Mika McKinnon, Author at Gizmodo

It Was a Wild, Weird Year to Live on Planet Earth

The year 2015 will go down as many things, but normal isn’t one of them. We saw record-smashing temperatures, exceptional droughts, deadly heat waves and massive wildfires. Add in earthquakes, landslides, and a brewing El Niño and we’re convinced our planet is trying to kill us. Hottest, Hottest, Hottest The East Coast sweltered while the…

Tech News Mika McKinnon & Maddie Stone Dec 31 '15

Astronauts’ Veggie Garden in Space is About to Grow a Burst of Color

After successfully growing (and eating) lettuce, astronauts on the International Space Station have graduated to zinnias. The new plants sprouted vigorously, and researchers are hoping the colorful flowers will bud soon. The ISS is continuing to grow edible plants in their Veggie facility as part of the VEG-01 investigation. Once they work out the kinks…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Dec 30 '15

A Pair of Tremors Highlight the Different Types of West Coast Earthquakes

It was a day for quake, rattle, and roll on the west coast when small earthquakes hit both Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday. While the pair shared common characteristics, the stories behind why they happened reveal dramatically different Worst Case Scenarios for future earthquakes. The Earthquakes At 5:48pm local time on Tuesday,…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Dec 30 '15

Gaze Deeply Into the Eyes of This Soul-Eating Owl

Owls are a popular trope in the mythologies of many cultures, some of which believed that these nocturnal creatures were harbingers of impending death, with a mission to collect wayward souls. But don’t worry: we have it on the highest authority that this screech owl will not consume the very essence of your being. Screech…

Biology Mika McKinnon Dec 25 '15

An Ode to the Magnificent Feet of Mountain Goats

This nanny mountain goat and her kid are both nimble and adorable as they scamper across the cliff-faces in Alaska. Like all mountain goats, they have have truly astonishing feet to allow them to be so impudent in such treacherous terrain. Mountain goats aren’t truly goats at all, but are actually in the same family…

Biology Mika McKinnon Dec 25 '15

The Mars Curiosity Rover Learned a New Camera Trick

Now this is an unusual view of the Curiosity rover on Mars! The rover is experimenting with using a different camera for self-portraits as part of its investigations at Namib dune. Every full self-portrait we’ve seen of Curiosity before were taken with the MAHLI camera taken at the end of its arm. This means the…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 23 '15

The Earth Looks Beautiful from the Moon

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter really outdid itself with this amazing shot of the Earth over the rocky limb of the Moon. While complicated to capture, we think it was worth every moment. This gorgeous image of the Earth was taken on October 12, 2015 as the LRO spacecraft soared nearly 22 miles over the edge…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 22 '15

The Most Badass Photos from the SpaceX Rocket Landing

Not only did SpaceX land their Falcon 9 rocket, but they looked damn good while doing it. This is how to do a return-to-flight with style! Launch, reentry, and landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Image credit: SpaceX What did the next stage do? Why, deploy 11 Orbcomm relay…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 22 '15

Icelandic Volcano Earns Name a Year After it Finishes Erupting

The informally-named Holuhraun volcano in Iceland now formally bears the same name, making fans of naming it after dragons, witches, or internet service providers sob furiously. Holuhraun is part of the Bárðarbunga volcanic field. A swarm of earthquakes in August 2014 triggered an increase in monitoring. The gentle fissure eruption was overall quite low-key, with…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Dec 19 '15

Stuck Cart is Triggering an Unexpected Spacewalk Next Week

Astronauts are quickly throwing together a plan for an unscheduled spacewalk to find out what happened to jam up their external transporter cart. The spacewalk will take place early next week if troubleshooting from inside the station doesn’t work. The Mobile Transporter slides along rails along the truss of the International Space Station to move…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 19 '15

We’ve Never Seen Venus’ Roiling Storms Like This Before

The first images of Venus from its solitary, tardy orbiter are already revealing new secrets about its cloud dynamics. The fourth of the Akatsuki spacecraft’s cameras sent back new details on cloud structure for the planet’s roiling storms that we’ve never seen before. Akatsuki is the plucky spacecraft that managed to use its manoeuvring thrusters…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 18 '15

Admire This Picturesque Launch for an Imperfect Mission

Ooooh, pretty! This is the Soyuz spacecraft shaking the bonds of gravity to carry astronauts to the International Space Station in the wee hours of this morning. After a brief docking hiccup, the trio joined the station crew to kick off Expedition 46. Soyuz TMA-19M launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Image credit: NASA /…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 15 '15

Alfredo Returns with Pink Frosted Donuts in Elementary

It’s a return of the reoccurring characters this week on Elementary! We finally spend time with Alfredo for the first time since his kidnapping, Captain Gregson and Detective Bell get a shot at doing police work, and everyone engages in banter. Spoilers? Spoilers. So many spoilers. The best moment of the latest Elementary had absolutely…

io9 Mika McKinnon Dec 15 '15

Peer Through the Smothering Haze of Titan to Admire Its Massive Seas of Dunes

Oh Titan, you are a beautiful, intriguing moon! This composite image uses infrared light to look at the surface of Saturn’s moon during a recent flyby by the Cassini spacecraft. It’s a look at the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Titan in the late spring. What are we looking at? The dark, sideways-H-shaped area represents the parallel…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 15 '15

Watch LIVE as Astronauts Break Free of the Planet in Space Station Crew Change

It’s launch day for the next batch of astronauts to head to the International Space Station! Watch live as Yuri Malenchenko, Tim Kopra, and Tim Peake blast off on a Soyuz rocket out of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station. Looking up the Soyuz rocket from the launch pad. Image…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 15 '15

These Boots Took the Final Steps on the Moon

On December 14, 1972, astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped up onto the lunar module, shook the moon dust off these boots, and ended an era of human exploration of the Moon. December 13, 1972: Eugene Cernan stands near a rock overhang. The equipment is a gnomon and photometric chart, a tool to provide photographic reference to…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon Dec 14 '15

We’re Moving!

We’ve had a glorious time, but our invasion plans are finally coming to fruition. From now on, we’ll be posting original content directly to Gizmodo and io9. You can keep following us on Twitter @EarthAndSpace to keep getting our particular blend of wonder, glee, and physical sciences. Catch ya on the mainpage.

Tech News Mika McKinnon Dec 14 '15

Bring Back Victorian Science with this Lego Lovelace, Babbage, and Analytical Engine

You know you want this badass Victorian scientist to glower at you from a corner of your desk accompanied by her massive steampunkish Analytical Engine and an oversized spanner. Ada Lovelace and her massive Analytical Engine, compete with gears and gas lamp. It’s Ada Lovelace’s 200th birthday, which of course means we’ve got a custom…

io9 Mika McKinnon Dec 10 '15

The 8 Best Movies About Apocalyptic Climate Change

Climate change is a notoriously unclickable topic, yet it undeniably captures our imagination, given how often it shows up as a central plot point in films. From Waterworld to the charming animated feature Ice Age, it just keeps coming back. Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is a growing genre of films where changing climate drives the…

io9 Mika McKinnon Dec 10 '15

SpaceX Is Back in Business With a Mid-December Launch Date

The first launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 after its explosion is set for December 19th! The return to flight of the reengineered rocket will carry a payload of relay satellites into orbit–its first flight since its dramatic June launch failure. Almost six months ago, the rocket exploded due to a weak strut leading to…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Dec 10 '15

Mika McKinnon

It Was a Wild, Weird Year to Live on Planet Earth

Astronauts’ Veggie Garden in Space is About to Grow a Burst of Color

A Pair of Tremors Highlight the Different Types of West Coast Earthquakes

Gaze Deeply Into the Eyes of This Soul-Eating Owl

An Ode to the Magnificent Feet of Mountain Goats

The Mars Curiosity Rover Learned a New Camera Trick

The Earth Looks Beautiful from the Moon

The Most Badass Photos from the SpaceX Rocket Landing

Icelandic Volcano Earns Name a Year After it Finishes Erupting

Stuck Cart is Triggering an Unexpected Spacewalk Next Week

We’ve Never Seen Venus’ Roiling Storms Like This Before

Admire This Picturesque Launch for an Imperfect Mission

Alfredo Returns with Pink Frosted Donuts in Elementary

Peer Through the Smothering Haze of Titan to Admire Its Massive Seas of Dunes

Watch LIVE as Astronauts Break Free of the Planet in Space Station Crew Change

These Boots Took the Final Steps on the Moon

We’re Moving!

Bring Back Victorian Science with this Lego Lovelace, Babbage, and Analytical Engine

The 8 Best Movies About Apocalyptic Climate Change

SpaceX Is Back in Business With a Mid-December Launch Date

CyberGhost VPN Practically Became FREE: This $1.75/mo Deal Made All VPNs Absurd

Some Unknown Group Is Reportedly Using Claude Mythos Without Permission

SpaceX Obtains Option to Buy Cursor for $60 Billion

The ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Reboot Snags an Exciting Director

Meta Plans to Turn Its Employees’ Clicks and Keystrokes into AI Training Data

Physicists Now Understand Why a Weird Quantum Gas Refuses to Heat Up

Watch the Lego ‘Project Hail Mary’ Set (Almost) Go to Space

Shark Glam Ceramic Multi-Styler Is Nearly Half the Price of Dyson Airwrap at an All-Time Low on Amazon

OpenAI Unveils New Image Generator to Usher in an AI Slop ‘Renaissance’

Xbox Game Pass Now Costs Less, but That Doesn’t Mean It’s a Good Deal

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