George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

Scientists combine bird and swine flus to create mutant airborne virus

Researchers in China have created a batch of designer viruses by selectively combining genes from the H5N1 bird flu virus with those of the H1N1 swine flu strain. This reassortment process — which can happen naturally in nature — resulted in several hybridized strains that were able spread through the air and infect mammals. There…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

You can now 3D-print a fully operational handgun

A plastic gun made on a 3D printer has been successfully fired. What’s more, its developer has released the blueprints online, meaning anyone with the right 3D printer can create a gun of their own, right in their living room. Say hello to the dark side of the maker movement. This past weekend (May 4),…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

The number of cracks in glass can reveal a bullet’s speed

By counting the cracks in pierced glass, forensic scientists can now tell how fast an object was going when it pierced through it. Whenever an object, like a stone or a bullet, pierces through brittle materials like glass or Plexiglass, the energy expended by the impact results in a characteristic cracking pattern that extends radially…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

Astronomers Witness An Extraordinarily Bright Stellar Explosion

On April 27, NASA’s Fermi and Swift satellites detected a record-setting burst from a dying star located in a nearby galaxy. Most likely the result of a massive supernova, it produced the highest-energy light ever detected by scientists. Above image: The map above shows gamma-ray energies above 100 million electron volts (MeV). The first frame…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

Watch how mercury completely flips out when it’s blasted by sound

As the only metal that is liquid at room temperature, mercury is freaky even under normal conditions. But check out what happens to a blob of the stuff when it’s exposed to a different audio frequencies. Photographer Nick Moore achieved this cymatic effect by pouring the mercury onto a concave plastic lens from an old…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

Astronomer Martin Rees explains how posthumans will colonize space

The Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees has penned a fascinating article for The Telegraph in which he ruminates about humanity’s future prospects, including the potential for super-human machine intelligence and our transition into a space-faring cyborg species. Top image: Magazine cover by Paul Chadeisson, via his blog. This isn’t the first time Rees has written…

io9 George Dvorsky May 3

What You Should Know About the Low-carb Ketogenic Diet

Though it was originally developed to treat patients with epilepsy, interest in the ketogenic diet has taken off in recent years as we’ve learned more about its therapeutic and health benefits. Here’s what you need to know about ‘keto’ and why some health experts believe it’s good for your body — especially your brain. Fasting…

io9 George Dvorsky May 3

Louisiana senators vote to keep creationism in science class — again

Teen activist Zack Kopplin has lost his third bid to see a repeal of Louisiana’s Science Education Act — a highly controversial piece of legislation that allows teachers to bring creationist textbooks and other instructional materials into the classroom. Bill 26, which was sponsored by Senator Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans), was defeated by a narrow…

io9 George Dvorsky May 3

The only known photo of Einstein’s Mass-Energy Equivalence formula

It’s really grainy, and you can’t make out the famous E=MC2 equation, but this is the only known photograph of the master hammering away at the chalkboard on his special relativity formula. David Topper and Dwight Vincent of the University of Winnipeg discovered the photograph in a halftone newspaper file photo clipping. It features Einstein…

io9 George Dvorsky May 3

Creepy fascist figurines from the 1930s are creepy

Someone was probably really proud of this collection just as the Second World War was about to start — but now it’s just all sorts of wrong. Top: The front row features a way-too-thin Herman Göring, Adolf Hitler, and an appropriately smug looking Benito Mussolini. All images via Hermann Historica via Retronaut. Nazi minister of…

io9 George Dvorsky May 2

Here’s the Real Reason Why Virtual Reality Doesn’t Work Yet

It’s another blow for immersive virtual reality. University of California researchers have shown that even people with perfect eyesight navigate the world by relying on a lot more than what they see. Here’s why VR won’t really work until we go beyond visual cues and fancy treadmills. Inside our brain’s hippocampus we have what are…

io9 George Dvorsky May 2

A 3D printed cybernetic ear that even a transhumanist would love

Generating organs and tissue with 3D printers is nothing new. But this bioengineered ear is unique in that it utilizes embedded electronics that allow it to pick up radio frequencies outside the range of normal human hearing. Integrating electronics with biological materials hasn’t been easy owing to heat and mechanical issues. Standard tissue engineering techniques,…

io9 George Dvorsky May 2

Incredible new ISS photo shows the moon ushering in the dawn

Yet another extraordinary image from Chris Hadfield. This gorgeous shot shows a darkened Southeastern United States just before dawn, with the moon bringing the new day with it. In a new video, Hadfield explains how he takes these marvellous photos. From Hadfield’s Twitterfeed: This is how he does it:

io9 George Dvorsky May 2

This mysterious cave was a deathtrap for thousands of years

Call it the Sarlacc Pit of the Late Miocene: A recent study by Spanish paleontologists has shown how a nasty cave entrance gobbled-up a disproportionate number of carnivores for an extended period over 9 million years ago. The cave, dubbed Batallones-1 (or Bat-1 for short), was discovered back in 1991, and it has produced a…

io9 George Dvorsky May 1

The growing fear of having your brain hacked — for real

With all these new brain scanners on the market, it’s becoming increasingly important for manufacturers to make sure they’re safe. Brain-computer interfaces, like the ones produced by NeuroSky and Emotiv, allow users to control objects and video games with their thoughts. The growing fear is that third party-developers could build apps that masquerade as games…

io9 George Dvorsky May 1

So it turns out this tiny alien-like skeleton is actually human!

This six-inch-long skeleton was discovered 10 years ago in Chile’s Atacama Desert, but it has only recently been examined by scientists — and it’s totally legit. Sure, it looks like something from a dark corner of the Gamma Quadrant, but the remains actually belonged to a severely deformed human child. As Jeanna Bryner reports in…

io9 George Dvorsky May 1

Canada unveils its sweet new space-themed $5 bill in space

With the help of Commander Chris Hadfield aboard the ISS, the Bank of Canada yesterday launched its new robot- and astronaut-themed five dollar bill. Hadfield had been keeping the new bill under wraps for months. The new polymer $5 bill shows the Canadarm2 and Dextre manipulator robots, along with an ambiguous astronaut meant to symbolize…

io9 George Dvorsky May 1

This is officially the world’s tiniest stop-motion film

What you’re about to watch here is the smallest stop-motion movie ever made. Called “A Boy and His Atom,” the one-minute clip was compiled by manipulating a few dozen carbon atoms on a copper surface. We’re having a hard time getting our heads around just how astoundingly small the scale is, here. Each frame of…

io9 George Dvorsky May 1

This dreamy time-lapse showcases Death Valley’s starlit skies

Okay, stop what you’re doing and hit the play button on this unspeakably beautiful new time-lapse video filmed last month in Death Valley. The video was produced by Sunchaser Pictures and it’s the sequel to their wildly popular Death Valley Dreamlapse. This new video showcases the floating stones of Racetrack Playa, gorgeous star trails, a…

io9 George Dvorsky Apr 30

Do these startling longevity studies mean your lifespan could double?

Biologists have successfully extended the life spans of some mice by as much as 70%, leading many to believe that ongoing experimentation on our mammalian cousins will eventually lead to life-extending therapies in humans. But how reliable are these studies? And do they really apply to humans? We asked the experts. Before we get into…

io9 George Dvorsky Apr 30

George Dvorsky

Scientists combine bird and swine flus to create mutant airborne virus

You can now 3D-print a fully operational handgun

The number of cracks in glass can reveal a bullet’s speed

Astronomers Witness An Extraordinarily Bright Stellar Explosion

Watch how mercury completely flips out when it’s blasted by sound

Astronomer Martin Rees explains how posthumans will colonize space

What You Should Know About the Low-carb Ketogenic Diet

Louisiana senators vote to keep creationism in science class — again

The only known photo of Einstein’s Mass-Energy Equivalence formula

Creepy fascist figurines from the 1930s are creepy

Here’s the Real Reason Why Virtual Reality Doesn’t Work Yet

A 3D printed cybernetic ear that even a transhumanist would love

Incredible new ISS photo shows the moon ushering in the dawn

This mysterious cave was a deathtrap for thousands of years

The growing fear of having your brain hacked — for real

So it turns out this tiny alien-like skeleton is actually human!

Canada unveils its sweet new space-themed $5 bill in space

This is officially the world’s tiniest stop-motion film

This dreamy time-lapse showcases Death Valley’s starlit skies

Do these startling longevity studies mean your lifespan could double?

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

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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

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