Jason G. Goldman, Author at Gizmodo

Lawn Ornaments Help Lemurs Stay Happy and Healthy

The San Francisco Zoo recently introduced its lemurs to some pink plastic flamingos. The results were predictably adorable, but the flamingos weren’t just decoration. They’re an effort to give the lemurs a bit of mental exercise. Above: a ringtailed lemur inspects the plastic intruder. While most zoos try to present animals in as naturalistic a…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 23 '14

Canadian Man Rescues Baby Moose, Takes It To Tim Hortons

Because donuts solve all problems. CBC News reports how the man, Stephan Michel Desgroseillers, found himself caring for the tiny moose: Desgroseillers said his friends found the moose calf on Sunday, not in Copper Cliff, but on the side of Highway 144 near Dowling, walking into oncoming traffic. They debated what to do with the…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 21 '14

Mother Bear Heroically Saves Cub From Busy Highway

Joke all you want about chickens crossing roads, but highways really do pose a danger to wildlife. A bear cub learned that recently when it found itself a bit too close to oncoming traffic. Luckily, mom was nearby. According to the video’s description, a man named Ricky Forbes was driving through Canada’s Kootenay National Park,…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 21 '14

So This is What Hedgehog Snoring Sounds Like

YouTuber Vusiuz has an albino hedgehog and her tiny little snores are definitely the most adorable thing you’ll hear all day. Whether those sounds are associated with dreams we can’t know for sure, but hedgehogs do probably have dreams and nightmares. In The History of Animals, Aristotle wrote: “It would appear that not only do…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 21 '14

Why Did Thousands of California Fish Suddenly Turn Up Dead?

This photo might look like a bit of abstract art, but it’s actually a shot of thousands of fish – anchovies and sardines – that turned up dead en masse in Marina del Rey, near Los Angeles. What could explain the sudden death? Researchers are still investigating, but the most plausible explanation is a sudden,…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 20 '14

Mosquito Researcher Offers Her Own Arm To Hungry Mosquitoes

When you’ve got a colony of mosquitoes in your lab, you’ve got to feed them…and that can become just a bit uncomfortable. Photographer Alex Wild explains what’s going on in this photo: Rockefeller University’s Emily Dennis feeds her study subjects, Aedes aegypti. In the wild this species transmits yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya, but lab…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 20 '14

That “Drop of Seawater” Photo Was More Than A Bit Misleading

This photo that’s been going around purports to show all the little critters found in a single drop of seawater, magnified 25 times. It’s a beautiful photo, but there’s just one problem: it’s not really a single drop of seawater (though it is probably magnified 25 times). It’s not as if the photographer, David Littschwager,…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 19 '14

Antiques Roadshow Needs To Stop Appraising Ivory

I’ll say it: I love Antiques Roadshow. The look on the faces of folks who find out on national television that their priceless antiques are really worthless hunks of junk is, well, priceless. There’s just one problem: by appraising ivory the PBS show communicates the idea that elephants are worth more dead than alive. To…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 19 '14

Gorgeous Photos Show Bears and Wolves Feasting Together on a Dead Whale

When a dead whale washes ashore, it’s a meaty bounty for whatever carnivores happen to find it. Researchers were surprised to find brown bears and wolves, two predators that don’t usually get along, sharing a whale carcass for more than four months. And they have the photos to prove it. On May 5 2010, a…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 18 '14

Los Angeles’s Celebrity Mountain Lion is Recovering from Rat Poison

Last month we brought you the story of how P-22, the resident mountain lion mascot in LA’s Griffith Park, was treated for a severe case of mange brought about by the ingestion of rat poison. New camera trap photos show he’s recovering well. https://gizmodo.com/stop-using-rat-poison-its-killing-wildlife-1564538434 Miguel Ordeñana, a Natural History Museum and Griffith Park Connectivity Study…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 18 '14

Go Back In Time With 1950s Footage of the First Gorilla Born at a Zoo

The Columbus Zoo opens its new Heart of Africa exhibit this week, and to mark the occasion, central Ohio’s Channel 10 reached back into its archives to find this footage of the zoo from 1956 and 1957. It includes some absolutely adorable clips of Colo, the first gorilla to ever be born in a zoo.…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 17 '14

National Aquarium Ponders Moving Dolphins to a Sanctuary

The National Aquarium in Baltimore has invited a panel of experts to discuss whether its eight captive dolphins should be moved to a beachside sanctuary. Captive cetaceans can not simply be released into the wild; the only real solution is to allow these magnificent animals to live out there days in a “sea pen.” While…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 17 '14

Study of 1.3 Million Kids Reveals Vaccines Aren’t Associated with Autism

A meta-analysis including nearly 1.3 million children posted online last week in the journal Vaccine has demonstrated, once again, that there’s no causal link between vaccines and autism. The paper is an online “uncorrected proof.” That means it has already been through peer review and has been accepted, but there could still be a few…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 16 '14

Coolest Dad Ever Cooks Pancakes That Look Like Cephalopods

It’s seafood for breakfast in the home of Nathan Shields. Octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, and even a few extinct critters have found their way onto his kids’ breakfast plates. It’s an adventure in taxonomy and cookery, all at once! Shields isn’t the only creator of scientific deliciousness. There are some space pancakes, too. The only question…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 16 '14

Behold The Most Charmingly Inaccurate Infographic on Sloths

Not a single thing on this graphic is true, but that actually makes it somehow more charming and awesome. Cory Loftis is a Visual Development Artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios, but in his free time he draws other things and posts them on his most excellent tumblr. There are plenty more delightful drawings to…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 16 '14

Scientists Finally Understand Shark Skin, Thanks to 3D Printers

If you described a shark as a toothy torpedo covered in sandpaper, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. It’s that rough sandpapery skin that gives sharks their highly efficient swimming abilities, and scientists finally understand why. A shark’s skin is covered in millions of microscopic denticles, rigid tooth-like scales that jut out from…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 15 '14

Scientists Discover How Octopuses Avoid Tying Themselves In Knots

There are many things that make the octopus a strange creature, but one of them is that each of its eight arms has an essentially infinite number of positions, and yet each arm operates independently. How does an octopus keep from tying itself in knots? A group of Israeli and American researchers think they’ve discovered…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 15 '14

5 Real Life Mouth Weapons More Terrifying Than Godzilla’s Atomic Breath

Godzilla is known for his atomic breath, a weaponized nuclear exhalation that forms deep inside the beast’s belly. There aren’t any animals who turn their mouths into radioactive heat rays, but there are lots who throw, spit, project, or heave things from their mouths. Here are five amazing real life mouth weapons. Spitballs Made of…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 14 '14

The Best Way To Transport A Rhino? Upside Down, Tied to a Helicopter

Animals often have to be relocated by conservation organizations. Sometimes it’s to move them to safety, farther away from poachers, and sometimes it’s to introduce new genes into a population. NatGeo photographer Emma Gatland joined a group from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for a white rhino relocation effort in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. While the…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 14 '14

Raccoon or Dog? US Government Decides the Fate of Animal Fur

Is this animal, Nyctereutes procyonoides, best referred to as an Asiatic raccoon or as a raccoon dog? The answer to that question is actually more complicated than you might think — and could determine whether this animal will be killed for its fur or not. Earlier this week, the US government announced its answer: These…

Biology Jason G. Goldman May 13 '14

Jason G. Goldman

Lawn Ornaments Help Lemurs Stay Happy and Healthy

Canadian Man Rescues Baby Moose, Takes It To Tim Hortons

Mother Bear Heroically Saves Cub From Busy Highway

So This is What Hedgehog Snoring Sounds Like

Why Did Thousands of California Fish Suddenly Turn Up Dead?

Mosquito Researcher Offers Her Own Arm To Hungry Mosquitoes

That “Drop of Seawater” Photo Was More Than A Bit Misleading

Antiques Roadshow Needs To Stop Appraising Ivory

Gorgeous Photos Show Bears and Wolves Feasting Together on a Dead Whale

Los Angeles’s Celebrity Mountain Lion is Recovering from Rat Poison

Go Back In Time With 1950s Footage of the First Gorilla Born at a Zoo

National Aquarium Ponders Moving Dolphins to a Sanctuary

Study of 1.3 Million Kids Reveals Vaccines Aren’t Associated with Autism

Coolest Dad Ever Cooks Pancakes That Look Like Cephalopods

Behold The Most Charmingly Inaccurate Infographic on Sloths

Scientists Finally Understand Shark Skin, Thanks to 3D Printers

Scientists Discover How Octopuses Avoid Tying Themselves In Knots

5 Real Life Mouth Weapons More Terrifying Than Godzilla’s Atomic Breath

The Best Way To Transport A Rhino? Upside Down, Tied to a Helicopter

Raccoon or Dog? US Government Decides the Fate of Animal Fur

Forget Bose, Anker Clears Out Soundcore Boom 2 Outdoor Speaker Is Back to Black Friday Pricing Under $90

The New ‘Expanse’ Game Could Be More Than Just a ‘Mass Effect’ Riff

Anker USB-C Hub for MacBook Air and Pro Drops to Its Lowest Price at 40% Off, No Need to Wait for Prime Day

The First Trailer for ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Is Finally Here

La-Z-Boy’s New Recliner Blasts Surround Sound at Your Butt

Crypto PACs Have More Money Than God (and Some Republican Groups)

Could Moon Knight Head to the Big Screen in ‘Midnight Sons’?

Geekom’s 2026 Ryzen 9 Mini PC Hits All-Time Low at 33% Off (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD), No CPU or GPU Hunt Required

Forget JBL Go 4, Anker’s Soundcore Select 4 Go Speaker Is Down to Just $23 on Amazon

Back in 2000, Fox Executives Thought the ‘X-Men’ Movie Would Be a ‘Disaster’

Sleep-Tracking Earbuds Didn’t Fix Me, but They Did Open My Eyes

I’ve Tested a Lot of Bad Smart Glasses and These Are the Worst Yet

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow Is the Ultimate Robot Mop—If You Don’t Have Corners or Walls

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

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