Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

Supernatural is back in the saddle with virgins and gold

From the terrific opening montage to the solid pacing and great one-liners, last night’s Supernatural hit it out of the park. “Like a Virgin” was our first taste of the series after a long winter break, and we were rewarded for our patience with an intriguing new big bad, plus the best monsters ever out…

Television Annalee Newitz Feb 5

Tonight! io9 Meetup, San Francisco Edition: 7 PM at Borderlands

Get ready for another io9 meetup in San Francisco – this time in our favorite bookstore cafe, Borderlands. We’ll meet tonight, February 4, from 7-9 PM. Borderlands is a great science fiction bookstore, featuring an incredible selection of new and used books. And they’ve got a lovely, spacious cafe next door. We’ll be meeting in…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 4

The coming space war between the U.S. and China

The latest revelation from the treasure trove of diplomatic cables being scrubbed and released by Wikileaks involves the mounting tensions between the U.S. and China over space. Cables reveal that the Chinese demonstrations of space weaponry – shooting down a satellite, for instance – were efforts to showcase the nation’s growing mastery of the region…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 4

An important Venn Diagram to keep in mind this weekend

What are you going to wear to the disco in the hollowed-out asteroid at the top of the space elevator? It’s going to be awesome because on Saturday nights they play weird old music from the 1970s. When you get to Club Counterweight, surely you’ll want be wearing this helpful chart on your t-shirt –…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 4

What Is The Singularity And Will You Live To See It?

If you read any science fiction or futurism, you’ve probably heard people using the term “singularity” to describe the world of tomorrow. But what exactly does it mean, and where does the idea come from? We answer in today’s io9 flashback. What is the singularity? The term singularity describes the moment when a civilization changes…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 3

The space hub was built on top of a 600-year-old port city

Boats made of nothing more than wood and tar still bore their modest cargo beneath the gleaming bulb where starships landed. You can see more work by concept designer Robh Ruppel on his website. (Spotted on Concept Ships)

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 3

10 times the lizard and snake people tried to take over our precious Earth

The lizards and the snakes. First of all, they all look the same. They’re taking our jobs. They’re eating our rats. They’re probably having sex with your boyfriend – or your pets. Basically, they’re trying to take over our world. No, I’m not a conspiracy nut! I can prove it. Here are ten times they…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 2

She was designed to be broken, but they blamed her anyway

She’d read that human children were once blamed for their own design. Hundreds of years ago, they were called bastards because of some obscure and incomprehensible law their parents had broken while engineering them. You’d think people would have learned by now that a robot wasn’t responsible for her own design. And yet when her…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 2

The story of a most unusual rocket launch from beneath the sea

This music video by the Portland Cello Project showed last weekend at the Seattle Science Fiction Short Film Festival, and it’s a weird, moving story of a crustacean who just wants to escape the bounds of Earth. The music is incredible, and the tone of the film hovers somewhere between melancholy and whimsical. Watch more…

io9 Annalee Newitz Feb 1

io9 seeks spring interns! Deadline extended!

Deadline extended! io9 is looking for interns who are obsessed with science fiction, science, and futurism. This internship is for spring, and lasts from mid-February until June. Applications are due February 7. An intern works 10 hours per week. Day-to-day, the job involves seeking out story ideas and helping editors gather more data for stories…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 31

A sneak peek at the art-packed weird fiction book you’ll be drooling over soon

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, who brought you the amazing Steampunk anthologies (among many others), are about to release another sumptuous literary and visual treat. And we’ve got a sneak peek at some of the art and table of contents. Image by Greg Broadmore. THE THACKERY T. LAMBSHEAD CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Exhibits, Oddities, Images, & Stories…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 31

Listen to an amazing interview with Ursula Le Guin

The BBC’s Owen Bennett Jones recently interviewed Ursula Le Guin, one of the most important science fiction authors of the past half-century. The author of Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and the Earthsea Chronicles, Le Guin has continued to write gorgeous, compelling tales of alien life well into her eighties. She tells Jones about…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 31

Why Australian mountain wildfires in 2006 caused these lakes to glow in 2008

Phil Hart works every summer in the Gippsland Lakes area of Australia, and three years ago he observed a bizarre, blue glow in the lakes at night – but only when the water was disturbed. He took several haunting pictures of the phenomenon, which have been passed around online without much explanation. The light show…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 31

yes, observation deck will be here tomorrow

It may be a bit buggy. But it will be here: io9.com/observationdeck/forum

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 31

Could a U.S. government crackdown take America off the internet?

With the threat of today’s protests looming in Egypt, on Thursday Egyptian authorities cut the nation off the internet. No online communication could pass in or out of the country. We investigated whether a similar lockdown could happen in America. Photo via asharkyu/Shutterstock How the Egyptian government erased its citizens from the internet No one…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 29

Ask Connie Willis whatever you want about Blackout and All Clear

We’ve been talking about Connie Willis’s books Blackout and All Clear over at the io9 Book Club, and now Willis is going to drop in to answer your questions. Post them in comments below! https://gizmodo.com/the-io9-book-club-is-in-session-lets-talk-about-connie-5743294 She’ll be popping into the comment thread on this post and answering your questions next week, Tuesday, Feb. 1, between…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 28

Read an excerpt from teen environmental angst satire “Destroy All Cars”

Blake Nelson’s new young adult novel Destroy All Cars is about a high schooler named James who wants to destroy anti-environmental corporate culture – and maybe ask some girls out. It’s funny and engaging – check out this excerpt. Published last year by Scholastic, the book is now out in paperback. From Destroy All Cars…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 28

The Rite is your new midnite movie cheesefest

Haven’t you always wanted to see Anthony Hopkins grab a hot young priest and call him “kissy lips”? To see this thespian master hurl frogs around while screaming about Satan? Of course! That’s why exorcism thriller The Rite exists. Maybe you thought the genuinely original, disturbing flick The Last Exorcism would usher in a golden…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 28

How our solar system would actually look with Earth at its center

Before Copernicus started insisting that the sun was the center of our solar system, scientists like Tycho devised elaborate data charts showing the Earth at its center. Now designer Piotr Kaczmarek has created gorgeous diagrams comparing Tychonian and Copernican views. You can see the Tychonian vs. Copernican models in motion – and fiddle with the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 28

What happens when advertisers try to control your mind

Yesterday Facebook rolled out a new ad system where people’s updates get converted into “sponsored story” ads fed to their friends. But this is hardly the first time advertisers have tried to feed us ads stealth-style. Let’s get subliminal Before we tackle this latest Facebook social media apocalypse, let’s consider the history of stealthy high-tech…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 27

Annalee Newitz

Supernatural is back in the saddle with virgins and gold

Tonight! io9 Meetup, San Francisco Edition: 7 PM at Borderlands

The coming space war between the U.S. and China

An important Venn Diagram to keep in mind this weekend

What Is The Singularity And Will You Live To See It?

The space hub was built on top of a 600-year-old port city

10 times the lizard and snake people tried to take over our precious Earth

She was designed to be broken, but they blamed her anyway

The story of a most unusual rocket launch from beneath the sea

io9 seeks spring interns! Deadline extended!

A sneak peek at the art-packed weird fiction book you’ll be drooling over soon

Listen to an amazing interview with Ursula Le Guin

Why Australian mountain wildfires in 2006 caused these lakes to glow in 2008

yes, observation deck will be here tomorrow

Could a U.S. government crackdown take America off the internet?

Ask Connie Willis whatever you want about Blackout and All Clear

Read an excerpt from teen environmental angst satire “Destroy All Cars”

The Rite is your new midnite movie cheesefest

How our solar system would actually look with Earth at its center

What happens when advertisers try to control your mind

Someone Finally Took a Good iPhone Photo of the Moon. Good Luck Copying Their Trick

In Letter, OpenAI Reportedly Says Elon Musk and Meta Are Coordinating ‘Attacks’ Against It

Artemis 2 Day 6: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Anonymous Sources Detail Sam Altman’s Alleged Untrustworthiness in New Report

Steven Spielberg Still Wants to Make a Horror Film ‘Someday’

Waymo Has Stopped Testing Its Robotaxis in New York City and No One Knows What Happens Next

Samsung Pushes Monitor Deals Further, the 34″ ViewFinity Hits a Record Low at Nearly 40% Off

The Best Anti-Meta Smart Glasses Are About to Have Tough Competition

The Artemis 2 Mission Is Leaning in on the ‘Project Hail Mary’ Love

Here’s How Many Americans Have Ever Thought About Shooting Someone Else

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

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