Late last month I did an interview with GQ about technology and the coronavirus pandemic. “This is a little bit flippant,” I told the reporter, “but in terms of closing things down for public health, one of the big boosts they could make would probably be shutting down Twitter.” I don’t fully believe this anymore.…
Apple’s removal of the headphone jack in its iPhones three years ago sparked a wave of new Bluetooth headsets. There are now plenty of great wireless earbuds to choose from, but you need to spend a good deal of money for them. It’s still tough to find a decent pair for less than $50. That’s…
The race is on to find a cure for Covid-19. Researchers are testing new vaccines, resurrecting old drugs, and repurposing treatments originally developed for other diseases. Things are moving fast; by the time you read this, the situation may have changed (for the better, we hope). So how are scientists thinking they’ll fend off this…
Scientists call it Ambrosia artemisiifolia, but you can call it the bane of your existence. Otherwise known as the common ragweed, this plant releases potent pollen in August and September, spreading hay fever—the sneezing, the mucus, the itchy eyes—throughout the land. Native to the Americas, the common ragweed has been unintentionally introduced all over the…
Hello, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s entertainment news roundup. This time around there’s a lot of news coming out of HBO. Also, there’s a new Star Wars series coming to Disney+. Catch up on everything here.Russian Doll’s Cocreator Is Working on a Star Wars Series for Disney+Just when you thought there…
B.C. Kowalski, a writer at the local weekly in Wausau, Wisconsin, was expecting a boost to his income this spring. He was set to begin selling ads for local businesses on a podcast he’d launched on the side, Keep it Wausome. Then coronavirus restrictions shut down the town and its businesses.To keep some extra dollars…
On a fall day in 2019, a lucrative bit of backroom dealing kicked off with a typo-ridden message on the chat app Discord. Two players of the strategy card game Magic: The Gathering were about to engage in a little insider trading.“Hey mate, I just got some game changing news, but i kinda dont want…
In normal times, the bulk bagging machine in Owyhee Produce’s packing facility spins 50,000 onions—red, yellow, and white ones—into orange netted bags each hour. The bags go to a produce distributor and then to a food-service business: a restaurant chain like Applebee’s or Chili’s, a baseball park, a university dining hall. The bulk bagger at…
Life is messy. Numbers are neat. Or so I’ve liked to think. Math has been a comfort zone in times of confusion, a way to pick out signals in the noise, see patterns in chaos. At the least, it could provide a sense of boundaries, scaffolding, a handhold. With a little help from math, we…
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site. Nintendo is offering a few special freebies for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In addition to the Pocket Camp crossover items you can receive through the series’ mobile spin-off, Switch…
