Ria Misra

Who First Got You interested In Science?

Who was the person who first sparked your interest in science? It could be someone from your own life, a fictional character with a penchant for the lab, or a scientist whose work caught your interest. Tell us about the person, along with how he or she got you interested in science, in the comments…

Why Is Science Fiction So Fascinated By Black Goo?

Today’s Comment of the Day comes from hamnotono who, fresh off the news that Helix has been renewed for a second season, asks what the deal is with science fiction’s fascination with black goo? https://gizmodo.com/break-out-the-black-goo-and-celebrate-helix-is-renewed-1553905095 When did “black goo” become the default sci-fi mystery substance? X-Files, Prometheus, Helix, probably others I’m forgetting. Give me some…

Take a Look at the First Successfully Transplanted, 3D-Printed Skull

The first 3D printed skull transplant has taken place in the Netherlands — and they’ve released some of the early footage of the successful surgery. The surgery was performed in the University Medical Center at Utrecht University, after surgeons there began treating a patient with a condition that was causing a thickening of the skull…

Comet Siding Spring Is Headed Towards Mars

Comet Siding Spring is headed towards Mars. Not to worry, though. With its projected trajectory having it miss Mars by 84,000 miles, the comet is unlikely to make much of an impact on the red planet — but its dust might. The comet is surrounding by a dust cloud right now measuring over 12,000 miles…

Carry On, GIF Party, Carry On

This GIF Party begins now! Do you have science GIFs we should check out or just a GIF that perfectly captures your week? It’s our Friday show-and-tell party time — all through the art and science of the GIF.

A Time-lapse of Every Winter Storm That Hit This Year

You weren’t imagining it — this was one brutal winter. Here’s every winter storm that hit this year the way it was meant to be experienced, from inside a warm room, safely behind a screen. The video is the work of Dennis Chesters at NASA Goddard / NOAA, who used a single picture from NOAA’s…

Why Are We So Fascinated By Zombies?

Despite their total lack of charisma or even distinguishable characters, zombies have somehow become the monsters of our time — but is it because of their lack of personality, not in spite of, that we’re so fascinated? In response to this quote from Max Brooks, about the apocalyptic anxieties that underlie our current cultural fascination…

Max Brooks On Why We Love Zombies — And Why We Might Stop

Zombies are having an epically long cultural moment, but why? Author Max Books explains just what’s behind that fascination — and when we might expect it to end. In a AMA with reddit yesterday, Brooks explained his thoughts on the apocalyptic anxieties that were fueling the surge of interest in zombie stories, both now and…

Rosetta Just Took Its First Glimpse of Its Destination Comet

Rosetta, the comet-exploring spacecraft, has finally gotten within sight of the comet it’s been traveling towards for the first time since waking up from its 2-year long slumber through deep space — and it sent back the pictures to prove it. https://gizmodo.com/rosetta-a-comet-hunting-spacecraft-just-woke-up-1505225689 Top image: Wide angle view of comet taken with Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera, one…

What Are You Reading?

What are you reading right now? Do you have a book to recommend for our reading lists? Tell us in the comments about the books you put down, your reading recommendations (or the ones you’re looking for), and what you’re planning to read next!

What Makes You Watch, And Then Re-watch, A Television Show?

There are shows you watch once and enjoy — and then there are those shows that are a continual presence in your DVD player or Netflix queue. So what makes the difference? In response to this post, about enjoying Lost but not its ending, a discussion began about just what took a show from a…

Energy Drink Sales Are Insane, But They Won’t Crush Coffee. Here’s Why.

Here’s some news to file under “dystopian future”: Energy drink sales are skyrocketing so quickly that analysts are predicting it could replace coffee as America’s preferred caffeine-delivery system. But there may yet be some light at the end of the caffeine-tunnel. Roberto Ferdman over at Quartz put together this pair of fear-inducing graphs using data…

A Solution To Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox

Earlier this year, Stephen Hawking proposed a radical reformulation in how we define black holes — but this explanation still left a big unanswered question to how black holes work. Now, a physicist says he’s cracked that problem. https://gizmodo.com/stephen-hawking-says-there-are-no-black-holes-1508408816 The problem centers around just what happens to information when it is encountered by a black…

Both Halves Of A Giant Sea Turtle Fossil Found 160 Years Apart

More than 160 years ago, paleontologists found a partial fossil of a 70-million-year-old giant sea turtle, the only known example of its particular species. This week, they found the other half. Top image: Two partial fossil halves put together / via Drexel University. The second half was found by an amateur fossil hunter in New…

How Does A Word Make It Into The Dictionary?

Every year a handful of new words make it into the dictionary, but how do they get there and who chooses them? Kory Stamper, a lexicographer for Merriam Webster, explains to us just how our dictionaries get made. Stamper joined us today to answer all our questions about the definitions and origins of words, ranging…

How The “Open A Bottle Of Wine With Your Shoe” Trick Works

You may have spotted this video going around of a man opening a bottle of wine using just a shoe, a wall, and a willfully optimistic attitude about the integrity of glass. It’s a pretty slick kitchen-hack, but does it work? And if so, why? NPR’s The Salt put the trick to the test (with…

Kory Stamper Is Here to Answer All Your Questions About Words

Kory Stamper is a lexicographer over at Merriam-Webster, publishers of dictionaries and thesauruses. She’s here today to answer all our questions about how we use language, from 11 – noon (Pacific time). Ask Stamper anything, whether it’s about the correct way to pluralize “octopus”, or just how she parses out the definitions for words, both…

Just what have the tornado patterns of the past 30 years looked like? An interactive map, over at Smithsonian answers that question, by showing the patterns and strength of how tornadoes have struck for every year since 1980.

Why Does Finger Tenting Look So Sinister?

It’s one of the most classic on-screen tropes: As soon as you see a character tent his or her fingers together, you know a sinister plot is a-brewing. But how did this little bit of a body language become such a loaded gesture? Mike Pesca, over at Slate’s Brow Beat, unpacks where steeplings cinematic baggage…

When Lab Scientists Used to Pipette with Their Mouths

There’ve been lots of advancements in lab tech, but here’s one researchers are probably particularly grateful for: the modern pipette. Why? Because, before its invention, lab protocol called for scientists to pipette with their mouths, much like you would a straw. Top image: A lab tech in 1943 pipetting plasma samples / British Ministry of…