Annalee Newitz

This Rule About Drone Surveillance Is Just Plain Absurd — And Scary

Right now, in the United States, law enforcement can put you under drone surveillance without a warrant — as long as the drone never lands on your property. What the hell is going on here? How can this be legal? First of all, let me assure you that this kind of surveillance is going on…

This Is What Your Professors Really Think About You Leaving Academia

As university budgets shrink, more and more graduate students are seeking jobs outside academia. You’d think this would be a good thing for the world, but professors aren’t convinced. In fact, many actively discourage their students from striving for non-academic jobs. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Stacey Patton reports that at a recent conference on…

Cholesterol Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means

Many new studies are complicating our understanding of the role cholesterol plays in heart disease. And last month, a group of researchers published the results of a study showing that what you thought you knew about “bad” cholesterol is probably wrong — or at least far too simplistic. Over at KQED, Liza Gross has the…

Study the Fonts in the Movie Moon, To Discover Something Wonderful

There are a million reasons to love Duncan Jones’ incredible indie flick Moon, starring Sam Rockwell as an abused Lunar Industries worker who discovers his life is not what it seems. Still, you’ll be surprised how amazing the movie looks when you read Dave Addy’s essay about fonts in the movie, which reveals a lot…

You Can’t Blame Fracking for Every Natural Disaster

I’m seeing a lot of stories about the link between injection wells and induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, but most of them make the same error. This study had nothing to do with fracking. The injection wells in Oklahoma causing the swarms of small-magnitude earthquakes are actually used for getting rid of wastewater. Photo by Ed…

The io9 Book Club Is In Session! Let’s Talk About The Memory Garden

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In June, we read The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here’s how it works: You read the book. We create a special book club post on io9 when…

If You Love Science, This Will Make You Lose Your Sh*t

Over the past few years, social psychologists have come under fire for publishing work based on falsified and non-reproducible evidence. And now one social psychologist has published an awe-inspiringly clueless rant about this situation that will leave you smashing your face into your desk. At issue in this essay by Harvard’s Jason Mitchell is the…

This Incredible Paleontologist Has Been Missing for Decades

The paleontologist known only as Yusra has been missing since the 1940s. And yet she’s responsible for finding one of the world’s most important early human fossils. We’re still trying to piece together what happened to her. Over at Trowelblazers, a site devoted the history of women paleontologists, geologists, and archaeologists, there’s a fascinating story…

To Me, My X-Cats! Professor X Cat Video Is Astonishing!

Professor X Cat is in ur Cerebro, callin to X-cats. This video comes to you from Kaipotainment, run by the fine Homo sapiens who also brought you the sagas of Wolverine Cat and Cyclops Cat.

It’s not about ideology. It’s about thirst. Analysts in Baghdad say that the outcome of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq may come down to who controls the water supply. The water wars may be just beginning.

Are Cities Evolving Into Hive Organisms?

Today, more than half of the human population lives in hive-like warrens called cities. Does this mean we are on the tipping point of becoming colony animals the way bees and ants did? It’s not entirely impossible. We talked to scientists to find out whether urban humans are evolving into superorganisms. Illustration of hive world…

What Happens When Indie Directors Take on Big Franchises in Hollywood?

Suddenly, all the giant Hollywood franchises are being driven by alternative filmmakers. The latest news is that Rian Johnson, director of indies Looper and Brick, will direct Star Wars VIII. Can a quirky visionary really change a pop culture behemoth? Here’s what happened to other indies in the franchise machine. Johnson joins a host of…

How We’re Going to Invent New Foods to Feed the World

One of the biggest threats to our future as a species is the looming spectre of famine. With a booming population and agriculture that’s already pushed to its limit, we’re going to need new ways to ensure our food security. One geneticist has an idea how we’ll do it, by turning new plants into crops.…

What Is the Fastest Way to Learn a Foreign Language?

Many of us dream of going to a foreign country and learning some of the local language so we can at least make conversation. But we don’t want to spend years doing it. Is there any way to learn a language in a week or two, the way those ads on the internet promise? It’s…

7 Global Apocalypse Scenarios That Might Really Happen

Could this be humanity’s last century on the planet? Of course! Here are seven scientifically plausible ways that our species might die out sooner rather than later. Illustration by Neal Jany 1. Pandemic There’s nothing that a pandemic disease loves more than city life, with lots of life forms squashed into close quarters with each…

The Anomalous X-Ray Arms of the Galaxy Known as NGC 4258

At the heart of galaxy NGC 4258 lies a black hole that’s 10 times more massive than the one in our galaxy — and it’s blasting gas out of the galactic plane, creating those purple galactic arms that astronomers dub “anomalous” because of their peculiar orientation. Now, thanks in part to this image, we have…

Why Are These Wasps Stockpiling Ant Corpses in Their Nests?

A group of researchers made a macabre discovery when they discovered a new species of wasp in China’s Gutianshan National Nature Reserve. These wasps lay their eggs in nests that are stuffed with the corpses of freshly-killed ants. As if wasps weren’t creepy enough. The new species is a type of spider wasp, described this…

Archaeologists have found stunning evidence of a previously-unknown, ancient farming civilization in Peru, from the 4th-7th century CE. It predates the Inca Empire by many centuries. The find could change how we understand the way civilization developed in the area.

The Year The Army Stopped Niagara Falls

In 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers accomplished an awesome feat: They turned off Niagara Falls. They did it to clean up the area, and check for structural integrity. Here are pictures of this bizarre episode in structural engineering history. These pictures were taken by tourists who visited the dry falls in 1969. Environmental design…

How to Keep Your Dog Happy When Fireworks Go Off—Using Science!

This weekend, most of us in the United States will seek out a beautiful, glittery fireworks display to celebrate July 4. But while we’re blowing things up, many of our nation’s dogs will be flipping out. After all, “bombs bursting in air” can sound downright terrifying.