Do 'Stoned' Lobsters Really Feel Less Pain When Cooked Alive?
A seafood restaurant in Maine claims to have a more compassionate method when serving up its lobsters: get them stoned…
Giz Asks
In this Gizmodo series, we ask questions about everything from space to butts and get answers from a variety of experts.
Is Breakfast Cereal Any Good for You?
Wrangle up the right studies and you can make anything look deadly. Breakfast cereal—at least, the kind without cartoon…
Do Kids Feel Stronger Emotions Than Adults?
It’s easy to feel smug around kids. You might not have it all together—you might, in fact, be rapidly disintegrating…
Does Your Cat Actually Hate You?
Dogs wear their hearts on their sleeves; cats—or at least some cats, some of the time—can spend years at your side…
Who Is the Most Powerful Supervillain?Â
The supervillains who torment, thwart and otherwise mess with the universe’s well-meaning superheroes are, on the…
How Much Sleep Is Too Much Sleep?
An entire industry—with its own spokespeople, podcasts, best-sellers, retreats, truisms, etc.—has sprung up around…
Can You Remember Being a Baby?
Every life-stage has its share of novelty—first kiss, first tax return, first twinge of certain death—but when it comes…
Can You Get Sick From Air Conditioning?
At the peak of summer, when just walking to and from the corner store necessitates a shower and a change of clothes,…
How Many Nukes Would It Take to Send the Earth Spiraling Off Into the Sun?
The modern age has brought one of the most nightmarish inventions in all of human history—the atomic bomb. These…
How Far Can You Get Away From Technology?
Everyone, from time to time—or at every single moment of every single day—wishes they could somehow escape technology.…
Are Superhero Capes Aerodynamic?
Not all superheroes wear capes, but many do, and it’s a long-established fact that these capes are crucial when it…
Can You Get a Disease From a Toilet Seat?
The world is filled with disgusting toilets. You might personally prefer toilets that smell okay and aren’t covered in…
How Many Social Media Users Are Real People?
Most social media users know that bot accounts are among us, whether as fake voters with loud opinions or obsessive…
Are Plants Conscious?
Animal rights activists have done stellar work in foregrounding the question of creature-consciousness: no meat-eater…
Can You Vape to Death?
I never thought I’d see the day, but vaping—the bejeweled fedora of nicotine delivery methods—is starting to seem a lot…
Why Do We Have Butts?
When separates us from the animals? Is it the burden of consciousness, the terror of knowing that one day we will die,…
Why Do Cats Wag Their Tails?
Cats are enigmatic little creatures. It’s hard to get a read on them. Does your cat love you, or would it gladly stab…
What Shapes Are Things in Outer Space?
It’s an orgy of geometry, here on Earth. You got all kinds of shapes: Squares, trapezoids, even the occasional rhombus.…
Which Animal Kills the Most Humans?
Animals fatally maul, sting, trample, and chew about a million humans per year. Pretty nice of them, given the numbers…
Is the VR Universe in Ready Player One Possible?
In 2018, nearly everything is in place for a descent into a Ready Player One-style dystopia. The way things are going,…
