George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

This Deep-Sea Jellyfish Is Beyond Belief

Researchers working in the South Pacific have captured stunning footage of a deep-sea jellyfish that looks like a flying saucer with tentacles. Marine biologists working on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Okeanos Explorer spotted this beautiful jelly at Utu Seamount in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. NOAA, as part of its 2017…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 27 '17

We Were Wrong About How the Asteroid Apocalypse Will Go Down

Here’s a cheery thought to send you into the weekend: New research suggests that the greatest danger posed by an incoming asteroid is not from the cataclysmic impact of it striking the Earth—but from the enormous shockwave it produces when it enters the atmosphere. A study accepted for publication in Meteoritics and Planetary Science (preprint…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 24 '17

An Alarmingly Early Spring is Sweeping Across the Southern United States

Spring is well ahead of schedule across much of the southern United States, in some cases by at least two to three weeks. An early spring may sound nice, but it comes with serious consequences—both to human health and the environment. A new set of maps produced by the USGS-led US National Phenology Network (US-NPN)…

Climate Change George Dvorsky Feb 24 '17

Bots on Wikipedia Wage Edit Wars Between Themselves That Last For Years

Revision wars on Wikipedia amongst human editors is an all-too-common occurrence, but new research from the UK shows that similar online battles are being waged between the site’s software robots. As a new study published in PLOS ONE reveals, Wikipedia’s bots don’t always get along, frequently undoing each other’s edits. These online algorithms, each equipped…

Artificial Intelligence George Dvorsky Feb 23 '17

Why Does the Power of the Flu Shot Change Each Year?

It’s still flu season, but a preliminary report by the US Centers for Disease Control suggests this year’s flu shot is nearly 50 percent effective at reducing a person’s chance of getting sick. This is actually pretty good considering that, just two years ago, the flu shot’s effectiveness was down at a paltry 19 percent.…

Health George Dvorsky Feb 23 '17

Distorted Map Shows Each Country Forced Into Its Time Zone

A new map from XKCD’s Randal Monroe offers a glimpse into a bizarre alternate world where each country is forcibly squeezed into its respective time zone(s). In principle, time zones are based on the position of the Sun relative to the Earth’s surface, but most countries choose time zones that work best for them. China,…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 23 '17

10 Tips to Improve Your Mental Math Ability

Calculators are awesome, but they’re not always handy. More to the point, no one wants to be seen reaching for the calculator on their mobile phone when it’s time to figure out a 15 percent gratuity. Here are ten tips to help you crunch numbers in your head. Mental math isn’t as difficult as it…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 23 '17

Dramatic Satellite Photo Shows an ‘Atmospheric River’ Drenching California

The Pineapple Express has been wreaking havoc across much of California over the past few months, delivering unusually high amounts of rain and threatening the state with floods and landslides. A dramatic new satellite image shows this “atmospheric river” as it extends from Hawaii to the US West Coast. They may float up in the…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 22 '17

Scientists Add 50,000 Seeds to Arctic Doomsday Vault Because Everything Is Awful

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic Circle has received a major deposit of nearly 50,000 seed samples from around the world, bringing the total number of seeds stored at the remote facility to nearly one million. This latest deposit—one of the largest ever—is a critical step in ensuring global food security at a…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 22 '17

Spills From Fracking Are Worse Than We Imagined

An alarming new study has identified 6,600 chemical spills related to hydraulic fracturing in just four US states over a ten year period. The finding shows that fracking is far messier than previously assumed, and that stricter safety measures need to be established and enforced. New research published in Environmental Science & Technology shows that…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 21 '17

Africa’s Elusive Forest Elephants Are Being Poached at a Staggering Rate

The population of forest elephants in Gabon’s Minkébé National Park—one of Central Africa’s largest and most important nature preserves—has declined by a whopping 81.5 percent since 2004 due to poaching. It’s considered a major setback for the preservation of this endangered species, of which less than 100,000 remain in the wild. A discouraging new study…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 21 '17

Teacher Suspended After Giving Students Cooking Instructions For Crystal Meth

An Ontario mother is outraged after her 13-year-old son was handed instructions for making and injecting crystal meth as part of a drama class assignment. As reported by the CBC, the incident took place at Erin Mills Middle School in Mississauga, Ontario. “I popped a blood vessel,” said the boy’s mother, Delight Greenidge, in an…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 17 '17

These Poor Planets Are Why the Internet Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Name Things

The International Astronomical Union has named 17 minor planets as part of its NameExoWorlds contest. Looking at the winning monikers—which include such dreadful titles as “Miguelhernández” and “Thunder Bay”—it’s now painfully clear that the system of naming celestial objects is broken. Back in 2015, the IAU organized the NameExoWorlds contest, allowing the public to submit…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Feb 17 '17

Dramatic Satellite Images Show the Oroville Dam From Drought to Overflow

This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated in anticipation of a potential spillway failure at the Oroville dam. Images from space show what the area in northern California looked like during last year’s drought, and how it appeared after a spate of intense rain, at the height of the recent breach scare.…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 17 '17

For Science, Ants Have to Run on This Never-Ending Treadmill From Hell

Given their size and limited brain power, ants have an uncanny ability to find their way home after lengthy foraging excursions. To figure out how they do it, scientists from Germany have developed an innovative, but surprisingly simple spherical ant treadmill made from styrofoam. Cataglyphis desert ants, who dwell in Saharan salt pans, have it…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 16 '17

This 3,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Sword Is Absolutely Incredible

In what archaeologists are calling the “find of a lifetime,” a horde of Late Bronze Age weapons has been discovered at a Scottish construction site. Among the items found is a gold-decorated spearhead, and a 3,000-year-old bronze sword in remarkably good condition. The artifacts were found during an archaeological evaluation on a field in Carnoustie,…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 16 '17

These Wild Robots Will Compete to Explore the Last Frontier on Earth

We know very little about our planet’s seafloor, but that’s poised to change as autonomous underwater scouting technology gets better and better. To that end, nearly two dozen teams are racing to develop robots that can investigate, map, and conduct science at extreme depths, and under serious time constraints. They’re also competing for $7 million…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 16 '17

Lost Essay Reveals Winston Churchill Was Almost Certain Aliens Exist

Unlike so many politicians these days, Winston Churchill held a deep admiration for learning and science. A rediscovered essay—forgotten in a museum for nearly sixty years—reveals Churchill’s astoundingly scientific thoughts on such topics as cosmology, the origin of life, and the likelihood of extraterrestrials. Incredibly, he was all but certain that aliens exist. “I was…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 15 '17

An Obscure Fault in Southern California Is More Dangerous Than We Thought

A little-known fault underneath the southern Californian city of Santa Barbara is capable of producing stronger shaking and more damage during an earthquake than previously thought, according to new research. Called the Ventura-Pitas Point Fault, it’s now thought to be capable of producing magnitude 8.0 earthquakes, and even tsunamis. A new study published in Geophysical…

Tech News George Dvorsky Feb 15 '17

An Enormous Exoplanet Is Having a Strange Influence on Its Star

There’s a star about 370 light-years from here that’s pulsating in response to its unusually heavy planetary companion. It’s the first time that astronomers have seen this sort of interaction between a planet and its host star. “We thought that planets cannot really excite their stars, but we find that this one does.” A new…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Feb 14 '17

George Dvorsky

This Deep-Sea Jellyfish Is Beyond Belief

We Were Wrong About How the Asteroid Apocalypse Will Go Down

An Alarmingly Early Spring is Sweeping Across the Southern United States

Bots on Wikipedia Wage Edit Wars Between Themselves That Last For Years

Why Does the Power of the Flu Shot Change Each Year?

Distorted Map Shows Each Country Forced Into Its Time Zone

10 Tips to Improve Your Mental Math Ability

Dramatic Satellite Photo Shows an ‘Atmospheric River’ Drenching California

Scientists Add 50,000 Seeds to Arctic Doomsday Vault Because Everything Is Awful

Spills From Fracking Are Worse Than We Imagined

Africa’s Elusive Forest Elephants Are Being Poached at a Staggering Rate

Teacher Suspended After Giving Students Cooking Instructions For Crystal Meth

These Poor Planets Are Why the Internet Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Name Things

Dramatic Satellite Images Show the Oroville Dam From Drought to Overflow

For Science, Ants Have to Run on This Never-Ending Treadmill From Hell

This 3,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Sword Is Absolutely Incredible

These Wild Robots Will Compete to Explore the Last Frontier on Earth

Lost Essay Reveals Winston Churchill Was Almost Certain Aliens Exist

An Obscure Fault in Southern California Is More Dangerous Than We Thought

An Enormous Exoplanet Is Having a Strange Influence on Its Star

This Anker Power Station Powers 10 Devices at Once and Amazon Just Cut It by Nearly 50%

Apple Doesn’t Tax Beats, the Iconic Pill Speaker Is 5X Cheaper Than AirPods Max

HP Dumps Its Pavilion Laptop at 50% Off and Throws in Lifetime Office 365 and a 500GB External Drive for Free

Skip Apple’s Website, Amazon Has the Same Anker MagSafe Battery for Almost Half the Price

Forget Sonos, Amazon Sells This Fire TV Soundbar for the Price of a No-Name Speaker

Dyson Clears Spring Stock on Its Iconic V8, Now Priced Like a No-Name Vacuum on Amazon

Forget Paying iPhone Prices, the Google Pixel 10a Does Everything for Half the Cost

‘The Boys’ Got Even More Meta With Its ‘Supernatural’ Reunion

The ‘Sekiro’ Anime Will Hit Theaters…in Japan

Europe May Soon Get a Non-U.S. Alternative to Unreal Engine

JBL Live 780NC Review: Solid Wireless Headphones You Can Live Without

Acer’s Swift 16 AI (2026) Gets a Lot Right, But I Can’t Get Past the Trackpad

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G Review: Not Worth It at Full Price

Logitech G G512 X Review: The Tasting Menu of a Pro Gaming Keyboard

Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCyclone Review: AI Can’t Save This Robot Vacuum

The Best Tech Gifts for Mother’s Day 2026

Asus’ Dual-Display Gaming Laptop Will Ruin Your Single-Screen Lifestyle

Steam Controller Review: Trackpads Change Everything for PC Gaming

Soundcore Space 2 Review: A Shockingly Stellar Value for Budget ANC Wireless Headphones

Anker’s UV Printer Can Handle Almost Anything… If You Know What You’re Doing