Annalee Newitz

Dystopian Fashion Comes with Special Signal-Blocking Pocket for Phones

British company The Affair has created a number of science fiction themed fashion lines, but their latest is a masterpiece. The clothing is all modeled on what people wore in George Orwell’s 1984, and comes with a shielded phone pocket made from material can effectively pull you off the grid. Zoltan Csaki designed this line…

An Amazing Excerpt from Ancillary Sword, Sequel to Ancillary Justice

This year Ann Leckie’s debut novel Ancillary Justice swept the science fiction awards, taking home Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards for best novel. Now the sequel, Ancillary Sword, is about to hit bookstores, and we’ve got an exclusive excerpt for you! Cover art by John Harris Below, we’ve got…

Person of Interest Is Back, and Here’s Everything That’s Changed

Last night’s Person of Interest was one of those season premieres that’s also a reboot. It was slightly clunky, but we learned all the new ground rules for this show now that our heroes have scattered, assumed new identities, and must cope with constant surveillance from a hostile A.I. named Samaritan. Spoilers ahead! I suspect…

“Space Bubbles” Caused a Deadly Firefight Between the U.S. and al-Qaida

One of the bloodiest rescue missions in Afghanistan in 2002 was caused by a tactical error. But that error could have been prevented if it hadn’t been for “space bubbles” that prevented a military helicopter from getting crucial intel from a remote command post. Illustration of the battle by KEITH ROCCO New data about what…

Dystopian science fiction can teach us a lot about the future of cities. In an article published today onSlate, I talk about the history of dystopian cities in SF, and how they’re connected to urban policies and changes in the real world.

How Algorithms Can Become as Prejudiced as People

We’re in an era when major decisions are being made by algorithms poring over large datasets. They regulate everything from the stocks we trade, to where we put police officers in cities — and sometimes these algorithms suffer from the exact same prejudices that people do. https://gizmodo.com/the-10-algorithms-that-dominate-our-world-1580110464 In a fascinating essay for Next City, Alexis…

Here’s Where the Chemtrail Conspiracy Theory Actually Came From

Look at the sky above you. Are those long, glittering clouds actually part of a government experiment to poison you? If you believe in chemtrails — a conspiracy theory that’s spawned a political movement — then yes. If you believe in science, not so much. Photo by Gabriele Maltinti via Shutterstock A Conspiracy Is Born…

It Wasn’t Exactly Hovering, At Least Not In Any Way We Could Understand

We came over the crest expecting to see another slope of crumbling rock. But instead, we witnessed this. A city began to build itself before our eyes, as if awakened by our presence. A golden ring of heated rock detached itself from the regolith, floating and spinning, illuminating the incomprehensible process. This is a painting…

Scorpion Brings the Stupidest, Most Batshit Insane Hacker Scene Ever

So Scorpion debuted last night on CBS, bringing us the thrilling tale of “geniuses” who help DHS by setting up wifi access points in restaurants. Yes, that is a true plot point. It all leads to this scene, whose true meaning I will unfold for you so that you can appreciate the full amazing awfulness.…

Stop Turning Me Into Bad Data

It just happened again. Some dumbass with an algorithm has decided that I belong in a demographic and is feeding me “relevant” information. But none of it is relevant. And now I’m really pissed off, for reasons that you will never guess because they don’t fit your goddamn predictive models. Image from Ghosts with Shit…

Where Will the Climate Refugees Go in 50 Years?

As sea levels and temperatures rise over the next fifty years, coastal cities in the U.S. may become a lot less inviting to their millions of inhabitants. But where will all those sopping wet, overheated urbanites go? Some scientists say the answer is simple and predictable. They’ll go to the Pacific Northwest. Jennifer Kingston writes…

The Only Place to Eat After the Apocalypse

Though her directions were bad, it still wasn’t hard to find the restaurant. It was the only damn place with lights on in that stinking garbage pile of a city. Apparently she’d built it with a polymer the locals didn’t know about — one that withstood the onslaught. This haunting image is by Scarborough, UK,…

Get Ready for Miraculous Chainmail Made with “Star of David” Molecules

To build a better form of armor, a group of chemists have created a molecule that looks like a six-pointed “Star of David.” When millions of these molecules knit themselves together, the result could become the lightest, strongest shielding the world has ever known. Image of the molecule via David Leigh’s lab A group of…

The only way to save the incredible monarch butterfly is if three nations cooperate. And now, it looks like this just might be happening. It’s cause for cautious optimism.

The Most Common Darwinian Misconception About Female Sexuality

For decades, most evolutionary biologists based their understanding of female mating choice on a paper that turned out to be incorrect. The idea that females (including human ones) always choose the single “best” mate, rather than choosing promiscuity? Wrong. Photograph of bonobos by Sergey Uryadnikov via Shutterstock Today, 3 Quarks Daily’s annual science prize was…

Do You Want to Help Create a Good Commenter Community on io9?

We’re looking for people who would like to help make the comments on io9 posts more useful. You can do that by volunteering to help bring comments out of the “pending” zone and into the light. Here’s how it works. You post in comments below about why you’d like to help (just a sentence or…

You Never Know When They’ll Strike Next

Ichthyosaurs like to surf — but pliosaurs like to surf and eat at the same time. It makes sense, when you see how it’s done. Pam Gonzales is a VFX artist and illustrator in Los Angeles. You can see more of her work on her Deviant Art page.

Nevermind Drought — The Biggest Threat to Our Food Supply Is Fungus

Within 30 years, it’s likely that farmers will be battling deadly crop pests that they’ve never seen before. Pests are evolving and entering new regions in greater numbers than ever — and our worst adversary is likely to be fungus, which could destroy whole harvests and wreak havoc with our food supplies. Blumeria photo by…

Scottish SF Author Ken MacLeod Talks About the Referendum (He’s a No)

This is a fascinating conversation between Scottish SF author Ken MacLeod (Intrusion, The Execution Channel) and British historian Francis Spufford, which took place just a couple of weeks before last night’s historic vote on Scottish independence. MacLeod talks here about his background as a leftist, and why he wants the keep the Union together. He…

A Baby in Brazil Now Has Three Legal Parents

A judge this week granted two women and a man the right to claim legal parent status of a baby born in late August. All three parents have their name on the baby’s birth certificate, thus laying claim to being the family in the world with three legally-recognized parents. But maybe they’re not the last.…