As setups go for studying how people see colors, this one isn’t even the weirdest: a room full of assorted objects, like Lego bricks, strawberries, and ping-pong balls. Bring people into the room and give them a computer. Tell them to use a mouse to adjust the color of a big spot on the screen, […]
Read MoreFour decades after American Airlines invented the frequent flier, loyalty programs have started to spread beyond airlines and into urban travel. Last November, Uber launched Uber Rewards, using perks like vehicle upgrades to woo and keep fickle customers. Uber’s program design nudges riders to take individual instead of shared trips, sparking worries that whatever impact […]
Read MoreThe iPad may be getting impressively close to Everyday Computer territory, but there is still something about the desktop software experience on a Mac that a mobile device can’t replace. (Even more so if the keyboard on your MacBook works!) But mobile software has its benefits—speed, usability, simplicity—so it’s not a surprise to see that […]
Read MoreMore Americans are obtaining passports and going abroad than ever before—and thousands of different travel apps, websites, and services have proliferated to help them on their journeys. Many promise to make the experience of flying cheaper, easier, and less stressful. Want dinner delivered directly to your gate? There’s now an app for that, of course. […]
Read MoreThe pantheon of sports iconography is a gendered institution. There’s Muhammad Ali towering menacingly over a flattened Sonny Liston in 1965. The game-securing touchdown catch by 49er Dwight Clark, his body bent like a crescent moon, from the 1982 NFC Championship bout. Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in his nail-biting 100-meter butterfly victory. […]
Read MoreCredit where credit is due: Evolution has invented a galaxy of clever adaptations, from fish that swim up sea cucumber butts and eat their gonads, to parasites that mind-control their hosts in wildly complex ways. But it’s never dreamed up ion propulsion, a fantastical new way to power robots by accelerating ions instead of burning […]
Read MoreHappy Fourth of July, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED's pop culture news roundup. This time around we have big news about The Walking Dead comics and a lot of updates on the lives of directors, from long-timers like Quentin Tarantino to newcomers like Andy Muschietti. Lights, camera, action. The Walking Dead […]
Read MoreAh, the great outdoors. The flora, the fauna, the welcome mystery of the open trail stretched before you. You’ve left it all behind (no cell service, no problems!) until … Wait. Where’s the map? Did you mean to turn left back there? What direction is the campsite anyway? Is it starting to get dark? Don't […]
Read MoreOn Sunday, Pride celebrations shut down a rainbow swath of San Francisco. In the shadow of the city’s iconic Coit Tower, chipmaker Intel held a nerdier and more select party. Tom Simonite covers artificial intelligence for WIRED. At the five-hour event, 100 attendees from startups, venture capital, and tech giants drank in semiconductor-themed cocktails and […]
Read MoreOur in-house Know-It-Alls answer questions about your interactions with technology. Q: What is the best cooler, from a physics perspective? A: First, a reminder from high school physics: Heat, on an atomic level, is the motion of molecules. The quicker they move, the hotter the solid/liquid/gas is. In a hot gas, this means molecules whizzing […]
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