Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

Why zapping the brain is sometimes a good idea

Electroshock therapy has been featured in many movies, usually as a total nightmare meted out by sadistic doctors on an innocent patient for no reason and with no benefit. And it’s still used today. But why? Because, despite its depiction on film, it’s painless and effective. Electroshock therapy has a bad reputation, and in some…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 9

The monster compound that could help purify water

As more bacteria and algae are getting harder to kill, researchers are looking for new ways to eliminate them in water supplies. One idea is to unleash an electron-starved compound that will rip them apart. Bacteria swim around in water like they own the place, subdividing and spreading. When that water is heading somewhere important…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 8

A dwarf black hole turns space outside-in

Scientists have come up with a new theory about how ultra-light black holes could be formed, and it’s an entirely new way of looking at the phenomenon. Some black holes might be formed from the outside in, not the inside out. Traditional black holes are formed one basic way. An object in the universe, usually…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 6

10 Great Zingers From Scientists

Just because scientists don’t generally major in English doesn’t mean they can’t turn a phrase. Especially when that phrase is mean-spirited. Take a look at ten verbal burns that scientists have issued over the years. 1. Feynman gets snide with biology students Richard Feynman was a brilliant man with an admirable curiosity and sense of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 6

The making of a chimpanzee dictionary

Researchers recently discovered that chimps have over twice the number of sign language-like gestures than previously thought. Through painstaking effort, the researchers learned to decode which gestures meant, “I like your face,” versus “I’m going to claw your face off.” The first step to compiling a comprehensive database of ape language is full immersion –…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 6

Why so many people drown in the Dead Sea

The popular wisdom is that no one can drown in the Dead Sea because they’ll float on the super-salty waters. That’s wrong, but it’s true that drownings in the Dead Sea are different from drowning deaths in ordinary waters. The Dead Sea straddles the border of Israel and Jordan. Although the name ‘Dead Sea’ doesn’t…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 6

Why does pool water turn your hair green? The Statue of Liberty holds the answer.

People believe that it’s the chlorine in a pool that turns hair green. That’s not true. Fair hair turns green in a pool for the same reason the Statue of Liberty turns green: copper. Long summer months in the pool often have an unpleasant side effect on fair-haired people. After a certain number of long…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 5

Will global warming spawn super-giant, flying ants? Science (sort of) says yes.

The fossil of one of the biggest ants ever has been discovered in Wyoming. Over fifty milliion years ago, it crossed the arctic to get there. Scientists have analyzed the data, and believe that a hot planet fosters the spread of super-sized ants. It’s funny how size affects the way people think of things. An…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 5

When a cockroach is made of silver

Chitin makes cockroaches blend in with pantry shelves and dark linoleum, and yet, without mixing in any new elements, it makes the gold and silver beetles of Costa Rica shine like jewelry. Find out how changing shape can change color. We are used to thinking of color in terms of pigment, a chemical element or…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 5

Ancient chemical weapons that were ahead of their time

Even in the early days of humanity, people were lazy. They wanted a way to kill each other without having to go to all the trouble of bashing each other’s heads in with rocks. So they turned to better living (briefly) through chemistry. Find out how wolf crap and chilis won wars. No one knows…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 4

Researchers take first step to ending the threat of Ebola

Chances of a massive outbreak of Ebola that would either devastate the world or precipitate another Dustin Hoffman action movie just declined slightly. Researchers have found a way to block one of Ebola’s entryways into the body. Back in the mid-nineties, when massive outbreaks of obscure viruses weren’t just used as excuses to make zombie…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 3

Is 64 a “magic” percentage that turns liquid to solid?

There’s a large subfield in physics devoted solely to seeing how stuff behaves when it’s squashed through other stuff. Those in that field may want to adopt 64 as their magic number, because it seems to be the percentage at which the behavior of matter changes in a peculiar way. Materials science doesn’t have the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 2

By 2040, you can eat (and excrete) your diagnosis

Right now we have probiotic yogurt, but with genetically-engineered, color-changing bacteria, we may soon have diagnostic yogurt. I wonder who will be picked as the spokeswoman for that. E. coli is a bacteria that no one wants on their spinach sandwich. E. chromi is the name given to a version of the bacteria that people…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 30

How I accidentally conducted experiments on a human

Recently, scientists performed personality experiments on birds. Some time ago, they conducted them on octopuses. Reading about them, I realize I accidentally conducted personality experiments on a human being. Birds have personalities. Octopuses don’t. These are the results of personality tests conducted by two different groups of scientists, at two different times. Neither is intrinsically…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 29

Crabmonsters and Sentient Darkness: Ten Great Scifi Poems

Poetry has a reputation for being an indulgent way to yammer on about a subject everyone’s already tired of. Sure there are needless epics, but good poetry is actually designed to emphasize the strangest and most dramatic aspects of a situation as quickly as possible. That’s why it can be a perfect venue for science…

Books & Comics Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 29

Professor warns that robot eyes can’t be just ‘plug and play’

Vastly improving digital technology makes artificial retinas a possibility in the next few years. Those who get them will have trouble adjusting. The human eye works in ways which digital receptors can’t replace. Either the humans or the machines will have to adapt. The eye takes in information by allowing light in through a lens…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 29

How people are going to seal Chernobyl. Again.

It seems that the Chernobyl reactor is sealed with a structure that will not hold. Not to worry; a new seal is being readied. But it’s going to be weird. Although nuclear worries are more prevalent than ever, it seemed like Chernobyl was safely past. The area around it had become a spectacular nature preserve.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 29

Bessel Beams: The Coolest Physics Phenomena That Technically Don’t Exist

Bessel Beams are impossible to create, can’t be destroyed, and don’t diffract. In other words, physics has discovered yet another thing that makes no sense. Bessel beams bear the name of Friedrich Bessel, a man whose life straddled the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. And yet he helped create something that seems like it…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 28

Humans can get leprosy through contact with armadillos

Researchers have proven through genetic testing that a certain strain of leprosy can be transmitted between humans and armadillos. These armadillos are thought to be the source of many of the cases of leprosy in the United States. Although most people in the developed world think of leprosy as a problem of the extreme past,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 28

The mystery of the Moon’s eerie green glow

You may have heard about the green flash you can see when the sun sets. Now a photographer at the European Space Agency has captured a green flash emanating from the top of the Moon. What causes that green light? The Atacama desert , stretching between Peru and Chile, is possibly the driest place on…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 28

Esther Inglis-Arkell

Why zapping the brain is sometimes a good idea

The monster compound that could help purify water

A dwarf black hole turns space outside-in

10 Great Zingers From Scientists

The making of a chimpanzee dictionary

Why so many people drown in the Dead Sea

Why does pool water turn your hair green? The Statue of Liberty holds the answer.

Will global warming spawn super-giant, flying ants? Science (sort of) says yes.

When a cockroach is made of silver

Ancient chemical weapons that were ahead of their time

Researchers take first step to ending the threat of Ebola

Is 64 a “magic” percentage that turns liquid to solid?

By 2040, you can eat (and excrete) your diagnosis

How I accidentally conducted experiments on a human

Crabmonsters and Sentient Darkness: Ten Great Scifi Poems

Professor warns that robot eyes can’t be just ‘plug and play’

How people are going to seal Chernobyl. Again.

Bessel Beams: The Coolest Physics Phenomena That Technically Don’t Exist

Humans can get leprosy through contact with armadillos

The mystery of the Moon’s eerie green glow

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘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

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