Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain

Most people agree that hypnosis does something to your brain — specifically something that makes people make fools of themselves at hypnotist shows. But how does it actually affect the human brain? Can it make people recall events perfectly? Are post-hypnotic suggestions a bunch of baloney? What is the truth about hypnotism? Top image: Shutterstock.com…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 8

During the World Wars, people modified their cars to run on gas — literally

This guy isn’t carrying heavy furniture or a partially-deflated hot air balloon. You’re looking at a converted car with a bag full of gas set to push it down the street. In the fuel shortages ahead, this might be the way to go. During wars, everything is scarce. An army needs a massive amount of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 8

These gorgeous sand patterns were created by a few sounds

Chladni figures are patterns that appear on surfaces when they are made to vibrate at certain resonances. It sounds dry, but throw in some sand and just the right frequencies and it becomes an amazing video art project. Short burst or single waves of many sizes can travel through a surface, but only a few…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 8

The very first robot “brains” were made of old alarm clocks

Elmer and Elsie, two electronic ‘tortoises’ built in the late 1940s by neurobiologist Grey Walter, were the first robots in history programmed to “think” the way biological brains do. What did they do with their freedom? What everyone tries to do: stay alive. Walter was interested in brains. He studied electroencephalographs and collaborated with Pavlov’s…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 7

Create Hunt for Red October‘s fictional submarine propulsion system… in a teacup

Some of you are old enough to remember a pre-30 Rock Alec Baldwin trying to wrangle Sean Connery’s rogue Russian submarine captain and his top-secret magnetohydrodynamic propulsion system in The Hunt for Red October. The system doesn’t exist, in reality, but you can make a teacup version of it, using some basic materials. Bring the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 6

Create your own version of the world’s earliest electric motor

It’s easy to create a motor that can spin up to ten thousand revolutions per minute powered by a single battery. All it takes is a battery, a wire, a screw, and a circular magnet. You can build a tiny homopolar motor within a minute. Most motors are tough to build. This is because they’re…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 5

The psychedelic physics behind the lava lamp’s hypnotic goo

The lava lamp glooped its way into pop culture history with its ascending and descending blobs of wax. Although some lava lamp science is known, there are still a few mysteries that only its makers know for sure. Find out about the knowns and unknowns of the lava lamp. The lava lamp shows the difference…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 3

How Tortoiseshell Cats Show the Limits of Cloning

When we first discovered the structure of DNA, it looked like all of life’s mysteries were at our fingertips. We could control life and death! But soon enough, we started to run up against the limits of our awesome power over genetics — and one of the harshest taunts comes from the simple tortoiseshell cat.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 2

Scientists prove once and for all that there’s life on Earth

A hotly-debated subject is at last put to rest as scientists announce that they have conclusively confirmed that there is, in fact, life on Earth. They discovered this by looking at the Moon. It may seem like a pointless exercise — but this discover could help us find life on exoplanets. It has long been…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 2

10 Science and Technology Breakthroughs That Caused Widespread Panic

New ideas can be scary — and that includes new scientific and technological discoveries. When inventors create a brand new device, the futureshock can drive people insane with fear. Over the years, people have been sure that everything from Halley’s Comet to cellphones would bring the world to an end. Take a look at the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 2

The man who invented the heart-lung machine was better known for a creative use of pig hairs

Did you know that the heart-lung machine was invented twice? And that, in typical scientific fashion, almost no one credits the original inventor. Instead, this neuroscientist is known for calibrated pig bristles. To be fair, he didn’t invent those, and no one today credits the pigs. The oldest rule in science is that the person…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 1

Why Blood Looks Blue Inside Your Veins

No one, no matter how snooty, has actual blue blood. So why do veins look blue under the skin? Turns out, the answer lies in physics, not biology. Although de-oxygenated blood is coded blue in medical diagrams and anatomical models, we all began suspecting that this was not an actual representation around the third time…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 1

Magneto would approve of new magnetized yeast cells

Some Frankenstein yeast cells had part of their own DNA removed and some human cell tissue put in. Why did this happen? So they could be so stuffed full of iron that they’re super-magnetized and moved with magnets. Are us mere mortals far behind? Harvard Medical School scientists are pleased to announce that they’ve taken…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 1

Should the Great Plains become Pleistocene Park?

So we’ve gone to all that trouble to clone ourselves a mammoth. Let’s say we even give it a mate. What do we do with them? Perhaps the mammoths, and other creatures, shouldn’t just be in zoos and captive breeding programs. Instead, maybe we could recreate a whole ecosystem from scratch. Top image: Rpongsaj on…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 29

How to Make an Egg Explode

Why dye eggs this Easter when you could make them detonate instead? An egg and some hydrogen gas make for a fun (but dangerous) physics demonstration. Check out a few explosions — and a few words of explanation. A fun demonstration of pyrotechnics, and chemistry — and a little physics — begins with a hollowed…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 28

The first flying car was based on the Ford Pinto, and killed its inventor

If you’re one of those people who’s always wondering why the flying car hasn’t been invented yet, you’re too late. The first flying car was already created back in the 1970s — but don’t get too excited. It was literally a huge disaster. Over the last year, scientists have been trying to perfect a real…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 27

How to change your blood type without even trying

Blood types were once thought to be with people for life. And, in almost every case, they’re still thought to be with a person for life. But there is one patient whose blood type actually changed. A liver transplant, apparently, has a shot of changing a person’s blood type. There was once a simple time…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 25

Manufacturing a rainbow whose colors never fade

Once again science gets poetic, and colorful. Scientists at the University of Buffalo have found a way to manufacture a structured rainbow that never fades. The bright iridescent colors on a butterfly’s wing never fade. The gold and silver beetles, which have carapaces that shine and reflect like the were sitting on the bumper of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 24

10 Science Policies We Wish the Government Would Enforce

There’s been a lot of talk recently about how science is defined and who does it best. I don’t much care to follow that, because it makes me stomp around my room shouting at the walls, and that’s a waste of time. I’d rather discuss science in a way that makes other people shout at…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 24

Why are electrons doomed to remain forever separated from their beloved protons?

We all know the story. Electrons and protons are attracted to each other. That’s why a balloon rubbed on hair clings to clothes. The electrons it gained are crying out for protons and dragging the rest of the balloon along with them. But electrons and protons are right next to each other in the atom.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 24

Esther Inglis-Arkell

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain

During the World Wars, people modified their cars to run on gas — literally

These gorgeous sand patterns were created by a few sounds

The very first robot “brains” were made of old alarm clocks

Create Hunt for Red October‘s fictional submarine propulsion system… in a teacup

Create your own version of the world’s earliest electric motor

The psychedelic physics behind the lava lamp’s hypnotic goo

How Tortoiseshell Cats Show the Limits of Cloning

Scientists prove once and for all that there’s life on Earth

10 Science and Technology Breakthroughs That Caused Widespread Panic

The man who invented the heart-lung machine was better known for a creative use of pig hairs

Why Blood Looks Blue Inside Your Veins

Magneto would approve of new magnetized yeast cells

Should the Great Plains become Pleistocene Park?

How to Make an Egg Explode

The first flying car was based on the Ford Pinto, and killed its inventor

How to change your blood type without even trying

Manufacturing a rainbow whose colors never fade

10 Science Policies We Wish the Government Would Enforce

Why are electrons doomed to remain forever separated from their beloved protons?

Wearables Are Getting Very Messy

Trump Wants to Start Privatizing TSA in Latest Budget Proposal

Lost Warship From Battle of Copenhagen Found After 225 Years

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