Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

Low-Tech Geohacking Methods that Changed The World

Geohacking may well be the science of the 21st century — with ambitious schemes like turning the Sahara Desert into a forest being bandied about. But we’ve actually been terraforming our own planet for thousands of years — and some of the most low-tech geohacking methods have had the most profound effects on the planet.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 29

Watch an astronaut use LEGOs to make a square planet orbit a cylinder

See Don Pettit play with LEGOs! See him make sparks! See him make a block of styrofoam orbit a Van de Graaff generator like a little square planet! See it — and remember for the billionth time why nerds in space are awesome. There are a couple of things I like about this video. The…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 29

Top 10 Most Traumatizing Movies About Toys

Today sees the release of Ted, the movie about a teddy bear who grows up and gets foul-mouthed along with his owner — and we’re pretty sure anyone who still loves stuffed animals will be scarred emotionally. But no matter what, Ted can’t be one of the most soul-wrenching toy movies — because so many…

Movies Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 29

The Easiest, Most Horrifying Way to Create Artificial Wombs

What if you could incubate human fetuses outside your own body? In, say, a nice safe machine, or a facility somewhere? We’ve wondered about this before. Artificial wombs could help us reintroduce cloned extinct species into the wild, or perhaps even help couples with fertility problems. https://gizmodo.com/where-is-my-uterine-replicator-aka-artificial-womb-385976 But what’s the best way to create an…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 28

Futurama‘s latest episode is an homage to The Far Side and a joy forever

I hate political satires. I hate satires on current events. Last night’s Futurama, entitled Decision 3012, was both. And yet, it was incredibly great. It includes everything from Nixon hamming it up to a treatise on the time travel paradox in the Terminator movies — but the real reason to watch is the endless sight…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 28

The visual capture illusion makes you believe ventriloquist dummies are alive

We’re constantly being told how terrible our hearing and sense of smell are, compared to other animals. Perhaps that’s why we rely on our eyes. But there are plenty of times when our eyes deceive us, even when our other senses are telling us the truth. When you’re believing your lying eyes instead of your…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 27

How to Give People the Feeling of Déjà Vu

You’ve probably experienced the sensation of déjà vu — that eerie sense that you get when you know you have seen or done something before, even if you couldn’t have. It’s the closest we can come to experiencing a real-life time loop. https://gizmodo.com/lets-do-the-time-loop-again-and-again-5206173 How does your brain make things seem familiar when they aren’t? Let’s…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 26

How many calories does thinking burn?

One of the main reasons humans are the animal equivalent of gas-guzzling SUVs is our giant freak brains. Our grey matter burns a lot of energy, and that means we need a lot of food to fuel them. But if that’s the case, why aren’t you losing weight just by sitting at your desk? Last…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 25

You can accidentally get an STD from a koala

Yes. You can. Now try to sleep tonight. Apparently, the koala population is threatened by a terrible and widespread outbreak of chlamydia. And it can be spread to humans. No. Not that way. Between 2001 and 2008, koala populations dropped 45 percent in urban areas, and 15 percent in nature. Researchers were puzzled as to…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 23

A Simple Illusion that Completely Screws Up Your Sense of Space

The Café Wall Illusion is so simple, it’s also called the Kindergarten Illusion. It’s a combination of color, line, and tiling, and it completely screws up people’s spatial reasoning. Plenty of people probably knew about this illusion before, but the credit for officially describing it goes to Richard Gregory, a psychologist in the 1970s. A…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 22

The Science of Accents

Brave is coming out this weekend, so we can all spend our weekend with melifluous Scottish accents ringing in our ears. But where exactly do accents come from in the first place? How do we get them? What’s the mechanism by which they evolve? Here’s our complete guide to the science of accented speech. It’s…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 22

10 Law Enforcement Careers That You Can Have in the Future

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups. But in the future? We’re going to need more groups than that. There are going to be a lot of new opportunities for crime, and that will mean a whole bunch of new policing jobs. Here are 10 jobs…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 22

Poetic Physics: Measuring Stars By Their Internal Music

Asteroseismology is letting us measure distant planetary systems with sunlike stars. How? By measuring the way a star “breathes” in response to its on internal music. Find out how physics takes another run at getting its master’s degree in poetry. A mysterious star system was recently discovered. Usually, solar systems consist of rocky planets hugging…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 21

The Failed Experiment That Shows Why Cheetahs are Twice as Fast as Greyhounds

Cheetahs can run 60 miles per hour, at top speed. By comparison, greyhounds can only run about half as fast, despite having roughly the same size, weight, shape and running motion as cheetahs. Why are those cats so fast, and why are those dogs so slow? A group of scientists, probably after losing too much…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 21

Futurama‘s Season Premiere: All Heart and No Arms

Futurama season seven started off with two new episodes, full of the series’ unique mixture of sappy moments and cold-blooded mayhem. Find out what happens when Bender procreates (a second time), and when Fry and Leela have to find a way to meet each other half-way. Spoilers ahead… The Bots and the Bees As we…

Television Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 21

Everything You Need to Know About Futurama

Futurama returns tonight for an amazing seventh season. But what if you’ve never watched the show, or just lost track of all the changes the lovable gang of misfits has been through over the years? We’ve got you covered. Here’s our crash course in Futurama-ology, including love, heroism, having sex with one’s own grandmother, and…

Television Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 20

The Virus that Inspired the Whole Zombie Genre

Zombies have come to dominate pop culture — and the explanations for their origins range from dark magic to strange satellites. But the concept of zombies has been around for thousands of years — and it looks like the idea originally came from the world of epidemiology, not the world of legends. Biting, fear of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 19

The Science of Being Scared to Death

Fear isn’t just the mind-killer… it can actually kill your body as well. The notion of being scared to death may sound like a myth, but it does happen to people — and animals. The authors of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Health And Science of Healing examined the question in detail.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 18

See black and white turn to color in this optical illusion

Benham’s disk is a simple illusion with a spinning circle, half black, half white streaked with short black lines. There is no color involved, and yet, when the disk spins, people can see bright streaks of it swirling in the top. Why? One of the easiest things to discern is different colors. People who can’t…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 16

Plant comes up with a new chemical weapon in the war against mice

Plants have it rough. In order to spread their seeds, they have to cater to the animals that eat them, and that means watching their offspring get eaten in the hopes that they’ll be pooped out somewhere better. But when mice start thwarting the best-laid plans of vegetation, it’s up to the plants to strike…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 15

Esther Inglis-Arkell

Low-Tech Geohacking Methods that Changed The World

Watch an astronaut use LEGOs to make a square planet orbit a cylinder

Top 10 Most Traumatizing Movies About Toys

The Easiest, Most Horrifying Way to Create Artificial Wombs

Futurama‘s latest episode is an homage to The Far Side and a joy forever

The visual capture illusion makes you believe ventriloquist dummies are alive

How to Give People the Feeling of Déjà Vu

How many calories does thinking burn?

You can accidentally get an STD from a koala

A Simple Illusion that Completely Screws Up Your Sense of Space

The Science of Accents

10 Law Enforcement Careers That You Can Have in the Future

Poetic Physics: Measuring Stars By Their Internal Music

The Failed Experiment That Shows Why Cheetahs are Twice as Fast as Greyhounds

Futurama‘s Season Premiere: All Heart and No Arms

Everything You Need to Know About Futurama

The Virus that Inspired the Whole Zombie Genre

The Science of Being Scared to Death

See black and white turn to color in this optical illusion

Plant comes up with a new chemical weapon in the war against mice

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

Artemis 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Researchers Discover How to Add Psilocybin, DMT, and Other Psychedelics to Tobacco

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

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