Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

A Tragic Short Film About the Worst Crime You’ve Never Imagined

In this short film, based on a story by science fiction author Ken MacLeod, a young man can’t believe his father is guilty of a crime that destroyed history. When you learn what the crime is, you’ll find yourself in a fascinating thought experiment about the future. Scattered was written and directed by Joshua Bregman…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Not Photoshopped — These Two Planes Really Are Flying Like This

It’s called a Calypso Pass. That’s when two jets fly in a mirror image pattern like this, often only inches apart. A few weeks ago, two U.S. Air Force Thunderbird F-16 Fighting Falcons did just that. Show me a drone with this kind of style. The Thunderbirds performed for a huge crowd on March 23,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Pulitzer Prize Is First Official Vindication of NSA Whistleblower

The most prestigious award for journalism in the United States, the Pulitzer Prize, went this year to reporters who covered leaked documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. This award signals official recognition of the social good that grew out of Snowden’s leaks. Snowden is the government contractor who last year revealed documents that confirmed the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

This Is Why You Want to Scream at Your Spouse

If you and your spouse are constantly fighting, there may be a cause that makes a little more sense than whether somebody remembered where the serving spoons go. One psychologist thinks it might have to do with blood sugar. But the weird part is how he arrived at that idea. Psychologist Brad Bushman, with Ohio…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Author Jeff VanderMeer Is Here to Talk to You About Annihilation

In March, the io9 book club read Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation. Today, from noon – 1:00 pm (PDT), VanderMeer will be joining us to answer your questions about Annihilation, weird fiction, and anything else! Just start asking your questions in the comments section now, and VanderMeer will answer as many as he can this afternoon. Please…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

The Dragon May Have Been a Bit Unprofessional

Normally you’d expect quality service from an uplifted pyrosauropod, but sometimes they forget themselves and act like dragons again. This one in particular is known for getting a little boisterous when it comes to showing visitors the jewelry library. This is yet another lovely drawing from comic book illustrator and ninja specialist Guy Pascal Vallez,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

You Can’t Say No to Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Vampire Lovers

Sometimes two actors have such great chemistry that it almost doesn’t matter what kind of story has been wrapped around them. In Only Lovers Left Alive, stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are utterly captivating as bohemian vampires who live like Renaissance artists in a world of rock stars. Written and directed by cult filmmaker…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Meet Your Fellow io9ers Tonight, 4/10, in Cambridge, MA!

io9 editors Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders are hosting a cocktail hour meetup tonight in Cambridge, Mass. This will be followed by Annalee’s appearance at Harvard Book Store. Details below! io9 Meetup! 5:30-6:30 PM, at Charlie’s Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, near Harvard Square. Charlie Jane and Annaee will be the ones with pink and…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

Boston Area io9ers: Meetup Tomorrow 4/10 in Cambridge!

Last-minute good news! io9 editors Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders are hosting a cocktail hour meetup tomorrow in Cambridge, Mass., before Annalee’s reading at Harvard Book Store. Details below! Photo via Four Seasons at Home io9 Meetup! 5:30-6:30 PM, at Charlie’s Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, near Harvard Square. Charlie Jane and Annaee will be…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The One Scientific Field Most Likely to Get Humanity Into Space

If humans are actually going to live on other planets or space stations one day, we’re going to need more than rocket fuel and futuristic propulsion systems. We’re going to need environmental science. Here are some fundamental reasons why. I’m cheating a little bit by using the phrase “environmental science” because that can mean a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Techno Cosmonauts Discover an Ancient Floating City in this Video

This music video is a stunning piece of otherworldly concept artistry, set to creamy techno beats and full of funky touches like cosmonauts with silver sequined spacesuits, incredible planet environments, and a city of floating buildings. Just relax, listen and watch. This is Beat Market’s new music video for their single “Aviator 2000.” The video…

io9 Annalee Newitz

A Fantastically Detailed Geological History for Game of Thrones

A group of geologists and map designers have reconstructed the geological ages of Essos, Westeros, and other regions described in Game of Thrones. The results are incredible — and reveal just how violent and mythic real-life geological changes can be. Over at Stanford’s Generation Anthropocene blog, a gang of fantasy and geophysics fans have pored…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The io9 Book Club is in Session! Let’s Talk About Annihilation.

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In March, we read Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation. 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 the meeting is…

io9 Annalee Newitz

See io9 editor Annalee Newitz in Boston 4/10, or on Reddit Today!

Today you can finally get the paperback version of my book on the future of humanity, Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. Plus, I’ll be at Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA this Thursday — and in my first-ever Reddit AMA this afternoon! If you want to ask me anything on…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Trying to Sleep in a City Can Sometimes Be … Disturbing

Your room is in a maze of other rooms, and your building is nested inside other buildings. Sand from the desert is building up inside, or is it sugar from the dessert? It’s pouring and roaring, and the walls are multiplying and dividing and HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SLEEP? This beautifully paranoid, delightfully intricate portrait…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Why Are All These Physicists in a Weird Creationist Documentary?

WTF? A bunch of reputable physicists like Lawrence Krauss, and actress Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), are featured a documentary called The Principle, about how the Earth really is at the center of the solar system. How did this happen? Over at Not Even Wrong, Peter Woitwondered if maybe they had been tricked: The person…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Here’s An Easy Way to Find Out About U.S. Government Spying Projects

A lot of the most bizarre and invasive surveillance technologies that the U.S. government uses to track its citizens are not secret. In fact, you can find out about a lot of these projects as they’re being developed, just by knowing what to search for on U.S. government websites. Over at Electronic Frontier Foundation, Dave…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The io9 Manifesto: Science Is Political

io9 started out in 2007 as the germ of an idea for a site about futurism, with a name that was a joke about brain implants. Six and a half years later, we’ve grown in size — but we’ve also grown up. Our 2008 manifesto still holds true, but in 2014 we’ve got some amendments.…

io9 Annalee Newitz

This Sleek Toy Blaster Gun Is a Wonder of Science

Three years in the making, Mattel’s new BOOMco series of blaster guns are aiming at the nerf gun juggernaut. Maybe they’ll even take it down. Apparently these blasters don’t just look pretty — they aim straight. Plus they come with a cutting-edge new kind of toy ammunition. FastCo Design writer Mark Wilson got a chance…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Another Fine Feathered Friend from the Cretaceous

We can’t ever resist the urge to post a beautiful new dinosaur image from paleoartist Emily Willoughby. This is a Utahraptor, who lived during the Cretaceous period in (you guessed it) regions that are now part of the western United States. The feathers look amazing. This image is based on new research about the anatomy…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz

A Tragic Short Film About the Worst Crime You’ve Never Imagined

Not Photoshopped — These Two Planes Really Are Flying Like This

Pulitzer Prize Is First Official Vindication of NSA Whistleblower

This Is Why You Want to Scream at Your Spouse

Author Jeff VanderMeer Is Here to Talk to You About Annihilation

The Dragon May Have Been a Bit Unprofessional

You Can’t Say No to Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Vampire Lovers

Meet Your Fellow io9ers Tonight, 4/10, in Cambridge, MA!

Boston Area io9ers: Meetup Tomorrow 4/10 in Cambridge!

The One Scientific Field Most Likely to Get Humanity Into Space

Techno Cosmonauts Discover an Ancient Floating City in this Video

A Fantastically Detailed Geological History for Game of Thrones

The io9 Book Club is in Session! Let’s Talk About Annihilation.

See io9 editor Annalee Newitz in Boston 4/10, or on Reddit Today!

Trying to Sleep in a City Can Sometimes Be … Disturbing

Why Are All These Physicists in a Weird Creationist Documentary?

Here’s An Easy Way to Find Out About U.S. Government Spying Projects

​The io9 Manifesto: Science Is Political

This Sleek Toy Blaster Gun Is a Wonder of Science

Another Fine Feathered Friend from the Cretaceous

LLMs Will Protect Each Other if Threatened, Study Finds

The Octopus Penis Arm Doesn’t Just Deliver Sperm—It Sniffs Out the Sweet Spot

Revisiting the Ending of ‘Chainsaw Man’ Through the Lens of Japanese Folklore

U.S. Considers Ban on Chinese Air Bags Blamed for Deaths of 10 People in Survivable Crashes

Samsung’s New Frame TVs Look Even More Like Actual Paintings

You Can Now Watch Rocky From ‘Project Hail Mary’ Sleep With the Perfect Accompaniment

5 Things You May Have Missed During NASA’s Historic Launch of Artemis 2

Artemis 2 Day 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

30 Unpublished Poems From Iconic Greek Philosopher Discovered in Cairo

Lucid Recalls 4,000 Gravity SUVs for Faulty Seat Belts That May Not Actually Work During a Collision

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

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

The io9 Manifesto: Science Is Political