Robbie Gonzalez, Author at Gizmodo

NASA has discovered the most Earth-like planets yet

NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered a trio of distant planets that look remarkably like our own. Belonging to solar systems located 1,200 and 2,700 light years from Earth, the three Earth-sized worlds have been spotted orbiting in the so-called Goldilocks Zone of their parent stars – the “just-right” range at which liquid water, and life,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 18 '13

Watch what happens when you wring out a washcloth in space

This is just excellent. ISS Commander Chris Hadfield was recently asked by high school students Kendra Lemke and Meredith Faulkner to demonstrate what happens when you wring out a waterlogged washcloth in space. Hadfield was happy to oblige, and while the entire process is fun to watch (someone add squirting drinking water into a mechanically…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 18 '13

Moore’s Law predicts life originated billions of years before Earth

A new study co-authored by a geneticist at the National Institutes of Health concludes that life originated elsewhere in the Universe around 9.8 billion years ago – roughly five-billion years before the Earth was even formed. But how did the study arrive at this conclusion, and does it make any sense? Life Before Earth The…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 18 '13

This is a Euk with a Uke on a Cuc. That is all.

That is to say: it’s a eukaryote (see the membrane-bound organelles?) plucking away at a ukelele while perched atop a cucumber. Some great geeky wordplay from It’s Okay To Be Smart’s Joe Hanson, who says the GIF above is “Part 1 of a series… in which I make animations from funny biology rhymes that pop…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 18 '13

Refractographs are eye candy brought to you by physics

It’s easier than you think to create these weirdly beautiful colorscapes. “Refractograph” is a neologism that combines the word refraction with photograph. Refractograph, then, is just an image of refracted light, captured on camera. In the above tutorial, photographer Rob Turney runs us through the four stages of creating refractographs on your own. There’s no…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17 '13

What do you think should be your state’s official microorganism?

Oregon wants to make brewer’s yeast its official state microbe. Also known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the unicellular organism is perhaps best known for its use in brewing beer. This, of course, begs the question: what would your official state microbe be?

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17 '13

There’s More Than One Way to Sleep

Sleep remains one of biology’s most confounding mysteries. We are just beginning to understand how it evolved, but defining this strange state of consciousness is incredibly difficult — especially because there are so many ways to experience it. Humans obviously love sleep. Like all mammals, we literally can’t live without it. But when did our…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17 '13

True facts about the sea pig – a living, deep-sea condom with legs

Sea pigs are a variety of sea cucumber. Are you familiar with sea cucumbers? They have explicit mating rituals, and their skills at hiding fish in their butts are second to none. Let’s just say they’re weird, which says a lot about why Ze Frank has decided to make a video about them. https://gizmodo.com/probably-the-most-graphic-sfw-video-youll-see-this-week-5982661 https://gizmodo.com/watch-this-fish-seek-refuge-in-the-anus-of-a-sea-cucumb-5874197…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17 '13

Watch this woman’s face shapeshift with a simple trick of the light

In film, photo and video, lighting is everything. The arresting visual effect showcased here illustrates why. This hypnotic clip was directed by filmmaker Nacho Guzman, and is a teaser for an upcoming music video by French electronica group OPALE. In the video, a woman’s face can be seen appearing to morph dramatically as the camera…

Movies Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17 '13

Wanna go to Mars? Better prepare your audition tape.

No, really. The Mars One Project, which is aiming to put a human on Mars by 2023, is holding tryouts in the time-honored tradition of such esteemed human achievements as The Real World, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, and countless other reality shows. That is to say: with audition tapes. SPACE.com has the details: The…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 16 '13

Happiness is…thinking you get laid more often than your friends

Sex makes us happy. More sex makes us happier. But a newly published study suggests that having more sex than we think other people are having makes us happiest of all. In a recent issue of Social Indicators Research, sociologist Tim Wadsworth concludes that sex is a little like income*: the more of it people…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 16 '13

Doctors keep skin grafts in place using parasitic worms

Spiny headed worms are a clingy lot. They’re intestinal parasites with long, cactus-like heads that are perfect for penetrating, and then grabbing hold of, the insides of their host’s digestive organs. Now, bioengineers have co-opted these hanger-ons’ latching mechanisms for something therapeutic: skin grafts. These spiny worms (a.k.a. acanthocephalans, a.k.a. “prickly lil’ hellspawn”) are probably…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 16 '13

French scientist claims bras are useless (for some people)

Last week, an obscure French sports doctor named Jean-Denis Rouillon went on a student radio station and said that bras were useless, or maybe even harmful to muscles that support breasts naturally. After 16 years of studying the busts of some 300 women, Rouillon had concluded that women should consider going bra-less, lest their breasts…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 16 '13

Just one sip of beer can trigger a dopamine surge in your brain

It’s been known for some time that alcohol in beer, wine and liquor, consumed in large enough quantities, can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain. But a new study reveals that the mere taste of beer, in the absence of any alcoholic mechanism, can touch off a dopamine surge, as well. Via Smithsonian:…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 15 '13

Must Watch: Dawkins, Nye, Tyson, and Stephenson Discuss Science and Storytelling

“Without hyperbole, it is true that i don’t think there has ever been on one stage an assembly of science storytellers and communicators like this,” said theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss of the panelists assembled for the debate featured here. We’re inclined to agree with him. After all, it’s not every day you get astrophysicist Neil…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 15 '13

90-Year-Old Woman Tries Out Oculus Rift VR Headset, Is Adorable

The more we hear about Oculus Rift, the more excited we get about it. The virtual reality headset probably won’t hit shelves til 2014, but developer’s kits started shipping earlier this month. Here, YouTube user Paul Rivot lets his 90-year-old grandma take the setup out for a spin. First stop: Tuscany. We can’t even handle…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 15 '13

Behold, the brain from space!

Well, technically it’s a brain photographed from space. Astronaut Chris Hadfield, current Commander of the International Space Station, snapped the photograph while orbiting over South America. http://io9.com/5989277/words-to-live-by-chris-hadfields-advice-to-aspiring-astronauts “I have no idea what this Brazilian outcrop looks like on the ground,” Hadfield tweeted, along with the picture (the latest in a long string of beautiful photographs…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 15 '13

People from the South aren’t the fattest – they’re just more honest

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released maps of American obesity that pegged the country’s Southern states as the fattest at Fat Camp USA. Now, a study out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham is taking the CDC to task. Southerners aren’t the fattest, the study concludes, they’re just more honest…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 12 '13

These are among the world’s first 3D photographs of untouched snowflakes

Researchers at the University of Utah have teamed up with the NSF to understand better just how fast and in what form snowflakes truly fall. To do it, they’re using a high-speed Multi-Angle Snowflake Cam (aka “MASC”) to capture real-time 3D images of snowflakes in freefall at Utah’s Alta Ski Area. The study is reportedly…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 12 '13

Find out where you can celebrate Yuri’s Night!

It’s Yuri’s Night! Tonight, space enthusiasts the world over will kick off celebrations to commemorate 52 years of human space exploration by recognizing the anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight into space (not to mention the 32nd anniversary of the very first Shuttle launch). https://gizmodo.com/celebrate-yuris-night-with-art-inspired-by-the-first-hu-5791075 Yuri’s Night is technically tonight, but celebrations are scheduled…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 12 '13

Robbie Gonzalez

NASA has discovered the most Earth-like planets yet

Watch what happens when you wring out a washcloth in space

Moore’s Law predicts life originated billions of years before Earth

This is a Euk with a Uke on a Cuc. That is all.

Refractographs are eye candy brought to you by physics

What do you think should be your state’s official microorganism?

There’s More Than One Way to Sleep

True facts about the sea pig – a living, deep-sea condom with legs

Watch this woman’s face shapeshift with a simple trick of the light

Wanna go to Mars? Better prepare your audition tape.

Happiness is…thinking you get laid more often than your friends

Doctors keep skin grafts in place using parasitic worms

French scientist claims bras are useless (for some people)

Just one sip of beer can trigger a dopamine surge in your brain

Must Watch: Dawkins, Nye, Tyson, and Stephenson Discuss Science and Storytelling

90-Year-Old Woman Tries Out Oculus Rift VR Headset, Is Adorable

Behold, the brain from space!

People from the South aren’t the fattest – they’re just more honest

These are among the world’s first 3D photographs of untouched snowflakes

Find out where you can celebrate Yuri’s Night!

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