George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

Smoking Pot Offers Relief to the Lonely

This seems a bit counter-intuitive, but a new study has shown that marijuana protects people from the emotional pain of being socially excluded. Previous studies have shown that over-the-counter medications like Tylenol (acetaminophen) reduce both physical and social pain. Because Tylenol affects cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors in the brain, a research team led by Timothy…

io9 George Dvorsky May 17

The Biggest Explosion Ever Seen on the Moon!

Two months ago, a boulder-sized object smashed into the surface of the Moon. The resulting flash — which could be seen by the naked eye — was 10 times brighter than anything witnessed before. The Moon is hit by meteoroids all the time, but this impact was particularly notable. Looking at it from Earth, the…

io9 George Dvorsky May 17

Chris Hadfield finds that home isn’t nearly as interesting as space

Poor Commander Hadfield. Without that wondrous zero gravity environment to work in, Earth has become a rather boring place. This fantastic Hadfield at Home parody was put together by Sean Ireland, who reminds us that everything is cooler in space — including the wringing out of washcloths. Here he recreates the famous nail-clipping experiment:

io9 George Dvorsky May 16

Scientists Use Cloning to Create Embryonic Stem Cells

It’s a major scientific breakthrough, and it could lead to new treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s and diabetes — but this development also takes us one step closer to human reproductive cloning. The howls of outrage have already begun. This achievement is literally 16 years in the making. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned…

io9 George Dvorsky May 16

New Brain Stimulation Technique Makes You Better At Math

After just five days of non-invasive brain stimulation and a bit of cognitive training, researchers at Oxford University were able to enhance people’s high-level abilities, such as mental arithmetic and manual calculations. And remarkably, the effect lasts for months. The discovery was made by scientists working at Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology, and it could…

io9 George Dvorsky May 16

Earth’s Oldest Flowing Water Found at the Bottom of a Canadian Mine

Working at a depth of 1.5 miles, geoscientists have discovered an ancient and isolated reservoir that contains water estimated to be anywhere from 1.5 to 2.7 billion years old. It’s the oldest free-flowing sample of water ever discovered — and now the researchers want to know what’s in it. The geoscientists are calling the discovery…

io9 George Dvorsky May 16

The Kepler space telescope is spinning out of control

After four years of service, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope has suffered a second serious malfunction — one that threatens to permanently end the mission. Controllers on the ground can no longer control its orientation. It looks bad, but NASA isn’t giving up hope. This story actually began last July when one of Kepler’s four reaction…

io9 George Dvorsky May 16

Why does this ‘Google Glass 2.0’ video seem so wrong?

A Toronto-based creative agency has put together its vision of what the next version of Google Glass might look like. There are some really neat ideas in there, but the video also feels a bit… off. What do you think? The video was produced by Playground Inc. as a way to “visualize how heads up…

io9 George Dvorsky May 15

Idiot Construction Crew Demolishes 2,300-year-old Maya Pyramid

An investigation is now underway after one of the largest Maya pyramids in Belize was bulldozed to extract materials for a road project. Stuff like this drives me batty: The Ministry of Tourism and Culture in Belize is freaking out after the the Nohmul Complex was destroyed by construction workers to extract crushed rock for…

io9 George Dvorsky May 15

The Most Significant Futurists of the Past 50 Years

Our visions of the future tend to be forged in the pages of science fiction. But for the past half-century, a number of prominent thinkers, activists, and scientists have made significant contributions to our understanding of what the future could look like. Here are 10 recent futurists you absolutely need to know about. Above image…

io9 George Dvorsky May 15

What if New York City was transported to another planet?

Illustrator Nickolay Lamm, along with astrobiologist Marilyn Vogel, have transplanted New York City to the various surfaces — and atmospheres — of our solar system’s planets. All images via Nickolay Lamm, Storage Front. Mercury Vogel writes: Mercury has but a thin envelope of gas that barely qualifies as an atmosphere. The inexorable solar wind continually…

io9 George Dvorsky May 15

Disney can put your face on a 3D-printed Stormtrooper figurine

Ever wondered what you’d look like as a Star Wars action figure? Well now’s your chance. As a part of Disney’s Hollywood Studios D-Tech Me Star Wars Weekends, visitors can get Stormtrooper replicas of themselves. It’ll cost you $99.95 and about 10 minutes of your time to get your face 3D scanned, but it would…

io9 George Dvorsky May 15

This wild illusion causes you to see an object in three different ways

There are so many optical illusions that feature an object or picture that can be seen in two different ways. But have you ever seen an illusion that can be interpreted in three different ways? This remarkable illusion is called Three-fold cubes, and it was put together by Guy Wallis and David Lloyd from the…

io9 George Dvorsky May 14

We just used the theory of relativity to discover a new planet

In a manner of speaking, Albert Einstein just helped an international team of astronomers find a hot Jupiter that’s 2,000 light-years away. It’s the first time in history that the theory of relativity was used to locate another planet. Normally, astronomers use the transit method to detect exoplanets, a technique that tells astronomers a planet…

io9 George Dvorsky May 14

Mathematician Makes Astounding Prime Numbers Breakthrough

A partial solution to a centuries-old problem known as the twin prime conjecture now affirms the idea that an infinite number of prime numbers have companions — and that a maximum distance between these pairs does in fact exist. Prime numbers are those non-composite numbers that can only be divided by one or itself. On…

io9 George Dvorsky May 14

Physics Technician Busted For Preparing Cocaine In University Lab

Hmm, this plot sounds somewhat familiar: A physics technician from the University of Bristol has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after using equipment in the university’s lab to prepare more than $15,000 worth of cocaine for sale on the city’s streets. As the Bristol Post is reporting, Timothy Newbury, along with former solider…

io9 George Dvorsky May 14

As the storm breaks, the Moon and Venus converge

Everything came together for Spanish photographer Isaac Gutiérrez Pascual when he snapped this glorious photo. With the Moon in its crescent phase, and Venus in perfect alignment to the right, a flock of birds took flight just as a storm began to break up. Credit: Isaac Gutiérrez Pascual; published with permission. Via APOD, which adds:…

io9 George Dvorsky May 13

Your Dreams Might Be Ruining Your Love Life

We know our dreams aren’t real — and we certainly know that the actions of the people in our dreams can’t be held against them in real life. But a new study suggests we may be doing exactly that, albeit at an unconscious level. Psychologist Dylan Selterman and colleagues have discovered that the contents of…

io9 George Dvorsky May 13

This physics simulation is one of the most accurate you’ll ever see

Physicists from Berkeley say they’ve figured out the insanely complex math behind the way bubbles pop when they’re in a foam — and they’ve got an extraordinarily accurate video to prove it. The math behind a single bubble popping is relatively straightforward. Scale that up to a cluster of foamy soap bubbles, on the other…

io9 George Dvorsky May 13

Freak Ice Tsunami Crunches Homes In Canada

The whole thing only took 15 minutes, but by the time it stopped over two-dozen homes and cottages were either seriously damaged or completely destroyed. An arctic wind blowing across Duphin Lake near Winnipeg, Manitoba, created this bizarre phenomenon in which rapidly forming ice moved inland along Ochre Beach. According to Manitoba’s Emergency Measures Organization,…

io9 George Dvorsky May 13

George Dvorsky

Smoking Pot Offers Relief to the Lonely

The Biggest Explosion Ever Seen on the Moon!

Chris Hadfield finds that home isn’t nearly as interesting as space

Scientists Use Cloning to Create Embryonic Stem Cells

New Brain Stimulation Technique Makes You Better At Math

Earth’s Oldest Flowing Water Found at the Bottom of a Canadian Mine

The Kepler space telescope is spinning out of control

Why does this ‘Google Glass 2.0’ video seem so wrong?

Idiot Construction Crew Demolishes 2,300-year-old Maya Pyramid

The Most Significant Futurists of the Past 50 Years

What if New York City was transported to another planet?

Disney can put your face on a 3D-printed Stormtrooper figurine

This wild illusion causes you to see an object in three different ways

We just used the theory of relativity to discover a new planet

Mathematician Makes Astounding Prime Numbers Breakthrough

Physics Technician Busted For Preparing Cocaine In University Lab

As the storm breaks, the Moon and Venus converge

Your Dreams Might Be Ruining Your Love Life

This physics simulation is one of the most accurate you’ll ever see

Freak Ice Tsunami Crunches Homes In Canada

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