George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

The Gunk Inside Our Noses Is Being Used to Produce the Next Great Antibiotic

Scientists have discovered a microbe in the human nose that produces an antibiotic lethal to the MRSA superbug, among others. The discovery could lead to powerful new therapies to treat problematic bacterial infections, while also demonstrating the potential for the human body to produce bug-killing compounds. As we inch closer and closer to the antibiotic…

Health George Dvorsky Jul 27 '16

The Dinosaur That Left This Record-Setting Footprint Was an Absolute Beast

A tourist guide working in Bolivia has stumbled upon an enormous dinosaur footprint measuring nearly four feet wide. Experts say it’s one of the largest prints ever found of a carnivorous dinosaur, and a record for South America. The enormous print, located about 40 miles from the Bolivian city of Sucre, was discovered by tourist…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 27 '16

New Simulation Extends Possible Crash Site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370

Italian researchers have used the location of confirmed debris from Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared two years ago, to estimate where the missing airliner might have crashed, and where further debris may be found onshore. Their simulations show that the wreckage may lie upwards of 310 miles further north than current estimates. Since flight…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 27 '16

Clones Age Normally, So Relax

It’s been 20 years since the birth of Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult. Because Dolly died prematurely, scientists have worried that cloning accelerates the aging process. But a new analysis of 13 cloned sheep—including a batch of Dolly’s genetic duplicates—shows this isn’t the case. In a study published…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 26 '16

Ancient Campfires May Have Unleashed Humanity’s Top Bacterial Killer

The ability to control fire brought our ancestors countless benefits, but as a new study by Australian researchers suggests, it may have also triggered the spread of one of the worst blights to afflict our species: tuberculosis. Mathematical biologist Mark Tanaka from the University of New South Wales hypothesizes that controlled fire use in early…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 26 '16

Most Americans Fear a Future of Designer Babies and Brain Chips

Most American adults are nervous about the prospect of enhancing humans beyond normal capacities, a new Pew Research Center poll reveals. But while many of those surveyed expressed concerns about brain-boosting chips and designer babies, a significant number had a positive view of technology’s ability to transform humans and society. What makes this new poll…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 26 '16

How a Powerful Obesity Gene Helped Samoans Conquer the South Pacific

By studying the genomes of more than 5,000 Samoans, researchers have uncovered a single gene that boosts a person’s obesity risk by upwards of 40 percent. Remarkably, this gene—which appears in a quarter of all Samoans—may have arisen in the population as they colonized the South Pacific. As described in the latest edition of Nature…

Health George Dvorsky Jul 25 '16

Siberia’s Sprawling Sawdust Dump Fire Will Burn For Years

Environmentalists in Siberia are expressing concern over an ongoing fire at the world’s largest sawdust dump—a fire that’s been burning since 2013 and will continue to do so for years to come. As The Siberian Times reports, the monumental mountain of sawdust—which caught fire three years ago—is located in the Ust-Kutsky district of Irkutsk, and…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 25 '16

Thousands Forced to Evacuate as California’s Sand Fire Continues to Spread

Shifting winds and blazingly hot temperatures are fueling a wildfire in southern California that has now spread to 51 square miles and is now threatening several neighborhoods. The Sand Fire—named for the area’s Sand Canyon—started on July 22 and has now grown to 33,000 acres. This troublesome blaze is currently burning near Big Sur and…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 25 '16

The Single Day Heat Record for the Eastern Hemisphere Has Just Been Shattered

Think it’s hot in North America right now? Well, you need to shut-up and stop complaining, because parts of the Middle East are getting absolutely scorched right now. Yesterday, the temperature in Mitribah, Kuwait soared to a blistering 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius). That’s a record for our planet’s Eastern hemisphere. As Weather Underground…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 22 '16

This Milk Lasts Up to Nine Weeks Without Spoiling

Refrigerated pasteurized milk typically lasts about two to three weeks before turning into a wretched hive of scum and villainy. A new process developed by researchers at Purdue University extends the shelf life of milk up to 63 days—and without the benefit of added chemicals. Purdue University researcher Bruce Applegate, along with pals from the…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 22 '16

This is Where the Rosetta Spacecraft Is Going to Die

Seventy-one days from now, the Rosetta spacecraft will end its historic mission by crashing onto the surface of its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Mission planners have now selected the spacecraft’s final, mission-ending destination—and it’s a good one. As announced by the ESA earlier today, Rosetta will make its controlled impact on an area known as Ma’at,…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 21 '16

We’ll Only Have a Year to Prepare For a Cataclysmic Super-Eruption

Volcanic super-eruptions are bad. Like really bad. Scientists warn of such a potentially civilization-ending catastrophe in our future, but as a new study shows, we’ll only have a year to prepare once the signs of an impending eruption become visible. A new microscopic analysis of quartz crystals taken from the site of a massive volcanic…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 21 '16

Imagine Coming Face-to-Face With This Horrifying ‘Megaraptor’

Despite their diminutive size, raptors were among the most terrifying dinosaurs to menace the Cretaceous Period. But as the discovery of a new dinosaur called Murusraptor shows, their plus-sized versions, aptly known as “megaraptors,” were considerably worse. This is a super-cool specimen from a very enigmatic family of big dinosaurs. The fossilized remains of this…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 21 '16

Epic Timelapse Captures an Entire Year on Earth From a Million Miles Away

A spacecraft parked in orbit at a distance of one million miles has captured the mother of all timelapse videos—an entire year on Earth. Enjoy. The EPIC camera aboard NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite has now recorded a full year of life on Earth from its position at Lagrange point 1, a sweet orbital spot a million…

Sploid George Dvorsky Jul 20 '16

Crazy Detailed Brain Map Finds Nearly a Hundred New Regions

Neuroscientists working on the Human Connectome Project have compiled the most accurate map yet of the human cerebral cortex. The researchers identified 180 distinct areas of the brain’s outer layer—effectively doubling the previous number of known regions. The new map, compiled by David Van Essen and Matthew Glasser of Washington University in St. Louis—with the…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 20 '16

The 50 Most Common Family Arrangements in America, Visualized

Statistician Nathan Yau of Flowing Data has compiled a beautiful and revealing infographic showing the 50 most common family structures in the United States. As this clever visualization shows, the nuclear family—though the most common—is far from the only one. To create this infographic, Yau took data from the five-year American Community Survey (2009-2014), and…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 20 '16

Scientific Proof That Melania Trump’s Speech Was Definitely Stolen From Michelle Obama

Following Melania’s now-infamous speech from the Republican Convention, a Canadian physicist has calculated the odds of those words and phrases appearing in the same order as Michelle Obama’s speech eight years ago. Looking at his answer, let’s just say it would be a coincidence of cosmic proportions. According to Canadian physicist and McGill University professor…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 20 '16

Medical Harpoon Reduces Need for Open-Heart Surgery

An experimental medical device called the Harpoon TSD-5 is proving its worth in clinical trials, repairing heart valves with perfect success—and without the need to perform open-heart surgery. It looks like some sort of torture device, but the Harpoon TSD-5 has the potential to dramatically decrease the need for invasive open heart surgeries to repair…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 19 '16

This High-Tech Breathalyzer Will Make It Impossible For You to Cheat On Your Rehab

The Soberlink Breathalyzer has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for medical use. The webcam- and GPS-enabled device allows rehab centers to remotely measure alcohol in a client’s breath, ensuring compliance with treatment. Unlike other compliance-related breathalyzers on the market, Soberlink doesn’t require a third-party individual to administer the test to prevent…

Health George Dvorsky Jul 19 '16

George Dvorsky

The Gunk Inside Our Noses Is Being Used to Produce the Next Great Antibiotic

The Dinosaur That Left This Record-Setting Footprint Was an Absolute Beast

New Simulation Extends Possible Crash Site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370

Clones Age Normally, So Relax

Ancient Campfires May Have Unleashed Humanity’s Top Bacterial Killer

Most Americans Fear a Future of Designer Babies and Brain Chips

How a Powerful Obesity Gene Helped Samoans Conquer the South Pacific

Siberia’s Sprawling Sawdust Dump Fire Will Burn For Years

Thousands Forced to Evacuate as California’s Sand Fire Continues to Spread

The Single Day Heat Record for the Eastern Hemisphere Has Just Been Shattered

This Milk Lasts Up to Nine Weeks Without Spoiling

This is Where the Rosetta Spacecraft Is Going to Die

We’ll Only Have a Year to Prepare For a Cataclysmic Super-Eruption

Imagine Coming Face-to-Face With This Horrifying ‘Megaraptor’

Epic Timelapse Captures an Entire Year on Earth From a Million Miles Away

Crazy Detailed Brain Map Finds Nearly a Hundred New Regions

The 50 Most Common Family Arrangements in America, Visualized

Scientific Proof That Melania Trump’s Speech Was Definitely Stolen From Michelle Obama

Medical Harpoon Reduces Need for Open-Heart Surgery

This High-Tech Breathalyzer Will Make It Impossible For You to Cheat On Your Rehab

LEGO Takes a Hit, Millennium Falcon Set Drops Back to Its All-Time Low on Amazon

iBuyPower’s Trace X Gaming PC Is the Fishbowl You Want to Swim In

Amazon Quietly Offloads Its Dolby Atmos Soundbar With Built-In Subwoofer at a Near Record Low

Govee Ceiling Light Ultra Review: AI Art Ain’t It

FCC Attempts to Solve Robocall Problem by Potentially Creating Even Bigger Privacy Problem

Galaxy Z Fold7 Drops to a Near Record Low as Samsung Clears Stock Ahead of the Fold8

Apple Offloads MacBook Air via Amazon at a Near Record Low, Full Price on the Apple Store

Samsung Tab Is a Serious iPad Rival and 2X Cheaper, Now at a Near Record Low

Apple Quietly Offloads AirPods Pro 3 via Amazon, Not a Single Dollar Off on the Official Apple Store

Amazon Dumps This Monster 145W 25,000mAh Power Bank at What Looks Like Zero Margin

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