Lauren Davis, Author at Gizmodo

Revolutionary Chemical Discoveries That Were Made By Complete Accident

While some scientific discoveries are made by following logical pathways, others are made by accident, often while the discoverer was trying to accomplish something else entirely. Learn about the accidents behind cheap purple dye, artificial sweetener, and non-stick coating. The American Chemical Society teamed up with Chemical Heritage Foundation and animator Sean Parsons to bring…

io9 Lauren Davis

Spider-Man’s Morbius, The Living Vampire Gets A Bloody Fun Fan Film

Dr. Michael Morbius has yet to flash his fangs in a Spider-Man movie, but here he gets his very own fan film. While Morbius tries to cope with his vampiric condition, he’s pursued by a mysterious group aware of his bloodthirsty secret. Morbius was actually considered as the main villain in Blade II, but that…

io9 Lauren Davis

Why The Discovery Channel’s “Eaten Alive” Stunt Could Kill An Ananconda

We don’t know if the Discovery Channel’s upcoming Eaten Alive special will truly show an adult man being swallowed by an anaconda. But regardless of whether it’s real or fake, you should steer clear of this special, because if an anaconda did try to swallow a human, it would injure—and could even kill—the snake. https://gizmodo.com/discovery-claims-it-will-show-a-man-being-eaten-alive-b-1655142607…

io9 Lauren Davis

This Superhero Is More Lucrative Than Batman And The Avengers Combined

The Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and the Dark Knight series may rule the box office, but the real superhero money comes from licensed products. And the superhero with the most lucrative license—earning a whopping $1.3 billion a year—is neither Bat nor big-screen Avenger. It’s actually Spider-Man who is the superheroic earner, with licensing profits that…

io9 Lauren Davis

What Dating Is Like In A City Plagued By A Giant Rampaging Kaiju

All cities have their problems, but this city is perpetually dealing with a fire-breathing monster that forces people to change plans, ignore relationship problems, and—oh yeah—run for their lives. This short comedy follows a group of self-centered 20-somethings navigated life in the shadow of Gammatar. Running the Gammatar was written and directed by Joe Kramer.…

io9 Lauren Davis

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Four Horsemen Of The Modern Apocalypse

The Horsemen of War, Famine, Death, and Pestilence get a makeover for the modern age in this week’s Concept Art Writing Prompt. What story can you write inspired by this reinvented apocalyptic foursome? The Four Horsemen is by artist Keith Thompson, who has also done the remarkable illustrations for Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series. If you’re…

io9 Lauren Davis

The 100 Is Much More Interesting When It’s Building Its World

With the Ark gone, the only corners of The 100 left to explore are on (or under) the Earth. And the show becomes much more interesting when it spreads out beyond the “Sky People” and Grounder factions. Although “Many Happy Returns” did, in fact, feature a few significant returns and reunions, a good deal of…

Television Lauren Davis

In This Short Film, The Robot Uprising Starts With Our Military Drones

In the future, the US government has removed human oversight from its drone missions, leaving unmanned military operations and surveillance to an AI. But the folks behind the project regret that decision when the AI starts targeting humanity at large. I.R.I.S. is another fun and stylish scifi short from director Hasraf HaZ Dulull, who also…

io9 Lauren Davis

It’s Great We’re Getting A Captain Marvel Movie. It’s Also Not Enough.

When Marvel announced that its next round of movies would include a Captain Marvel movie, we were thrilled. Yes, a major Marvel movie featuring a popular and wonderful female superhero. But amidst that celebration, let’s not forget there are still tons of worthy female superheroes who would make excellent movie stars. We’re at a point…

io9 Lauren Davis

xkcd Animates The Philae Comet Landing—And It’s Adorable

Today, we celebrated a monumental achievement in human history: For the first time, we landed an object on a comet. And xkcd creator Randall Munroe celebrated by creating this cartoon flipbook starting three hours before Philae’s separation from Rosetta and ending with the landing. “Landing” is a series of 142 frames following the probe’s separation…

io9 Lauren Davis

See, This Is Why You Don’t Play With A Face-Stealing Monster

Gabby just wants her older sister Tam to play with her, but Tam wants to be left alone. So instead of playing, Tam tells Gabby about the Thing Under the Tree, and how you must never let the creature see your face. The Thing Under the Tree was director Lily Fang’s graduation film from the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Hermit Crabs Line Themselves Up From Biggest To Smallest To Swap Shells

Seriously, HERMIT CRABS FORM ORDERLY QUEUES. In height order. To more efficiently trade shells. I, for one, welcome our new crustacean bureaucrats. This is a segment from BBC’s Life Story, and it captures some pretty extraordinary animal behavior. When a new shell washes up on shore, these hermit crabs measure each other and then line…

Television Lauren Davis

Victim of Lichtenstein’s Copying Draws A Comic About His Experience

Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art frequently involved taking existing comic book panels, copying them, and placing them in a new context. In this compelling comic, artist Russ Heath describes his experience as one of Lichtenstein’s inspirations and the charity that has helped him out in times of financial hardship. The exploding target in Whaam!, one of…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Notepad Illusions Look Like 3D Sculptures, But They’re 2D Illustrations

When you first glance at artist João A. Carvalho‘s notepad paper illustrations, you may think you’re seeing 3-dimensional objects. But on closer inspection, they’re actually simple but clever illusions that use lines and shading to make images pop from the page. Of course, Carvalho isn’t drawing his pieces on pre-lined paper. Instead, he’s using the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Extended Age Of Ultron Trailer Has Even More Goddamn Creepy Ultron

The extended version of the first trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron follows the same structure as the original version, but there’s even more footage for us to pick apart, including more of James Spader monologuing as the terrifying Ultron. We already did a breakdown of the shorter trailer, but get ready to speculate about…

io9 Lauren Davis

A Webcomic About Two Cosmic Scoundrels By A Creator Of Homestar Runner

When Homestar Runner co-creator Matt Chapman teams up with Samurai Jack artist Andy Suriano, magic happens. Space magic. Their webcomic Cosmic Scoundrels follows a pair of futuristic rogues and their ludicrous adventures on the wrong side of the law. Plus, expect plenty of Easter eggs. Love Savage and Roshambo are the titular pair of space-faring…

io9 Lauren Davis

Tiny Pole-Dancing Deadpool Is Our New Favorite Deadpool

What does Deadpool look like when he’s shimmying about a dance pole? Adorable. Artist Quere shrank Deadpool down to chibi size and made him swing and twirl. I think we need an entire series of cute Deadpool doing cute animated things. You can see more of Quere’s work (including more Deadpool) on DeviantART and Tumblr.…

io9 Lauren Davis

Star Wars Rebels Finally Focuses On Its Badass Female Characters

Most episodes of Star Wars Rebels have thus far focused on Ezra and his relationships with Kanan and Zeb. But this week, we finally take a moment with Hera and Sabine and get a hint at our Mandalorian rebel’s backstory. The most intriguing character, however, is the one we never see. The meat of this…

Television Lauren Davis

Hilarious Title Ideas For That “Ultra-Realistic” Fantastic Four Movie

Now that we’ve learned about the terrible changes in store for Victor Von Doom in the new Fantastic Four reboot and plans to make the film “lo-fi” and “ultra-real,” some of you responded with new, much more accurate titles for the now not-so-Fantastic Four. And they are pretty brilliant. In response to actor Toby Kebbell’s…

io9 Lauren Davis

Comic Explains How Your Childhood Is Like A Marvel Superhero Movie

Ever wish that your life were more like a superhero movie? This comic explains what your childhood has in common with a Marvel movie—if not in superpowers, then at least in terms of escalating villains to fight. Dorkly’s Andrew Bridgman teamed up with Shenanigansen of Owl Turd Comix for this brief comic comparing childhood with…

io9 Lauren Davis

Lauren Davis

Revolutionary Chemical Discoveries That Were Made By Complete Accident

Spider-Man’s Morbius, The Living Vampire Gets A Bloody Fun Fan Film

Why The Discovery Channel’s “Eaten Alive” Stunt Could Kill An Ananconda

This Superhero Is More Lucrative Than Batman And The Avengers Combined

What Dating Is Like In A City Plagued By A Giant Rampaging Kaiju

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Four Horsemen Of The Modern Apocalypse

The 100 Is Much More Interesting When It’s Building Its World

In This Short Film, The Robot Uprising Starts With Our Military Drones

It’s Great We’re Getting A Captain Marvel Movie. It’s Also Not Enough.

xkcd Animates The Philae Comet Landing—And It’s Adorable

See, This Is Why You Don’t Play With A Face-Stealing Monster

Hermit Crabs Line Themselves Up From Biggest To Smallest To Swap Shells

Victim of Lichtenstein’s Copying Draws A Comic About His Experience

Notepad Illusions Look Like 3D Sculptures, But They’re 2D Illustrations

Extended Age Of Ultron Trailer Has Even More Goddamn Creepy Ultron

A Webcomic About Two Cosmic Scoundrels By A Creator Of Homestar Runner

Tiny Pole-Dancing Deadpool Is Our New Favorite Deadpool

Star Wars Rebels Finally Focuses On Its Badass Female Characters

Hilarious Title Ideas For That “Ultra-Realistic” Fantastic Four Movie

Comic Explains How Your Childhood Is Like A Marvel Superhero Movie

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

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

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