The Hypothesis
You may not know it, but … Genetic analysis reveals that house cats were never domesticated like dogs and horses. Humans invented the idea of robot uprisings to reassure ourselves that we are a worthy adversary for our machines, rather than merely their boring aunties. Fired pottery changed the world more than the internet will. In the future, computers and the natural environment will merge. Homo sapiens is merely a glorified combination of Homo erectus and a lot of symbolic-nomadic labor. Your gender has become a weaponized meme. I have some strange ideas, but by gum, I just might be on to something. It helps that every missive from The Hypothesis is grounded in science and data. The Hypothesis delivers a mix of science news, historical analysis, and evidence-based speculation. Plus, you can keep up with what I’m publishing elsewhere online. Newsletters will not come out on a regular schedule, and you’ll never know when one might pop up in your inbox. I’m Annalee Newitz. I write science fiction and nonfiction. I’m the award-winning author of Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, the sci-fi novels The Future of Another Timeline and Autonomous, as well as several other books. I’m also a contributor to the New York Times and New Scientist, and a lapsed academic who got a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Every two weeks, I co-host the Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.