LISA KATAYAMA, Author at Gizmodo

Cosmic Rays from Slinky Toys

Remember those glow-in-the-dark stickers you used to put on your ceiling to make you room look like outer space? Well, here’s a much better way to do it. Designer Georgiosi of Objects With Light (OWL) creates these cosmic light fixtures using common household objects like screws, marbles, bolts, saw blades, and Slinky toys. The one…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 26

One Million Londoners Will Live in a Single Tower

London has to provide housing for a million more people by 2016, taking into account new arrivals, plus old-timers who need an upgrade. Since space is limited, UK company Popularchitecture is proposing a 5,000-foot high tower that would house pretty much everybody all in one shot—and reduce four city neighborhoods to a single cylindrical building.…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 25

Futurama Made Out of Lego

Matt De Lanoy, aka Pepa Quin the Lego-making sci-fi geek, made this diorama of Planet Express, the spaceship in Futurama, out of Lego. You’ll notice Leela’s shooting at somebody and Fry is about to go into the suicide booth. Fun times. This is on display at the Northbrook Lego Store in Illinois until April. More…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 24

Cute Robot Soldier Toys Are Plotting “Big Reset”

This cute little wooden robot is handmade, two inches tall, and just $5. Also, it’s part of an army of fierce environmentalist soldiers. Makes perfect sense. Here’s what creator Alexander Shen has to say about Woodbots: The Little Woodbot is Mother Nature’s robot soldier and they are currently surveying your world right now! You may…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 24

Will A Videogame Help Me Reverse My Aging Process?

I’ve been trying to figure out ways that I can defy age. I’m turning 30 this year, which means I will have a harder time remembering things, filtering information, and staying in shape. Since I’m not Ray Kurzweil and I can’t afford plastic surgery, I’m banking on Brain Age 2, Nintendo’s cognitive training software, to…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 21

Google Takes Initiative to Find Extraterrestrials by 2012

MIT’s teaming up with Google to design the first satellite that can really, truly search the sky for planets similar to Earth in size and terrain, taking us a giant step closer to making contact with extraterrestrials. Google is funding the development of a six high-res, wide-field digital cameras with a 192-megapixel resolution for TESS—the…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 21

The Sheet Metal Retail Caves of Tokyo

In Tokyo, retail stores are turning into enormous metal caves. Here’s one, installed by artist Kimihiko Okada on the ground floor of the Diesel store in Aoyama. Okada took a giant sheet of metal just millimeters thin and molded it into stalactite shapes. It looks like what you’d imagine nature might become 100 years from…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 20

Robo-Centipede Bridges the River Shannon

The University of Limerick in Ireland needed to expand across the River Shannon, so they decided to it with this strangely inverted bridge that looks something like a centipede. No, it’s not an homage to China Mieville — it’s a futuristic five-span bridge designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the guys who are making St. Petersburg…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 19

Eiffel Tower’s Massive New Observation Deck to be Made of Kevlar Webbing

The Eiffel Tower has remained exactly the same for 120 years, but this year builders will be attaching a temporary, carbon Kevlar observation deck to its uppermost reaches. French architecture firm Serero will help Paris celebrate the 120th birthday of the tower by more than doubling the floor space at its top. We’ve got a…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 19

UFO Home in Tennessee Sold for $135 K

UFOs are much cheaper to buy than almost any abode in San Francisco or New York. This three-bedroom alien ship—complete with the landing gear legs, a retractable staircase that descends to the ground, cubed windows, and a strangely old-timey streetlamp outside—sold for a mere $135K at an auction in Tennessee this past weekend. The person…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 18

Haute Couture Spaceship Travels From City to City in Segments

In order to send a spaceship-like pavilion on a journey across the world, Zaha Hadid architects created this Chanel Pavilion, a portable 7500 square foot art venue that will travel from Hong Kong to New York to Moscow to Paris over the next year. The steel structure breaks apart into segments that are no more…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 17

Mutant Goji Berry Aliens From the Himalayas

Meet the Mojis. They’re a family of aliens designed by artist Adriean Koleric, and they come from the underground of the vast expanses of goji berry fields in the Himalayas. They got mixed up in some crates full of goji berries and were haphazardly exported to the US. According to Art MoCo: According to legend…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 17

World’s First Zero-Carbon, Zero-Waste City

Imagine a city built from the ground-up to use recycled materials and eschew carbon emissions. Next year, it may be real. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi has an ambitious project underway to create the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste city by 2009. They’re hoping to build this city in the immediate…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 14

Air Pavilion is an Architechtural Mood Ring

Renowned designer Michael Jantzen is famous for creating abstract, eco-friendly structures that are often open to the elements. Sky Cloud Pavilion is one such building, open to the sky, and designed to change form to suit your needs. You can enjoy it naked, as seen here, or you can deck it out with flexible materials…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 14

Abu Dhabi’s Shiny New Oceanfront Created via Environmental Computer Modelling

From the architecture firm that brought you Kazhakstan’s alien ship building comes a new design for the Abu Dhabi World Trade Center. Using high-tech environmental computer analysis that takes into consideration the complex climate and topography of Al Raha Beach, Foster + Partners created this bright-but-cool, airy-but-windproof, asymmetrical-but-functional, and very futuristic-looking building. https://gizmodo.com/kazakhstans-highest-peak-is-a-pyramid-shaped-alien-ship-349476 The secret…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 13

Intervalography Captures Patterns That Are Invisible to the Naked Eye

This strange photo is of a real place, but it looks like it was photoshopped it like crazy. In fact, it wasn’t. By combining strips from 100 photographs of the same thing into a particular kind of pattern, photographer Alan Grinberg has invented an entirely new photographic technique he calls Intervalography. Find out how the…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 13

Office Of The Future Will Have Even Less Privacy

Japanese design team Nendo created this crazy-looking office space in Tokyo by putting giant U-shaped cut-out partitions all throughout the room. It kinda looks like a giant unknown entity was draping a sheet between his hands — and it totally re-imagines the traditional office space structures of cubicles and conference rooms. You have to step…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 10

Cyclops Robots Want Our Women

Nate Wragg is a cool artist from Davis, California who draws colorful scenes of monster battles and women-snatching cyclops robots on alien planets. In this 2007 piece, he illustrates a fight between Yeti and Bigfoot using acrylics, gouache, and paper cutouts. Okay, Wragg’s actually not just some dude from California. He’s a hot shot artist…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 10

Was the First Human Clone Born in 1978?

In 1978, David Rorvik, medical reporter for the New York Times and Time Magazine, wrote a book called In His Image: The Cloning of Man. In it, he claimed that a real human clone had just been born. Everyone believed him because he was — at least until then — a credible reporter, and his…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 7

Korean Movie Explores Human Emotions From a Cyborg Perspective

Welcome to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re really an alien or a cyborg, well, you’re not alone. Young-goon, the protagonist featured in acclaimed director Park Chan-wook’s latest film, I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK, is sent to a mental hospital after she…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA Mar 7

LISA KATAYAMA

Cosmic Rays from Slinky Toys

One Million Londoners Will Live in a Single Tower

Futurama Made Out of Lego

Cute Robot Soldier Toys Are Plotting “Big Reset”

Will A Videogame Help Me Reverse My Aging Process?

Google Takes Initiative to Find Extraterrestrials by 2012

The Sheet Metal Retail Caves of Tokyo

Robo-Centipede Bridges the River Shannon

Eiffel Tower’s Massive New Observation Deck to be Made of Kevlar Webbing

UFO Home in Tennessee Sold for $135 K

Haute Couture Spaceship Travels From City to City in Segments

Mutant Goji Berry Aliens From the Himalayas

World’s First Zero-Carbon, Zero-Waste City

Air Pavilion is an Architechtural Mood Ring

Abu Dhabi’s Shiny New Oceanfront Created via Environmental Computer Modelling

Intervalography Captures Patterns That Are Invisible to the Naked Eye

Office Of The Future Will Have Even Less Privacy

Cyclops Robots Want Our Women

Was the First Human Clone Born in 1978?

Korean Movie Explores Human Emotions From a Cyborg Perspective

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?

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