George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

Why We Shouldn’t regulate Big Food… At Least, Not Yet

A recent article published by Kelly Brownell in PLos Medicine arguing for the regulation of the food industry has gone off like a hand grenade. Health, diet, and wellness websites are all abuzz this week over his contention that “Big Food” will always be a self-serving, socially irresponsible force — a problem that Brownell believes…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 6

These biologically-inspired robotic legs are the most accurate yet

There’s a new robot in town that may not have the confident swagger of Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN, but it does have something special going for it: biological accuracy. Developed by a group of researchers from the University of Arizona, the new bipedal robot is equipped with the fundamental neuromuscular architecture of human walking — right…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 6

Girl Guides in Australia drop reference to ‘God’ from oath

Effective today, Australia’s Girl Guides will no longer have to uphold their duty to God or promise to serve the Queen, instead pledging to “be true to myself” and “serve my community and Australia.” The changes are part of the long-standing organization’s attempt to modernize itself and remain relevant — and to attract more members…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 6

Behold the Boötes void, the spookiest place in the cosmos

When looking up at the sky at night, it’s easy to get the impression that the stars go on forever in fairly uniform fashion. We know, of course, that this isn’t the case. Stars coalesce into galaxies, and galaxies join together to form clusters. And as for the vast, empty regions of intergalactic space, they…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 6

Why did all the planet-forming dust around this star disappear in only three years?

Back in 1983, astronomers discovered a star 450 light-years away that was surrounded by a cloud of dust — a textbook example of a solar system in the making. Now, nearly thirty years later, the cloud has suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. This discovery could mean that everything we thought we knew about the birth of…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 5

Giving an old bee a youngster’s job causes brain rejuvenation

Researchers at Arizona State University have successfully reversed brain aging in honeybees, by giving them responsibilities that are typically handled by much younger members of the hive. The change in occupation appeared to trigger a series of youth-restoring chemical processes in the bees’ brain —processes that the researchers predict could lead to similar interventions in…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 5

With nearly 1 in 12 teens diagnosed, is ‘Anger Disorder’ the next big thing?

With all that teens have to go through on the way to adulthood, it’s understandable that many of them lash out and lose it everyone once in awhile. But a new study from Harvard suggests that nearly 8% of teens are now exhibiting outbursts so violent, they fall into the category of a mental disorder.…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 5

GlaxoSmithKline Handed a Whopping $3 Billion Fine… But Is It Enough?

Talk about making a statement: Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was recently slapped with an unprecedented $3 billion fine for a series of questionable business practices dating back to 1998. The fine is the largest for healthcare fraud in US history — and a clear message from the US Department of Justice that putting the lives of…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 5

The complete history of philosophy visualized in one graph

Simon Raper of Drunks&Lampposts has compiled a mesmerizing graph that charts the entire history of philosophy. By extracting information from the “influenced by” sections in Wikipedia, he was able to visually convey an overarching web of philosophical traditions. And by adding extra weight to the most influential philosophers, Raper was able to produce a compelling…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 5

Are China’s human missions to space a waste of time?

The Wall Street Journal’s Bob Davis has penned a controversial and highly provocative article about China’s recent push to get humans in space — what he largely considers to be a colossal waste of time and money. His contention is that China is trying to play catch-up to an outdated 1960s vision of space exploration…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 4

This is what Washington’s massive power outages look like from space

It’s difficult to comprehend the scope of the current power-outs affecting a sizeable portion of the Washington D.C. area, but recent space-based photographs provided by NASA are offering a startling glimpse into the scale of the outages. These before-and-after images were taken by NASA’s Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, showing the geographic distribution of the…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 4

10 of the Weirdest Futurist Scenarios for the Evolution of Humanity

When science fiction writers and futurists imagine humans of the far future, they never think our descendants are going to look exactly the same as we do now. After all, we’ll have access to powerful tools to turn us into cyborgs and hack our DNA, so there’s no limit to how we could reinvent ourselves.…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 4

Watch a 1963 video of British soldiers conducting a military exercise after dropping acid

Back during the Cold War, the military wanted to find out if LSD could be used to incapacitate enemy forces. So they administered the drug to unsuspecting British soldiers, and sent the squaddies off to perform their duties. This short video, which is as hilarious as it is disturbing, chronicles the British soldiers’ hapless attempt…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 4

Secrets of the half-male, half-female cuttlefish revealed at last

Cuttlefish always seem to be among the most fascinating marine life forms — whether it’s on account of their flashy battles for mating rights, or their ability to see the world through polarized light. And now, researchers have discovered yet another extraordinary thing they can do: Male cuttlefish can alter their physical appearance straight down…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 4

Fungal infection could wipe out some species of bats completely

Nearly six years after the discovery of a catastrophic fungal infection that’s decimating bat populations in the U.S. and Canada, scientists have concluded that the disease is primarily transmitted by highly social bats. But just because scientists have a better handle on how bats spread the disease doesn’t mean there’s good news. If anything, the…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 3

Paleontologists now say all dinosaurs probably had feathers

A beautifully preserved fossil of a 150-million-year-old megalosaurus called Sciurumimus albersdoerferi has once again transformed our notions of what dinosaurs must have looked like. This newly discovered species shows that the early ancestors of all dinosaurs were feathered — and that’s a strong indication that feathers were a common characteristic of all dinosaurs that followed,…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 3

Two men using metal detectors discover hoard of 50,000 Iron Age Celtic coins

Great news for all you hopeful amateur metal detectorists: Two men, who’d been searching the same field for nearly 30 years, have stumbled upon the largest hoard of Iron Age coins ever discovered in northern Europe. Inspired by legends that a local farmer once discovered silver coins on his land, the men unearthed the congealed…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 3

Will we ever learn to speak dolphin?

Dolphins are highly intelligent mammals, with an amazing ability to learn to understand our language. But as we gain more insights into their behaviour, we’re also coming to suspect that they might have their very own language — or at the very least a complex system for communicating with one another. A big question facing…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 3

More Evidence that a Common Cat Parasite Could Increase Your Risk of Suicide

Toxoplasmosis, a common parasitic disease that’s transmitted through unwashed vegetables and cat feces, has long been suspected of altering human behavior. Though controversial, some scientists have speculated that there’s a correlation between the parasite and such things as schizophrenia and suicide. But now there’s fresh evidence that the disease could help drive women to kill…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 3

Microscopic machines could produce medicine directly inside your body

Futurists have long speculated that nanotechnology — the engineering of materials and devices at the molecular scale — will eventually revolutionize virtually every field it touches. While we’re not there yet, we’re reminded every once in a while of the tremendous potential that nanotechnology holds, especially when it comes to medicine. One of these reminders…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 29

George Dvorsky

Why We Shouldn’t regulate Big Food… At Least, Not Yet

These biologically-inspired robotic legs are the most accurate yet

Girl Guides in Australia drop reference to ‘God’ from oath

Behold the Boötes void, the spookiest place in the cosmos

Why did all the planet-forming dust around this star disappear in only three years?

Giving an old bee a youngster’s job causes brain rejuvenation

With nearly 1 in 12 teens diagnosed, is ‘Anger Disorder’ the next big thing?

GlaxoSmithKline Handed a Whopping $3 Billion Fine… But Is It Enough?

The complete history of philosophy visualized in one graph

Are China’s human missions to space a waste of time?

This is what Washington’s massive power outages look like from space

10 of the Weirdest Futurist Scenarios for the Evolution of Humanity

Watch a 1963 video of British soldiers conducting a military exercise after dropping acid

Secrets of the half-male, half-female cuttlefish revealed at last

Fungal infection could wipe out some species of bats completely

Paleontologists now say all dinosaurs probably had feathers

Two men using metal detectors discover hoard of 50,000 Iron Age Celtic coins

Will we ever learn to speak dolphin?

More Evidence that a Common Cat Parasite Could Increase Your Risk of Suicide

Microscopic machines could produce medicine directly inside your body

Disneyland Makes Up for That Han Solo Situation With a Lovely Leia Look

The Cockroach of Dinosaurs Likely Survived Extinction Because of Its Big Wet Eggs

Why Fans Are Calling ‘Apocalypse Hotel’ the Real Anime of the Year

Spirit Airlines Could Liquidate by the End of the Week Due to Fuel Crisis

After 100 Years, Engineers Finally Discover Why Rubber Is So Tough

Wizards of the Coast Is Getting in on Its Own ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Actual Play

Iceland Just Got its First Mosquitoes. Scientists Aren’t Ready for What Comes Next

Europe Could Run Out of Jet Fuel in Just 6 Weeks

Anthropic Releases Claude Opus 4.7 to Remind Everyone How Great Mythos Is

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Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

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

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