Way back before io9.gizmodo.com was a url, io9 covered science just as much as science fiction. When Annalee Newitz founded the site in 2008, she wanted it to focus on both as they increasingly intersected, and on how they could both lead culture—pop and otherwise—into the future.
Of course, no one truly knows what the future will bring. Annalee was made Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo back in January 2015, making it all but inevitable that io9’s science and space coverage would be consolidated with them, as we continued to cover nerd culture’s increasing dominance of pop. The process was complete when we became io9.gizmodo.com in December of that year.
But we would be remiss in our celebration of io9’s first 10 years if we ignored this long and crucial part of the site’s make-up. So here are the 50 most popular articles (beginning with the most popular post) that have everything to do with science, history, nature, space, and so forth, and nothing to do with pop culture. Infinite thanks to writers like George Dvorksy, Robbie Gonzalez, Esther Inglis-Arkell, and all the other science writers who toiled at io9—most especially Annalee herself.
1-10)
https://gizmodo.com/10-scientific-ideas-that-scientists-wish-you-would-stop-1591309822
https://gizmodo.com/prepare-to-have-your-mind-blown-by-a-balloon-and-a-mini-1565303363
https://gizmodo.com/tonight-will-be-the-darkest-night-of-the-past-500-years-5715413
https://gizmodo.com/the-real-story-of-apollo-17-and-why-we-never-went-ba-1670503448
https://gizmodo.com/ultraviolet-light-reveals-how-ancient-greek-statues-rea-5616498
https://gizmodo.com/absolutely-mindblowing-video-shot-from-the-space-shuttl-5893615
https://gizmodo.com/how-nasa-might-build-its-very-first-warp-drive-5963263
https://gizmodo.com/eight-things-you-didn-t-know-you-could-do-with-human-sp-5938114
https://gizmodo.com/why-did-your-zodiac-sign-change-we-asked-the-astronome-5733004
https://gizmodo.com/hubble-has-spotted-an-ancient-galaxy-that-shouldnt-exis-5927315
11-20)
https://gizmodo.com/archaeologists-have-made-an-incredible-discovery-at-sto-1632927903
https://gizmodo.com/the-magnus-effect-is-why-a-ball-with-a-bit-of-backspin-1718092647
https://io9.gizmodo.com/5976112/
https://gizmodo.com/this-animated-data-visualization-of-world-war-ii-fatali-1709065880
https://gizmodo.com/the-12-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rat-5974468
https://gizmodo.com/the-strangest-tradition-of-the-victorian-era-post-mort-472772709
https://gizmodo.com/the-scariest-video-you-have-ever-watched-in-the-name-of-5639113
https://gizmodo.com/watch-32-discordant-metronomes-achieve-synchrony-in-a-m-5947112
https://gizmodo.com/the-photographer-who-took-this-picture-barely-escaped-w-1697051937
https://gizmodo.com/watch-what-happens-when-you-wring-out-a-washcloth-in-sp-476159356
21-30)
https://gizmodo.com/americans-why-do-you-keep-refrigerating-your-eggs-1465309529
https://gizmodo.com/9-of-the-most-fascinating-abandoned-mansions-from-aroun-471010619
https://gizmodo.com/a-drug-that-could-give-you-perfect-visual-memory-30975567
https://gizmodo.com/10-psychological-states-youve-never-heard-of-and-when-5813475
https://gizmodo.com/how-rats-turned-their-private-paradise-into-a-terrifyin-1687584457
https://gizmodo.com/10-vestigial-traits-you-didnt-know-you-had-5829687
https://gizmodo.com/10-bodily-functions-that-continue-after-death-5862418
https://gizmodo.com/medieval-skeleton-found-dangling-from-the-roots-of-a-fa-1730495084
https://gizmodo.com/this-is-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-stop-exercis-1724581507
https://gizmodo.com/field-cameras-catch-deer-eating-birds-wait-why-do-deer-1689440870
31-40)
https://gizmodo.com/the-best-meteor-shower-of-the-year-is-tonight-and-here-1723568562
https://gizmodo.com/15-uncanny-examples-of-the-golden-ratio-in-nature-5985588
https://gizmodo.com/the-most-futuristic-predictions-that-came-true-in-2012-5971328
https://gizmodo.com/10-of-the-most-dangerous-chemicals-in-the-world-5861680
https://gizmodo.com/high-speed-video-reveals-the-bizarre-physics-of-an-ordi-5849356
https://gizmodo.com/10-gemstones-much-rarer-than-diamond-5902212
https://gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800
https://gizmodo.com/meet-the-hexaflexagon-its-about-to-blow-your-mind-5947852
https://gizmodo.com/a-brilliant-list-of-science-books-for-people-who-want-t-5859727
https://gizmodo.com/10-unusual-genetic-mutations-in-humans-470843733
41-50)
https://gizmodo.com/what-if-natural-products-came-with-a-list-of-ingredient-1503320184
https://gizmodo.com/52-of-the-worlds-most-widespread-myths-and-misconceptio-1656550980
https://gizmodo.com/the-year-the-army-stopped-niagara-falls-5485161
https://gizmodo.com/drunk-scientists-pour-wine-on-superconductors-and-make-5731129
https://gizmodo.com/six-abandoned-asylums-with-genuinely-chilling-backstori-512154481
https://gizmodo.com/biggest-scientific-breakthroughs-of-2011-5871725
https://gizmodo.com/student-rickrolls-his-teacher-in-this-ingenious-quantum-1503348805
https://gizmodo.com/heres-nasas-new-design-for-a-warp-drive-ship-1588948192
https://gizmodo.com/africas-true-size-will-blow-you-away-1441076531
https://gizmodo.com/how-many-of-your-health-supplements-are-actually-snake-1492960177
