Lauren Davis, Author at Gizmodo

This image of an orphaned kangaroo cuddling with an orphaned wombat will melt your heart

Interspecies friendships are often adorable, but they’re doubly sweet when those animals are providing one another with much needed support. Orphaned kangaroo Anzac and orphaned wombat Peggy keep each other company at the Wild About Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kilmore, Victoria. All of the animals at Wild About Wildlife are cared for under veterinary supervision,…

io9 Lauren Davis

In 1987, a Young Fantasy Fan Ran Away From Home to Live With Author Piers Anthony

Many of us feel like we know our favorite authors through their novels and from the various details of their lives they choose to share. In 1987, a 15-year-old boy named Andy felt that he knew science fiction and fantasy author Piers Anthony so well that he wanted to live with him. So, he packed…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

We can’t resist this massive Borg Cube wedding cake

When redditor pat_inthehat posted that his aunt makes wedding cakes, he made a serious understatement. She doesn’t just make cakes; she makes delectable vessels of flour and frosting. Her Borg Cube cake is fantastic, swarmed by little plastic starships, but that won’t save it from being assimilated into the guests’ bodies. Said aunt makes cakes…

io9 Lauren Davis

When chickens take over the Earth, they will dress in our jewels

Millions of years ago, the mighty dinosaur ancestors of chickens ruled the Earth, and in Peter Lippman’s photo series Luxury Chicks, these birds are back on top, and they celebrate their superiority by donning designer gems made by human hands. Lippman created this series for Marie Claire magazine to showcase jewelry from Cartier, Van Cleef…

io9 Lauren Davis

Recipes for the Post-Apocalypse: How and why to eat rat meat

Rat is a readily available street food in some Southeast Asian countries, and earlier editions of The Joy of Cooking contained instructions on the proper butchering of squirrels. But rodents have fallen out of favor in most Western cuisines, relegated to mere vermin. So how would you go about cooking a rat if you’d never…

io9 Lauren Davis

Syfy and Bryan Fuller head to the moon with an adaptation of John Christopher’s The Lotus Caves

Many of Syfy’s recent original series have had their feet firmly planted on Earth, but their most recent pilot order has its eyes on the moon. High Moon is an adaptation of John Christopher’s young adult novel, The Lotus Caves, about two adventurous boys living on a lunar colony. Deadline reports that Syfy has ordered…

Television Lauren Davis

How Edward Gorey illustrated three classic fairytales

We’ve seen tons of interpretations and reinterpretations of classic fables and fairytales, often filtered through layers of Disney. Edward Gorey’s illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack the Giant Killer, and Rumpelstiltskin are wholly his own, adding his understated touch to those classic stories. Gorey provided the illustrations for the book Three Classic Children’s Stories,…

io9 Lauren Davis

Mars Curiosity Roundup

PREPARE FOR CURIOSITY | Last night, NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down on Mars. We liveblogged the event as it happened; get caught up on everything you need to know about the Mars rover. Image from NASA. Mars Curiosity Landing — The Liveblog! https://gizmodo.com/liveblogging-curiositys-arrival-on-mars-5932015 This is it, folks. After traveling for more than eight months, over…

io9 Lauren Davis

Seven-foot long minifig-scale Serenity model is a Lego masterpiece [Updated]

Adrian Drake spent 475 hours over the course of 21 months to build this painstakingly accurate model of Firefly’s Serenity entirely out of Lego bricks. The result is this 135-pound, seven-foot long, 70,000-brick beauty that looks especially shiny paired with its minifig crew. Drake debuted his minifig-scale Serenity today at Brickfair in Chantilly, Virginia. He…

io9 Lauren Davis

Eight years after the Athens Olympics, some venues have been left to rot

The Greek embassy estimated that it cost Greece €8.954 billion to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2004, including the construction of the Olympic Village and several shiny new athletic venues. Since then, though, some of those venues have been abandoned, making one Olympic legacy a set of decaying structures. The Associate Press notes that…

io9 Lauren Davis

People are more likely to believe in magic spells that are repetitious and time-consuming

Many people around the world believe in magic spells and rituals, but that doesn’t mean that it’s enough to wave a wand and mutter a few unpronounceable words to convince a believer that the magic will work. A new study out of Brazil suggests that people are most likely to believe in the power of…

io9 Lauren Davis

Wonder Woman’s lasso is perfect for these Wild West Justice League illustrations

We’ve already fallen for Denis Medri’s rockabilly Batman cast, and now he’s turned his powers of redesign upon the Justice League, bringing them out to the Old West. Wonder Woman’s look translates nicely to a Western style, but what about the rest? https://gizmodo.com/meet-the-entire-cast-of-1950s-greaser-batmans-gotham-ci-5911595 Medri is obviously having fun with these redesigns; in addition to his…

io9 Lauren Davis

Meet Roxy the Rancor, the 501st Legion’s life-sized Star Wars sculpture

Star Wars Celebration VI, when thousands of people will descend upon Orlando to show off their love of all things Star Wars, is just a few weeks away, and we’re getting a few teases about the amazing projects folks have in store. Among them is this life-sized foam Rancor sponsored by the 501st Legion. Slave…

io9 Lauren Davis

Glass shells let you see hermit crabs like you’ve never seen them before

When I was little, I fascinated by hermit crabs, tugging them out of their borrowed shells so I could see the soft bodies within. If I’d had access to Robert DuGrenier’s blown glass shells, I might have spared many a hermit crab from trauma. DuGrenier, a glass artist, carefully constructed his glass shells to mimic…

io9 Lauren Davis

Seagull gobbling up a live sparrow is your scary nature video of the day

Lest you ever doubted that seagulls are the murder birds of the beach, check out this video of a hungry gull snatching and then gulping down a live sparrow. The camera moves away at a key moment (since the cameraman was reduced to morbid giggles), but it plays like a horror movie for smaller birdies…

io9 Lauren Davis

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Alien Who Came to the Birthday Party

Just because you’re an H.R. Giger-inspired alien from another planet, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a children’s birthday party. Or does it? Is this extraterrestrial here as a conqueror or just here to party? It’s up to you. This week’s writing prompt artwork comes from Greg Broadmore, an illustrator, writer, and concept designer at…

io9 Lauren Davis

Batcave-inspired home theater would fit right in at Wayne Manor

If you could afford to build your very own Batcave, would you use it as a headquarters for your crimefighting activities? Or would you turn it into a gorgeous home theater, where gargoyles stare down at you while you enjoy a Batman movie marathon? Elite Home Theater Seating, which provided the seats, posted these photos…

io9 Lauren Davis

Nyan Cat cosplaying as all 151 original Pokémon is pure silly fun

Nyan Cat doesn’t want to catch all the Pokémon; Nyan Cat wants to be all the Pokémon. In this video, Simon Johnson dresses the Pop Tarted up kitty cat as each of the original Pokémon to the tune of PopaRocks‘ 8-bit Pokémon theme song. [via Geekologie]

io9 Lauren Davis

This short cartoon about the cuddliest demon summoning deserves a run in theaters

If only more animation studios prefaced their feature films with short cartoons, we might get more fun romps like The Colors of Evil. In this film, which Phillip Simon and Alyse Miller created as their thesis project at Ringling College of Art and Design, a wicked little girl summons a demon to deal with her…

Movies Lauren Davis

Photos imagine atomic bomb tests as a modern tourist attraction

What if iPhones and Facebook already existed by the dawn of the Atomic Age? Would your news feed be clogged with photos of vacationing friends staring out at not-too-distant mushroom clouds? That’s the alternate history imagined by Clay Lipsky’s Atomic Overlook photos. Lipsky explains that his photos offer a view of a population desensitized to…

io9 Lauren Davis

Lauren Davis

This image of an orphaned kangaroo cuddling with an orphaned wombat will melt your heart

In 1987, a Young Fantasy Fan Ran Away From Home to Live With Author Piers Anthony

We can’t resist this massive Borg Cube wedding cake

When chickens take over the Earth, they will dress in our jewels

Recipes for the Post-Apocalypse: How and why to eat rat meat

Syfy and Bryan Fuller head to the moon with an adaptation of John Christopher’s The Lotus Caves

How Edward Gorey illustrated three classic fairytales

Mars Curiosity Roundup

Seven-foot long minifig-scale Serenity model is a Lego masterpiece [Updated]

Eight years after the Athens Olympics, some venues have been left to rot

People are more likely to believe in magic spells that are repetitious and time-consuming

Wonder Woman’s lasso is perfect for these Wild West Justice League illustrations

Meet Roxy the Rancor, the 501st Legion’s life-sized Star Wars sculpture

Glass shells let you see hermit crabs like you’ve never seen them before

Seagull gobbling up a live sparrow is your scary nature video of the day

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Alien Who Came to the Birthday Party

Batcave-inspired home theater would fit right in at Wayne Manor

Nyan Cat cosplaying as all 151 original Pokémon is pure silly fun

This short cartoon about the cuddliest demon summoning deserves a run in theaters

Photos imagine atomic bomb tests as a modern tourist attraction

Artemis 2 by the Numbers: Breaking Down NASA’s Big Return to the Moon

Apple Removes iPhone Vibe Coding App from App Store

China’s Biggest Social Media Celebrity Is… Kris Jenner?

Up to $1,550 Off on pCloud: Pay Once, Protect Data Forever for World Backup Day

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

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?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets