Astronomer Jane Greaves of Cardiff University was alone in her office when she saw the signal: a fingerprint from the molecule phosphine, hanging out in data she’d taken of Venus’ atmosphere back in 2017.You’ve probably never heard of phosphine, and so don’t know why its existence on a nearby planet would stun an astronomer, as…
Facebook has been called the “ largest piece of the QAnon infrastructure.” The app has not only hosted plenty of the conspiracy group’s dark and dangerous content, it has also promoted and expanded its audience. QAnon is hardly the only beneficiary: Facebook promotes and expands the audience of militia organizers, racists, those who seek to…
Ed note: Today marks exactly 10 years since Rhett first started writing physics posts for WIRED. Congratulate him on Twitter!On the show The Boys, a speedboat smashes into a cetacean and the humans emerge unscathed. Could this happen in real life?I think the best thing about The Boys on Amazon Prime is that it shows…
Google released the stable version of Android 11 for its Pixel smartphones last week, but for most Android users, the wait continues. The world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, has yet to formally announce the latest version of its Android-based software called “One UI,” though last month they quietly opened up pre-registrations for a One UI…
I vividly remember my dad telling me about Wi-Fi when I was a kid. He promised that when I made it to high school, I’d be able to print my essays from a laptop—no cables required. It sounded like science fiction, but by the time I had my awkward ninth-grade growth spurt, I was regularly…
It was a big moment for US Customs and Border Patrol. On August 31, the agency had intercepted a shipment of what it determined to be 2,000 counterfeit Apple AirPods at a JFK International Airport cargo facility, en route from Hong Kong to Nevada. The CBP crowed about its haul on Twitter Sunday, saying that…
Every September, Apple asks us all to gather for a big announcement. Usually, the pin in the calendar marks the arrival of the next iPhone. But of course, 2020 and normalcy are not on speaking terms. So, even though Apple has an event scheduled this week, we’re most likely not going to see a new…
LG officially revealed its new ‘Wing’ smartphone in a livestream earlier today, following weeks of leaked videos and several teasers. The pre-recorded event was over an hour in length, so it’s not too surprising that a teaser for a new slide-out device at the very end went unnoticed by most people. The end of the…
The dispute between news publishers, tech platforms, and the Australian government exploded last week, as Facebook threatened to pull news from its platform in Australia if proposed legislation on a new bargaining code is passed. Google published an open letter warning of the dangers of the new law.The legislation would create a mandatory bargaining code…
Several months ago, back in the time we used to travel, I encountered a man in Mexico blowing a whistle and pushing around the back half of a bicycle. When someone heard the whistle and flagged him down, he sat on the half-bike and pedaled in reverse, spinning the wheel, which turned a tiny grinding…
