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1 day ago | 
gizmodo.com | Melvin M. Vopson |George Dvorsky
We have long taken it for granted that gravity is one of the basic forces of nature–one of the invisible threads that keeps the universe stitched together. But suppose that this is not true. Suppose the law of gravity is simply an echo of something more fundamental: a byproduct of the universe operating under a computer-like code. That is the premise of my latest research, published in the journal AIP Advances.
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4 days ago | 
gizmodo.com | Kate Yoder |George Dvorsky
For much of the 20th century, winter brought an annual ritual to Princeton, New Jersey. Lake Carnegie froze solid, and skaters flocked to its glossy surface. These days, the ice is rarely thick enough to support anybody wearing skates, since Princeton’s winters have warmed about 4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970.
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1 week ago | 
gizmodo.com | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey |George Dvorsky
Across seven decades and a dozen presidencies, America’s scientific prowess was arguably unmatched. At universities and federal agencies alike, researchers in the United States revolutionized weather forecasting, cured deadly diseases, and began monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.
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2 weeks ago | 
gizmodo.com | Kate Yoder |George Dvorsky
Efficiency standards for home appliances were once the conversational equivalent of beige — neutral, but aggressively uninteresting. But as political polarization has deepened, dishwashers, laundry machines, showerheads, and other household staples have begun to take on a new charge. With Republicans now in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, rules that quietly save Americans money on utility bills while conserving energy and water are suddenly at risk.
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3 weeks ago | 
gizmodo.com | Maddie Stone |George Dvorsky
Several years ago, Louis Blessing’s wife asked for his help replacing the battery in her laptop. An electrical engineer by training, Blessing figured it would be a quick fix. But after swapping out the old battery for a new one and plugging the laptop in, he discovered it wouldn’t charge. It quickly dawned on Blessing that the laptop recognized he had installed a battery made by a third party, and rejected it.
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1 month ago | 
gizmodo.com | George Dvorsky
Environmental-, social-, and governance-related shareholder proposals are down 34 percent this year as the Trump administration galvanizes the movement against “woke investing,” according to an annual report by the shareholder advocacy groups As You Sow and Proxy Impact. The report counted 355 such proposals as of February 21, compared to 536 proposals filed by the same time last year.
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1 month ago | 
gizmodo.com | Maleeka Singh |Maria G. Corradini |Robert H. Hanner |George Dvorsky
Maple syrup, often called Canada’s “liquid gold,” has long been a target for fraudulent activities, such as the dilution or substitution with other syrups, due to its high demand. Amid threats from the United States of increased tariffs and the imposition of a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports that aren’t compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, increased maple syrup fraud is a possibility.
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1 month ago | 
gizmodo.com | Kayte Spector-Bagdady |George Dvorsky
As soon as the genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on March 23, 2025, concerns about what would happen to the personal information contained in its massive genetic and health information database were swift and widespread. A few days after, a U.S. judge ruled that the company could sell its consumer data as part of the bankruptcy. The attorneys general of several states warned their citizens to delete their genetic data.
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1 month ago | 
gizmodo.com | Avery Schuyler Nunn |George Dvorsky
Almost 40 years ago, deep in the Pacific, a single voice called out a song unlike any other. The sound reverberated through the depths at 52 Hertz, puzzling those listening to this solo ringing out from the ocean’s symphony. The frequency was much higher than a blue whale or its cousin, the fin, leaving scientists to ponder the mystery of Whale 52. The leviathan has been heard many times since, but never seen. Some suspect it might have some deformation that alters its voice.
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1 month ago | 
gizmodo.com | Akielly Hu |George Dvorsky
Cities looking to eliminate fossil fuels in buildings have notched a decisive court victory. Last week, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by plumbing and building trade groups against a New York City ban on natural gas in new buildings. The decision is the first to explicitly disagree with a previous ruling that struck down Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation gas ban.
