peril, Author at Gizmodo

Mr. Wizard Knew That Girls Liked Science Too

At the very same time during the 1950s that some young women wondered why they should study science when all they wanted to do was get married, and magazines aimed at teen girls and women did their best to simultaneously both dispel and uphold the stereotype of the masculine female scientist, Don Herbert was busy…

io9 Peril Feb 5

Why Housewives Need Science, 1955

Did you ever wonder why young, single women should waste their time in science class when they could be out tracking down eligible men? Listen and learn as Dad and Mom explain to their skeptical daughter Betty how science benefits married women, as well as those waiting for Mr. Right, in this clip from Why…

io9 Peril Feb 4

Free the Oceanic 6!

You’ve got a pile of mangoes and a clean-shaven Future Jack mixing up his breakfast screwdriver: Welcome to Lost, season 4. Despite my whiny complaints and misgivings about the last season, I’m officially completely hooked again. Minor spoilers and recappage ahead. https://gizmodo.com/the-suckiest-parts-of-lost-349093 The episode was a fabulous, Hurley-centric return to form. There was a minimum…

Television Peril Feb 1

In 1975, Arthur C. Clarke Predicted Flying Cars and Smarter Pets

One of the best Christmas presents I ever received was David Wallechinsky and David Wallace’s The People’s Almanac. Published in 1975, the Almanac covered all sorts of juicy topics to keep an impressionable 14-year-old happy—famous crimes, oddities, utopias, and (oh, baby!) sex. There was even an entire chapter devoted to predictions given by not only…

Books & Comics Peril Jan 31

A Failed Answering Machine from 1919

Behold the “Telephone That Registers Calls in One’s Absence.” It sounds like something from the Onion, but it’s an actual invention from the pages of Scientific American in 1919. The brainchild of a nameless “California inventor” (so much for his fifteen minutes of fame), the device was a recording telegraph made to be installed in…

io9 Peril Jan 30

In The 1960s You Could Wear an Electric Dress

In 1967, designer Diana Dew’s light-up mini-dresses and pants pulsed to the music at the hippest discotheques. Still in her early 20s, Dew invented a rechargeable battery pack that powered what Time magazine called “pliable plastic lamps” sewn onto dresses and pants. Priced at $150, the dresses weren’t cheap, but they were plenty fun. Wearers…

io9 Peril Jan 29

The Future Will Taste Like Space Food Sticks

1969 was a great year to be seven-going-on-eight: astronauts were getting ready to land on the moon—and for spellbound earthlings, there were Space Food Sticks. As this vintage ad explains, Space Food Sticks were developed "to meet the demands of a long spaceflight" by the nice folks at Pillsbury. (Can you imagine any product today…

io9 Peril Jan 28

The Suckiest Parts of Lost

Tomboy Kate morphs into wimpy womanhood in one of Lost’s most annoying moments. Yesterday we paid tribute to our favorite moments from the show, but now it’s time to tear into the most disappointing, annoying and/or simply wrong moments. Bad omen: the worst of Lost is almost all related to season 3. The Wussification of…

io9 Peril Jan 25

Lost’s Greatest Hits: Five Fabulous Favorites

With one week to go until the season 4 premiere, here’s a short and subjective list of my five favorite moments from Lost. In retrospect, it’s heavy on the first two seasons. They’re in no particular order, except for the first: Desmond’s Day in the Hatch. These first few minutes of season 2, in my…

io9 Peril Jan 24

Girl Scientists Aren’t Mannish At All

Meet Mary Summerfield, Ph.D. In 1956, she was one of what American Girl magazine called “thousands of girls now serving as professional scientists.” Dr. Summerfield thought more young women (er, girls) would consider science as a career but were afraid it would render them unfeminine spinsters. That’s why the caption on her picture stressed she…

io9 Peril Jan 23

Sex & The Single Robot in 1930

Given all the hoopla over David Levy’s new book, Love and Sex with Robots, perhaps it’s time to get a quote on the subject directly from a robotic mouth. Meet Mr. Herbert Televox, “the perfect servant, who is never late or insolent …. ” according to this picture’s 1929 caption. https://gizmodo.com/once-you-go-bot-you-never-go-back-347239 Mr. Televox was Westinghouse’s…

io9 Peril Jan 22

Brigitte Bardot Croons Alien Love Song

Here’s another scifi song to take to that barren asteroid with you: Brigitte Bardot singing Serge Gainsbourg’s “Contact.” “A meteorite has pierced my heart,” chants Brigitte in this tale of wounded interplanetary love, “I need a transfusion of mercury. … Remove my spacesuit …” https://gizmodo.com/ten-scifi-songs-you-should-take-to-a-barren-asteroid-343613 Actually, given the reference to mercury, maybe the song is…

io9 Peril Jan 18

Let’s Hear It for Fish Biscuits!

Remember when he-man hillbilly Sawyer figures out the levers and knobs in his cage and is rewarded with a fish-shaped biscuit and a cascade of people chow? “Only took the bears two hours.” Definitely one of my favorite moments from Lost season 3. Last year, an enterprising fan came up with a recipe and pattern…

Television Peril Jan 17

Junior Spacemen Beg Mothers to Buy Vegetable Juice They Won’t Drink

In what must be the most unappetizing breakfast combination since soylent green and cream soda, two junior spacemen (no girls allowed!) chase their Cheerios with V-8 juice in this commercial from 1960. Why? Because they needed a box top and can label to get a “moon rocket” game. Watch the whole thing at the Prelinger…

io9 Peril Jan 16

2001: A Flatware Odyssey

The knives are little more than a slender metal wedge and the three-tined forks so narrow you can barely spear a green bean, but what Arne Jacobsen’s stainless steel flatware lacks in functionality, it makes up in futuristic style. That’s why it was featured in 2001. I own a set of this famous flatware, and…

io9 Peril Jan 15

Thinko the Robot’s Secret Past

By the standards of psychotronic film, Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) has it all: Mamie Van Doren, a chimpanzee named Abraham Q. Voltaire, and Thinko the Robot. Indeed, Thinko plays a pivotal role—thanks to his computer brain, a brilliant ex-stripper is hired to head the science department at Collins College. When he blows a…

io9 Peril Jan 14

Astronaut Barbie Conquers Moon, Shakes Groove Thang

As this commercial from 1986 conclusively proves, Barbie can do anything! Especially if she’s wearing hot pink kinky disco space boots.

io9 Peril Jan 11

She Sweeps! She Dusts! She’s the First Female Robot!

Meet the “first female robot,” Susie Robette, from 1957. An FAO Schwartz catalog at the time promised the Robette would be “feminine enough to wear a pony tail of coppered wire.” You can find more images here, as well as a patent sketch and some catalog pages, the latter of which reveal she was a…

io9 Peril Jan 10

The Great Miss Universe Scandal of 2381

Behold Ed Emshwiller’s magnificent cover for the February 1959 issue of Future Science Fiction. Yes, it gives away the ending of “You Do Something To Me,” Calvin M. Knox’s story of the “the white-skinned hideous horror from a distant world,” but isn’t it worth it? (Trivia moment: Calvin M. Knox is a pseudonym of Robert…

io9 Peril Jan 9

Bell Telephone Indoctrinates Teens at Seattle World’s Fair

Two peppy, Aryan teenagers learn how tomorrow’s communication technology will help us live happily ever after in “Century 21 Calling,” a Bell Telephone promo film shot at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1964. After disembarking the monorail, the kids run through the fairgrounds, gawking at foreigners and passing up the peepshow (add Elvis and essentially…

io9 Peril Jan 8

peril

Mr. Wizard Knew That Girls Liked Science Too

Why Housewives Need Science, 1955

Free the Oceanic 6!

In 1975, Arthur C. Clarke Predicted Flying Cars and Smarter Pets

A Failed Answering Machine from 1919

In The 1960s You Could Wear an Electric Dress

The Future Will Taste Like Space Food Sticks

The Suckiest Parts of Lost

Lost’s Greatest Hits: Five Fabulous Favorites

Girl Scientists Aren’t Mannish At All

Sex & The Single Robot in 1930

Brigitte Bardot Croons Alien Love Song

Let’s Hear It for Fish Biscuits!

Junior Spacemen Beg Mothers to Buy Vegetable Juice They Won’t Drink

2001: A Flatware Odyssey

Thinko the Robot’s Secret Past

Astronaut Barbie Conquers Moon, Shakes Groove Thang

She Sweeps! She Dusts! She’s the First Female Robot!

The Great Miss Universe Scandal of 2381

Bell Telephone Indoctrinates Teens at Seattle World’s Fair

Artemis 2 Day 6: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

NASA Administrator Says Odds of Finding Alien Life Are ‘Pretty High’

The ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ Movie Did Rosalina Dirty

Wisconsin Remains a Gooning Sanctuary State After Governor Rejects Age Verification Bill

The Artemis 2 Astronauts Are Now Farther From Earth Than Any Have Gone Before

The Imperial Credits From the ‘Andor’ Aldhani Heist Are Up for Auction, Which We’re Sure Is Not a Commentary on Capitalism at All

Check Your Medicine Cabinet for These Eye Drop Bottles After Millions Recalled

Artemis 2 Astronauts’ Epic iPhone Photos Are All… Selfies?

OpenAI Releases Its Vague Vision for Reorganizing Society Around Superintelligence

Lego Is Getting Mark Hamill on the Phone to Sell You Its Smart Bricks

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

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

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

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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