Biology

Your sex life is boring and every animal on Earth is laughing about it

Hey, you. You like sex, don’t you? Of course you do. Weird sex? Kinky sex? Sure. You’re probably all over that shit. But we bet your love life is still straight up Albertson’s brand reduced fat vanilla compared to the fully loaded nookie-sundae that is sex in the animal kingdom. https://gizmodo.com/why-do-geeks-like-kinky-sex-5959108 Four-headed penises? Check. Apophallation…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Inside the Science of Getting Sauced

Raise your hand if you’re drinking this weekend! Okay, that’s a lot of hands. Now keep it raised if you understand how the beer/wine/cocktail/backwoods moonshine you’ll be nursing actually gets the job done (the job being getting you drunk). Is your hand still raised? Okay, you’re free to go. The rest of you, watch the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

When times get tough, algae can steal energy from other plants

Scientists know that worms, bacteria, and various fungi can eat plants and use the vegetable cellulose as a source of carbon for their growth. Plants, on the other hand, simply sit back and photosynthesize carbon dioxide, water, and light. But now, as German researchers have discovered, algae don’t always need to draw their power from…

io9 George Dvorsky

A “White Smell” Could Hide The Most Repellant of Odours

Imagine eternally odorless public restrooms, or stink-free changing rooms. Amazingly, researchers claim to have discovered what they’re calling a “white smell”—an odor made up so many complex aromas that it’s neither pleasant or foul-smelling, in no way overwhelming, and could be the most effective air-freshener ever. Taking its name from the concept of white noise—sound…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Paralyzed dogs walk again after nose cell transplants

A 10-year old dachshund named Jasper has regained the use of his hind legs after being injected with cells grown from the lining of his nose — cells that are showing a remarkable potential to replace damaged nerves. The procedure, which was conducted on a total of 23 dogs, is set to revolutionize the way…

io9 George Dvorsky

The 10 Books You Absolutely Must Read to Understand the History of Earth

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and life began oozing across its boiling, methane-saturated surface about a billion years after our planet was born. But how did that happen? In just a few billion years, a hellish ball of melted rock, smashed up by meteorites, became the gorgeous Blue Marble covered in plants, animals,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The brain disorder that makes the world into a bad claymation film

The eye is just a pinhole that leaks light onto a bunch of reactive cells. It’s the brain that “sees” things. And if something goes wrong in the brain, all kinds of things can appear distorted. But one particular crossed wire brings moving objects to a standstill. It’s called akinetopsia. The first documented case of…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

A microscopic organism that eats DNA instead of having sex

For the past 80 million years, a tiny water-borne organism called the bdelloid rotifer has lived and thrived without the benefits of sexual reproduction. Now, while asexual reproduction is nothing new to science, the way that these rotifers go about it is particularly unique: They eat DNA found in organic debris. The discovery shows that…

io9 George Dvorsky

Behold the bizarre alien creature that is the human vocal cords

No, this isn’t footage from a particularly grotesque alien invasion film. It’s stroboscopic footage from a laryngoscopy, showing us what the human vocal cords look like in action. A nasal stroboscope lets us see the movement of the vocal cords; if we were watching a video of the larynx in real time, we wouldn’t be…

io9 Lauren Davis

We’re not positive, but we’re pretty sure this is a magical forest creature that feeds on rainbows and dreams

Because look at it. Just. Look at it. Those lovable inky eyes. Those comically proportioned (yet somehow still adorable) legs. It’s hard to imagine it could it be anything BUT an enchanted critter from a mystical woodland. But it is. It’s a short-eared elephant shrew, recently born at the National Zoo in D.C., and it…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The questionable nutritional value of eating a human placenta

Placenta – it’s not just for shampoo anymore. There is a rising belief that eating a human placenta after child birth provides a nutritional benefit for the mother and possibly curbs postpartum depression. Those brave enough to eat a placenta use a variety of methods to consume the organ. But are there any real health…

io9 Keith Veronese

This is not an ant

Seriously. It’s not. And no, it’s not an image of an ant, either. In fact, the creature you see pictured up top isn’t even an insect. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint: count the legs. Count em? Eight. Eight! Those aren’t antennae you see pointing forward, those are the forelegs of a…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Now you can watch giant panda cub Xiao Liwu sleeping on Pandacam

The week is almost over and things are getting kind of unbearable. That’s why you need the San Diego Zoo’s awesome Pandacam, which reveals a giant baby panda, snuggling up in his den, sometimes with his mom and sometimes in his own adorable little curl. Now that the little guy is over 100 days old,…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Could there be life in Earth’s Stratosphere?

What lives at the very edge of space? Other than high-flying jet aircraft pilots (and the occasional daredevil skydiver) you wouldn’t expect to find many living things over 10 kilometers up – yet this is exactly where one NASA researcher is hunting for evidence of life. Top image via NASA. Earth’s stratosphere is not a…

io9 Jason Major - Universe Today

This insect has human ears

The South American rainforest katydid is not a human. In fact, it is so very unlike a human, it seems ridiculous to belabor the point with specifics. Six legs, wings, an exoskeleton. You get the picture. Its ears are on its hind legs, for crying out loud. But oh, those ears will surprise you. Research…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Grasshoppers evolve a sound that allows them to be heard over traffic

While humans might not be making too much noise in the oceans, above ground it’s a whole different story. In fact, even insects are having to adapt to the huge amount of noise pollution created by humans — grasshoppers are having to up the volume to be heard over traffic. https://gizmodo.com/the-oceans-used-to-be-filled-with-noise-5954744 That’s according to German…

io9 Tim Barribeau

There’s a big difference between hearing and listening. Do you know what it is?

What is the difference between hearing and listening? According to auditory neuroscientist Seth S. Horowitz, the answer is attention. Hearing, he explains in a recent NY Times op-ed, is a passive action, an ever-engaged sense that is capable of not just perceiving, but triggering a reaction to, outside stimuli several times faster than our other…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How a tiny eye implant could save your vision from glaucoma

Stents have long been used in medicine for keeping blocked arteries open, along with various other tubes of the body that are prone to blockage and collapse. Now, this same concept has been shrunk down to a minute size, and might soon be finding a home in your eyeballs. One of the causes of glaucoma…

io9 Tim Barribeau

This is a real skull from a real animal and it may just be the most terrifying thing ever

Even if you’re not usually frightened by snakes, it’s hard not to feel intimidated by a Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica). Just look at its skull. With fangs that can reach up to five centimeters in length, Gaboons are reportedly the largest vipers on earth, and the toothiest of all venomous snakes. “The Gaboon viper is…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Solving the ancient mystery of what destroyed the bats of the Caribbean

About 25,000 years ago, the Earth was a very different planet. It was deep in the midst of a geological period referred to as the “last glacial maximum,” meaning the last time when the planet was so cold that glaciers reached down from the North Pole into North America, Europe, and Asia. With so much…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Your sex life is boring and every animal on Earth is laughing about it

Inside the Science of Getting Sauced

When times get tough, algae can steal energy from other plants

A “White Smell” Could Hide The Most Repellant of Odours

Paralyzed dogs walk again after nose cell transplants

The 10 Books You Absolutely Must Read to Understand the History of Earth

The brain disorder that makes the world into a bad claymation film

A microscopic organism that eats DNA instead of having sex

Behold the bizarre alien creature that is the human vocal cords

We’re not positive, but we’re pretty sure this is a magical forest creature that feeds on rainbows and dreams

The questionable nutritional value of eating a human placenta

This is not an ant

Now you can watch giant panda cub Xiao Liwu sleeping on Pandacam

Could there be life in Earth’s Stratosphere?

This insect has human ears

Grasshoppers evolve a sound that allows them to be heard over traffic

There’s a big difference between hearing and listening. Do you know what it is?

How a tiny eye implant could save your vision from glaucoma

This is a real skull from a real animal and it may just be the most terrifying thing ever

Solving the ancient mystery of what destroyed the bats of the Caribbean

Tesla Goes Ahead and Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Fully Human-Controlled

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

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

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

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