Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

We Got Our First Real Look at HBO’s Intense New AI Series Westworld

A woman is sitting in a chair, her face slightly battered, paralyzed. A fly is slowly walking across her face, and she can’t move — even when the bug walks over her opened eye. She can hear a male voice in her head, asking, “Do you want to wake up?” It’s the first extended look…

Television Annalee Newitz

New TV Series Damien Gives You the Antichrist as You’ve Never Seen Him

The new A&E series Damien is based on the original 1976 Omen movie — and that’s where all similarities with the crazy Antichrist franchise end. This show will give us a totally different view of Satan’s spawn, and offers the possibility that evil isn’t quite what you thought it was. Today at Comic-Con, we got…

Movies Annalee Newitz and Cheryl Eddy

How I Saved (One Tiny Island In) Canada From Wildfire

Last week, I took a trip up to northern Saskatchewan, to the edge of the boreal forest. It’s an area very close to what locals call the bush. I’d come to camp with family and friends at Emma Lake, but when we arrived we discovered that we were deep inside one of the biggest wildfire…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

It’s Comic-Con Time! Here’s How to Follow Us the Whole Weekend.

Comic-Con … I can’t believe I’m still at Comic-Con. This year’s show starts tonight with a preview of all the goodies on the floor, and goes through Sunday. We’ll be here, bringing you news, reviews and videos of all the sights and sounds from this nuclear explosion of pop culture geekery. Here’s how to find…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Linux Creator Linus Torvalds Laughs at the AI Apocalypse

Over the past several months, many of the world’s most famous scientists and engineers — including Stephen Hawking — have said that one of the biggest threats to humanity is an artificial superintelligence. But Linus Torvalds, the irascible creator of open source operating system Linux, says their fears are idiotic. He also raised some good…

Artificial Intelligence Annalee Newitz

This Python Ate a Porcupine, Which Turned Out to Be a Bad Idea

We all eat the wrong thing sometimes, but this 12-foot-long South African python made a major error. It swallowed a porcupine whole. Spoilers: No, it did not survive. LiveScience reports that a bicyclist captured these photos of the snake right after it had gulped down its meal. At the time, park rangers speculated that it…

Biology Annalee Newitz

If You Like Intense Techno-Thrillers, You Need to Be Watching Mr. Robot

Imagine a show that combines the anti-corporate craziness of Fight Club with the subversive hacker heroism of The Matrix. Add some great acting, and a fascinating conspiracy that’s unfolding in the hazy realm between our dystopian nightmares and hard reality. That’s Mr. Robot, which debuted last night on USA. Spoilers ahead! Of course, it actually…

Television Annalee Newitz

At Last We Have a Scientific Explanation for Cat Pictures

And, as neuroscientist Bethany Brookshire put it, “obvious study is obvious.” People appear to be looking at cat pictures on the internet in order to “regulate mood,” or make themselves happier. But sometimes those pictures make us feel bad, too. Though its conclusions may seem like common sense, Brookshire points out that these kinds of…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

Astronomers Say There May Be Other Universes That Are Better for Life

Maybe we haven’t found alien life because it’s all evolving in other universes. A group of astronomers have just released a research paper suggesting that other universes could be far more habitable than our own. It all depends on a few conditions right when those universes were born. There is now a lot of evidence…

Space & Spaceflight Annalee Newitz

Ello’s New “Fuck the Status Quo” Ads Are Hilariously Hypocritical

Remember ello? It’s the social network that advertised itself as the indie alternative to Facebook, but was then unmasked as VC funded by XOXO founder Andy Baio. Now they’re back, with more VC money, and their new ad campaign is just as cluelessly disingenuous as their last one. It’s not really clear what ello is…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

You Used to Need a Court Order to Get Gmail to Unsend

This week we’re celebrating the arrival of an undo send option in Gmail. But one did not always simply unsend an email — in fact, just last year, Goldman Sachs had to get a court order before Google would unsend an email full of sensitive data that had mistakenly arrived in the inbox of the…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

We May Have Dramatically Misunderstood the Shapes of Black Holes

Even if you didn’t see Interstellar, you’ve probably heard about how black holes have an “event horizon” — and once you pass it, you’re mashed into multi-dimensional mush. But now, some physicists believe we got it all wrong. Black holes are more like fuzzy balls of cotton, with no event horizons at all. Over at…

Physics & Chemistry Annalee Newitz

Hackers May Have Personal Data of 18 Million US Government Workers

The data breach that siphoned off the private information of over 4 million US government employees may actually be far larger, with some estimating that it actually affected 18 million people. CNN has an exclusive report on what is shaping up to be the biggest digital crime against the US government ever. According to the…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

Tip of the Day: Don’t Commit a Crime While Wearing a Fitbit

I mean, if you want to get caught committing a crime, please do wear your Fitbit. That’s what a Florida woman learned when she told police she’d been assaulted in March — only to have them examine her Fitbit and discover that the truth was a lot uglier and more awkward. Jeannine M. Risley was…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

The Best Tips on How to Make Professional Video with Your Smartphone

YouTuber Danny Winget always gives great gadget in his shows, and now he’s taking you behind the scenes. After watching this vid, you’ll know how to make your own YouTube show using nothing but a smartphone and some good advice. Want to see more of Winget’s vids? Check out his YouTube channel. Contact the author…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

Medical Study Finds Doses on Cannabis Edibles Are “Inaccurate”

It’s hard to believe that an unregulated industry devoted to getting people high might not be concerned about extreme accuracy in representing their products. But a group of doctors writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that most cannabis edibles they tested were stronger or weaker than advertised. So at least this…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

Fuck the Internet Shame Spiral

The internet is trapped in a shame spiral, and it’s time for us to get the fuck out. Last week, the vortex churned around British physicist Tim Hunt, the Nobel laureate who went to lunch and lost his job. Obviously it wasn’t that simple. The “lunch” was a professional meeting of women scientists during an…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

A Teen Just Died of Plague in Colorado

It’s supposed to be a disease of the middle ages, but every year a few people in the United States contract the bacterial infection that killed half the population of London in the fourteenth century. The latest victim of plague was a high school student in rural Colorado. 16-year-old Taylor Gaes was an athlete who…

Health Annalee Newitz

Yes, We Are in the Early Stages of a Mass Extinction

A new study suggests that thousands of species on Earth going extinct at a rate that far exceeds what’s typical. We are in the beginnings of a mass extinction, argue scientists, and it could lead to global starvation for humans — as well as many other animals. The new study, published today in Science Advances,…

Tech News Annalee Newitz

Police Are Trying to Use Honeybees to Detect Illegal Drugs

With drug laws changing all the time, it’s hard for police sniffer dogs to keep up with what they’re supposed to find and what they aren’t. That’s why police forces are turning to insects to sniff out narcotics. An odd scientific paper in PLoS One today details the very first attempts to get insects to…

Biology Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz

We Got Our First Real Look at HBO’s Intense New AI Series Westworld

New TV Series Damien Gives You the Antichrist as You’ve Never Seen Him

How I Saved (One Tiny Island In) Canada From Wildfire

It’s Comic-Con Time! Here’s How to Follow Us the Whole Weekend.

Linux Creator Linus Torvalds Laughs at the AI Apocalypse

This Python Ate a Porcupine, Which Turned Out to Be a Bad Idea

If You Like Intense Techno-Thrillers, You Need to Be Watching Mr. Robot

At Last We Have a Scientific Explanation for Cat Pictures

Astronomers Say There May Be Other Universes That Are Better for Life

Ello’s New “Fuck the Status Quo” Ads Are Hilariously Hypocritical

You Used to Need a Court Order to Get Gmail to Unsend

We May Have Dramatically Misunderstood the Shapes of Black Holes

Hackers May Have Personal Data of 18 Million US Government Workers

Tip of the Day: Don’t Commit a Crime While Wearing a Fitbit

The Best Tips on How to Make Professional Video with Your Smartphone

Medical Study Finds Doses on Cannabis Edibles Are “Inaccurate”

Fuck the Internet Shame Spiral

A Teen Just Died of Plague in Colorado

Yes, We Are in the Early Stages of a Mass Extinction

Police Are Trying to Use Honeybees to Detect Illegal Drugs

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Countdown to the Moon 🔴

Dyson V8 Cordless Vacuum Holds Its Lowest Price Even After Amazon’s Spring Sale Ends, Likely a Clearance Move

Lego Is Bringing Bionicle Back, But Not in the Way You’d Want

Richard Branson Is Still Trying to Make Space Tourism Happen, Selling Tickets at $750,000

Beats Powerbeats Fit Drops Below Black Friday Pricing Across All Colorways as Amazon Continues to Cut Prices on the Earbuds

Google Pixel 9a Hits a Record Low on Clearance, With Trade-In Making It Nearly Half the Price of Pixel Buds Pro 2

James Cameron Could Remake ‘Fantastic Voyage’ Before He Works on ‘Avatar 4’

Forget Amazon Fire TV Soundbar, Samsung B-Series Soundbar With Built-In Subwoofer Still Under $100 for Post-Spring Sale

Apple M4 MacBook Air Is Still at Its Spring Sale Low as Amazon Moves Into Clearance Mode, No Need to Wait for Prime Day

They’re Already Trying to Baby Yoda Rocky From ‘Project Hail Mary’

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?