Esther Inglis-Arkell, Author at Gizmodo

If Satan Talked To You Backwards, Could You Actually Understand Him?

So the Dark Lord is talking to you backwards through the medium of your favorite record. What message could you get from this speech? Find out, and listen to some “backmasked” messages. During the Satanic Panic, there was concern that rock bands were the tools of the devil. They were engaging in “backmasking,” playing messages…

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A “Horse Storm” Is A Real Thing (But Nothing Like You Would Imagine)

Under the right conditions, a boat traveling over the ocean or down a river can get badly damaged from a special kind of storm. This storm comes from inside the boat, when its cargo of horses gets a little too restless – in a very coordinated way. The question of how to get a horse…

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Gout, Urine, And Guinea Pigs: The Weird History Of Lithium

Gather round and I shall tell you a tale! A tale of a mistaken assumption that started a weird, long science odyssey that included urine, steak, and guinea pigs, and ended in a miracle drug. Our story begins in 1859, when a doctor named Alfred Garrod discovered high uric acid levels in the blood of…

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These “Swamp Dogs” Might Be What America’s First Dogs Looked Like

These animals are officially called “Carolina Dogs.” A less poetic name would be “Carolina Swamp Dogs,” since until 1970s, the Carolina swamp is pretty much where they lived. Early tests of their DNA show that they might be what the first dogs in America looked like. Dogs have been here for thousands of years, but…

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Two Physicists Wanted To Explode A Nuclear Bomb To Find Neutrinos

In the 1950s, two physicists decided that they would find the elusive “neutrino” they’d heard so much about. They did find it — just not the way they first thought they would. And since they thought they would find it by exploding a nuclear bomb, that’s a good thing. Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines were…

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On Arrow, The New Hero Is Nyssa And The Villain Is Heteronormativity

In this episode of Arrow, so many things suddenly became clear. By the end we learn the real hero of the season, Ra’s al Ghul’s real villainous scheme, and the point of those tedious Hong Kong flashbacks. The main plot of “Al Sah-him” confused me. I was baffled as to why Ollie’s friends were convinced…

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How A Single Splinter Utterly Annihilated This Mug

A splinter led to an impromptu art project, a lesson on the integrity of ceramics, and a ruined mug. I guarantee you’ll want to wreck at least one dish this way. Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Tor Books and Making Light got one of those nasty splinters that sticks under a nail. Rather than take the…

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Why Has No Zombie Movie Made Use Of The Fact That Corpses Glow?

Oh the things we learn when we skim through forensic medicine textbooks for a living. Apparently, there is a phenomenon called “postmortem luminescence.” And it should make zombie movies both less and more frightening. Zombie movies get some things right. The “marbling” that we see on the skin of zombies is a real phenomenon. Without…

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Is There A Right Reason To Put A Zoo Animal On Anti-Psychotics?

It’s tough to know what drugs zoos and parks use to keep their animals calm. The zoos themselves usually aren’t talking. Some trainers and researchers do reveal what animals are “on,” and the news, while troubling, isn’t all bad. Blackfish’s Legacy The documentary Blackfish drew attention to SeaWorld and the way animal abuses there were…

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How A Judge Named “Learned Hand” Changed Scientific History Forever

In 1900, a new wonder-drug was discovered and patented. Over the next 10 years multiple companies protested that patent, which led to a man named Learned Hand making rules about a scientific discovery, while declaring that he probably shouldn’t be allowed to do so. It was the 1890s, and John Jacob Abel believed he was…

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Here’s How A Beetle Killed Twenty Thousand People

The emerald ash borer is a wood boring beetle. It does nothing whatsoever to human beings, at least not directly. So how could it be responsible for more than 20,000 deaths in the American Midwest? Find out. Particles in the lungs are not good for humans. While we can stand up to a few, too…

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William Gibson On How Ignorance May Keep Your Novel From Becoming Dated

The 2006 anniversary edition of Neuromancer starts with an introduction by William Gibson, in which he muses on how the novel stayed fresh during over two decades of frantically evolving technology. The answer might be ignorance. William Gibson is renowned for his futurist insights, but arguably his most prescient work owes a lot to the…

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The World’s Most Carcinogenic Toxin Was Discovered Via Turkey Plague

It was May of 1960 when turkeys in England started dying of a mysterious disease. By August, over 100,000 were dead — in some places, the mortality rate was 100%. Although pheasants and ducklings were also susceptible, turkey populations seemed most vulnerable, and so the plague got the name Turkey X Disease. The turkeys seemed…

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You’re More Likely To Have Leprosy Than You Know (And That’s Okay)

Leprosy is not a disease of the past. Nor is it particularly rare. It’s one of the many diseases we get without ever knowing we have them . . . most of the time. The Viruses Diseases don’t always make their presence known. This is because, although we talk about “fighting” a disease, we’re the…

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People Used To Work Inside Hamster Wheels

Perhaps the better way to phrase this is, “Hamsters now work inside person wheels,” because the person wheel definitely came first. These comic-looking but useful devices helped build many of the landmarks we now cherish. The treadwheel crane first made its appearance in Rome in 25 BC. It flourished with the Roman Empire, and could…

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Thousands Of Chickens Once Wore Glasses To Stop Them Killing Each Other

“Eyeglasses” for chickens were once sold in the thousands — and they weren’t decorative. Rather, they were the only way to stop chickens from murdering each other. Learn why these lenses stopped chickens from killing, and see old film footage of hen specs. In The Egg And I, a funny if dated memoir, Betty MacDonald…

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How I Forgot My Email Password In A Dream

If you think dreams can’t actually hurt you, then this might make you reconsider. Last night, I dreamed that I forgot my password. When I woke up, I had actually forgotten my password. Top image: Little Nemo in Slumberland The dream wasn’t anything spectacular. I was at my computer, about to check my email, and…

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Eating The Wrong Shellfish Could Give You Temporary Amnesia

Believe it or not, there is such a thing known as “amnesic shellfish poisoning”. Eating the wrong piece of shellfish — or occasionally just the wrong anchovy — can make you lose your memory. When you’re an oyster, you can’t be picky about what you eat. So oysters and other shellfish crunch down diatoms regularly.…

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Watching Water And Sand Transform Into A “Liquid Marble” Is Hypnotic

Weird stuff happens when water hits hydrophobic substances. In this case, water and hydrophobic sand turn into a “liquid marble” in this video. It’s like watching the T-1000 get mobbed by fire ants. When a single drop of water falls onto hydrophobic sand we expect to see the water get away clean. Instead it gets…

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8 Reasons Future Generations Will Consider Us Barbarians

Long ago, people were dirty and mean and ignorant. They would crap in a bucket and throw it in the river. They would burn people alive if they wanted them to die, and tell them swallow mercury if they wanted them to live. They were barbarians, in other words. Here are eight reasons why future…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Esther Inglis-Arkell

If Satan Talked To You Backwards, Could You Actually Understand Him?

A “Horse Storm” Is A Real Thing (But Nothing Like You Would Imagine)

Gout, Urine, And Guinea Pigs: The Weird History Of Lithium

These “Swamp Dogs” Might Be What America’s First Dogs Looked Like

Two Physicists Wanted To Explode A Nuclear Bomb To Find Neutrinos

On Arrow, The New Hero Is Nyssa And The Villain Is Heteronormativity

How A Single Splinter Utterly Annihilated This Mug

Why Has No Zombie Movie Made Use Of The Fact That Corpses Glow?

Is There A Right Reason To Put A Zoo Animal On Anti-Psychotics?

How A Judge Named “Learned Hand” Changed Scientific History Forever

Here’s How A Beetle Killed Twenty Thousand People

William Gibson On How Ignorance May Keep Your Novel From Becoming Dated

The World’s Most Carcinogenic Toxin Was Discovered Via Turkey Plague

You’re More Likely To Have Leprosy Than You Know (And That’s Okay)

People Used To Work Inside Hamster Wheels

Thousands Of Chickens Once Wore Glasses To Stop Them Killing Each Other

How I Forgot My Email Password In A Dream

Eating The Wrong Shellfish Could Give You Temporary Amnesia

Watching Water And Sand Transform Into A “Liquid Marble” Is Hypnotic

8 Reasons Future Generations Will Consider Us Barbarians

Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Humanity’s Epic Return to the Moon 🔴

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Blasts Off

Disney’s Robot Olaf Dying Is the Funniest Thing to Happen in 2026

Kia’s EV3 Is Headed to the US This Year With Up to 320 Miles of Range

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

Why the PS6 Handheld Will Matter More Than the PS6

DNA Study Casts Even More Doubt on Shroud of Turin’s True Origin

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?