Biology

Brand New Species Discovered in New York City

We hear about new species of animals and bugs discovered in far flung parts of the globe all the time. Yawn. But this newfound froggy was spotted amidst the concrete and taxi cabs of Staten Island. The New York Times reports: On a foray into the wilds of Staten Island in 2009, Jeremy A. Feinberg,…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Vampiric Implants Turn Snails Into Tiny Recon Scouts

The idea of using insects and other small creatures as data-gathering devices has always been hampered by the need for short-lived external batteries. But what if you used the animal’s own metabolism to continuously power their sensors? A research team from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, and lead by Evgeny Katz have devised just…

Biology Andrew Tarantola

Wild Bears Use Stones to Exfoliate, Putting My Personal Hygiene to Shame

When it comes to skin care, I’ve long known that I don’t put much effort in. But I didn’t expect a wild bear to put me to shame, with its fancy-pants use of a stone to keep itself looking good. In fact, it’s the first time a bear’s ever been observed using a tool, and…

Biology Jamie Condliffe

This Prehistoric Penguin Was the Biggest Penguin Ever

If you thought emperor penguins were big, this prehistoric cousin put them to shame. In its day it stood over four feet tall and was 50 per cent heavier than the already pretty massive emperor we know today. Researchers from New Zealand have reconstructed the 26 million-year old fossilized skeleton, revealing a penguin unlike any…

Biology Jamie Condliffe

This Bat Has the Ugliest Face I’ve Ever Seen

There are pros and cons to being a bat. Pros: can fly and catch prey in the dark, have a luscious fur coat. Cons: have possibly the ugliest nose in the known universe. Well, that is, if you’re this newly discovered leaf-nosed bat from Vietnam. The bat was first spotted in the wild in Chu…

Biology Jamie Condliffe

Creepy Taxidermied Animals Now Make Creepy Music Too

Adding to the bizarre uses of taxidermied animals, David Cranmer made this deceased badger even creepier by turning it into a functioning, and playable, theremin. He calles it the Badgermin, but I call it the source of my nightmares tonight. https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-horrors-of-mutant-taxidermy-5870453 I’ve no idea where he sourced the animal, but the Badgermin’s guts are now…

Biology Andrew Liszewski

How To Take Extreme Close-Ups of a Gorilla Using Only Your Phone’s Camera

Have you ever taken pictures at the zoo? It’s an exercise in futility. Your puny camera strains to see far-away beasts with their backs turned. Lame. But what if you could get them to come right up to you? That’s exactly what Mark Rober has figured out how to do. Mark is our rocket scientist…

Biology Brent Rose

Why Is This Squirrel Purple?

A couple in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, found a purple squirrel in their backyard. No one knows why it’s purple. And it’s really freaking purple. Percy Emert and his wife, Connie, trap squirrels in their yard and release them in a different neighborhood to keep the animals from pilfering their bird feeders. The other day, a…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

How The Zebra Actually Got Its Stripes

Despite being perhaps the most recognizable animal on the planet, biologists have been puzzled for centuries over how the zebra got its stripes. But scientists have worked out an answer, and it’s nothing to do with camouflaging themselves in long grass. Adam Egri from Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary, believes that zebras evolved stripes to…

Biology Jamie Condliffe

What Playing in a Dog Park Looks Like from a Dog’s Point of View (Hint: Awesome)

I’ve always wondered what the world looks like from a dog’s point of view. After watching this video, now I know. Kelsey Wynn outfitted his Great Dane, Bishop, with a GoPro and took him to the dog park to play. You get to see everything Bishop’s see and it looks so freaking fun. Wynn attached…

Biology Casey Chan

Welsh Park Considers Using Bees as Sentries

Marijuna farmers tried it with bears, and now a parks and recreation department in Wales wants to do it with bees: critters as cheap security. It didn’t work out all that well with the bears. They just kind of lollygagged while Canadian cops raided the marijuana farm. But bees are different. Bees swarm. It’s so…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Rare Arctic Panda Seal Visits Seattle Woman’s Dock

OK it’s not really called a panda seal. But it should be! It’s actually a ribbon seal, and it seems to have taken a wrong turn and paused for a nap on the dock of a Seattle-woman’s riverside home. I love her calm reaction: “I thought, ‘That’s an interesting-looking creature.'” Perhaps interesting creatures appear on…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Holy Endangered Species, Batman! Little Brown Bats Nearly Extinct in Just Six Years

I’ve always assumed that animals gradually become endangered over a long periods of time, like many decades. But I was totally wrong: a bat species that once swarmed caves in North America has lurched towards extinction in just six years. A so-called “white nose” fungus has killed up to 6.7 million little brown bats since…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Dish Network CEO Scares the Hell Out of a Kangaroo By Bringing It Onstage

During today’s Dish Network event, CEO Joseph Clayton used a live kangaroo to introduce the companies new Hopper DVR system. The little guy didn’t freak out when everyone started taking pictures. But he didn’t look happy either. https://gizmodo.com/dish-networks-new-hopper-dvr-is-the-king-of-dvrs-5874469 The kangaroo is Dish Network’s mascot for their new Hopper DVR satellite receiver. Ohhhkay. CEO Joseph Clayton…

Biology Roberto Baldwin

‘Extinct’ Giant Turtle Might Join Lonesome George As World’s Rarest Creature

A giant tortoise subspecies presumed extinct for more than 150 years is actually roaming the Galápagos islands today according to DNA evidence, scientists report. They haven’t actually laid eyes on the Chelonoidis elephantopus. But DNA sequences taken from another Galápagos subspecies, C. becki, show they are hybrids of the presumably extinct turtle, meaning it must…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Behold the Horrors of Mutant Taxidermy

How far must we go for art? Judging by the work of taxidermist/artist Enrique Gomez de Molina, holy crap very far. For using a hodgepodge of endangered animals for his work, homeboy is facing five years in jail. Beat that, Picasso! De Molina has been making these lovable abominations for years. He claims that his…

Biology Brent Rose

X-Ray of Two-Headed Snake Is Your Mythical Creature Come to Life of the Day

Snakes are cool. Two-headed snakes are awesome. X-rays of two-headed albino snakes are amazeballs. Born in Florida (of course), the albino Honduran milk snake(s) belongs to biologist Daniel Parker, owner of Sunshine Serpents. The nearly two-month old gal(s) were recently X-rayed for science! The X-ray shows where their snake spines are fused together. What’s interesting…

Biology Roberto Baldwin

The Worst Booze on the Planet

We love booze, but lines must be drawn. Today, we’re looking at booze that is just plain wrong. It’s a freakin’ horror show. It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week, and it’s time for Happy Hour, Gizmodo’s weekly booze column. A cocktail shaker full of innovation, science, and alcohol. Woo-hoo, let’s get…

Biology Brent Rose

Here’s What It’s Like to Have a Dog Chew on You

Of all the times you’ve played fetch, it’s doubtful you’ve ever empathized with that poor stick. Today, that changes. One enterprising canine owner mounted a Go Pro cam to a stick, and now the world knows. It’s cute and frightening! In a word: chomp. Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp…

Biology Sam Biddle

Don’t Cry for the Naked Mole Rat It Lives Forever and Doesn’t Get Cancer

This creature can live 30 years. Are you terrified? Me too. But the naked mole rat might help us find the fountain of youth and a cancer cure, so I’m trying to reign in my desire for them all to perish. They have no fur or hair and just a few straggly hairs. They barely…

Biology Kristen Philipkoski

Brand New Species Discovered in New York City

Vampiric Implants Turn Snails Into Tiny Recon Scouts

Wild Bears Use Stones to Exfoliate, Putting My Personal Hygiene to Shame

This Prehistoric Penguin Was the Biggest Penguin Ever

This Bat Has the Ugliest Face I’ve Ever Seen

Creepy Taxidermied Animals Now Make Creepy Music Too

How To Take Extreme Close-Ups of a Gorilla Using Only Your Phone’s Camera

Why Is This Squirrel Purple?

How The Zebra Actually Got Its Stripes

What Playing in a Dog Park Looks Like from a Dog’s Point of View (Hint: Awesome)

Welsh Park Considers Using Bees as Sentries

Rare Arctic Panda Seal Visits Seattle Woman’s Dock

Holy Endangered Species, Batman! Little Brown Bats Nearly Extinct in Just Six Years

Dish Network CEO Scares the Hell Out of a Kangaroo By Bringing It Onstage

‘Extinct’ Giant Turtle Might Join Lonesome George As World’s Rarest Creature

Behold the Horrors of Mutant Taxidermy

X-Ray of Two-Headed Snake Is Your Mythical Creature Come to Life of the Day

The Worst Booze on the Planet

Here’s What It’s Like to Have a Dog Chew on You

Don’t Cry for the Naked Mole Rat It Lives Forever and Doesn’t Get Cancer

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

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