Robbie Gonzalez, Author at Gizmodo

What caused this electrical substation to explode in Manhattan last night?

Some of the most striking footage to come out of Frankenstorm Sandy’s merciless pounding of New York City began rolling in last night, shortly after 8:30 pm, when a massive explosion at a Consolidated Edison substation plunged tens of thousands of Manhattan residents into darkness. Photographs of the eruption, which occurred at the Lower East…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 30 '12

“Cat parties” bedeviling Icelandic police

Some levity for your post-Sandy (or, depending on where you live, mid-Sandy) doldrums: while the East Coast was being ravaged by the biggest hurricane in Atlantic history, local police in Suðurnes, Iceland had crises of their own to deal with. Namely: the feline scourge better known as “cat parties.” According to the Reykjavík Grapevine, Suðurnes…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 30 '12

Researchers may have just identified a genetic basis for the placebo effect

The power of suggestion can be an incredible thing, and in few way is this more apparent than with the placebo effect. Now, newly published research suggests how susceptible you are to sham treatments and dummy medicine (a sugar pill, for instance) could actually be rooted in your genetics. LiveScience’s Tia Ghose explains: Differences in…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 26 '12

NASA detects extreme temperatures on Saturn after an enormous storm

In December 2010, Saturn was quickly overrun by a storm several times the size of Earth. For months the atmospheric outburst raged, growing and traveling so quickly that it soon managed to wrap itself around the entire northern hemisphere. To date, it is the most massive storm we’ve ever observed on the ringed planet. Now,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 26 '12

Our new favorite Tumblr is scientific, graphic and hilariously tragic. It also features fluffy monkey scrota.

It’s called “Things I Learned as a Field Biologist” and it is amazing. On keeping your feet dry, and the various consequences of failing to do so: When your feet start to bleed – and boy, will they ever – don’t panic. The hole that appears to be eating its way into the space between…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 26 '12

Gorgeous photograph captures a moonbow, waterfall, meteor and the Milky Way. In one image.

For those who like to start their day with something mindblowing: here’s your chance to start today with four. The image you’re looking at was shot by Thierry Legault, one of the world’s most celebrated amateur astrophotographers. We’ve featured work of his here before, but never anything quite like this. Legault captured this scene while…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 26 '12

This disorienting room has “gravitational mystery spots” that will literally make you sick

The art installation seen here is named, menacingly but appropriately, Demon Hill #2. It is the work of LA-based artist Julian Hoeber, and to step inside it is to abandon sensations of balance, proprioception, and general physical stability — all thanks to some fiendish architectural trickery. According to the exhibit website: DH#2, a free-standing structure…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 25 '12

This is one of the most impressive juggling routines we’ve ever seen

Stop what you’re doing. Watch this. Repeat after us: What the ever-loving what?! This footage comes from the 2012 Japan Juggling Festival, held this year in Tokyo. The wizard artist you’re watching is named Akihiro Yanai “Yanazo”, and he’s performing what is known as “contact juggling,” whereby a ball or ball is rolled, tossed, balanced…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 25 '12

What makes us see Jesus in a taco, or a human face on Mars?

Photographer Todd Terwilliger calls this picture “Skull Flower,” for reasons that should be obvious. Its resemblance to a human cranium is, of course, purely coincidental — yet the urge for our minds to register this plant as a piece of human anatomy is all but impossible to resist. But why? The one-word answer, as some…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 25 '12

Stunning, Minimalist Science Art from LIFE Magazine in the 1960s

Feast your eyes on the artistic musings of graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai. Featured below: “The Mind,” “Growth,” and “The Cell,” three posters in a series of science-themed prints featured in LIFE Magazine’s Science Library during the 1960s. See more of Nagai’s work here. [LIFE via It’s Okay to be Smart]

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 25 '12

An entire genus of fern was just named after Lady Gaga, and the similarities are uncanny

When most plants and animals get named after a celebrity (and believe us, this happens often), it’s rarely for anything more significant than a poorly-imagined resemblance, or a shared country of origin. Such is not the case with Gaga germanotta and the 18 other species in the newly dubbed “Gaga” genus. https://gizmodo.com/youll-never-guess-who-this-bloodsucking-parasite-was-ju-5925138 As biologist Kathleen…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 25 '12

This, dear reader, is how you diagnose a zombie

Most of us are familiar with the telltale signs of zombiedom. Incoherent moans. Gurgling. A lumbering gait. Insatiable hunger. But have you ever wondered what’s actually going on inside the heads of the walking dead? Neuroscientists (and longtime zombie fans) Bradley Voytek and Timothy Verstynen have. In this just-released, two-part TED-Ed lesson, the two researchers…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 24 '12

Remember that Nazi Buddhist statue from space? Yeah. It’s probably a fake.

You know the saying: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably wasn’t actually discovered by Nazis. Last month, headline-writers the world over lost their collective shit when researchers announced they had identified a “priceless,” 1000-year-old, swastika-emblazoned, Nazi-ethnologist-discovered statue of buddha — and that this statue had been carved from a meteorite. Now,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 24 '12

Puppy superpower #837: immunity against contagious yawning

Humans, chimps and other primates have all been shown to be susceptible to contagious yawning. Previous research has suggested that dogs are, too, unless — according to newly published findings — that dog is a puppy younger than seven months. In what sounds like the most adorably awesome study ever devised, researchers Elainie Alenkær Madsen…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 24 '12

How dangerous is pumpkin carving? Science investigates with severed human limbs!

Pumpkin carving can be treacherous business, and not just for pumpkins. In fact, according to a 2004 article published in the journal Preventive Medicine, it’s actually easier to cut human flesh than it is to cut a pumpkin. Over at The Guardian, Marc Abrahams (editor of the Annals of Improbable Research and curator of all…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 24 '12

Neuroscience pioneer Eric Kandel explains how Vienna and love brought him to science

Eric Kandel helped write the book on modern neuroscience. I mean that literally. If you own a neuroscience textbook, there’s a good chance it’s this one. You’ll notice that Kandel is listed as the first author. In other words, Kandel’s reputation in the field of neuroscience precedes him. But what many people don’t realize is…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 23 '12

Dung beetles like to chill on top of balls of poop. Now we know why.

Dung beetles eat feces. Everyone knows this. But here’s something you didn’t know: newly published research reveals that dung beetles can use spheres of rollable poop-meals as portable AC units — and they’re damn effective ones, at that. The sands of the South African desert can exceed temperatures of 60 degrees Celsius, or 140 degrees…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 23 '12

This ancient, undeciphered text is closer than ever to being solved

The world’s oldest undeciphered writing is on the verge of what researchers are calling “a breakthrough,” and they’re looking to the public to help make it happen. The symbols you see up top are known as proto-Elamite script, a writing system that dates back five millennia to the Early Bronze age, in what is now…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 23 '12

Why do humans blush?

Why do our faces go red and hot when we feel embarrassed, ashamed or guilty? No other species is known to do this, and yet most humans can recall experiencing something that made them blush at one time or another. In this quick and illuminating video, ASAPScience’s Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown deliver a crash…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 23 '12

Easily the best thing you’ll hear all week: a beluga whale mimicking human speech

Holy warbling whales, this is GLORIOUS. For the first time ever, researchers have presented audio evidence of a cetacean (a beluga whale by the name of “NOC”) spontaneously mimicking human speech. The recording featured below is 100% real, and it is amazing. Recorded by scientists a few years ago, it was just released online earlier…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 22 '12

Robbie Gonzalez

What caused this electrical substation to explode in Manhattan last night?

“Cat parties” bedeviling Icelandic police

Researchers may have just identified a genetic basis for the placebo effect

NASA detects extreme temperatures on Saturn after an enormous storm

Our new favorite Tumblr is scientific, graphic and hilariously tragic. It also features fluffy monkey scrota.

Gorgeous photograph captures a moonbow, waterfall, meteor and the Milky Way. In one image.

This disorienting room has “gravitational mystery spots” that will literally make you sick

This is one of the most impressive juggling routines we’ve ever seen

What makes us see Jesus in a taco, or a human face on Mars?

Stunning, Minimalist Science Art from LIFE Magazine in the 1960s

An entire genus of fern was just named after Lady Gaga, and the similarities are uncanny

This, dear reader, is how you diagnose a zombie

Remember that Nazi Buddhist statue from space? Yeah. It’s probably a fake.

Puppy superpower #837: immunity against contagious yawning

How dangerous is pumpkin carving? Science investigates with severed human limbs!

Neuroscience pioneer Eric Kandel explains how Vienna and love brought him to science

Dung beetles like to chill on top of balls of poop. Now we know why.

This ancient, undeciphered text is closer than ever to being solved

Why do humans blush?

Easily the best thing you’ll hear all week: a beluga whale mimicking human speech

Oscar Isaac Says ‘Somehow, Palpatine Returned’ Came From Reshoots

Welcome The Mandalorian and Grogu Into Your Home With These Star Wars Echo Dots for 20% Off

Metro by T-Mobile Is Ready to Give Way More for Your Money, Free Galaxy A17 5G and Get iPhone 16e at No Cost

Volcanoes Send Tiny Warning Signals Before Eruptions. These Scientists Are Decoding Them

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Discovers ‘Origin-of-Life’ Molecules Never Before Seen on Mars

New a16z-Backed News Brand Wants to Be Like Cramming Every X Post Into Your Brain at Once

Last Day to Get 4 Free Months of ExpressVPN: 78% Off Deal (Ends on April 21st)

What a John Ternus Era Means for Apple

What Footage Could Possibly Be Added to ‘Endgame’ to Make it ‘Critical’ for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?

Spirit Airlines Wants a Trump Bailout as Jet Fuel Prices Skyrocket

I’ve Tested a Lot of Bad Smart Glasses and These Are the Worst Yet

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow Is the Ultimate Robot Mop—If You Don’t Have Corners or Walls

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

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