Robbie Gonzalez, Author at Gizmodo

Why flying on planes can make you sick – and how to stop it

If you’re about to fly somewhere for Thanksgiving, you’re probably dreading the possibility that you’ll catch a bug along the way. And you’re not alone. Many people report coming down with something in the days following an airplane flight. It’s not like we’re all lining up to lick the lavatory handles — so why can’t…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Behold: the first image from NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite

You’re looking at a section of the first image to be compiled from measurements made by the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard NPP — NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite. (In case you were wondering, “NPP” is the drastically shortened acronym for the agency’s National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project). The image featured…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Fetuses can donate their stem cells to help heal their mothers’ hearts

Researchers have known for some time that women who experience weakened heart function in the months before and after childbirth (a condition known as peripartum cardiomyopathy) recover more quickly than any other group of heart failure patients. Now, a team of researchers from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine thinks it may know why. The researchers…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Watch this octopus heave itself onto land and walk around

I wish there was some way I could hear what’s going on inside the mind of this octopus. Do you think it wants to make friends, or is it doing its damnedest to strike terror into the hearts of the talkative onlookers that have gathered to observe it and comment on its every move? Either…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Yesterday’s supercommittee failure does not bode well for the future of science in America

The congressional supercommittee responsible for trimming 1.5 trillion dollars from the US federal budget has failed to deliver, triggering a decade-long, 1.2-trillion-dollar budget-slash set to begin in 2013. The effect that these cuts will have on science remains to be seen, but early reactions to news of the committee failure seem to indicate that resources…

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Engineers have created an LED display you can wear like a contact lens

Thanks to the advent of smart phone technologies, many of us already carry the internet with us everywhere we go. But now, scientists have created the world’s first wirelessly powered, computerized contact lens with an integrated LED display. That’s right — the same access to information afforded us by the technology in our pockets could…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What are the fossilized remains of more than 80 whales doing in the driest desert on Earth?

Situated more than half a mile from the ocean, atop a hill in Chile’s notoriously arid Atacama desert, an international team of scientists has made an incredible discovery. Over 80 extraordinarily well-preserved whale and marine mammal fossils, many of them positioned just meters apart from one another, have been found gathered on a small patch…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What does the future of space exploration hold?

This past weekend marked the opening of the American Museum of Natural History’s brilliant new exhibition, Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration. As part of our ongoing Hardcore Science Interview series, io9 spoke with the show’s curator, AMNH astrophysicist Michael Shara, about the exhibit. Shara tells us about NASA’s upcoming mission to Mars,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Levels of greenhouse gases are worse than the worst-case scenarios from a decade ago

According to a report published today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), greenhouses gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere have reached a record high. What’s more, the report indicates that the rate of that increase shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it’s accelerating. These findings may not sound too shocking in and of themselves…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

New research suggests that you too can become a wine snob

Do you find yourself completely lost whenever your friends go off on long-winded descriptions of a wine’s aroma and bouquet? Well there may be hope for you yet, you uncultured brute. A new animal study — wherein researchers trained rats to distinguish between three very similar, albeit different, smells — suggests that with training, your…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

10 Reasons Coffee is Both the Best and the Worst Beverage Ever Invented

Caffeine is the most commonly used mood-altering drug in the world, and coffee is one of the most popular means of ingesting it. Over 50% of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, and that figure is thought to be increasing every year. But there’s more to coffee than its caffeine content, and scientists are…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Einstein’s brain is now on display at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia

When Albert Einstein died in 1955, Princeton pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey performed the autopsy. Against Einstein’s wishes, and without seeking permission from his family, Harvey preserved the brilliant physicist’s brain and sectioned it into hundreds of thin slices…for science. https://gizmodo.com/the-stolen-preserved-and-eventually-cubed-brain-of-al-5836056 Now, more than five decades later, a box of 46 brain slides has made its…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Humans learn to walk the same way as rats, cats, monkeys and birds

It has long been assumed that as people develop, the nerve patterns used to control motion during infancy become suppressed, and are replaced instead by entirely new patterns of neuronal activity that allow them to move with greater purpose and precision. Now, new research shows that this may not be the case. By examining the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Can you guess the subject of this photograph?

How about this — I’ll tell you a couple of things that it isn’t. It’s not an iridescent oil slick, and it’s not the interference patterns of a soap film. But you knew that already, didn’t you? After all, this post is tagged as space porn. https://gizmodo.com/a-beautiful-reminder-that-physics-is-everywhere-even-i-5847849 That was your big hint. Answers below! Alright,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Watch ultra-light metal in action

Yesterday we told you about a new nanomaterial so lightweight that it can rest on the seed heads of a dandelion. Now you can watch this ultra-light metallic microlattice in action. https://gizmodo.com/breakthrough-this-metal-is-almost-as-light-as-air-5859728 As the video demonstrates, the new material is surprisingly squishy for an ultra-light product, and yet is still lighter than even the lightest…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Was the FDA Right to Declare Avastin Ineffective for Breast Cancer?

The Food and Drug Administration declared this morning that the blockbuster pharmaceutical Avastin — one of the world’s best-selling cancer drugs — should no longer be prescribed for the treatment of breast cancer, claiming that the drug has proven to be neither safe nor effective in treating the disease. But is it the right decision?…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

New data confirms: Neutrinos are still traveling faster than light

When physicists announced in September that they had observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light, the scientific community was justifiably skeptical. https://gizmodo.com/scientific-breakthrough-physicists-at-cern-have-record-5842947 Now, the scientists, with collaborators, have completed a second, fine-tuned version of their experiment — and the team’s findings still stand. What happens now? https://gizmodo.com/physicists-to-re-run-the-experiments-that-produced-fast-5854325 The new results have been published…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How do humans distinguish sarcasm from sincerity?

Most of us are pretty good at picking up on sarcasm. Quite frankly, we have to be. Much of the way we communicate as a modern society is structured around subtle contextual cues that tell us whether someone’s mockingly contemptuous or earnest. Many of us can even pick up on sarcasm when it’s conveyed entirely…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Marvel at the most beautiful scientific images of the year

When scientists stumble upon something beautiful in the course of their research, it often takes the form of a more abstract sort of beauty: the elegant simplicity of a unifying theory, or the intricate feedback loops of an intracellular signaling pathway. But the annual Art of Science Contest at Princeton University recognizes those instances where…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

A computer chip that emulates the human brain – and might one day replace it

Your brain is home to around 100 billion neurons, all of which are perpetually establishing and breaking connections, known as synapses, with other neurons. There are trillions of these connections throughout your brain helping orchestrate everything from movement, to learning, to establishing and recalling memories. But we still don’t understand how all the connections between…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Robbie Gonzalez

Why flying on planes can make you sick – and how to stop it

Behold: the first image from NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite

Fetuses can donate their stem cells to help heal their mothers’ hearts

Watch this octopus heave itself onto land and walk around

Yesterday’s supercommittee failure does not bode well for the future of science in America

Engineers have created an LED display you can wear like a contact lens

What are the fossilized remains of more than 80 whales doing in the driest desert on Earth?

What does the future of space exploration hold?

Levels of greenhouse gases are worse than the worst-case scenarios from a decade ago

New research suggests that you too can become a wine snob

10 Reasons Coffee is Both the Best and the Worst Beverage Ever Invented

Einstein’s brain is now on display at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia

Humans learn to walk the same way as rats, cats, monkeys and birds

Can you guess the subject of this photograph?

Watch ultra-light metal in action

Was the FDA Right to Declare Avastin Ineffective for Breast Cancer?

New data confirms: Neutrinos are still traveling faster than light

How do humans distinguish sarcasm from sincerity?

Marvel at the most beautiful scientific images of the year

A computer chip that emulates the human brain – and might one day replace it

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

The New ‘Supergirl’ Trailer Is Filled With Krypto, Lobo, and ’60s Soul

Vaping Comes With a Cancer Risk, Review Finds

ASUS Eye Care Monitor Hits an All-Time Low, Only Hours Left to Grab a 27″ Screen at a 15.6″ Budget Price on Amazon

How to Watch Artemis 2, NASA’s First Crewed Mission to the Moon in 54 Years

KitchenAid 4.5-Quart Stand Mixer Is Back at Its Lowest Price, a Last-Minute Spring Sale Deal Outside Amazon Prime Day

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

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset