Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

How menthol helps scientists understand chronic pain

You can taste the cool, fresh flavor of mint for the same reason you feel pain. Flavors like mint have long been associated with coolness, no matter what temperature they were served at. This is because mint is a natural source of the compound known as menthol. Synthesized and natural menthol has been added to…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 14

World War II resistance fighters used government-developed stench as a weapon

It was the early 1940s. A war stretched across the globe. Times were desperate, and there was no method people were too proud to use – including a stink bomb. There are plenty of books, shows, and movies about the French resistance movement during World War II. Other countries are quick to point out that…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 13

How scientists can safely put antifreeze in your frozen yogurt

You want your food to be really cold, but not frozen – unfortunately, chemical antifreeze kills people. Find out how biological antifreeze is formed, and how companies are going to use it. Traditional antifreeze can’t go in food products. It’s not that it’s unpalatable. In fact, it’s so sweet that there are products used in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 12

Why one person’s good smell is another person’s stink

Ever wonder if what you smell is what everyone else smells? Science does, too. And the answer could be no. Hold up a blue t-shirt and ask people what color it is, and you’ll probably always get the right answer. But is that because everyone sees pretty much the same color or is it because…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 11

How the ancient Romans made MSG

Monosodium glutamate is a food additive that enhances flavor. Although it’s frowned upon today, the ancient Romans loved it and ate it with almost every meal. There’s been some debate over what exactly monosodium glutamate does to people. Some people say it gives them severe headaches, numbness, weakness, and even heart palpitations. Scientists could confirm…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 9

Scientists attempt to fight cancer by making human DNA from dogs

Lymphoma is a cancer of certain cells in the immune system. Many genes are thought to be associated with it, but scientists have pinpointed a few by making dog DNA into human DNA. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be any of a group of cancers of the white blood cells – the lymphocytes. In 2010, there were…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 8

10 Scifi films that are better than Serenity and Empire Strikes Back

Look, let’s face it, we all love an internet fight. It’s the American pastime, the sport of kings, and the game of life. The point is, it would be sad if we let the fighting die down after Serenity beat Empire Strikes Back in our March Movie Madness poll. To keep things spicy and send…

Movies Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 8

Zebras are now walking bar codes

Scientists have come up with a system that can scan zebras in photographs the way cashiers scan cans of peas at the grocery store. It’s thought that zebras developed stripes to elude their predators. Solid-colored animals in herds are hard enough to track when they’re stampeding or milling in circles – but a multitude of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 8

All telescopic eyes turn to a mysterious explosion in a distant galaxy

Right now, three major telescopes are focused on a huge, sustained burst of energy coming from the center of a galaxy 3.8 billion light years away. Astronomers are speculating on what it could be. On March 28th, Nasa’s Swift Telescope recorded a massive burst of X-ray and Gamma Ray enerty coming from the constellation Draco.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 7

Tying light into knots

Scientists can tie light into knots. And those knots can stabilize nuclear fusion. Because every day, physics gets crazier. Over the last few thousand years, light has moved from a mystical expression of divine power, to a comprehensible phenomenon, to another piece of lab equipment. ‘Optical tweezers’ or ‘optical traps’ are often used in laboratories…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 7

The potato-shaped Earth that might have been

A European Space Agency’s satellite has mapped out gravitational pull on earth and constructed an image of the lumpy Earth that might have been – if history had been different. Click to view There is a popular myth out there that, if the earth were the size of a billiard ball it would be the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 7

The first mind to split the atom could have changed world history

How would World War II have gone if the idea for the atom bomb had come five years earlier? It sounds like alternate history, but almost happened, thanks to Ida Noddack – the German chemist who first described nuclear fission. Otto Hahn was the man who won 1944 Nobel Prize for his discovery of the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 6

Physics proves that no one really has blue eyes

Although some people have blue eyes, and many babies are born with particularly deep blue irises, no one actually has blue pigment in their irises. They’re just a trick of the light. With the news of Elizabeth Taylor’s death, many people’s thoughts have turned to eye color. It’s known that her famous violet eyes were…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 6

How copper kills flesh-eating bacteria

Recently scientists staged a demonstration in which flesh-eating bacteria died off in droves when placed on a copper surface. Find out why copper engages in bactericide. Hospitals are necessary and efficient institutions meant to gather and train a variety of experts in order to serve any sick person who comes in. They’re also festering pits…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 5

When electronics cool themselves off

Not only is graphene cheap, easy-to-make, and compact, it also manages to cool itself down when it’s part of a transistor. Graphene is a thin sheet of carbon atoms that bond to their neighbors to form a chicken-wire-type lattice precisely one atom thick. That doesn’t sound too spectacular, but it has scientists in a tizzy.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 4

Noise Pollution: Your life can get sucked out through your ears

The World Health Organization calculated deaths and disabilities caused by noise pollution. Turns out the numbers are second only to air pollution. Find out how noise kills. It turns out that, contrary to popular belief, you can talk someone to death. You can also honk, bark, bass line them to death. You just have to…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 3

Rare electronic component made using human blood

Engineers have used human blood to make a ‘memristor,’ a component that remembers its last use and adapts to it. The team of engineers, based in India, announced recently that blood is they key to their work on a technology that could revolutionize data storage. So how does the memristor work? Those even passingly familiar…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 1

Flowers for Allosaurus

This perfectly fossilized flower has been unearthed 125 million years after it grew. Some scientists speculate that it was part of a revolution that took down the dinosaurs. If you had to choose between dinosaurs and flowers, which would you choose? It looks like nature had exactly that choice, and went with the posies. The…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 1

10 Things Made Possible by Poop

Pooping. Everyone does it, right? Might as well make it count. Here are some ways that poop made a difference in the world. 10. Poop shows when new members of a species are introduced Just recently genetic testing on wolf scat in the Isle Royale National Park showed that what had previously thought to be…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 1

Our solar system is wrapped in a mysterious energy ribbon

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer discovered a stange barrier of energy and particles that surrounds the solar system. Recently scientists have isolated the ribbon of energy, but questions remain. The heliosphere, the bubble of energy provided by the sun which envelops all the planets in the solar system, was known to block cosmic rays coming in…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Apr 1

Esther Inglis-Arkell

How menthol helps scientists understand chronic pain

World War II resistance fighters used government-developed stench as a weapon

How scientists can safely put antifreeze in your frozen yogurt

Why one person’s good smell is another person’s stink

How the ancient Romans made MSG

Scientists attempt to fight cancer by making human DNA from dogs

10 Scifi films that are better than Serenity and Empire Strikes Back

Zebras are now walking bar codes

All telescopic eyes turn to a mysterious explosion in a distant galaxy

Tying light into knots

The potato-shaped Earth that might have been

The first mind to split the atom could have changed world history

Physics proves that no one really has blue eyes

How copper kills flesh-eating bacteria

When electronics cool themselves off

Noise Pollution: Your life can get sucked out through your ears

Rare electronic component made using human blood

Flowers for Allosaurus

10 Things Made Possible by Poop

Our solar system is wrapped in a mysterious energy ribbon

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