Katharine Trendacosta, Author at Gizmodo

Could Vin Diesel be starring in a Marvel movie?

The Wolverine has a new banner, Edgar Wright shoots down an Ant-Man rumor, and something is going on with Vin Diesel and Marvel. Plus find out what would happen in This Is The End 2. Is a Knight Rider film really happening? And one contender to play the Twelfth Doctor explains how he’d play the…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jun 27

Scientific Studies Explain the Best Ways to Talk to Children

For most adults, talking to kids can be daunting. And not just in the “watch what you say” way but in the “they won’t say anything to me” way. Luckily, science has stepped in to find the best methods for getting actual responses from kids. There are a lot of contradictory bits of “common sense”…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jun 26

Major Hints For Jurassic Park 4, Jupiter Rising and Man of Steel 2!

Clark Gregg explains how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a different kind of Marvel. Hiccup and Astrid have aged up for How to Train Your Dragon 2. And Sarah Gadon and Felicity Jones say all they can about their Amazing Spider-Man 2 characters. Spoilers ahead! Jurassic Park 4 JoBlo cites unnamed sources who give some hints…

Television Katharine Trendacosta Jun 24

The Most Pointless Rules for Young Epic Heroes in Training

When you sign up to become a Jedi or a Starfleet officer, you have to abide by certain rules. Like, “Don’t attempt a Kolvoord Starbust.” But often, these organizations seem to invent rules that have no reason, beyond creating dramatic tension. Here are the most counterproductive training rules in science fiction and fantasy. A lot…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jun 11

The Longest Running Gags in Science Fiction Movies and Television

Running gags can be the life blood of a decades-old movie or TV series. They pop up with great regularity, reminding us that some things always stay the same. “The Tardis is always going to be bigger on the inside, don’t you worry,” they say. So here are science fiction’s most enduring running jokes. Often,…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta May 28

Learn to write Gallifreyan in 9 simple steps

You may never become a Time Lord — but least you can learn to write in their elegant, intricate language. There’s no “official” lexicon to the circular Gallifreyan script we’ve seen in Doctor Who, but Loren Sherman has a guide to writing in it. It looks cool, and it can be your own private code.…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta May 15

Tony Stark one ups Justin Timberlake with “Suits That Fly”

This music parody video from wekejay of Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” has a ton of good in it: a spot-on Tony Stark, an excellent merging of the set from the original Timberlake video and the Stark Expo from Iron Man 2, Rhodey’s guest rap… It’s not just a clever video, the lyrics are pretty…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta May 15

An Interactive Map of Regional American Accents, With Audio

This is the culmination of Rick Aschmann’s years-long “hobby” of collecting dialects. It’s a comprehensive and detailed map of the dialects (and sub-dialects!) of English-speakers in Canada and the United States. While the work of many years, the map was updated on April 17, 2003, and surged in popularity shortly thereafter. This map is cropped…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta May 15

10 Characters Who Got More Interesting After They Died

Sometimes there’s a character that the writers don’t know what to do with, or who’s hit a dead end. What do you do with this superfluous character? How do you up the ante? Kill them. And then have them come back evil (or good), with new powers, or deeply troubled. Here are the 10 characters…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta May 1

Shane Black Tells Us How Tony Stark is Being “Phased Out” as Iron Man

The trailers for Iron Man 3 show us a shiny new Iron Patriot, a whole army of floating armors… and Tony’s mask broken and burned. So is Tony Stark being replaced? And why does Tony spend so much of the movie out of his armor? We asked director Shane Black, and here’s what he told…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta Apr 30

How the legal concept of “Scientific Uncertainty” shapes your life

Ever wonder why oil companies throw money at researching climate change? Or why creationism was rebranded “intelligent design,” and packaged as a scientific theory? It’s because the American legal system lets lawmakers fudge their science, so long as they can claim there’s “scientific uncertainty.” In areas as diverse as criminal punishment, environmental protection, and health…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Apr 25

Why Can’t Thor Just Call the Avengers for Help? Kevin Feige Explains

The first trailer for Thor 2 features all manner of apocalyptic stuff. You can’t help wondering why Thor doesn’t just call his teammates in the Avengers — so we asked Marvel’s Kevin Feige how they plan to address this in their post-Avengers movies. Here’s what he told us. https://gizmodo.com/thor-makes-a-deal-with-the-devil-in-the-first-thor-2-tr-477600207 We spoke to Feige at the…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Apr 24

The Most Miraculous Fictional Cure-Alls (and Where to Find Them)

Medicine is hard. You have to diagnose people’s illnesses, run tests, and prescribe treatments. But what if you could just give out a one-size-fits-all treatment? There are lots of miraculous panaceas in science fiction and fantasy, which can fix any problem. Here are the five types of fictional miracle cures. The prevalence of easy cures…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Apr 11

10 Movie Taglines That Were Straight-Up Lies (And What They Should Have Been)

We all know that trailers and posters aren’t strictly truthful. They’re designed to get people to see the movie, not provide an accurate representation of what you’ll see when you do. But some go a little further than just gentle manipulation. Here are 10 movies whose taglines were just a straight-up lie, and what the…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta Apr 8

The 10 Creepiest Ventriloquist Dummies of All Time

Ventriloquist dummies, along with sideshows and clowns, top the list of “Things People Used to Think Were Fun But Are Actually Terrifying.” Is it the Uncanny Valley effect of the dolls? Or the inescapable knowledge that we’re watching someone talk to their own hand? Whatever it is, science fiction and fantasy are full of terrifying…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Mar 25

10 Greatest Science Fiction Board Games of All Time

Board games are great way to prove your intellectual superiority to your friends. But aren’t they even better when they involve a sprawling science fiction premise? It’s no fun to wave fake money in your friend’s faces at the end of Monopoly when what you could be doing is waving the most powerful starship. If…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Feb 25

Tarot card art

The Magus, Prince of Wands, and Strength by Ellygator at deviantART The Hierophont, the Hermit, and the Devil by Ellygator at deviantART The Star, the Prince of Disks, and the Princess of Disks by Ellygator at deviantART Tarot drawings by Elan Rodger Trinidad at deviantART The Tower – SGA Tarot by sixfuzzyslippers at deviantART Batman…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jul 27

Will The Secret Circle be your new guilty pleasure in fall?

Over the weekend, we had a chance to see the pilot for Secret Circle, a teen sorcery show coming this fall from Kevin Williamson, creator of Vampire Diaries and Dawson’s Creek. It’s hard to deny the lure of a show whose pilot features teenage girls magically lighting cars on fire. But is it just too…

Television Katharine Trendacosta and Annalee Newitz Jul 27

Firefly Fan Art

River kick’n Reavers’s Butt by Kristele Pelland at deviantART Firefly Cartoonified by Anna Rettberg at deviantART The Hero of Canton by Jackie Sullivan at deviantART Inara by Jessica Hickman at deviantART Firefly – Wash and Zoe by bluestraggler at deviantART Crew of Serenity by santivill at deviantART River by Lindsay Archer Shipboard Romance – WIP…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jul 23

Art Nouveau Villains

dARTh NOUVEAU by sebasebi at deviantART Gotham Sirens by Mark Brooks at deviantART Emma Frost by Mark Brooks via Fashion and Action Sorciere by chill07 at deviantART Nouveau Labyrinth poster by janey-jane at deviantART Aliens Poster by Samuel Ho Art Nouveau – Sinestro by eleganceliberty at deviantART Phoenix Nouveau by Trish2 at deviantART Star Trek:…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jul 14

Katharine Trendacosta

Could Vin Diesel be starring in a Marvel movie?

Scientific Studies Explain the Best Ways to Talk to Children

Major Hints For Jurassic Park 4, Jupiter Rising and Man of Steel 2!

The Most Pointless Rules for Young Epic Heroes in Training

The Longest Running Gags in Science Fiction Movies and Television

Learn to write Gallifreyan in 9 simple steps

Tony Stark one ups Justin Timberlake with “Suits That Fly”

An Interactive Map of Regional American Accents, With Audio

10 Characters Who Got More Interesting After They Died

Shane Black Tells Us How Tony Stark is Being “Phased Out” as Iron Man

How the legal concept of “Scientific Uncertainty” shapes your life

Why Can’t Thor Just Call the Avengers for Help? Kevin Feige Explains

The Most Miraculous Fictional Cure-Alls (and Where to Find Them)

10 Movie Taglines That Were Straight-Up Lies (And What They Should Have Been)

The 10 Creepiest Ventriloquist Dummies of All Time

10 Greatest Science Fiction Board Games of All Time

Tarot card art

Will The Secret Circle be your new guilty pleasure in fall?

Firefly Fan Art

Art Nouveau Villains

Missouri Town Council Approves Data Center. A Week Later, Voters Fire Half of Council

Tesla Drivers Can Finally Activate Grok Without Looking Down at a Screen

Circle CEO Addresses Lack of Stablecoin Freezes During Crypto Thefts

This $2/mo VPN Puts Others to Shame: Best-in-Class Privacy for 83% Less

We Just Saw a Full Scene From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Sam Altman’s Home Allegedly Attacked for a Second Time

This Memory Chip Survives Temperatures Hotter Than Lava

OpenAI Exec Reveals New Strategy in Leaked Memo: Attack Anthropic

GMKtec G3 Pro Mini PC Gets Nearly 40% Off First for Amazon Prime Members for a Limited Time

Popular Musician Loses Life Savings Through Malicious Crypto Wallet in Apple’s App Store

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

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

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

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