Jason Shankel, Author at Gizmodo

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is Interviewing Bill Clinton and Susan Sarandon to Prove That “Science Is Ubiquitous”

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Star Talk returns to the National Geographic Channel next Sunday, October 25. We caught up with Dr. Tyson to discuss the premiere, the scientific ubiquity of Seth MacFarlane and NASA’s plans for Matt Damon. Star Talk began as a radio show/internet podcast and has now expanded to television for its second season.…

io9 Jason Shankel Oct 19

Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk Return To Fandom In New Series Con Man

Firefly stars Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have rejoined forces on Con Man, a new Indigogo-funded project about a struggling actor living in the science fiction convention world. io9 sat down both actors to discuss the show, their careers, and the Mexican restaurant that first brought them together. io9: Nathan, can you tell us a…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 11

Which Alan Turing Movie Really Captures The Father Of Computer Science?

There are two movies about Alan Turing that you can watch right now: The Imitation Game and 1996’s Breaking the Code. But which one does a better job of exploring his incredible achievement, and the terrible injustice that was done to him? Here’s an in-depth look at aspects of Turing’s life and how each movie…

io9 Jason Shankel Dec 15

Ritual Is the Cult Movie You Need on Halloween

In Mickey Keating’s 2013 meta-horror thriller extravaganza Ritual, the awesomely-named Lisa Marie Summerscales plays Lovely, resident of South Texas, whose turn ons include smoking at the beach, cruising dive bars and picking up guys with more prison tats than teeth. Spoilers ahead… The film opens with Lovely meeting a mysterious stranger named Tom after which…

io9 Jason Shankel Oct 30

Solar Disaster Movie Cat. 8 Makes The Core Look Like 2001

Last week, NASA announced that in 2012 the Earth narrowly avoided being hit by the largest solar coronal mass ejection recorded since before electric power grids and telecommunication satellites were a thing. Fortunately or unfortunately, along with the rest of civilization, the solar crisis duology Cat. 8 (available on DVD and Netflix streaming) was also…

io9 Jason Shankel Aug 5

Cosmos: Even While Darkness Surrounds Us, The Light Is Winning

We begin (and end) in one of Carl Sagan’s favorite virtual environments from the original series: the Library of Alexandria. Sagan used the Library as a cautionary tale about what can be lost when a civilization is careless with its knowledge, but Tyson uses it as an inspirational story. Tyson views the Library as a…

io9 Jason Shankel Jun 9

Cosmos Knows It’s Not Easy Being Green

Last night’s episode of Cosmos was about carbon dioxide, the greenhouse effect, and the hopeful possibilities for humanity’s future on Earth. We begin our journey with our nearest planetary neighbor, Venus, with its famously harsh environment. Venus lost her oceans long ago, and with them her ability to sequester carbon dioxide released by geological processes.…

io9 Jason Shankel Jun 2

Cosmos Asks If Humanity Has What It Takes To Survive

Tonight’s episode of Cosmos is about the fragility and durability of life. Our story starts in the cradle of civilization, Iraq, with the development of written language and the recorded legends of the Mesopotamian goddess Innana, the hero Gilgamesh and the flood myth that found its final form in the Old Testament and the Aronofsky…

io9 Jason Shankel May 19

Cosmos Explains How Michael Faraday Lit Up Our Lives

Tonight’s episode of Cosmos tells the story of Michael Faraday, the man who unlocked the secrets of electricity. Born to poverty, unaccomplished at school and evidently cursed with an unfortunately Elmer Fudd-like speech impediment, Faraday educated himself well enough on the subject of electricity to apprentice for the world’s foremost expert in the field, Humphry…

io9 Jason Shankel May 12

Cosmos Shows How Life Will Always Find A Way… To Screw Everything Up

“Nothing is permanent,” said the great philosopher Heraclitus, “except change.” Tonight’s episode of Cosmos was about the changes the Earth has undergone over the eons and the contribution life has made to those changes. The story starts about three hundred million years ago, on December 23rd of the Cosmic Year, when trees first appeared on…

io9 Jason Shankel May 5

How We Discovered the Life Cycles of Stars, on Cosmos

The theme for this week’s episode of Cosmos was the life cycle of stars, beginning with the famous Pleiades star cluster. But this episode truly belongs to a cluster of stars from the world of science: astronomer Annie Jump Cannon and her colleagues, who developed Harvard’s stellar classification scheme. Image via NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar…

io9 Jason Shankel Apr 28

Cosmos Explains Why Big Business Is Often the Foe of Science

This week’s episode of Cosmos tackles the Rock of Ages, the age of rocks and getting the lead out of our commitment to the environment. The episode takes the form of a fable, a cautionary tale about the dangers of letting any institution, but most especially science, fall into the clutches of the Argument From…

io9 Jason Shankel Apr 21

What Do You Do When Your Son Says He Met Jesus? Surprisingly, Not Much.

Heaven Is For Real, in theaters today, is based on the mega-bestseller by a pastor whose four-year-old had major surgery, after which he knew things he couldn’t possibly have known, and also claimed to have met Jesus. But what’s surprising about the film version is how little impact this experience actually seems to have. Spoilers…

Movies Jason Shankel Apr 16

Cosmos Gets Small To Express Big Idea About How Science Can Save Us

The topic for this week’s Cosmos is the little things in life, like cells, molecules, atoms and the universe. So hop on board the Ship of the Imagination and let’s get small. After providing a little fan service by describing himself as a collection of “three billion billion billion intricately arranged atoms called Neil DeGrasse…

io9 Jason Shankel Apr 14

Cosmos Explains Why Science Is “A Light In The Darkness”

The theme of this week’s episode of Cosmos is illumination, both literal and metaphorical. Carl Sagan famously called science a “candle in the dark,” illuminating the human mind with the knowledge imparted by evidence-based reasoning. Tyson’s story of light begins with Mo Tsu, the ancient Chinese philosopher who discovered the principles of camera obscura. Mo…

io9 Jason Shankel Apr 7

In Cosmos, The Only Thing More Important Than Evidence Is Imagination

The universe, they say, isn’t just stranger than we imagine. It’s stranger than we can imagine. After three episodes focused on matters solar and mundane, from the evolution of life to the orbital dynamics of comets in our little flat circle of spacetime, episode four tackles the limits of cosmic reality far beyond human experience.…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 31

Cosmos Chronicles How Knowledge Conquers Fear

With all the clockwork predictability of Halley’s Comet, last week Danny Faulkner of Answers in Genesis plead for Cosmos to show more “balance” by covering creationism. Tyson derided the idea as being akin to giving the Flat Earth Society equal time. Ridicule is the appropriate response to the ridiculous. Rather than hand the microphone over…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 24

Every young Earth creationist needs to watch this episode of Cosmos

In the second episode of Cosmos, Neil DeGrasse Tyson tackles the greatest story science has ever told: the story of life. Tyson begins with the evolution of dogs from wolves via artificial selection, or if you prefer, the domestication of humans by dogs. Wolves that were friendlier, tamer and more loyal to humans were selectively…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 17

“The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.”

In 1980, Carl Sagan opened his series Cosmos with these words, capturing both the immensity and intimacy of the universe. Now, thirty four years later, Neil DeGrasse Tyson stands on the same seaside promontory Sagan used to open his program to introduce Cosmos to a new generation. The Ship of the Imagination For his series,…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 10

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the new Cosmos matters so much

This Sunday, March 9th, what is arguably the most important science show of all time returns to TV as Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts an all-new, updated version of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. We caught up with Neil DeGrasse Tyson on his whirlwind tour of the universe to discuss the what the show is and isn’t, explaining…

io9 Jason Shankel Mar 3

Jason Shankel

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is Interviewing Bill Clinton and Susan Sarandon to Prove That “Science Is Ubiquitous”

Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk Return To Fandom In New Series Con Man

Which Alan Turing Movie Really Captures The Father Of Computer Science?

Ritual Is the Cult Movie You Need on Halloween

Solar Disaster Movie Cat. 8 Makes The Core Look Like 2001

Cosmos: Even While Darkness Surrounds Us, The Light Is Winning

Cosmos Knows It’s Not Easy Being Green

Cosmos Asks If Humanity Has What It Takes To Survive

Cosmos Explains How Michael Faraday Lit Up Our Lives

Cosmos Shows How Life Will Always Find A Way… To Screw Everything Up

How We Discovered the Life Cycles of Stars, on Cosmos

Cosmos Explains Why Big Business Is Often the Foe of Science

What Do You Do When Your Son Says He Met Jesus? Surprisingly, Not Much.

Cosmos Gets Small To Express Big Idea About How Science Can Save Us

Cosmos Explains Why Science Is “A Light In The Darkness”

In Cosmos, The Only Thing More Important Than Evidence Is Imagination

Cosmos Chronicles How Knowledge Conquers Fear

Every young Earth creationist needs to watch this episode of Cosmos

“The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the new Cosmos matters so much

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

Artemis 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Researchers Discover How to Add Psilocybin, DMT, and Other Psychedelics to Tobacco

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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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