Annalee Newitz

io9

I’m Heading Out to the Black. Farewell, io9 and Gizmodo!

Today is my last day at io9 and Gizmodo. It’s been a long, astounding road, to say the least. I founded io9 back in 2008, and I watched it journey from the farthest reaches of space to its current home under this atmosphere bubble on Ceres. You’ve probably heard the stories about how io9 got … Continued

Tech NewsFacebook

Email Is the New Generation Gap

Two weeks ago, we surveyed 3,670 people online about how they communicate. We discovered a remarkable difference between people over 41, who say they often talk on email more than they do in real life, and younger people who love in-person meetings and use a variety of apps. Is this our first digital generation gap? … Continued

Tech News

Field Guides We Wish We Had

Over at Bird and Moon, naturalist Rosemary Mosco has created a small booklist of field guides that will never exist. But we wish they did! Mosco has worked with the National Parks Service and Audobon Society, and shares her love of science with the world via comics, workshops, and nature walks. Be sure to check … Continued

Tech News

Indestructible Water Bears Have a Genome That Is Seriously Weird

Water bears, known to scientists as tardigrades, are famously adorable microscopic creatures who can survive anything: freezing, total dehydration, radiation bombardment, and even the vacuum of deep space. Now scientists have sequenced a tardigrade genome, and are very surprised by the results. Yesterday a group of researchers led by University of North Carolina at Chapel … Continued

Tech News

I Am Drooling Over This Electronics Toolkit Right Now

iFixit makes the greatest tech tool kits out there, and now they’ve updated their bestselling Pro Tech toolkit for the next generation of gadgets in your life. And it’s just beautiful. I want one. I have the previous generation iFixit Pro Tech toolkit, which I keep in my office, within easy reach of most of … Continued

Tech News

Bangladesh Bans Facebook, WhatsApp to Stop “Criminals”

Last week, the government of Bangladesh ordered ISPs to ban Facebook and other social media. In the chaos that followed, the entire country lost internet access for over an hour. Now, according to a report from Global Voices, Bangladeshi citizens little to no access to the targeted services, which include Facebook Messenger, Viber, and WhatsApp. … Continued

Tech News

One Way That Scientists’ Brains Are Different From Other People’s

A bizarre research study has revealed that neuroscientists are more excited at the prospect of seeing their names in prominent research journals than they are by piles of money. Given the not-so-glamorous salaries of academic researchers, this probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But the clever part of the study is really in … Continued

Tech News

Gizmodo Staffers Confess Their Family Secrets for Secret History Week

It’s been an amazing week of secret histories on Gizmodo, and we wanted to finish up by sharing our own secret histories. Apparently, the family histories of Gizmodo staffers are full of criminal acts, shenanigans, and hanky panky. So it’s confession time … Annalee Newitz: My great-grandfather was an arsonist. He came over from Central … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The Greatest iPhone Dongle Ever Made

Well, OK, it’s not the kind of dongle you’d expect. The paperback sticky note is a pad of paper that sticks to the back of your iPhone 6, allowing you to (gasp) use your phone as an actual, real notepad as well as a computer. If you’re still a fan of jotting things down using … Continued

Tech News

It’s Secret History Week on Gizmodo and io9

You’ve heard the official histories of your country, your computers, and your shoes. But do you know what really happened? Join us for a week of secret histories at io9 and Gizmodo, where we reveal the truth behind the half-lies you’ve been told. Inspired in part by Matt Novak’s site Paleofuture, which has long chronicled … Continued

Tech News

Peace Never Hides for Long

In this gorgeous concept art, Karl Ellis gives us a peek at a world that is almost like Earth, but not quite. At the base of that gravity-defying rock column, you can see the glowing cave mouths where someone is settling in for a peaceful evening. Ellis is a freelance concept artist in the UK. … Continued

Tech News

The Uncomfortable Story of How a Tweet About Lipstick Became a Media Freakout

Parker Molloy likes to take pictures of weird things in her off-hours. Sometimes she posts them on Twitter with short quips. And then one day, one of her least popular tweets turned into a shitstorm. As Molloy explains in a hilarious and depressing article today on Medium, her tale is a perfect example of how … Continued

Tech News

Americans, Have You Ever Considered That You Are the Abnormal Ones?

A recent survey from Pew Research found that 18-34 year-olds are living with their parents for much longer than any generation since the 1960s. 43% of men and 37% of women in this age group are living at home. Commentators on last night’s PBS News Hour called it “the new normal.” But it’s actually the … Continued

Tech News

Giz Survey: How Do You Talk to People Online?

Is there a difference between how the olds and the youngs are communicating online? Is Facebook for middle-agers, and Snapchat for the kids? Take our survey so we can find out! I’ve been researching an article about generation gaps online, and I’m curious about what you guys have to say about it. You can take … Continued

Tech News

Scientific Study: Victoria’s Secret Perfume Is Actually Mosquito Repellent

A group of scientists wanted to find the most effective mosquito repellents. So they tested 10 different substances, including campout standbys like DEET, as well as a random choice: Victoria’s Secret perfume Bombshell. Turns out the perfume is almost as good as DEET. The work was done at New Mexico State’s Molecular Vector Physiology Lab, … Continued

Tech News

New Company Lets You See into Your Medical Future for Just $25,000

Biotech visionary and entrepreneur Craig Venter, famous for inventing a technique to sequence his own genome back in the 1990s, has embarked on a new venture. For $25,000, his startup Human Longevity will give you every possible futuristic medical test, potentially revealing your risk for Alzheimer’s. Over at STAT, Carl Zimmer has a fascinating profile … Continued

Tech News

You Can Raise Your Testosterone Levels Just By Acting Aggressive

We’ve known for a while that testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior. But a fascinating new experiment reveals that these hormones are a two-way street: Simply acting aggressive can also raise levels of testosterone, in both women and men. You may know testosterone as the “male hormone,” because it produces facial hair and deeper voices … Continued

Tech NewsFacebook

Get Ready for More Ads on Instagram

Facebook is looking down the barrel of a future advertising crisis, so it’s trying to think up new ways to put “buy now” links in front of your peepers. The company’s top brass believe the answers will come from Instagram, Whatsapp, and video. As ad blockers and sponsored content meltdowns rip first-generation web media companies … Continued

io9Movies

Sometimes a Feel-Good Documentary About Young Coders Is Just What You Need

There’s a lot of uncertainty about the future of women and minorities in the tech industry, but I think there’s one thing we can all agree on. This documentary about young women competing to win a Google prize for their apps is pretty damn uplifting. Six teams of high school students — three from the … Continued

io9Books

Learn to Take Drone Photographs That Are Breathtaking Art

Photographer Eric Cheng has captured some of the most dramatic natural phenomena on Earth with drones. And now he has a new book, Aerial Photography and Videography Using Drones, about learning the the art of drone photography. In this gallery from the book, he gives us the backstory on some of his most memorable shots. … Continued