playable Rubik’s Cube

Doctors transplant a man’s big toe onto his hand, creating a new thumb

I want to go to a planet where I don’t have to build a new climate just to survive

Win a trip to space! (No, really.)

Prince Charles is worried that humans will soon go extinct

A crop of t-shirt designs that are as good as zombies crossed with robots

What is public science, and why do you need it?

Contagion is the first political thriller about a global epidemic

We found a cryptid! Meet the white cheetah.

Shut up, haters – Apollo 18‘s monsters are awesome

What does clitoral stimulation do to your brain?

Here’s an entire warehouse stuffed with Marty McFly Nikes — and one pair could be yours

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