Why Do We Forget?
To live is to forget—account numbers, names, the precise locations of keys and wallets, friends from childhood,…
Giz Asks
In this Gizmodo series, we ask questions about everything from space to butts and get answers from a variety of experts.
What's the Loudest Sound in the Universe?
The human tolerance for sound is, on a galactic level, puny. Volcano eruptions, jackhammer-intensive construction work,…
What's the Worst Pain?
Some people say that life is pain. Those people are optimistic: life isn’t pain, it’s pains, plural—tooth pain, back…
What's the Newest Animal?
Bears. Donkeys. Fat, friendly dogs. These animals—animals, generally—have been around for an extremely long time, long…
What's the Most Dangerous Food of All Time?
Surveying the whole scope of human history vis-à -vis food, a couple of themes emerge. One is that humans like their…
What Happens When Two Black Holes Collide?
On September 14, 2015, signals from one of the Universe’s most mind-boggling, powerful events produced the tiniest…
What's the Smartest Plant?
Compared to even the dumbest human being, your average tulip is a moron. But you’d have to be dumber than a tulip to…
How Will We Know the World Is Ending?
Visions of the end of the world tend to extremes—the planet fatally fracked, flooded, hurricaned, nuke-cratered. No…
How Much Human Skin Does a Person Ingest Over the Course of Their Lifetime?
The average American eats almost a ton of food a year. This breaks down to roughly 630 of milk, cheese and ice cream,…
Will Cryogenically Frozen People Ever Be Revived?
Corpse-freezing hasn’t exactly gone mainstream, but most people are now familiar with the concept: you lay out a ton…
Why Do We Remember Some Dreams but Not Others?
If you’ve ever woken up on the brink of a heart attack, drenched in sweat and convinced you’ll never live down the…
Would a BDSM Sex Robot Violate Asimov's First Law of Robotics?
The sex robot community—the people who make the sex robots, and the people who want to have sex with the sex…
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…
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…