Comments from Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz wrote Drug-Maker Funds Study Showing Why Some People Can Be Cured with Placebos

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:06:20 PST

In one of those weird moments in corporate science, pharma mega-corp GlaxoSmithKline has funded a Swedish study that looked into the genetic underpinnings of susceptibility to placebos. Turns out that certain people are more easily cured by fake sugar pills

Annalee Newitz wrote The Fearless Meteorite Hunters of Saskatchewan

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:48:02 PST

After a 10-ton meteor exploded in a spectacular fireball over the Canadian province Saskatchewan two weeks ago, the hunt was on to find fragments of the space rock. Researchers and local enthusiasts descended on the area around Marsden, Sask,

Annalee Newitz wrote Did We Really Need a Robo-Serial Killer? [NSFW]

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:02:56 PST

The arthouse gore hounds behind Machined have answered a question you never knew you had: How about a robo-serial killer made from scrap metal in a machine shop? I think the answer is still a tentative "no" even after

Annalee Newitz wrote Planet of the Apes Gets Serious and Goes Hard Science

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:15:28 PST

Fox is close to nailing down its new entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise: Called Caesar, it's a flick about the super-intelligent monkey who is an ancestor of the new rulers of Earth. Scott Frank will be

Annalee Newitz wrote Doobiebot is Harbinger of a Future Where Pot is Legal

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:36:35 PST

I love this little bot whose fingers are made of roach clips. In the future, when pot is legal and alcohol-drinking is for people who experiment with dangerous retro-drugs, you'll be able to choose from a whole line of

Annalee Newitz wrote New "Forbidden Planet" Delves into Creation of Alien Tech

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:50:16 PST

With The Day the Earth Stood Still bowing next week, you'll want to brace yourself for more epic re-imaginings of iconic 1950s scifi: J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Shakespearean alien melodrama Babylon 5, is hard at work on what

Annalee Newitz wrote Don't Eat the Glowing Mushrooms

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:39:39 PST

You might already know about the glowing mushrooms of Japan. Every spring, the rains cause bioluminescent fungi to peep out from tree trunks and forest floors. For years scientists believed that these rare mushrooms grew nowhere else in the

Annalee Newitz wrote A Giant Rubber Space Pillow Is Eating My French Villa

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:05:45 PST

If you've ever wondered what your house would look like after the giant rubber space pillow invasion, French designer Paul Coudamy is here for you. Coudamy is the weird brain behind ideas like all-cardboard offices, and in his installation

Annalee Newitz wrote Denmark's Kinder, Gentler System of Eugenics

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:35:54 PST

A new pre-natal screening program in Denmark has halved the number of babies with Down's Syndrome. The success of the program, undeniably a form of eugenics, raises a number of questions about how far people should go with pre-natal screening

Annalee Newitz wrote Aquatic Military Bots of the Twenty-Third Century

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:15:14 PST

Meet S.A.M., a subaquatic mech who only looks swaybacked when he's trying to carry his modded bulk around on land. S.A.M. is one of many character creations by Daniel Baker, a concept artist at Blitz games in the UK.

Annalee Newitz commented on Short Fiction About the Future of Gawker Media Gets It Right

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:18:29 PST

@Mandrock: What's different, at least for writers, is being able to watch people reading (or at least clicking on) your stories in real time. People working in TV have had to deal with this a bit more than print writers have. But still, there's a novelty to getting audience data within minutes of a story being published or broadcast. That's the part that's new. Not the anxiety itself.

Annalee Newitz commented on Short Fiction About the Future of Gawker Media Gets It Right

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:19:45 PST

@Mandrock: OK, here's what I think this story gets right. It really captures the jittery feeling that web writers get when they put a story out into the online maelstrom and await a response via clicks. It can be exhilarating, which Bacigalupi captures nicely. And for people who don't want to write entertainment journalism, like Ong, it can be very demoralizing. But even for people who like to write about gadgets and pop culture, the rollercoaster ride of content-for-advertising is always going to be anxiety-provoking.

And of course the main thing Bacigalupi got right is that in the future, the New York Times will trying to compete to get Gawker's page views! Mwhahahaha.

Annalee Newitz wrote Short Fiction About the Future of Gawker Media Gets It Right

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:22:43 PST

Paolo Bacigalupi's smart, worldly writing has made him the new darling of the literary scifi scene, and now you can read his latest story online - it's a very plausible tale about blogger newsrooms of the future, including Gawker.

Annalee Newitz wrote Alternative Fuel Crops Will Kill You

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:27:24 PST

A remake of British flick Day of the Triffids promises to restore the monster plant genre to its rightful place after the upset of The Happening. The new Triffids, a 3-hour BBC miniseries, has a few interesting twists on