Annalee Newitz

It Was the Greatest Communications Tower Ever Built

She never forgot that night when she was a little girl and the communications network went down. Millions died. She vowed at that moment that she would never allow that to happen again. And that’s when she first got the idea for the Great Tower. Llia Yu lives in Pasadena, California. You can see more…

Eminent biologist E.O. Wilson says that most biologists now reject the “selfish gene” theory. Predictably, Richard Dawkins is upset and says that Wilson needs to re-read one of Dawkins’ books from the early 1980s in order to understand what’s happening in 2014.

Evidence that Killer Whales Are Trying to Communicate with Dolphins

Humans are not the only creatures who try to imitate the sounds of other animals. It turns out that killer whales try to imitate dolphin clicks. But why? Photo by Monika Wieland via Shutterstock Over at Seriously, Science?, we learn that a new scientific study has identified a series of calls that killer whales make…

Stop Putting New Age Pseudoscience in Our Science Fiction

If the pseudoscientific woo about love and time travel in Interstellar pissed you off, you aren’t alone. Though Christopher Nolan’s gorgeous space opera isn’t the first science fiction film to descend into a morass of new age platitudes, here’s why it should be the last. Spoilers for Interstellar ahead. Let’s get something clear. There are…

William Gibson On the Apocalypse, America, and The Peripheral’s Ending

William Gibson is laconic. Which isn’t too surprising, given that the author of Neuromancer is famous for his spare, incisive prose style. We sat down with him in late October to discuss his latest novel, The Peripheral, and wound up talking about a lot of things I never expected. I met Gibson in San Francisco’s…

It’s Not a Good Idea to Play with Dinosaurs, Even If They’re Cute

His cat was always trying to chase the dinosaurs. And yet she never really struggled very hard when he picked her up to prevent a confrontation. That’s how he saved his cat, and his cat’s pride, at the same time. Simon Stalenhag is an artist and designer who lives near Stockholm. You can see more…

The Doublethink of Anti-Vaxxers, Explained in One Revealing Tweet

Over at the New York Times, Andrew Revkin writes about this tweet from pediatrician Dave Stukus, summing up an actual conversation between a patient and one of his colleagues. Hopefully, one day people will realize that getting vaccinated for the flu is just as important as getting vaccinated for any other dangerous disease (indeed, the…

36,000-year-old Human DNA Reveals Europe’s Deep Past

He was a European with dark skin and dark eyes. And his ancestry was mixed. A group of geneticists have sequenced DNA from the remains of a man who died 36,000 years ago in Kostenki, Russia, near the Ukraine border. The results are surprising, and could reveal a lot about how modern humans spread out…

The Lick Observatory Has Been Saved!

It’s the world’s oldest mountaintop observatory, but Lick Observatory was about to shut down due to lack of money. The venerable facility was about to close forever. But then it was saved at the last minute, thanks entirely to public funding. Sometimes we can have nice things.

Teens Created This Shot-for-Shot Remake of the Ghostbusters Trailer

And it’s hilariously great. h/t Bonnie Burton

The True Story of the Computer Worm that Took Down a Nuclear Facility

The Stuxnet worm was the first known example of a digital weapon developed by the U.S. government — and it actually worked. Discovered in 2010, it had already destroyed several nuclear centrifuges in Iran. Now, veteran computer security reporter Kim Zetter has an action-packed book about it. We’ve got an excerpt. If you really want…

Who Created These Enormous Stone Circles in Jordan 2,000 Years Ago?

First discovered in the 1920s at the dawning of the era of aerial photographs, these mysterious stone structures throughout the Middle East are called simply “the Big Circles” by archaeologists. We now know roughly how old they are, but we still don’t know who made them, and why there are so many. What you’re looking…

What Is the Greatest Fantasy Story That Is Also Cheesy as Hell?

It’s one of the pitfalls of great fantasy stories. Sometimes they just degenerate into cheesiness, no matter how epic and badass they are. What’s the best example of a great fantasy story that floated on a giant river of cheese? My pick would have to be Excalibur, because I’m old school and I still love…

Take a Peek at What Shaw Finds “Sexy” on Next Week’s Person of Interest

In this exclusive clip from next week’s episode of Person of Interest, we get a rare glimpse of Shaw’s new life as a thief … and a slightly terrifying look at her sex life. On the tail of a number who is one of the best thieves in the world, Shaw finds herself getting seduced.…

The next time you call someone (or something) your “spirit animal,” consider this. The phrase became common only recently, and it went from Indian myth to internet meme in just a few years. The history of its sudden explosion in popularity is fascinating … and Megan Garber tells you the whole story at The Atlantic.

After 25 Years, the Berlin Wall Still Haunts City Residents

It’s been a quarter of a century since the Berlin Wall was torn down, and the city is still marked by the architectural remains from a generation of Soviet occupation. A new study of the city’s residents suggests that east and west Berlin remain culturally divided too — though they are still happy with their…

In California, Rich People Use the Most Water

As the California drought worsens, the State Water Resources Control Board has released hard numbers on which regions drain the state’s water supplies most. It turns out that the biggest water users tend to be wealthy suburbanites … with one exception. Photo by Rick Loomis via LA Times The numbers come from September to October…

This Owl Is Flying Straight Into Your Face

This is a detail from a photograph that captures what an owl looks like when it is zooming straight at the camera, angling its feet forward as it prepares to land on a branch. All I can say is that our hovercrafts are made of feathers. Russell Savory is a photographer in Essex, UK. To…

Denmark Will Stop Using Coal by 2025

Denmark is already one of the greenest countries in the world, thanks to its offshore wind farms, and now its climate minister has made a dramatic promise. The nation will stop burning coal for energy in ten years. Photo via Vattenfall Because Denmark already has a fairly robust alternative energy infrastructure, this plan might actually…

Interstellar Is the Best and Worst Space Opera You’ll Ever See

If you love epic space opera, you shouldn’t miss Interstellar. But before you go, you need to be prepared to overlook its major flaws. Interstellar is a thematic sequel to Christopher Nolan’s last original film, Inception. It drops us into a dark future full of otherworldly landscapes and time distortions. Its spectacular action is propelled…