Meg Neal, Author at Gizmodo

A Beginner’s Guide to the Synth

You know the sound. Listen to Devo’s “Whip It” or Parliament’s “Flash Light.” Like countless modern pop songs, they’re full of sounds that aren’t made by acoustic instruments; the sound is pure synthetic. You’re listening to electricity manipulated by a machine. The machine of course is the synthesizer, and it’s been one of the most…

Tech News Meg Neal Oct 22

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

While were all busy watching The Martian, three Nobel Prizes — “the Oscars of Science” — were announced this week, and we explained the significance of the winners in chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine. Meanwhile, Microsoft introduced a slew of new gadgets, including the latest Surface laptop and Windows phones. Here are the highlights…

Tech News Meg Neal Oct 9

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

First off, there were lots of new phones to play with this week. We reviewed the iPhone 6s and played with two new-and-improved Nexus phones while livebloggin’ from Google’s event. We were also at Tesla covering the big reveal of the Model X, and debuted the Indefinitely Wild video series with an explainer on how…

Tech News Meg Neal Oct 2

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

We introduced a new series this week, Living With Data, which will help you decode how the massive amount of personal data hidden from your is affecting your life and your future. We had a bunch of great reviews too, from two new smartwatches on the market to what Siri means for your car. Here…

Tech News Meg Neal Sep 25

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The theme this week on Gizmodo was “survival”—how to survive a natural (or unnatural) disaster, the wilderness, the apocalypse, what have you — including, of course, Apple’s new mobile OS. Here are the highlights from this week. 23 Things You Can Do in iOS 9 That You Couldn’t Do in iOS 8 It may have…

Tech News Meg Neal Sep 18

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

This week saw the debut of some exciting gadgets — a new Moto X, Intel’s latest processor, Google’s wifi router — but the Star Wars BB-8 toy droid stole the show. We reviewed it and found it to be the Best Toy Ever. Here are the highlights from this week. Ashley Madison Code Shows More…

Tech News Meg Neal Sep 4

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Ashley Madison hack dominated tech headlines again this week, and we analyzed the leaked data to expose an interesting and sad twist to that story. That and more favorites from this week below. Almost None of the Women in the Ashley Madison Database Ever Used the Site When hacker group Impact Team released the…

Tech News Meg Neal Aug 28

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

RIP hitchBOT. RIP iTunes. Hello lab-grown meat and zero emissions. Here’s the best of Gizmodo from this hot summer week. Hitchhiking Robot Lasts Just Two Weeks in US Because Humans Are Terrible When hitchBOT the hitchhiking robot started his journey in Boston two weeks ago he wanted to see the entire country. Unfortunately, he never…

Tech News Meg Neal Aug 7

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

Guys, Windows 10 is out, and we played with it alllll week. Tl;dr? We like. We also tested out two hotly anticipated smartphones (that we also like) and the redesigned Chuck Taylors, which made for some great shoe porn. Here are the highlights from this week. I Installed Windows 10 and Now I’m Talking to…

Tech News Meg Neal Jul 31

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

We were busy playing with Windows 10 all week, and published some great science explainers and debunks, none of which fascinated the internet quite as much as Converse sneakers’ first redesign in nearly a century. Here are the highlights! I Installed Windows 10 and Now I’m Talking to My Computer Unless you’re one of the…

Tech News Meg Neal Jul 24

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

This week was alllll about Pluto for Giz and space nerds everywhere. As it should be! Though, nearly just as hyped as the New Horizons flyby was… Amazon’s “Prime Day,” which, unlike Pluto, turned out to be a giant let down. All that and more in this week’s story highlights! Everything We’re Learning About Pluto…

Tech News Meg Neal Jul 17

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

Apple jumped into the streaming music game this past week, and we give it a try. We had some thoughts. We also previewed the new Mac OS El Capitan, and tested a bunch of inexpensive laptops to find the very best. Meanwhile, our weekly podcast discussed what would happen if a star exploded near Earth,…

Tech News Meg Neal Jul 5

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

It was a good week. And it ended on a goddamn awesome note. Here are the highlights: You Can Freeze Your Fat and Poop It Out When I heard about a cosmetic procedure that freezes your fat in a single afternoon, I thought it was just another brazen entry into a crowded market of slogans…

Tech News Meg Neal Jun 26

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

This week was space habitats week at Gizmodo and io9, and we had a ton of great stories on the topic of exploring and colonizing the cosmos. We also played with some crazy futuristic tech at E3. Check out the favorites. Interplanetary Spacecraft, Ranked We may be dirty monkeys at heart, but humans have done…

Tech News Meg Neal Jun 19

UK Police Scanned the Faces of 100,000 People at a Music Festival

Police used facial recognition technology to scan the faces of thousands of attendees at the Download music festival in the UK without their knowledge. Because this is the world we live in. Leicestershire Police used this weekend’s event to do a test run of their new facial recognition tech, trying to catch “organized criminals” who…

Privacy & Security Meg Neal Jun 16

The Boy Who Built A 500 Million-Degree Nuclear Fusion Reactor

The following excerpt is from The Boy Who Played with Fusion by Tom Clynes. The book, released today, tells the story of science prodigy Taylor Wilson, who by age 14 had built a 500-million-degree nuclear fusion reactor. Taylor toggles another switch, energizing the vacuum pumps. He and Brinsmead and Phaneuf watch the gauge as the…

Books & Comics Meg Neal Jun 9

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

This week, lots of you devoured our “morning inspiration” series—glad to know there are optimists reading Gizmodo! We did a deep dive into high-speed rail and continued to shame people about the California drought. Here are the favorites. First off, I skipped the Best of Giz post last week, so let me give a shout…

Tech News Meg Neal Jun 5

Get a Sneak Peek at XKCD Creator Randall Munroe’s New Book

We’re big fans of xkcd here at Gizmodo (who isn’t?), and also of learnin’ about things, so we’re pretty excited for Randall Munroe’s upcoming book of explainer drawings, THING EXPLAINER: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words. We’ve got a sneak peek for you, below. The book is a series of annotated blueprints that explain everything from…

Space & Spaceflight Meg Neal Jun 5

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

This week at Gizmodo, we got our hands on Buckminster Fuller’s FBI file, recounted your worst PayPal horror stories, told you why you need to stop drinking bottled water, and hung out with Neal Stephenson to chat about his latest novel. Here are the highlights. Stop Drinking Bottled Water There are few things on this…

Tech News Meg Neal May 22

Read the First Chapter of Neal Stephenson’s New Novel, Seveneves

The following excerpt is chapter one from Neal Stephenson’s new novel, Seveneves. Stephenson is also the author of the novels Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Anathem. The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing, only one day short of full. The time was 05:03:12 UTC. Later it would be designated…

Tech News Meg Neal May 19

Meg Neal

A Beginner’s Guide to the Synth

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

UK Police Scanned the Faces of 100,000 People at a Music Festival

The Boy Who Built A 500 Million-Degree Nuclear Fusion Reactor

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

Get a Sneak Peek at XKCD Creator Randall Munroe’s New Book

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

Read the First Chapter of Neal Stephenson’s New Novel, Seveneves

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

Russia Allegedly Swung at VPNs but Accidentally Hit Its Own Banking Sector Instead

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

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