Cyriaque Lamar, Author at Gizmodo

The case of the gonorrhea-giving inflatable doll (a.k.a. the worst medical mystery ever)

Doctors are often confronted with less-than-savory aspects of the human condition. In the following medical paper, two doctors must solve the enigma of two sailors, one inflatable doll, and a communal case of the clap. This mystery is plumbed in Ellen Kleist and Harald Moi’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning paper (“Transmission of Gonorrhea Through an Inflatable…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

The Pollinator Frock: a dress that feeds the bees

With global bee populations shrinking drastically, designer Karen Ingham’s decided our winged pollinating friends need all the help they can get. Enter the Pollinator Frock, a garment doused in a nectar-like solution that’s designed to help foraging bees. Here’s how Ingham describes the project: The Pollinator Frocks Project is a limited edition collection of clothing…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

Cross-stitched Borg serenity prayer is a kinder, gentler way of saying “Resistance is futile”

Remember those Star Wars daily affirmations from scifi needlepoint maven Steotch? Here’s a new one featuring Locutus of Borg, daintly imploring you to kiss your free will goodbye. It can be yours for $399. [Via Neatorama] https://gizmodo.com/slave-leia-adds-flair-to-your-cross-stitch-samplers-5671321

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

Check out this Half-Life fan film, Beyond Black Mesa

A group of Half-Life fans were so enamored of Valve’s classic first-person shooter that they produced a fan film based on the scifi game’s mythology. As always, a crowbar is an essential tool for staying alive. Here’s the $1,200 project’s synopsis from the filmmakers: Inspired by the Half-Life Video Game series, this is an action…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

Are these the most inexplicable comic book ads in the history of the written word?

I honestly have no idea what’s going in this 1978 AAU shoe ad. A homeless man begins screaming about a death ray in his shoes, so a superhero with a lisp punts him into the ionosphere. What? My favorite part of all this is when Dirty Sneaker yammering about his plan to anyone who’ll listen,…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

What’s in the Tron 3 teaser clips bundled with the Tron Legacy DVD?

Tron Legacy wasn’t the box office juggernaut that Disney hoped it would be, but a sequel’s nonetheless being bandied about. New details about the Tron Legacy DVD teaser indicate where Tron 3’s headed. Spoilers! https://gizmodo.com/could-the-tron-legacy-sequel-be-right-around-the-corner-5732435 Harry Knowles of AICN spoke with someone who worked on the DVD teaser shoot last November, and this is what…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 23

What does a ménage à trois between whales look like?

A three-way between cetaceans involves two pliant, 7-foot-long penises, one well-attended female, and a free-love take on competitive mating. NSFW, if you haven’t learned about the birds and the bees yet. Over at Scientopia, blogmistress Scicurious brings to readers’ attention the 2005 paper “Observations of a Female North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in Simultaneous…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

New Spider-Man movie photo catches the hero in his full suit, enjoying a Spider-prance

After this week’s prior picture of Marc Webb’s full-suited Spider-Man, here’s a new look at the wall-crawler in action. This is likely a stunt suit, but it’s a much clearer shot of his costume and web-shooters. http://io9.com/5737396/first-photos-and-video-of-spider+man-in-action-plus-joe-johnston-explains-why-captain-america-is-so-much-fun [Photo: Eric Ford/On Location News via MTV]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Which Cobra character died this week? We talk to G.I. Joe publisher IDW

Last Wednesday, a major character in G.I. Joe mythology kicked the bucket in IDW’s G.I. Joe: Cobra miniseries. Who was it, and what does his passing mean for the Joe comic book series? Spoilers way on! The assassination of Cobra Commander (at the hands of Joe undercover agent Chuckles) occurred in Christos Gage and Mike…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Batman fan film imagines The Dark Knight Rises with a different villain

The villains of The Dark Knight Rises were announced this week, but director Dale Fabriger’s short film The Rat imagines the Bat-mythos with a new nemesis. In this short, two cops reflect on a Gotham with Batman on the lam. https://gizmodo.com/villains-of-nolans-batman-3-a-crazy-cat-lady-and-a-wre-5737849 [Via Dale Fabriger — thanks Brian!]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

This six-story highway through Manhattan is a great lunatic moment in urban planning

As controversial as Robert Moses’ automobile-heavy redesign of New York City was, none of his projects matched the sheer insanity of this skyscraper-sized highway proposed by one-time NYC health commissioner Dr. John A. Harriss in 1930. To be fair, this concept art from Modern Mechanics magazine isn’t the most ridiculous club sandwich-style motorway ever proposed.…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Hidden stun guns allow robotic jockeys to cheat at camel racing

A new scandal’s rocking Dubai’s robotic camel racing circuit. Criminals are covertly outfitting the camels’ mechanical jockeys with stun guns that give their mounts an extra charge. In other news, this is one of the stranger headlines I’ve ever written. From the Telegraph UK: […] Dubai police have confirmed they uncovered a gang of dealers…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Kaiju anatomical charts reveal organs that allow monsters to shoot ninja stars out of their eyes

You’re probably familiar with the anatomical illustrations of Godzilla and his pals, but have you ever seen these cross-sections of Gamera and his buddies? Check out eyelids that eject shurikens and dorsal spikes that shoot rainbows. https://gizmodo.com/internal-organs-that-allow-giant-monsters-to-breathe-fi-5069058 Over at Pink Tentacle, there’s a great round-up of Daiei Motion Picture’s kaiju anatomy. For example, Barugon’s (above)…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Suffering Sappho! Wonder Woman TV show to air on NBC

A mere two weeks after every network passed on it, David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman has been lassoed in by NBC. The pilot features Diana Prince as a harried crime fighter/corporate executive saving Los Angeles from itself. Said Deadline of NBC’s pilot season pick-up of the show: The project is described as a reinvention of…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 22

Syd Mead to design Neill Blomkamp’s 100-years-in-the-future flick Elysium

Impressed with District 9? So was legendary Blade Runner and Tron concept artist Syd Mead. He was so taken with Neill Blomkamp’s aliens-in-South Africa movie that he’s been hired to design the sets of Blomkamp’s next film, Elysium. Mead is a huge catch for Blomkamp given that the designer doesn’t sign on for any old…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 19

Meet the robotic ghost knifefish, the cyberfish who will tame the roiling seas

“Robotic ghost knifefish” sounds like an affiliate member of the Wu-Tang Clan, but it’s actually an awesome aquatic automaton built by researchers at Northwestern University. Check out this marine machine in motion. This robot’s design was based on the morphology of the Amazonian black ghost knifefish, a shimmying fish that swims vertically to navigate tree…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 19

Become an evil henchman with this HYDRA truck from the Captain America movie

For those readers aspiring to be nefarious peons in a supervillain organization, this vintage Berliet military truck emblazoned with the HYDRA insignia from Captain America: The First Avenger should suffice nicely. Several HYDRA trucks are being auctioned off in March. Here’s what Captain America executive producer Nigel Gostelow had to say about the auction to…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar Jan 19

An abandoned quarantine island, in plain sight of New York City

A stone’s throw away from Manhattan, Bronx, and LaGuardia Airport sits North Brother Island, an one-time quarantine facility that housed infectious individuals like “Typhoid” Mary Mallon. The island has since been exiled from the surrounding metropolis and left to nature. Despite being in the East River (and basically next door to Rikers Island), North Brother…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 19

Is this a pygmy mammoth painted on an Egyptian tomb wall?

A curious, large-tusked elephantine creature appears in the tomb of Rekhmire, an Egyptian vizier who died sometime between 1479-1401 BCE. Could this creature be an extinct pygmy mammoth from the Mediterranean or simply the creative license of a temple artist? Over at Tetrapod Zoology, Darren Naish notes that there’s the outside possibility that the Rekhmire…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 19

This painting of Thor versus Jaws needs to be airbrushed on a van

Here’s a tableau that belongs on the side of your Mazda Bongo. In anticipation of the upcoming Thor movie, Marvel’s releasing variant covers of the thunder god dropping by famous Hollywood scenes. Check out the Asgardian with Frankenstein’s monster too. Greg Horn’s Jaws tribute is the variant cover for Heroes for Hire #5, and Mike…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar Jan 18

Cyriaque Lamar

The case of the gonorrhea-giving inflatable doll (a.k.a. the worst medical mystery ever)

The Pollinator Frock: a dress that feeds the bees

Cross-stitched Borg serenity prayer is a kinder, gentler way of saying “Resistance is futile”

Check out this Half-Life fan film, Beyond Black Mesa

Are these the most inexplicable comic book ads in the history of the written word?

What’s in the Tron 3 teaser clips bundled with the Tron Legacy DVD?

What does a ménage à trois between whales look like?

New Spider-Man movie photo catches the hero in his full suit, enjoying a Spider-prance

Which Cobra character died this week? We talk to G.I. Joe publisher IDW

Batman fan film imagines The Dark Knight Rises with a different villain

This six-story highway through Manhattan is a great lunatic moment in urban planning

Hidden stun guns allow robotic jockeys to cheat at camel racing

Kaiju anatomical charts reveal organs that allow monsters to shoot ninja stars out of their eyes

Suffering Sappho! Wonder Woman TV show to air on NBC

Syd Mead to design Neill Blomkamp’s 100-years-in-the-future flick Elysium

Meet the robotic ghost knifefish, the cyberfish who will tame the roiling seas

Become an evil henchman with this HYDRA truck from the Captain America movie

An abandoned quarantine island, in plain sight of New York City

Is this a pygmy mammoth painted on an Egyptian tomb wall?

This painting of Thor versus Jaws needs to be airbrushed on a van

‘Rise of the TMNT’ Could’ve Introduced Even More Turtles

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar With Dolby Audio Finds a Prime Day–Level Price Point Outside the Sale Window

Bitdefender Total Security Now Costs Less than Your Coffee Order — Covers Up to 5 Devices With One Subscription

10 Cursed Islands to Visit Ahead of ‘Widow’s Bay’

NASA Sets the Record Straight on That ‘Missing Chunk’ of Artemis 2’s Heat Shield

Beats Solo 4 Falls Back to All-Time Low, Now Emerging as a Cheaper Alternative to AirPods Max in Apple’s Headphone Lineup

‘The Meta Brand Is Not Something People Want to Put Anywhere Near Their Face,’ Says Snapchat CEO

DNA From 1,500-Year-Old Korean Mass Grave Exposes a Brutal Ancient Ritual

Intel May Have an Answer to AMD’s Most Powerful Gaming CPUs

Google Nest Cam (Wired, 3rd Gen) Hits Its Lowest Price as 2025 Gemini Indoor Security Cameras Go on Clearance

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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