Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

The science of sleep twitches

The feeling of jerking awake just as sleep begins to overtake us is familiar to most readers. So too is seeing someone in a deep sleep eerily (or adorably) twitching their hands or feet. What is it that makes people do this while they are supposed to be resting? First, the good news. Medical science…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 4

Wolverine’s smelly son brings some emo to the X-Men universe

Recently, Marvel introduced a new little cub to the Wolverine family. Daken is a sexually predatory assassin with super-pheromone powers and massive daddy issues. And he’s written by Marjorie Liu, a famous paranormal romance author. It’s the perfect fit. Here’s why you need more Daken in your life. Daken, the long-lost son of Wolverine, has…

Books & Comics Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

Ten Fear Responses That Make No Sense, And Why We Have Them

Nature, we are told, equipped us with all sorts of instincts to help us survive. However, most of them just get us into trouble. Especially the fear response ones. It’s true that we live in a very different world than the primates who evolved these responses, but often what we do when we’re afraid doesn’t…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

Army tanks should be bright pink with Escher drawings on them

Dull, blendy camouflage is not the best thing to wear in war. This has now been scientifically proven. Let us jettison the green and black, and usher in a new era of “dazzle camouflage”. There was a time, a beautiful time, when tanks and ships were painted in bright colors. They were decorated using bold,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

New study shows that deaf people really do have enhanced sight

The idea that people who are denied one sense have their other senses enhanced has been called a myth. But it looks like that myth was a myth. A recent study showed that deaf people’s eyes develop enhanced vision. It’s not surprising that people who rely on all their senses to get by are amazed…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

How does cling wrap cling?

Plastic wrap hangs on to everything it touches like grim death. Find out how it manages to glom on to nearly every surface in a kitchen. There is a debate about what is more the more responsible substance to use: cling wrap or aluminum foil. In this author’s opinion, the clear winner is aluminum foil.…

Tech News Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 3

Medical science proves that fearing illness makes your illness worse

When in a cardiac emergency, your body turns your own worst fears against you. The more acutely you feel fear, the worse your heart problem gets. It’s like the plot of IT, but without the bad special effects. One of first books to really scare me was a children’s story called Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 2

An easy experiment to prove that you’re eating metal every morning

Do you eat a cereal that’s “fortified with iron”? Do you doubt that this means you’re just eating tiny iron filings? Time to think again. Here’s a quick experiment to make eating cereal every morning either less appealing or way more cool, depending on your point of view. Grab a flaky cereal – preferably one…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 2

Take a look at the world’s oldest mathematical object

Archaeologists have dug up many ancient, notched bones all around the world, but the Ishango bone is different. On it, there are markings that suggest its owners were making the first attempts at actual mathematics. In what was once Zaire, on the shores of Edward lake, a bone was found during an archeological dig. At…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jun 1

Holographic Dark Information Energy: It’s a real thing. Maybe.

There’s a theory that involves every cool buzzword in physics. This theory links the dark energy in the universe with the way photocopies degrade over time. Find out how a loss of information may drive energy creation. Many people reading this will have had a run-in with a photocopier at some point or another in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 31

Physicists test out their CSI skills with chicken wing sauce and dish soap

Although TV detectives can solve a crime with an eyelash and a laboratory full of lasers, real-life crime scene investigation still has some basic hurdles to get over. Recently, it leapt one with a bucket of soap. You know the scene: an investigator ducks under yellow police tape and walks into a house humming with…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 30

How the USSR used hot asphalt to find an American spy plane

When classified planes were being built in Area 51, the Soviet Union’s spy satellites made out their shapes the same way people can tell if a car has been parked in a certain space on a hot day. Regardless of what else has been housed at Area 51, the OXCART project found a home there…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 28

On a star forming in the constellation of Orion, it’s raining crystals

One of the awesome things about the universe is that it’s big enough for crazy-wonderful things to happen. Luckily, astronomy lets us see them. For example, there’s a star where it’s raining olivine crystals right now. Far away, in the constellation of Orion, a young proto-star called HOPS-68, is forming. Stars form by attracting mass…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 27

Ten Strange Animal Hybrids

Once upon a time, there was no such thing as Photoshop. Back then, if people wanted to smash two separate things together into an unholy mixture of art, science, and caprice, they had to hire a painter – and painters tended to be moody. Those who couldn’t put up with the moods turned to crossbreeding,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 27

Proof of the existence of God set down on paper

Kurt Gödel was best known as a mathematician and secondarily known as an extreme eccentric. After his death, he became known for something else: creating an ontological proof of the existence of God. While some branches of reasoning are meant to start with observable phenomena, ontological proof doesn’t grow out of earthly proof. What heavenly…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 27

Important physics breakthrough solves the mystery of how dogs drink

Everything you knew about canine hydration was wrong! You will gasp in astonishment to discover the physical links between dog drinking and cat drinking! And learn the secrets behind messy dog slobber! All will be revealed! For decades, physicists believed that they understood dog drinking. It was well-established that dogs loop their tongues into ladle-like…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 27

How a satellite’s infrared scanner discovered the lost Egyptian pyramids

A satellite equipped with infrared cameras led to an amazing discovery: archeologists were able to see, for the first time, some of Egypt’s long-buried pyramids. Find out how infrared scanning revealed over 3,000 ancient structures deep underneath the sand. Infrared is often thought of as the same thing as heat. It’s not. Heat is the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 26

This is the most distant object in the universe

A massive explosion that was spotted in 2009 has been declared, by some at least, to be the most distant object ever seen. It’s ninety-six percent of the way to the visible limit of the universe. In 2009 astronomers spotted an explosion in the sky. Although it has since been calculated to have the brightness…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 26

The scientist who pretended to be a parrot

Alex the parrot died in 2007, after learning more words than any bird before him. He changed the way people think about animal intelligence. But his education wouldn’t have been possible without an unsung research assistant who pretended to be a parrot. Alex, an African grey parrot, lived only a little over thirty years, but…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 26

How skillful advertisers can word-jack your brain

It’s long been established that the mighty brain is nothing but a mound of putty. We don’t see what we think we do, we don’t remember what we think we do, and we don’t like what we think we do. If we did, advertisers would be out of business. As it is, they’re literally putting…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 25

Esther Inglis-Arkell

The science of sleep twitches

Wolverine’s smelly son brings some emo to the X-Men universe

Ten Fear Responses That Make No Sense, And Why We Have Them

Army tanks should be bright pink with Escher drawings on them

New study shows that deaf people really do have enhanced sight

How does cling wrap cling?

Medical science proves that fearing illness makes your illness worse

An easy experiment to prove that you’re eating metal every morning

Take a look at the world’s oldest mathematical object

Holographic Dark Information Energy: It’s a real thing. Maybe.

Physicists test out their CSI skills with chicken wing sauce and dish soap

How the USSR used hot asphalt to find an American spy plane

On a star forming in the constellation of Orion, it’s raining crystals

Ten Strange Animal Hybrids

Proof of the existence of God set down on paper

Important physics breakthrough solves the mystery of how dogs drink

How a satellite’s infrared scanner discovered the lost Egyptian pyramids

This is the most distant object in the universe

The scientist who pretended to be a parrot

How skillful advertisers can word-jack your brain

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

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

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

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

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

Russia Allegedly Swung at VPNs but Accidentally Hit Its Own Banking Sector Instead

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