Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

Meet the new generation of pirates, or “maritime non-state actors”

In today’s political environment of state instability and terrorism, sea piracy is making a comeback. And some of these pirate groups actually have fleets that rival national navies. Here’s how the new generation of pirates has become the terror of the seas. Arrrrgh! Photo via Reuters Over at gCaptain, there’s a really interesting article by…

io9 Annalee Newitz

How neuroscience helped to rescue Romanian orphans

Over at Aeon magazine, journalist Virginia Hughes has a gripping story about how a small group of neuroscientists created a government program to place Romanian orphans in foster care — and did some terrific scientific work in the process. Yes, science can improve lives. Photo in a Romanian orphanage by Thomas Coex/Getty Images You may…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Help Wanted: Full Time Community Editor

io9 is looking to hire a community editor. This person will be a point of contact between io9 staff and our community of commenters. They will be an advocate for the io9 commenter community, promote commenter posts on io9, organize online events such as Q/As with creators and scientists, and write posts that generate fantastic…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Gay marriage in the year 100 AD

Gay marriage sounds like an ultra-contemporary idea. But almost twenty years ago, a Catholic scholar at Yale shocked the world by publishing a book packed with evidence that same-sex marriages were sanctioned by the early Christian Church during an era commonly called the Dark Ages. Illustration of Serge and Bacchus, in a same-sex union John…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

Here’s what that “melting North Pole” really is

Last week, we heard that the Arctic Ocean had gotten so warm that the region around the North Pole itself had melted. But that’s not strictly true – as this video shows. https://gizmodo.com/meltwater-has-turned-the-north-pole-into-a-pond-907755110 New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin explains: There was quite a bit of hype bouncing around [about a lake] at the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The old spaceship engine casing was the perfect place for a cat

At sunset, Megumi liked to walk in the starship graveyard, admiring the stripped hulks made from materials that would never rust. It was there that she met the cat whose cybernetic implants suggested a history far more complicated than its purr did. Scott Kikuta is a concept designer who works on videogames, when he’s not…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Huge gender gap in opinions about drone strikes

A new global survey from the Pew foundation has discovered a really weird gender opinion gap. Women are far less approving of drone strikes than men are. Nobody is sure what’s causing this divergence of opinion. You can read more via Foreign Policy

io9 Annalee Newitz

What is going on with this terrifying ball of flies?

Louise Davis, a water resources advisory officer in north Devon, UK, was doing an assessment of the local river Torridge. What she found mystified her. Enormous balls of flies were dangling from trees over the water. Each “ball” was solid flies — perhaps hundreds of the insects. She’d never seen anything like it. None of…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Your cyborg octopus is almost ready

The octopus is one of those cephalopods with seeming superpowers. It can communicate using the chromatophores under its skin; it can wriggle into impossibly small places; and it can open jars like a boss. And now engineers say the next big frontier will be “soft robotics” that could result in cyborg octopuses. Illustration by benttibisson…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Yet another awful study on the connection between TV and crime

A new study suggests that so-called cybercriminals — people who commit crimes related to computer data — are going to cool it over the next few years. Why? Because they watch CSI. It’s one of the most entertainingly awful examples of science you’ll ponder today. The study, conducted by informatics researcher Richard Overill at Kings…

io9 Annalee Newitz

How to know whether your house is occupied by demonic forces

If you’ve been paying attention to the hallowed house of learning that is Hollywood cinema, you know The Conjuring offers a scholarly methodology for examining haunted houses. In that spirit, we present these research guidelines for identifying a haunted house before it consumes you and your family. A haunting often starts with “cold spots,” “stink…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Off the coast of Maine, lobsters are becoming cannibals

This fantastic new video from Climate Desk explores a weird undersea phenomenon: the evolution of cannibal lobsters. In between giggles, you’ll actually learn something about how the environment is changing in the oceans.

io9 Annalee Newitz

What makes the Machine on Person of Interest a science fiction rarity

One of the burning questions we were left with on Person of Interest last season was whether the Machine was alive — and if so, what does it want? We asked show creator Jonathan Nolan and series regular Amy Acker (who plays the hacker Root). Their answers revealed that this show goes where few SF…

Television Annalee Newitz

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards explains the symbolism of kaiju

New images and footage from the forthcoming Godzilla movie have us so excited that we’re zooming through the air like three-headed space kaiju. At Comic-Con, we sat down with director Gareth Edwards to talk about his giant monster designs, and the political subtext of this classic anti-nuke tale. io9: Which version of Godzilla influenced your…

Movies Annalee Newitz

What is the weirdest work of science fiction you’ve ever seen?

A lot of science fiction is a little weird — that’s sort of its job as a genre. But there’s weird, and then there’s seriously, stupendously bizarropants. You know what I mean. What’s the absolute strangest work of science fiction you’ve ever seen, read or tasted? No fair listing movies you made in art school.…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Is your brain actually running a computer algorithm while you sleep?

It’s no surprise that computers function a little bit like human minds — after all, humans built them using ourselves as models. But recent research into neural networks suggests that there is an uncanny connection between computer learning algorithms, and what your brain does when you’re asleep. Over at Quanta magazine, Natalie Wolchover has a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Next season’s Vampire Diaries is all doppelgangers all the time

Things on Vampire Diaries are about to get awkward. Everybody has a doppelganger, and that means all the love triangles have become lust polygons. At Comic-Con we caught up with the writers and cast and asked how things are shaping up in the new season. Co-executive producer Caroline Dries confirmed that the new season is…

Television Annalee Newitz

How the new Planet of the Apes movie fits into the series timeline

One of the most promising movies showcased Comic-Con was Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the intense follow-up to the brilliant Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Director Matt Reeves and star Andy Serkis told us about this film’s intriguing story, and its relationship to the Apes canon. Reeves, whose previous movies include…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Read an excerpt from Jeff Carlson’s new bio-thriller Interrupt

Jeff Carlson wowed readers with the insane disease apocalypse of Plague Year, and now he’s back with Interrupt — a tale that ties cutting-edge medicine together with the mystery of the Neanderthals. You know you want to read this great excerpt of the introduction and first chapter. Excerpt from Interrupt By Jeff Carlson 27,000 B.C.…

io9 Annalee Newitz

How did William Gibson really feel about Blade Runner?

A couple of years ago, Paris Review did a fascinating and comprehensive interview with author William Gibson. At last, the entire thing is online for you to read. There’s an especially great section where he talks about what his cyberpunk classic Neuromancer shares with Blade Runner. The entire interview is absolutely required reading, and delves…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz

Meet the new generation of pirates, or “maritime non-state actors”

How neuroscience helped to rescue Romanian orphans

Help Wanted: Full Time Community Editor

Gay marriage in the year 100 AD

Here’s what that “melting North Pole” really is

The old spaceship engine casing was the perfect place for a cat

Huge gender gap in opinions about drone strikes

What is going on with this terrifying ball of flies?

Your cyborg octopus is almost ready

Yet another awful study on the connection between TV and crime

How to know whether your house is occupied by demonic forces

Off the coast of Maine, lobsters are becoming cannibals

What makes the Machine on Person of Interest a science fiction rarity

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards explains the symbolism of kaiju

What is the weirdest work of science fiction you’ve ever seen?

Is your brain actually running a computer algorithm while you sleep?

Next season’s Vampire Diaries is all doppelgangers all the time

How the new Planet of the Apes movie fits into the series timeline

Read an excerpt from Jeff Carlson’s new bio-thriller Interrupt

How did William Gibson really feel about Blade Runner?

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