Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

Pent-Up Energy Causes Drops to Hurl Themselves Off a Teflon-Covered Thread

When you see a droplet resting on a counter or coalescing around a thread, you don’t generally think of it as a coiled spring, but under the right circumstances that’s what it is. In this video, we can see how the spring releases. A droplet beading on the floor, or on a spider’s web, looks…

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Please Stop Saying It Follows Is a Horror Movie About STDs. It’s Not.

It Follows is rightly credited as being one of the scariest horror movies in recent years. It’s also frequently described as a film about an STD that turns supernatural. And I completely disagree with that description. Warning: Spoilers for the entire movie. Most people, including Cheryl Eddy, who did the fantastic review of It Follows…

Movies Esther Inglis-Arkell

NASA Put a Model F-18 in a Water Tunnel—And It Looked Spectacular

This isn’t a computer-generated image. It’s an actual picture of what happened when NASA decided to test the air flow around an F-18 by putting a model plane, and a lot of dye, in a water tunnel. These images were created at the Dryden Flight Research Center, back in 1985. Specifically, they were created in…

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Anise Seed Is Catnip for Dogs

If you’re a dog owner and wish there were some special way to turn an ordinary toy into a special doggy treat with the addition of an herb, good news! Dogs are nearly as crazy for anise seed as cats are for catnip. Anise is a plant that’s sometimes known as fennel (although technically fennel…

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This Video Will Show You Three Creatures You Never Knew Existed In Three Minutes

These creatures, found around the Galapagos, are so weird that the scientists filming them don’t even know what some of them are. This is film from the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, a vessel dedicated primarily to exploration, and incidentally to showing us footage of some of the strangest creatures on the planet. This video was taken…

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You Have Taste Receptors in Your Colon. Here’s Why.

Taste receptors don’t only exist in your mouth. You can find them all over your body, including your stomach, your lungs, and your colon. Why? It turns out the taste receptors are much more versatile tools than we suppose. Some of you might have developed a taste for bitter foods. Those few are probably skinnier…

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The Joys of Purging Your Collection

Books, comics, movies, action figures—they all accumulate. And though we wanted them more than anything when we got them, getting rid of them is almost better than buying them in the first place. Here are the unexpected pleasures to be found while you thin out your collection. The Fun of Sloughing Off Detritus There may…

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Cooking Garlic the “Wrong” Way Can Make It Turn Blue

People who cook garlic have sometimes been alarmed to see their garlic turn green, blue, or turquoise as it cooked. What the hell happened? Bacterial infestation? Poison added by assassins? Actually, it was just chemistry. I personally have never seen garlic turn blue, but after reading about it I know what I’m going to do…

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The Bologna Stone Was a Glowing Mystery for 400 Years

The Bologna Stone was discovered in 1603, at the base of a dead volcano near Bologna. When treated with heat, and exposed to sunlight, it would glow for hours—sometimes days. It took 400 years to figure out why. In 1603, Vincenzo Cascariolo was digging in the volcanic rock near Bologna, Italy. The man was a…

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UK Doctors Actually Got Together and Studied How Much Ears Grow as We Age

A group of UK doctors got together and measured ear growth with age. Then they decided to teach us all the European terms for big ears. Because why not? We all know that ears and other body parts made of cartilaginous material grow as we age, but no one really knew how much it grew.…

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These Monsters Are Raising an Army of Spiders and Releasing Them Into the Wild

Bad news, Britons. There are people in your midst who are trying to increase the spider population in your nation. Of all the things that they can be doing, those web-huggers at the London Zoo have decided to take the biggest spider in their country and increase its numbers. Not only does the great raft…

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We’re Still Using a Medicine That Was Fished Directly Out of a Sewer

Allergic to penicillin? Then you could be shot full of something that came out of a Sardinian sewer. Here’s the backstory of the important medicine that we found floating around in our own feces. Typhoid fever is a life-threatening sickness. Although it’s rare in areas with good drinking water purification systems, worldwide it claims 200,000…

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How the Hell Did I Not Know About the Burrowing Owl?

It goes out during the day. It runs to catch its prey. And, as its name suggests, the burrowing owl lives in holes in the ground. And more and more of them are coming to America. The burrowing owl looks like your typical owl—maybe a bit longer in the leg than most. But while most…

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Why is This Block of Plutonium Glowing Like an Ember?

This block of plutonium appears to be glowing like a hot coal. Not a good sign! The glow is due to a property called pyrophoricity. A pyrophoric material will burst into flames when it comes into contact with everyday materials like water and oxygen. Plutonium has a high level of pyrophoricity—so much that it has…

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Can Music Really “Wake” Someone From a Coma?

Every now and again we get news stories about how someone in a coma “woke up” when their loved ones played or sang their favorite song. It sounds like sentimental exaggeration. According to at least a couple of studies, music really might help. Musicians from James Blunt to Green Day to Adele have been credited…

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The Man From U.N.C.L.E Proves That Style Is Substance

You want fun? You want fast? You want pretty? Go see The Man From U.N.C.L.E. But while you’re there, you might get something more. This movie is a lesson on style, and how it can be much more than just gloss. If you left the theater in the first twenty minutes, you might go with…

Movies Esther Inglis-Arkell

Scientists Announce New Discovery in Fight to Save This Unreasonably Cute Bird

We recognize that it’s important to save all kinds of species from extinction, but come on. Doesn’t it help when they’re adorable? Scientists have found out information that might allow them to help an incredibly cute bird that you’ll actually care about. Look at this bird. It looks like someone gave a pebble a fur…

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Getting a Tiny Bit of This Element on Your Skin Will Make You Reek of Garlic for Weeks

Tellurium is usually found stuck to various metals in the ground. It forms ores with gold, silver, copper, and lead. When refining these metals, some unfortunate people have come into contact with purified tellurium—and exposure means you reek of garlic for weeks. Tellurium was a favorite among early alchemists, because it was often found hidden…

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7 Reasons Horror Movie Sequels Can Only Get Less and Less Scary

People go to horror movie sequels for many reasons—genuine interest, idle curiosity, tradition, blind optimism—but they almost never go to be scared. Horror movie sequels don’t just negate the point of the previous movie, the negate the point of their entire genre. They can’t help being increasingly less scary than the originals, and here are…

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Investigators Can Get Your DNA From the Guts of Maggots That Have Fed On You

Some crime scenes don’t have bodies. What they have is a place where a body was, and a suspiciously large amount of maggots. Up until recently, the maggots could only have been a very bad sign. Now, it seems that maggots can help genetically identify their last meals. According to the case studies in this…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Esther Inglis-Arkell

Pent-Up Energy Causes Drops to Hurl Themselves Off a Teflon-Covered Thread

Please Stop Saying It Follows Is a Horror Movie About STDs. It’s Not.

NASA Put a Model F-18 in a Water Tunnel—And It Looked Spectacular

Anise Seed Is Catnip for Dogs

This Video Will Show You Three Creatures You Never Knew Existed In Three Minutes

You Have Taste Receptors in Your Colon. Here’s Why.

The Joys of Purging Your Collection

Cooking Garlic the “Wrong” Way Can Make It Turn Blue

The Bologna Stone Was a Glowing Mystery for 400 Years

UK Doctors Actually Got Together and Studied How Much Ears Grow as We Age

These Monsters Are Raising an Army of Spiders and Releasing Them Into the Wild

We’re Still Using a Medicine That Was Fished Directly Out of a Sewer

How the Hell Did I Not Know About the Burrowing Owl?

Why is This Block of Plutonium Glowing Like an Ember?

Can Music Really “Wake” Someone From a Coma?

The Man From U.N.C.L.E Proves That Style Is Substance

Scientists Announce New Discovery in Fight to Save This Unreasonably Cute Bird

Getting a Tiny Bit of This Element on Your Skin Will Make You Reek of Garlic for Weeks

7 Reasons Horror Movie Sequels Can Only Get Less and Less Scary

Investigators Can Get Your DNA From the Guts of Maggots That Have Fed On You

Sonos Ace ANC Headphones Quietly Drop Again to a New Low Right After the AirPods Max 2 Launch

Amazon’s 50-Inch Smart Fire TV Is Still 40% Off After the Spring Sale, Price Could Jump Back Anytime

Ray-Ban and Oakley Meta Glasses Now on GlassesUSA With 50% Off Lens Upgrades, Get Vision AI Glasses for Less

This Windows 11 Pro Mini PC Shows Up at a Record Low on Amazon After the Spring Sale, No Need for a Tower Desktop

The ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Moment Designed for You to Gawk at Hugh Jackman’s Chiseled Body Is Now an Action Figure

Marshall Emberton III Bluetooth Speaker Isn’t Supposed to Be This Cheap, Even the New Midnight Blue at an All-Time Low

2026 MacBook Pro (M5 Pro) Breaks Into Its First Sale on Amazon, While Apple Store Still Has None on the New Laptop

Don’t Hold Your Breath for a ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Movie

What’s Actually the Best Way to Get a Good Night’s Sleep? We Asked Scientists

Game to Lose Online Mode After Its Server Partner Pivots to You’ll Never Guess What

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

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?