Annalee Newitz

In the Middle of the Ancient City, They Found a Carbon Fiber Bridge

The archaeologists weren’t expecting to find the remains of anything more than a tiny village, so they were awed by the scale and grandeur of the stone city. Especially when they tested it and realized that its stones were made of a high tech material. Jeremy Chong is a concept artist and illustrator in Kuala…

George Orwell Was Actually Born on This Animal Farm in India

For the first year of his life, George Orwell lived on a farm in India, very much like the place he eventually described in his famous parable Animal Farm. Now the place is being turned into a museum to honor the author — but not in a way that Orwell would have liked. On the…

Forensic Meteorologists Solve Crimes You’ve Never Thought About

Meteorologists offer forecasts on what the weather will be. Forensic meteorologists use data to reconstruct weather of the past. But why? They do it to weigh in on insurance claims, determine an accident’s environmental conditions, or even break alibis.

What Is the Most Science Fictional Place You’ve Ever Visited?

Sometimes going on a trip or vacation makes you feel like you’ve stepped through a wormhole and into another world. Tell us about the most science fictional or fantastical trip you’ve ever taken — whether it was to another continent, or just down the street. Photo by Frank Kovalchek. Don’t just give us a one-word…

It Was a Gorgeous Morning in the Cloud Layer Habitat

If I ever get jaded about watching sunrise seep between the blue-gray cloud layers of this gas giant, you can smack me. I don’t want this view ever to get old. Nivanh Chanthara is a concept artist in Montreal. You can see more of his work on his website.

Maplecroft Will Be the Best Damn Cthulhu Novel You’ve Read in Ages

Lizzie Borden’s infamous murders took place just a couple of decades before H.P. Lovecraft first dreamed up the horrors of his greatest invention, the cosmic ocean monster-god Cthulhu. Cherie Priest has taken this historical confluence and turned it into a wild, awesome page-turner calledMaplecroft. The woman whose murder trial riveted turn-of-the-century scandal sheet readers preferred…

Evidence Challenges the “Out of Africa” Timeline of Human Evolution

One dominant idea among evolutionary biologists is that Homo sapiens left Africa about 60 or 70 thousand years ago, spreading across the world from there. It’s called the “out of Africa” theory. But now, more evidence is challenging it. Illustration by John Sibbick Over on New Scientist, Catherine Brahic offers a cogent summary of the…

The Domestic Cat Genome Has Been Fully Sequenced, and It’s Fascinating

The Felis catus genome has been fully sequenced and annotated, which means your pet kitty is about to give up its genetic secrets to science. There have been rough shotgun sequences of the domestic cat genome before, but a large group of international researchers reported last week that their sequencing and annotation of the genome…

Has One of Your Teachers Ever Tried to Teach You Fake Science?

Science education has always been political. School boards sometimes order teachers to instruct their students that evolution is “just one theory,” or to leave sexual reproduction out of health classes. Teachers themselves sometimes insert their pet theories into science classes. Has this happened to you? Have you ever discovered that one of your teachers was…

43 Eye-Popping Trailer Screenshots Reveal Tons About Max Mad: Fury Road

We saw the blisteringly intense Mad Max: Fury Road trailer, and now we’ve broken it down for you piece-by-piece. Let’s see what we can find hidden in every frame. https://gizmodo.com/heres-the-first-max-max-trailer-and-it-will-make-you-a-1611701107 As we hear staticky reports on the radio about wars over water and gasoline, Max gazes out on the desolate landscape, steps on an innocent,…

An Awkward and Uncomfortable Masters of Sex Gets Everything Wrong

When Masters of Sex works, the show is riveting, weird and funny. But lately it’s suffering from “Bill is the heroic sex doctor who never existed” syndrome. And last night’s incredibly distorted story of how intersex surgeries happened just took that way, way too far. It was a bottle episode, mostly set in the claustrophobic…

This Could Be the Greatest Advance in Water Balloon Technology Ever

Shut up about your high tech super soakers, because Bunch O Balloons is about to take water fights to the next level. Just look at it! You can fill like a zillion balloons all at once, and then DRIVE YOUR ENEMIES BEFORE YOU. If you’ve ever had to reload your balloon ammo supplies in the…

Secret Tunnels in Warfare Are Less of a Threat Than You Think

Israeli troops claim that they have discovered more secret tunnels that Hamas is using to get into the country. Though the tunnels sound terrifying, military strategy experts say they have little value when it comes to battlefield results. Image via Israel Defense Forces In the Washington Post this weekend, history professor Gerard Degroot explains that…

You’ll probably have a better day if you strike up a conversation with a stranger on the bus or train. New psychological research shows that commuters mostly believed that talking to strangers would make their journeys worse, but discovered after doing it that it almost always made them better.

What Turned This River in China into a Blood-Red Mess?

People in Wenzhou, a prefecture in the Zhejiang province, woke up yesterday to discover that their local river had turned a dark crimson. What could have caused the sudden transformation? The river was an ordinary color the night before. By today, it had returned basically to normal. But the environmental department was taking samples and…

These Insects Build Carapaces of Gold and Pearl

The aquatic caddis fly begins its life in a larval stage, and must build an artificial carapace in order to survive into adulthood. When artist Hubert Dupras discovered that they build these cases out of whatever materials are at hand — including sticks and rocks — he had a strange idea. Over a decade ago,…

Here’s the First Mad Max Trailer, and It Will Make You a Believer

Now you can see first Mad Max: Fury Road trailer, unveiled yesterday at Comic-Con, with your own eyes. It’s full of gorgeous deserts, blooming smoke bombs the color of bruises, and a giant dust storm that looms over the landscape like a terrestrial tsunami. Dystopia has never looked so desolate and fascinating. This is the…

Coolest Comic-Con Cosplay, Day 3: Getting Crazier and More Amazing

Everybody put on their very best cosplay for the weekend at Comic-Con, and it showed. Here are some of the most breathtaking and creative (and funny) costumes we saw. Sailor Moon Deadpool via Fashionably Geek: From the superlative Pamela Schreckengost: From the wondrous Wei Ho: From the astounding John Austin: From the excellent Erik Estrada:…

Cult Favorite Comic Locke & Key to Become a Movie Trilogy

Last night, Joe Hill told Comic-Con that his comic book Locke & Key is being adapted into a trilogy of movies by Universal. The author said the studio has a script that they like, which is great news. Previously Locke & Key was to be developed into a series by FOX, but never made it…

The Nigerian government has confirmed that there are cases of Ebola in Lagos, the country’s megacity. This represents a major expansion for the Ebola pandemic, which entered Nigeria because an infected person took an airplane into the country. It’s unknown how many people they were in contact with en route.