George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

DNA evidence can’t tell identical twins apart in rape case

Identical twins in the UK have both been charged with raping a teenage girl, even though forensic tests cannot prove which one carried out the attack. British prosecutors have formally charged two men, Mohammed and Aftab Asghar, 22, with a single offence, but caution that “only one of the defendants faces trial.” Both men were…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 22 '13

Humanity waves at Saturn as Cassini snaps historic pic

Late last month, the Cassini spacecraft captured a remarkable photograph of the Earth and Moon as seen from Saturn. The event coincided with a project called “The Day The Earth Smiled” in which participants from 40 countries took photos of themselves waving at the ringed planet. The results have now been assembled into this awesome…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 22 '13

And now, a stop motion short film about a magic beard

After growing out a full mop of facial hair, Ben Garvin decided that a good beard should never go to waste. So he picked up his iPhone and carefully stitched together this remarkable stop motion film. Garvin used the Stop Motion Studio app to edit the film. [Neatorama]

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 21 '13

Germany is the first European country to recognize a third gender

Starting this November, German parents will be able to select male, female, or “indeterminate” when filling out their newborn’s birth certificate. This means that parents won’t have to label their baby’s gender, thereby allowing those born with intersex characteristics to make a decision later in life. Or not. The new law, which goes into effect…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 21 '13

Hot Jupiters are the most astounding planets in the galaxy

They’re big, full of gas, and have a penchant for hanging out way too close to their parents. These “hot Jupiters” are among the most common extrasolar planets in the galaxy. Here’s what the latest science is telling us about these celestial wonders. To date, astronomers have catalogued over 850 planets outside our solar system.…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 21 '13

Isolated Peruvian tribe attempts to make contact, asks for food

Members of the Mashco-Piro tribe — one of the most isolated on Earth — recently attempted to make contact with outsiders, resulting in a tense stand-off at a river hamlet. The Mashco-Piro, who live in Peru’s southeastern Amazon, are one of several tribes designated by officials as “uncontacted people.” This particular tribe, which numbers in…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 21 '13

Watch as this comet plunges directly into the Sun

Earlier this week, NASA and ESA scientists working with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft caught a glimpse of a tiny comet barreling towards the Sun. As you’ll see in this video, the poor thing never had a chance. According to Karl Battams of the U.S. Naval Research Lab, the object was only a…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 21 '13

Rogue planets can form without a parent star

Scientists call them free-floating planets — massive celestial wanderers that have broken free from the confines of their original solar system. Or perhaps not. New research suggests that these so-called rogue planets may have formed completely on their own — and that there could be billions of them. Scientists have only recently learned about the…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 20 '13

New high-res maps of Earth’s surprisingly inconsistent gravity field

Though it seems hard to believe, Earth’s gravitational pull is not the same everywhere you go. And as these gorgeously detailed maps now show, these variances are much greater than we thought. Top image: The low gravity atop Mount Everest (credit: GGMplus/Curtin University). Gravity varies on our planet owing to a number of factors. It’s…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 20 '13

This Ancient Egyptian Jewelry Came from Space

Archaeologists working at the UCL Petrie Museum have shown that ancient Egyptians made jewelry from chunks of meteorite. Even more remarkable is the realization that they made these items over 5,000 years ago — nearly two millennia before the emergence of iron smelting. Top image: The meteoric iron beads, which are now heavily corroded, are…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 20 '13

The world’s tallest Lego tower. Ever.

Gaze in amazement at this 112 foot-tall tower made from 500,000 individual bricks of Lego. The structure, which was built by students from Wilmington, Delaware, broke the Guinness World Record last night, thereby accomplishing the dream set by every kid who has ever clicked two pieces of Lego together. The new record eclipses the previous…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 20 '13

Astronomers discover an Earth-sized planet with an 8.5 hour year

Researchers from MIT have located a lava-filled world about 700 light-years away that’s 40 times closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun. It’s considered one of the shortest orbital periods known to science. Kepler 78b is a planet that spins around its sun every 8.5 hours. Its orbital radius is ridiculous —…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 19 '13

Can science really make us immortal?

Salon has published an excerpt from Adam Leith Gollner’s upcoming book about ‘the science, belief, and magic behind living forever.’ Gollner surveys the work of researchers from around the world who are trying to reverse the effects of aging and asks, “Is a breakthrough near?” Indeed, life extension is definitely a growth industry. Gollner points…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 19 '13

10 Real Technologies That Look Insanely Futuristic

Why wait for the future when many of today’s technologies look as though they got here in a time machine? Here are 10 real-life technologies that come from the future. A couple of clarification points before we get started. By real-world, I mean any kind of technology that actually, physically exists (no vapourware, no conceptual…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 19 '13

In Breaking Bad, allies are hard to come by

In last night’s tension-filled episode of Breaking Bad, we are treated to several critical — and much anticipated — encounters. Things are moving quickly now as everyone tries to keep ahead of the other. Episode recap and spoilers ahead. “Buried” is episode 10 of Breaking Bad’s fifth and final season, and the second episode of…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 19 '13

This robot can jump 10 times its body length

Check out TailBot, a 1-ounce, 3-inch bot designed by a team of students at Michigan State University. It doesn’t look like much, but this little guy can perform some rather remarkable physical feats — and it uses a unique tail inspired by nature to get the job done. TailBot is unprecedented in that it’s the…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 19 '13

So apparently Voyager 1 left our solar system on July 27, 2012

A re-interpretation of Voyager 1 data is refuelling the debate over whether the spacecraft has truly left the cozy confines of our solar system. According to a new University of Maryland study, it exited the heliosphere last year. The confusion, say the researchers, stems from NASA’s failure to account for a particular magnetic phenomenon. So…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 16 '13

This Italian ‘Adolf Hitler wine’ has infuriated just about everybody

Holy hell, this is in poor taste — both figuratively and probably literally. Italian prosecutors are investigating how bottles of wine adorned with images of Adolf Hitler got on to store shelves. And now human rights organizations are entering into the fray. The winemaker responsible for this abomination, Andrea Lundardelli, claims the line is all…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 16 '13

Newly-discovered mammal is ‘mix of house cat and a teddy bear’

Say hello to the olinguito, the first carnivorous mammal to be discovered in the Western hemisphere in 35 years. And HOLY CRAP is this thing ever cute. It took more than a decade for Smithsonian Institute researchers to properly identify the mammal — a story that began when zoologist Kristofer Helgen found some bones and…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 16 '13

Archaeologists Unearth Pieces from a 5,000 Year-Old Board Game

While excavating an ancient burial mound at Başur Höyük near Siirt in southeast Turkey, archaeologists discovered a set of sculpted stones that may represent the earliest recorded gaming tokens. Some 49 small carved stones were unearthed by Turkish archaeologists excavating Bronze Age graves, reports Discovery News. They were sculpted in various shapes and painted in…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 16 '13

George Dvorsky

DNA evidence can’t tell identical twins apart in rape case

Humanity waves at Saturn as Cassini snaps historic pic

And now, a stop motion short film about a magic beard

Germany is the first European country to recognize a third gender

Hot Jupiters are the most astounding planets in the galaxy

Isolated Peruvian tribe attempts to make contact, asks for food

Watch as this comet plunges directly into the Sun

Rogue planets can form without a parent star

New high-res maps of Earth’s surprisingly inconsistent gravity field

This Ancient Egyptian Jewelry Came from Space

The world’s tallest Lego tower. Ever.

Astronomers discover an Earth-sized planet with an 8.5 hour year

Can science really make us immortal?

10 Real Technologies That Look Insanely Futuristic

In Breaking Bad, allies are hard to come by

This robot can jump 10 times its body length

So apparently Voyager 1 left our solar system on July 27, 2012

This Italian ‘Adolf Hitler wine’ has infuriated just about everybody

Newly-discovered mammal is ‘mix of house cat and a teddy bear’

Archaeologists Unearth Pieces from a 5,000 Year-Old Board Game

Bill Gates Suggests He’s the Man to Convince Donald Trump to Regulate AI

WordPress Owner Automattic’s Board Reportedly Purged After Failed ‘Coup’ Against CEO

Shocker: Last Night’s ‘Viral’ Pro-Data Center Party Is Tied to Thiel, the Koch Institute, and Other AI Boosters

OpenAI to Halt Training of Some Models

‘Obsession’ Has Halloween Costumes Now, Because Duh

Dario Amodei Is Reportedly Having One of Those Cursed One-on-One Dinners With Trump

‘Transformers’ and The ‘Energon Universe’ Are a Massive Success

I Urge You to Urge Others to Watch the ‘SNL’ Segment About Dario Amodei

Universal Movies Have Made a Looooot of Money in 2026

The First ‘VisionQuest’ Promo Introduces a New Family Member

iRobot Roomba Max 775 Review: A Respectable Roomba Redux

Sonos Ace Ultra Review: Headphones That Only Hardcore Sonos Fans Could Love

M6 Mac mini Review: A Better Tiny Desktop, With or Without AI

Aqara Multi-Sensor FP400 Review: Not Quite the mmWave of the Future

Alienware’s AW3926QW Ultrawide Gaming Monitor Review: Size Really Does Matter

iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max Review: Apple Is Just Flexing Hard Now

AirPods 5 Review: A Ridiculously Great Value for ANC Wireless Earbuds

Steam Frame Review: Valve Shows Us VR Was Always Meant to Be a Toy

Maingear Zero (2026) Review: PC Gaming Bliss With a Price Tag to Make You Cry

Sony WH-1000XM4C Review: Still Kind of Goated