Latest

N.K. Jemisin’s newest saga: deadly corruption among the magicians of sleep

N.K. Jemisin’s telling us a grand saga of gods and godlings in her Kingdoms trilogy, and now she’s sold a new duology about sleep magic in a society based on bronze-age Egypt. Here’s the first blurb for Jemisin’s novels Reaper and Conqueror, coming in July and August of 2012 from Orbit Books: In the city-state…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 9 '10

Using Google’s Chrome OS Laptop of the Future

The Chrome Cr-48 netbook might just be a reference design—as in, most folks won’t ever be able to use it—but it is what Google thinks a Chrome laptop should be. And it has some pretty nice touches. Updated. Here are some quick impressions on the hardware and software that we gleaned from about an hour’s…

Tech News Jason Chen Dec 9 '10

App of the Day: Dead Rising Mobile for iPhone

There’s a zombie horde attacking your iPhone! Thankfully Dead Rising Mobile, the pocket-sized version of the popular console game, gives you plenty of knives, shopping carts, golf clubs and frying pans to help you put them down. What is it? Dead Rising Mobile, iPhone, $5. The most fun you can have smashing zombies on your…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Dec 9 '10

Paolo Bacigalupi Gets Dystopic in Episode 2 of The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Windup Girl and Ship Breaker, talks global warming, literature for boys, and how SF can cause change in the real world in this rerun of episode two of The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy. Image via Atlas Obscura The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy is hosted by John Joseph Adams…

io9 Johnjosephadams Dec 9 '10

Turning a Building Into a Giant Psychedelic Rainbow Is the Best Renovation

The 70s produced a lot of really, really ugly architecture. Grey, concrete duds. It’d be too much trouble to demolish the mistakes, so why not take this Chilean architect’s approach, and blanket gross design with eye-popping rainbow panels? Really eye-popping. The building’s new clothes are also highly functional—the rainbow wrapping doubles as a filter to…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 9 '10

Real Steel trailer looks like a robo-fighting champ!

Here it is: the rock ’em sock ’em, kick ’em in the bolts trailer for the robot-boxing epic Real Steel. And hot damn, this piece of junk kicks some serious metal butt. Watch the first trailer right now. Try viewing this trailer in full screen — it looks really and high res: We gotta admit,…

io9 Meredith Woerner Dec 9 '10

35,000 plant specimens gathered over the past 200 years remain unclassified

Botanists estimate there are 70,000 species of flowering plant still waiting to be identified. They also suspect that about half of those were already found up to 200 years ago, and nobody has gotten around to identifying them yet. This is what happens when there are way, way more plants than any human could ever…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Dec 9 '10

Total Mutant Catastrophe: The Latest X-Men Set Pics

A batch of new set pics from the set of Matthew Vaughan’s X-Men: First Class reveal the filming of a crucial scene where disaster strikes mutantkind. Spoilery pics and speculation below. Comic Book Movie has a collection of shots from the set of the new X-Men movie, which is shooting in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Looks…

io9 Meredith Woerner Dec 9 '10

Remote Controlled Mice Today, Remote Controlled Humans Tomorrow

You may not have to wait until the year 2154 for your own remote-controlled body. Mark Stephen Meadows discusses wetware technology and how the science-fiction of Avatar is quickly becoming science fact. During a radio interview in December of 2009, I was asked, “Do you think the vision of Avatar is something we’ll see in…

Tech News Mark Stephen Meadows Dec 9 '10

What Is This Weird Opening On These iPad 2 Cases? (Updated)

This is supposed to be an iPad 2 case, now for sale in bulk by a Chinese case manufacturer. Surprisingly, the design’s top right opening is consistent with the rear-facing camera rumor. But what’s that hole on the lower corner? Updated. That’s where the speakers are now, but it seems way to big for them.…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Dec 9 '10

Heartwarming Gifts For the Goofy Romantic

Yeah, you could get longstem roses or pearls or make fancy dinner reservations. But I’m betting that special someone wouldn’t mind a little more creativity this holiday season. Here are some offbeat gifts to woo your geeky gal or guy. 1. 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirt, $18 (each): When this t-shirt is separated from its mate,…

Tech News Brian Barrett Dec 9 '10

Flight Control for iPhone Gets Updated With Online Multiplayer And Voice Chat

Flight Control, the uber-popular iPhone game, recently got an update on iPhone and iPod Touch to include online multiplayer through Game Center. The new multiplayer mode (already available on iPad) is just as addicting as the single player: you land either red planes or blue helicopters and yellow planes and send the planes you don’t…

Tech News Casey Chan Dec 9 '10

I Want To Stay At This Tron Hotel Room Inside An Ice Hotel

This Tron-inspired hotel room is already perfect. You can tell that by just looking at it. But the fact that it’s built inside the Ice Hotel in Sweden makes it even more jaw-droppingly incredible. Now I have to stay there. The designers, Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas–Jones of Extreme Design, are “massive fans” of Tron…

Tech News Casey Chan Dec 9 '10

Spend the holiday with Hedy

A biography of Hedy Lamarr, movie star and anti-Nazi inventor, is up for grabs. To win the book, tell us about your favorite WW II anti-Nazi inventions. https://gizmodo.com/the-gorgeous-geek-genius-who-helped-invent-the-cell-pho-5704921 A member of University Press of Kentucky has contacted us, offering a free hardcover biography of Hedy Lamarr to an io9 reader. Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 9 '10

Russell Brand takes on kiddie Beetlejuice movie role RentaGhost

If your mansion house needs haunting, just call Russell Brand! Warner Brothers and Brand are taking on the British kiddie series about renting spirits from the netherworld, RentaGhost, and rebooting it for American cinema. Deadline is reporting that Warner Brothers is developing RentaGhost to have a bit more of a ghoulish “Beetlejuice” flavor, starring Russell…

io9 Meredith Woerner Dec 9 '10

Reviewers Love This Cheap-Ass TV (Because It’s Fantastic)

Let’s be frank. The Vizio brand doesn’t exactly connote… greatness. You might think it’s a bargain-bin TV, or one for your dorm, or one you get because you simply can’t afford something better. But this econo-panel apparently kicks ass. The Vizio XVT3SV series comes in a handful of sizes—from 42 and to 55-inches. The 42…

Reviews Sam Biddle Dec 9 '10

Just a little flaming dinosaur to brighten your day

Greg Broadmore, Weta concept artist and creator of Dr. Grodbort’s world of steampunkery, whipped up this excellent Flamosaurus earlier this week. Just a little reminder things can be awesome, even if you’ve had a long week. [via King of Fatboss]

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 9 '10

Amazon Could Be the Next Site Brought Down by Wikileaks’ Supporters

Wikileaks’ powerful allies have declared war against Amazon.com, after already ticking PayPal, Visa and Mastercard off their lists this week. Given Wikileaks was booted from Amazon’s servers last week, it’s not surprising the site has been thrown in the stocks. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-ejects-embattled-wikileaks-from-its-servers-5703536 The @Op_Payback Twitter account tweeted just an hour ago “TARGET: WWW.AMAZON.COM LOCKED ON!!” and…

Commerce Kat Hannaford Dec 9 '10

The Best, Most Disgruntled Ink Cartridge Description You’ll Ever Read

Sometimes, a man reaches his breaking point. He realizes that he’s, say, a copywriter for InkCartridges.uk.com, and that he’s tired of writing boring ink cartridge descriptions all day, and he snaps in hilarious ranting fashion. This is that glorious moment. I don’t know the name of the man responsible for the product description of Remanufactured…

Tech News Brian Barrett Dec 9 '10

Afghanistan’s strangest gift to one U.S. soldier: an awareness of the dead in our midst

A soldier comes home from Afghanistan with a strange gift — she can see ghosts. How did Deborah Coates’ Wide Open manage to win a three-book deal with Tor? Here’s how Publishers Marketplace describes Coates’ first book, which convinced Tor to ante up for her whole trilogy: Deborah Coates’s WIDE OPEN, in which a woman…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 9 '10

N.K. Jemisin’s newest saga: deadly corruption among the magicians of sleep

Using Google’s Chrome OS Laptop of the Future

App of the Day: Dead Rising Mobile for iPhone

Paolo Bacigalupi Gets Dystopic in Episode 2 of The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

Turning a Building Into a Giant Psychedelic Rainbow Is the Best Renovation

Real Steel trailer looks like a robo-fighting champ!

35,000 plant specimens gathered over the past 200 years remain unclassified

Total Mutant Catastrophe: The Latest X-Men Set Pics

Remote Controlled Mice Today, Remote Controlled Humans Tomorrow

What Is This Weird Opening On These iPad 2 Cases? (Updated)

Heartwarming Gifts For the Goofy Romantic

Flight Control for iPhone Gets Updated With Online Multiplayer And Voice Chat

I Want To Stay At This Tron Hotel Room Inside An Ice Hotel

Spend the holiday with Hedy

Russell Brand takes on kiddie Beetlejuice movie role RentaGhost

Reviewers Love This Cheap-Ass TV (Because It’s Fantastic)

Just a little flaming dinosaur to brighten your day

Amazon Could Be the Next Site Brought Down by Wikileaks’ Supporters

The Best, Most Disgruntled Ink Cartridge Description You’ll Ever Read

Afghanistan’s strangest gift to one U.S. soldier: an awareness of the dead in our midst

Latest news

Russian Satellites Are Jamming GPS Signals, Study Says

A Surprising Number of Gen Xers and Millennials Can’t Figure Out a Pill Bottle

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) Just Crashed to a New Low on Amazon, No Trade-In Required

Doom Descends on the Penultimate Episode of ‘Widow’s Bay’

Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica

Anker Soundcore Boom 2 Plus Portable Speaker Gets Cleared Out at a Price Lower Than Any Previous Prime Day Low

Amazon Goes Full Clearance Mode on AMD Ryzen 5 CPU at Nearly 50% Off, Complete With Wraith Stealth Cooler

Could The Daniels Be Making a Captain Planet Movie?

Latest Reviews

The Best Tech Gifts for Father’s Day 2026

This Ultrasonic Knife Is More Than Just a Gimmick—at Least Sometimes

Razer Hammerhead V3 HyperSpeed Review: Exceptionally Mediocre

The Best Gadgets of May 2026

Sony 1000X The Collexion Review: Too Expensive for Anyone but Sony Superfans

Alienware Fixed the One Problem With the Area-51, and Now I’m Afraid I Love It

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max Review: Wireless Earbuds With Enough Features to Make Your Head Spin

Anker Solix E10 Review: No Power? No Problem

Let us help you find what you’re looking for...