George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

This obsessive robot can crack your phone’s PIN in less than 24 hours

Admittedly, this isn’t the most elegant security threat we’ve ever seen, but it works. Meet R2B2, a 3D printed robot that punches PIN combination after PIN combination until it gets it right. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise when you figure that it takes about 10,000 combinations to crack any 4-digit password. The only…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 24

Father Of Artificial Intelligence To Be Pardoned For Being Gay

Back in 1952, mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing was convicted for gross indecency — the standard criminal charge for homosexuality. After his chemical castration, he killed himself by eating an apple laced with cyanide. Now, over 60 years later, he’s set to be pardoned. It’s hard to assess the impact of Alan Turing. Not…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 23

One-Man Ugandan Space Program To Build Country’s First Satellite

Chris Nsamba — yes, the same guy who’s trying to build a space shuttle from scratch in his mom’s backyard — has turned his attention to something perhaps a bit more reasonable. He’s making a small space satellite equipped with a camera, and occupied by one tiny passenger — a rat. Even if successful, it…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 23

A ‘submarine graveyard’ has been found off the coast of England

British archaeologists have discovered more than 40 German U-boats sunk during the first World War. Located just off England’s southern and eastern coast, the subs have been disintegrating for nearly a hundred years. It’s now a race against time to examine the wrecks before they vanish forever. Top image: A German minelaying submarine lies on…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 23

Swedish researchers create ‘an impossible material’ by mistake

In yet another example of scientific serendipity, Uppsala University researchers have created an unprecedented material with record-breaking properties. And most remarkable of all, this new material — which was thought impossible to make for over a century — was the result of an accident in the lab. And indeed, the new magnesium carbonate material exhibits…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 23

3D Simulator Lets You Nuke Any City With Your Favorite Nuclear Warhead

This is all sorts of twisted, but a new interactive map allows users to drop a nuclear bomb on any location of their choosing. The results, which are shown in Google Earth generated maps, are truly horrifying. Called NUKEMAP3D, users can select a city, the size of the bomb in kilotons (the app also provides…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 23

Joe Rogan tells io9 why you should question the !@#$ out of everything

Though he’s primarily known as a UFC commentator and comedian, Joe Rogan is also an outspoken advocate of science. In his new show, which is set to premiere on Syfy later this month, he critically investigates a series of strange and unexplained phenomenon. We recently caught up with him to learn more. If you follow…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 18

Astronomers watch as a gas cloud gets torn to shreds by a black hole

Two years ago, astronomers realized that a gas cloud was on a collision course with the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. The encounter has since taken place — and it was all recorded in real time. Here’s how it all went down — and a stunning simulation to go along with…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 18

Google Maps just annihilated an entire 141-square-mile island

The latest update of Google Maps appears to have wiped out the Scottish island of Jura. But while the internet giant is aware of the problem, it has yet to fix it. Despite the oversight, Jura island is very much a real place. It’s home to about 188 people and is famed for its whiskey…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 18

Did a massive dragon just wash ashore along England’s Jurassic coast?

Beachgoers on a Dorset beach were in for quite a jolt earlier this week as they encountered what appeared to be the remains of a giant dragon. In reality, it’s a sculpture put together by Blinkbox to promote the third season of Game of Thrones which is arriving to the service. The skull, which measures…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 18

New theory says the Universe isn’t expanding — it’s just getting fat

Conventional thinking says the Universe has been expanding ever since the Big Bang. But theoretical astrophysicist Christof Wetterich says it’s not expanding at all. It’s just that the mass of all the particles within it is steadily increasing. Top Image: T. Piner. We think the Universe is expanding because all the galaxies within it are…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 17

Advocacy Group to Name Captive Chimp as Plaintiff in Historic Case

The Nonhuman Rights Project plans to file a case on behalf of its first animal client, an unnamed captive chimpanzee. Sometime in the next few months, it will file a writ of habeas corpus asking a state court judge to grant the chimp its liberty. It could go down as the first true step towards…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 17

What You Need to Know About Getting Magnetic Finger Implants

Not content with the mere five senses that nature gave them, an increasing number of biohackers have turned to magnetic finger implants. But the practice of sensory augmentation need not be confined to these pioneers. Here’s why you should consider getting magnetic implants — and how to do it. Image courtesy of BMEzine.com LLC. To…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 17

‘Vampire Grave’ Discovered at Polish Construction Site

Archaeologists in Poland believe they have found a vampire grave near the town of Gilwice in southern Poland. The skeletons were found with their heads removed and placed between their legs — a ritualistic practice designed to keep the dead from rising up. In addition, the remains were found with no jewelry, belt buckles, or…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 17

How far would you go to get the perfect shot?

Amateur photographer Kawika Singson routinely ventures out to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to snap some pics. But this time around, after setting up his equipment on a lava flow, his shoes and tripod caught fire. The photo has since gone viral — but is it real? Yes and no. Yes, the fire you see in…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 17

RIP Elaine Morgan, popularizer of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

Elaine Morgan, author of the highly influential The Descent of Woman, has died at the age of 92 from a stroke. She will be remembered for challenging male-centric theories of human evolution, and for promoting the idea that early humans, for a short time, began adapting to aquatic life. Back in the early 1970s, after…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 16

No, we didn’t just create an AI that’s as smart as a 4-year old

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently IQ-tested an AI system to see how intelligent it really is. Results showed that it’s about as smart as the average 4-year-old —with some important caveats. Indeed, some very, very important caveats. You can imagine my surprise — and subsequent eye-rolling — when a press release…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 16

Why does the shadow in this unedited image cast a future action?

This image hasn’t been photoshopped or digitally altered in any way. So why is the shadow so out of sync with the frisbee thrower’s action? It has to do with the way digital cameras work when set to scan from top to bottom. Writing in the Blog of Wonders, Mariano Tomatis explains: The acquisition of…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 16

Finally: Actual physical evidence that T-rex was a predator

It looks like the most badass predator to have ever roamed the Earth, but paleontologists have struggled to prove that Tyrannosaurus rex actually hunted its prey, leading some to believe that it was a scavenger. Now, the discovery of a T-rex tooth embedded in the tail of a hadrosaur offers the first direct evidence. Top…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 16

A hand-drawn atlas three years in the making

Polish designers Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinski have designed and illustrated a gorgeous hand-drawn atlas featuring the borders, cities, rivers, and peaks of 51 unique places. It was a labor of love — one that required over 4,000 individual illustrations — but the end result speaks for itself. The atlas, which presents six continents and 42…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 16

George Dvorsky

This obsessive robot can crack your phone’s PIN in less than 24 hours

Father Of Artificial Intelligence To Be Pardoned For Being Gay

One-Man Ugandan Space Program To Build Country’s First Satellite

A ‘submarine graveyard’ has been found off the coast of England

Swedish researchers create ‘an impossible material’ by mistake

3D Simulator Lets You Nuke Any City With Your Favorite Nuclear Warhead

Joe Rogan tells io9 why you should question the !@#$ out of everything

Astronomers watch as a gas cloud gets torn to shreds by a black hole

Google Maps just annihilated an entire 141-square-mile island

Did a massive dragon just wash ashore along England’s Jurassic coast?

New theory says the Universe isn’t expanding — it’s just getting fat

Advocacy Group to Name Captive Chimp as Plaintiff in Historic Case

What You Need to Know About Getting Magnetic Finger Implants

‘Vampire Grave’ Discovered at Polish Construction Site

How far would you go to get the perfect shot?

RIP Elaine Morgan, popularizer of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

No, we didn’t just create an AI that’s as smart as a 4-year old

Why does the shadow in this unedited image cast a future action?

Finally: Actual physical evidence that T-rex was a predator

A hand-drawn atlas three years in the making

First Statewide Data Center Ban Passed by Maine Legislature

FCC Exempts Netgear from Foreign-Made Router Ban for Some Reason

Jamie Dornan Is Your New Aragorn in ‘The Hunt for Gollum’

Trump’s Fed Pick Is Knee Deep in Tech and Crypto Investments

The First Trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Takes Terror Stateside

The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash

‘Masters of the Universe’ Really, Really Wants to Be the Next ‘Barbie’

Samsung’s Micro RGB TVs Provide So Much Color It May Be Too Much

The Crypto Bros Want to Get Their Hands on Anthropic’s ‘Super Dangerous’ Model

This Is What a Music Industry ‘Plant’ Looks Like in 2026

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice