Kiona Smith-Strickland, Author at Gizmodo

This Is the Battle Over Policing the Deep Web

Welcome to this week’s Reading List, our weekly collection of great science and technology articles from around the internet. This week, we’ll do a shift at an Amazon warehouse, delve into the Deep Web, and confront online bullying. The so-called Darknet is only a tiny fraction of what’s on the Deep Web, the part of…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 25

Therapy Dogs Really Do Help Cancer Patients

Therapy dogs may actually make a difference in the health of the patients they visit by reducing anxiety and leading to more stable blood pressure. Dogs usually aren’t allowed in hospitals, but therapy dogs are there for a purpose. The idea is that the simple act of petting a friendly dog can reduce stress and…

Biology Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 25

Planting Trees Could Save Britain’s Stream Habitats

Protecting Britain’s river ecosystems could be as simple as planting more trees along riverbanks to provide cooling shade and, according to new research, an important energy boost for life in the stream. Plant and animal species around the world are struggling to keep up with rising temperatures, and the cool-water ecosystems in Britain’s rivers are…

Climate Change Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 25

Behold the Splendor of A Starburst Galaxy

New stars form all the time in most galaxies, but some galaxies spawn new stars at such an amazing rate that astronomers call them “starburst galaxies.” In M94, the action is happening in the ring of bright blue stars out in the galaxy’s spiral arms. A pressure wave radiating from the galaxy’s center is compressing…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 25

Rainwater Tanks and Green Roofs Could Be the Best Way to Avoid More of Last Week’s LA Mudslides

Water management experts say decentralized techniques like rainwater collection tanks, green rooftops, and even absorbent pavement could be the best way to manage water from storms and prevent the kind of runoff that caused flash floods and mudslides in southern California last week. The mudslides trapped 200 cars on southern California freeways on Thursday night,…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 18

The Internet Really Isn’t A Permanent Archive

Welcome to this week’s Reading List, our weekly collection of interesting science and technology stories from around the internet. This week, we’ll delve into the seedy world of online gambling, consider the transitory nature of the internet, and more. We tend to think of the internet as a worldwide repository of instantly accessible information and…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 18

This is How Plants Become Zombies

It sounds like a bizarre video game mashup, but farmers have reported “zombie” plants since the early 1600s: plants that took on a sickly yellow look and grew strange leaf-like structures or bushy growths instead of flowering and reproducing. Since 1967, we’ve known that this is the work of a bacteria called phytoplasma, which infects…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 18

Now We Can Grow Kidney Structures from Stem Cells

Two research teams in the last two months have published studies on kidney structures grown from stem cells, which might be a step toward personalized replacement organs grown from patients’ own cells. “We have converted skin cells to stem cells and developed a highly efficient process to convert these stem cells into kidney structures that…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 18

Scott Kelly Shares a Space Station Sunset

We’ve all seen sunsets, but most people never see a sunset like this one, with its last rays filtered through the solar panels of the International Space Station. ISS astronauts, of course, see sunsets like this regularly — several times a day, in fact. ISS commander Scott Kelly posted this image on his Twitter account…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 18

DNA Repair Earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Here’s Why

Yesterday the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar, and Paul Modrich for their work in mapping out how cells repair damaged DNA. Their research improved our understanding of how our own cells work and helped in the development of cancer treatments, but what does it…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 8

This Year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors the Discoverers of DNA Repair Mechanisms

Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar, and Paul Modrich share this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for mapping out the mechanics of how cells repair damaged DNA. DNA is an unnervingly fragile molecule, considering its importance. Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, or problems during cell division, cause changes in your genetic code, which can turn normal, healthy…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 7

This is Why You Need a Flu Shot

If you’ve been debating whether to get a flu shot, you should watch this beautifully terrifying animation of a virus taking over a cell and sending millions of its progeny off to spread the infection. A single virus particle can turn an infected cell into a factory capable of producing millions more virus particles, which…

Health Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 4

E-Books Will Never Replace Print, Because E-Books Are Stagnant and Poorly Designed

Welcome to this week’s Reading List, where you’ll find the best science and technology stories on the internet assembled in one delightful package. This week, we’ll ponder the place books have in our lives, explore urban history, see without realizing it, and remember the birth of online music streaming. We’ll probably never have the same…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 4

A Strike May Park San Francisco’s Tech Buses

San Francisco’s tech workers may be looking for a new ride to work if their shuttle bus drivers go on strike over contract negotiations. At a meeting yesterday in San Leandro, leaders of the Teamsters Local 853 advised members to be prepared for a strike if there’s no progress on the contract proposal that the…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 4

Past and Future Collide in This Gorgeous ISS Photo of Athens

This web of lights is one of the most ancient cities in the world, seen from 249 miles above the Earth. Athens, Greece, is the ancient home of Plato and Aristotle, but in this photo taken from the International Space Station, it’s a sprawling modern metropolis. Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov posted this image from his Twitter…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 4

The Already-Flooded East Coast Faces a Massive Storm Surge from Hurricane Joaquin

Hurricane Joaquin strengthened to a Category 4 this afternoon on its way through the Bahamas. It’s now a large, powerful storm with sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph. The biggest threat, however, is Joaquin’s storm surge, which is raising sea levels five to ten feet in the Bahamas and could do the same —…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 1

Everything You Should Know About the New EMV Chip Credit Card Payment System

Today is the deadline for US retailers to switch over to a payment technology called EMV. That means you’ll have to start verifying your credit card with a chip, as well as a swipe. We talked to payments industry experts about how EMV works, what’s happening today, and what it means for the average shopper.…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 1

Bioweapon Experts Aren’t Buying the Tesla Model X’s Bioweapon Defense Mode [Updated]

The air conditioning system in the new Tesla Model X has three modes: circulating air from outside the car, re-circulating air that’s already inside the cabin, and a “bioweapon defense mode,” triggered by a button on the dashboard, which creates positive pressure inside the cabin to keep outside particles at bay. So, does it work?…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Oct 1

Last-Minute Stockpiling Only Makes Disasters Worse

When a hurricane takes aim at the coast or a blizzard looms in the forecast, something strange comes over us. We swarm into grocery stores, stripping the shelves bare of canned goods and staple foods. Lines stretch all the way around the supermarket, and it’s like Black Friday on the produce aisle, with people arguing…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Sep 30

Biologists Say Breeding Better Soil Microbes Can Help Grow Bigger Plants

It may be possible to grow better, healthier crops with just a syringe and some careful observation. That’s all you need to breed better soil microbes, which can have a big effect on how well plants grow, according to new research. Biologists Ulrich Mueller of the Univeristy of Texas and Joel Sachs of the University…

Tech News Kiona Smith-Strickland Sep 27

Kiona Smith-Strickland

This Is the Battle Over Policing the Deep Web

Therapy Dogs Really Do Help Cancer Patients

Planting Trees Could Save Britain’s Stream Habitats

Behold the Splendor of A Starburst Galaxy

Rainwater Tanks and Green Roofs Could Be the Best Way to Avoid More of Last Week’s LA Mudslides

The Internet Really Isn’t A Permanent Archive

This is How Plants Become Zombies

Now We Can Grow Kidney Structures from Stem Cells

Scott Kelly Shares a Space Station Sunset

DNA Repair Earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Here’s Why

This Year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry Honors the Discoverers of DNA Repair Mechanisms

This is Why You Need a Flu Shot

E-Books Will Never Replace Print, Because E-Books Are Stagnant and Poorly Designed

A Strike May Park San Francisco’s Tech Buses

Past and Future Collide in This Gorgeous ISS Photo of Athens

The Already-Flooded East Coast Faces a Massive Storm Surge from Hurricane Joaquin

Everything You Should Know About the New EMV Chip Credit Card Payment System

Bioweapon Experts Aren’t Buying the Tesla Model X’s Bioweapon Defense Mode [Updated]

Last-Minute Stockpiling Only Makes Disasters Worse

Biologists Say Breeding Better Soil Microbes Can Help Grow Bigger Plants

Ryan Coogler Is Shifting ‘Animorphs’ Into a Disney+ Show

No Fooling, ‘Spaceballs 2’ Will Hit Theaters April 2027

I Regret to Inform You That the Artemis II Astronauts Are Having Lots of Screen Time

The First ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Reactions Are Most Solid

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 Is Doing What You Hoped

Wearables Are Getting Very Messy

Trump Wants to Start Privatizing TSA in Latest Budget Proposal

Lost Warship From Battle of Copenhagen Found After 225 Years

These One-of-a-Kind Objects Are in the Wrong Museums

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

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

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