George Dvorsky, Author at Gizmodo

Decade-long apocalyptic game of Civilization II inspires some very cool fan fiction

Redditor Lycerius has been playing the same saved game of Civilization II for ten years, resulting in an awesomely dystopic swampy nuclear-irradiated wasteland in which war has raged relentlessly for a staggering 1,700 years. And now, inspired by this bizarre simulated world, a number of other Redditors have taken it upon themselves to write their…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 19 '12

Burying greenhouse gases underground could cause earthquakes

As the Arctic ice continues to fade away, some scientists have come up with radical solutions to the problem of greenhouse gases. One of these ideas is large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CSS), burying those troublesome gases underground — but now it looks like that notion could cause more trouble than it’s worth. Mike Orcutt…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 19 '12

Prescription Painkillers Now the Leading Cause of Accidental Deaths

Car accidents are no longer the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. According to a recent report published by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, this dubious distinction now belongs to drug poisoning. What’s at the root of this trend? A river of prescription painkillers. Top image via WBUR. Indeed, the…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 19 '12

Could a cyberwar ever be ethical?

The Atlantic has published a fascinating article about how the ongoing digital revolution is changing the face of war, and how military and government leaders are failing to adopt a new ethics to match. Written by cyberwar and emerging technology experts Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff, and Neil Rowe, the essay makes the case that just-war…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 19 '12

NASA downgrades AG5 asteroid threat -– but we’re not out of the woods yet

A recently concluded NASA workshop has determined that asteroid 2011 AG5 has a very slim chance of hitting the Earth in 2040 –- a 1-in-500 chance to be exact. But scientists say that the possibility of impact could increase substantially after the asteroid’s flyby in 2023 when it passes through a very critical “keyhole.” The…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 19 '12

Scientists use ‘molecular sex’ to create first genetically evolved semiconductor parts

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have successfully manufactured semiconductor material by using a process called “directed evolution,” in which enzymes take shape by following Darwinian processes of selection. And this breakthrough could help scientists use DNA to grow unique and highly specialized materials for use in electronics and solar panels. Daniel Morse and his colleagues…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 18 '12

Does a galaxy filled with habitable planets mean humanity is doomed?

Last week, we reported on the astounding confirmation that all solar systems in the Galaxy probably have planets, and that Earthlike planets are more common than previously thought. While this seems like good news for SETI-enthusiasts, the revelation is actually quite disturbing. Given that we have yet to meet any extraterrestrials, the finding could mean…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 18 '12

IBM’s Sequoia crushes all other supercomputers in new ranking

Step aside, Fujitsu K — there’s a new king of the mountain, and its name is Sequoia. For the first time in three years, an American-built device has taken top spot in a ranking of the 500 most powerful supercomputers. Developed by IBM, Sequoia will be used to – get ready for the letdown –…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 18 '12

Who needs particle accelerators when you can just use black holes?

As any particle physicist will tell you, if you want to find new particles, you’re going to need a lot of energy. This is why huge accelerators are used to propel particles to nearly the speed of light. But scientists are now suggesting that there may be another way — if we can detect some…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 18 '12

Scientists spark the growth of a human eye with stem cells

Biologists in Japan have grown a human-eye precursor from stem cells, and amazingly, it was done without the guidance from a scaffolding structure. The breakthrough indicates that the information to form such organs are embedded within the cells themselves, and not driven by environmental cues. Researchers hope to take this insight into clinical settings where…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 18 '12

At last, the secrets of bioluminescence could find their way into consumer products

Scientists from Syracuse University have found a way to mimic the bioluminescent qualities of fireflies, a development that could lead to products with multicolor strings of light that don’t require electricity or batteries to glow. Fireflies have drawn the attention of scientists for quite some time now. Unlike most bioluminescent creatures, their light is extremely…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 15 '12

A Crazy Close-up Video of the Sun’s Latest Coronal Mass Ejections

The sun is at it again, this time blasting its second magnetic bubble of energetic plasma in as many days. The blast is heading towards Earth at a speed of 1,360 kilometers per second and is expected to arrive on June 16. Check out the video (above in banner) to see several of these latest…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 15 '12

NASA says the Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered into an unprecedented region of space

Voyager 1 has been steadily working its way out of the solar system, and it now appears to have entered into a completely new region of space. NASA says it’ll only be a matter of time before the spacecraft exits the solar system completely, becoming the first human-made object to enter interstellar space. It takes…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 15 '12

Want to find alien life? Search for Dyson spheres

We’ve been searching for alien intelligences out there for decades, and so far we haven’t found a single blip. But maybe we’re just going about it the wrong way? Geoff Marcy, the chair for SETI at the University of California at Berkeley, recently told io9 he’d like to start searching the depths of space for…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 15 '12

Brain Implants Powered by Spinal Fluid: Another Huge Step Towards Our Cyborg Future

The biggest question for would-be cyborgs is: How are you going to power all those brain implants? And now it looks like some MIT engineers may have stumbled upon the answer. They have developed a fuel cell that can run on your brain’s own glucose — a breakthrough that could result in powerful neural prosthetics…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 15 '12

Cheaters More Likely to Pass on Infections Than People in Open Relationships

People often think that open relationships increase your risk of catching a disease — but actually, openly seeing other people is much safer than sneaking around, a new study proves. According to a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine suggests that people in open relationships actually have less of a chance of getting…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 14 '12

A Game-Changer in the Search for Alien Life: “All stars have planets”

Astronomers working with the Kepler spacecraft have announced new evidence suggesting that there are far more potentially habitable planets in our galaxy than we had believed. And just as surprisingly, these planets emerged much longer ago than expected — a revelation that could have profound implications in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. What does it…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 14 '12

The Incredible Beauty of Titan’s Tropical Methane Lakes

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has spotted methane lakes in the so-called “tropics” of Saturn’s moon, Titan. (Where temperatures reach a balmy −179 °C, or −290 °F.) The lakes were a bit of a surprise to researchers who had assumed that the long-standing liquid bodies would only exist at the poles. The discovery also raises the unique…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 14 '12

Check out every single kind of microbe in your body online — all 5 million of them

The initial phase of the Human Microbiome Project has come to an end — and with it, the mapping of the full community of microbes that inhabit all the various nooks and crannies of the healthy human body. The results of the exhaustive study will be published as a collection in PLoS, making their findings…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 14 '12

Testing female athletes to make sure they’re feminine enough is not cool, scientists say

South African sprinter Caster Semenya created a stir a few years back on account of her “intersexed” characteristics — prompting some to demand that sporting authorities screen for these sorts of biological anomalies in the name of fairness. But a Stanford University School of Medicine bioethicist and her colleagues now say that it’s unacceptable to…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 14 '12

George Dvorsky

Decade-long apocalyptic game of Civilization II inspires some very cool fan fiction

Burying greenhouse gases underground could cause earthquakes

Prescription Painkillers Now the Leading Cause of Accidental Deaths

Could a cyberwar ever be ethical?

NASA downgrades AG5 asteroid threat -– but we’re not out of the woods yet

Scientists use ‘molecular sex’ to create first genetically evolved semiconductor parts

Does a galaxy filled with habitable planets mean humanity is doomed?

IBM’s Sequoia crushes all other supercomputers in new ranking

Who needs particle accelerators when you can just use black holes?

Scientists spark the growth of a human eye with stem cells

At last, the secrets of bioluminescence could find their way into consumer products

A Crazy Close-up Video of the Sun’s Latest Coronal Mass Ejections

NASA says the Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered into an unprecedented region of space

Want to find alien life? Search for Dyson spheres

Brain Implants Powered by Spinal Fluid: Another Huge Step Towards Our Cyborg Future

Cheaters More Likely to Pass on Infections Than People in Open Relationships

A Game-Changer in the Search for Alien Life: “All stars have planets”

The Incredible Beauty of Titan’s Tropical Methane Lakes

Check out every single kind of microbe in your body online — all 5 million of them

Testing female athletes to make sure they’re feminine enough is not cool, scientists say

Jon Watts Is Our ‘Star Wars: Episode X’ Director

The Biggest ‘X-Men’ Cartoons Unite in a New Comic

Here’s How the ‘Resident Evil’ Monsters Came to Monstrous Life

Trump Gets Xi to Agree to Call AI ‘Super Intelligence,’ White House Says

Sounds Like ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Is as Great as You Hoped

The Whole World Is a Jury at a Murder Trial, Trying Not to Laugh at an AI Love Song

Another Full Moon Means Another ‘Werwulf’ Trailer

‘The Last of Us’ Show Brings in More Game Alums for Season 3

Watch a DJ Discover Whether You Can Fly a Rocket with a Mixer

Tesla Wants to Build 20,000 Optimus Robots a Week. First It Has to Figure Out Hands

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

Back to School: All the Accessories You Need to Replace Your Laptop With a Foldable Phone