Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

Should Scientists Synthesize a Hormone That Causes Fear?

A group of US neuroscientists have been studying why the scent of sweat from terrified people causes other people go into the hyper-alert fight-or-flight mode. People smelling this “stress sweat” in fMRI brain scanners show activity in the emotion-processing amygdala, and are 43 percent more accurate at identifying whether a face was “threatening.” Now those…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 29

Grey Goo Will Be Our Children

This is what it will look like when the Earth is remade by grey goo – a broth of self-replicating nanobots that remold all matter in their own image. Ideas that informed this piece, from the artist: Grey Goo – hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all matter on…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 29

A Periodic Table for Black Hole Orbits

Physicist Janna Levin last year published a paper where she offers a way to understand what happens to objects trapped in the intense gravitational field around rotating black holes. As this chart shows, there are many paths to the singularity. Levin, who has also written a beautiful, fascinating book about physics called How the Universe…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 29

First Episode of “V” Reboot Is Creepy and Intriguing

Moody, weird, and genuinely scary, the premiere episode of new ABC series “V” has us convinced that there’s life after Battlestar Galactica. We saw the whole thing at Comic-Con and have a spoiler-free report. Based on an early-1980s miniseries, “V” is about what happens when dozens of gigantic alien ships arrive on Earth, hovering over…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 27

Yes, “The 4400” Was Partly About Scientology

I have long had a theory that bizarro conspiracy/time travel/mutant superpowers show The 4400 was partly about Scientology. There was the weird cult leader Jordan Collier, the sleekly expensive 4400 building, and the belief that everybody can become superpowered if they’d just donate money or time to the 4400 group. But were the references to…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 27

The Technology (And Biology) That Saved Comic-Con

People call Comic-Con “Woodstock for geeks,” and the chaos that reigns at the San Diego Convention Center for 5 days definitely makes you feel like you’re soaking in LSD-laced mud. But a few gadgets saved us from total madness. Thanks to a kind donation from the comic book geeks at Sanho, we had a Hypermac…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 27

On Supernatural, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse Drive Muscle Cars

Last season, midwestern monster-slayer show Supernatural left the heroic Winchester brothers in the middle of Armageddon. At Comic-Con, the writers and cast gave us a taste of the road ahead next season. Spoilers ahead! Season 5 is an all-out apocalypse, according to producer Sera Gamble and showrunner Eric Kripke. “We call it the Walmart apocalypse…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 27

Jonah Hex Boiled Our Eyeballs – In a Good Way

One of the unexpected standouts at Comic-Con was Civil War-era flick Jonah Hex, a somewhat under-the-radar Western adventure with supernatural elements. It stars a scarred and badass Josh Brolin as a gun-toting, crow-barfing, whore-loving crusader against evil. Directed by Jimmy Hayward, Jonah Hex was made on a small budget, all of which went into the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 26

“Book of Eli” Is “Mad Max” For the Twenty-First Century

The Hughes Bros are back with a promising, post-apocalyptic movie called Book of Eli. At Comic-Con, we saw some footage of Denzel Washington as hero-with-a-past Eli, kicking major ass and fighting Gary Oldman. The Hughes Bros previously directed Menace II Society and From Hell, among other projects. Albert Hughes said the movie takes place 30…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 26

Before It Was Syfy . . . A Cool Set of Viral Videos From 1999

http://noneinc.com/Y3K/Back in 1999, the SciFi Channel (as it was called back then) did a series of funny viral videos for Y2K which purported to be messages from Y3K that our descendants had sent us from the future. You can find them on a seemingly forgotten part of the Syfy website. Some of the messages from…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 26

“Fringe” Writers Explain Next Season’s Multiverse

Fringe writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and showrunner Jeff Pinkner, revealed something crucial about how the creative team thinks about the multiverse in this increasingly twisty, weird science show co-created by JJ Abrams. The writing team, working with JJ Abrams, has mapped out the entire arc of season 2. One of the lingering issues…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 25

“Where The Wild Things Are” Is An Indie-Rock Tearjerker

Yesterday morning, audiences at Comic-Con saw a lengthy series of clips from the forthcoming Where the Wild Things are adaptation from director Spike Jonze. Introduced by young star Max Records, the movie promises to be gorgeous, but maybe too hip. Records began by telling us that he’d recently spoken with Maurice Sendak, author of the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 25

Can Jackie Do Freddie?

We saw a clip of Jackie Earle “Rorschach” Haley playing the new Freddie Krueger, and he’s like a shining ball of amazing deadliness. So we know Jackie can do Freddie, but does this movie deserve him? Haley said he was thrilled to play the beloved, undead dream killer from Nightmare on Elm Street, which is…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 24

“District 9” Is One of the Best Movies of 2009

Gripping, satirical, and gory, District 9 was shockingly good. We saw a sneak preview of the entire film last night and have a few spoiler-free impressions to share. The audience was simply blown away by the film, whose style was very different from what most of us expected. Shot on digital in a pseudo-documentary style,…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 24

Gary Oldman Reveals New Batman Is On Its Way

During the Book of Eli panel at Comic-Con, Gary Oldman dropped a major piece of news. He said the next Batman movie starts filming next year, and is expected to be out in 2011. Sounds like he’ll be reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon. After he revealed the big news, he said, “You didn’t hear…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 24

Peter Jackson Spills All About The Hobbit, The Lovely Bones, and World War I Airplanes

Last night I had a chance to attend a small gathering with Peter Jackson, where he discussed new film District 9, which he produced, as well as his upcoming projects – including The Hobbit and Tintin. Here’s the scoop on what’s new with Peter Jackson, who is working on some of the most intriguing movies…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 24

“Tetsuo: The Iron Man” Gets A Crazy English Sequel

Fans of the Japanese cult series Tetsuo got a welcome surprise this afternoon at Comic-Con: Director Shinya Tsukamoto announced that he’s made an English-language sequel, coming out in 2010, called Tetsuo: The Bullet Man. We saw a ten-minute clip. Hailed as one of the greatest Japanese cyberpunk movies of all time, Tetsuo: The Iron Man…

Movies Annalee Newitz Jul 23

See The Best Fight Scene from Dollhouse, According to Joss Whedon

The Dollhouse season 1 DVDs hit stores soon, complete with the show’s brilliant unaired pilot and season finale. We’ve got an exclusive clip – with special io9 intro from Joss Whedon – of a terrific fight scene. One of the things you’ll learn when you get the DVDs is that this scene would have played…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 23

Scientists Create Families of Mutant, Drug-Producing Rats

An entire industry is now devoted to producing pharmaceuticals from carefully-mutated animals. Now a biotech company has invented a way to create families of mutant rats who produce antibodies that could sold as medicine. The researchers, who worked with biotech firm Open Monoclonal Technology (OMT), wanted to create what are called “monoclonal antibodies,” useful in…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 23

201 Star Wars T-Shirts (And One Hoodie) To Fill You With Glee

Over at the tee-obsessed blog Hide Your Arms, we have learned that we could spend over half the year wearing nothing but Star Wars t-shirts. A different one every day, not the same one for 202 days in a row. These tees (and this awesome trooper hoodie) run the gamut from artistic renderings of Darth…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 23

Annalee Newitz

Should Scientists Synthesize a Hormone That Causes Fear?

Grey Goo Will Be Our Children

A Periodic Table for Black Hole Orbits

First Episode of “V” Reboot Is Creepy and Intriguing

Yes, “The 4400” Was Partly About Scientology

The Technology (And Biology) That Saved Comic-Con

On Supernatural, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse Drive Muscle Cars

Jonah Hex Boiled Our Eyeballs – In a Good Way

“Book of Eli” Is “Mad Max” For the Twenty-First Century

Before It Was Syfy . . . A Cool Set of Viral Videos From 1999

“Fringe” Writers Explain Next Season’s Multiverse

“Where The Wild Things Are” Is An Indie-Rock Tearjerker

Can Jackie Do Freddie?

“District 9” Is One of the Best Movies of 2009

Gary Oldman Reveals New Batman Is On Its Way

Peter Jackson Spills All About The Hobbit, The Lovely Bones, and World War I Airplanes

“Tetsuo: The Iron Man” Gets A Crazy English Sequel

See The Best Fight Scene from Dollhouse, According to Joss Whedon

Scientists Create Families of Mutant, Drug-Producing Rats

201 Star Wars T-Shirts (And One Hoodie) To Fill You With Glee

Ozempic Shreds Bones? How a Small Study Turned Into a Big Health Myth

Anker’s Soundcore Translation Earbuds Are Now Nearly 7x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro 3 After a Sudden Price Drop on Amazon

Volkswagen Shuts Down Tennessee Plant’s EV Production at the Worst Possible Time

Using Emojis at Work? You’re Not Going to Like This Study 😮

A Terrifying Invasion Feels Eerily Familiar in This Short Horror Story

Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum at 51% Off Quietly Undercuts Dyson’s Stick Cleaner Prices

Tubi Manages to Turn People Against Recommendations With Bad AI Branding

Gizmodo’s Favorite Photos From NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission

Lucasfilm Keeps Telling Authors Not to Bring Back Mara Jade

As Mass Drownings Add Up, Emperor Penguins Officially Join the Endangered List

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

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