Covid Misinformation Protests, Pediatric Cases, and More News

Catch up on the most important updates from this week.

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Apple Backs Down on Its Controversial Photo-Scanning Plans

A sustained backlash against a new system to look for child sexual abuse materials on user devices has led the company to hit pause.

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‘Final Girls’ Make the Best Horror Movie Heroes

The female characters who survive until the end of the film are the antidote to the movie's cycle of violence.

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The Best Gear to Learn Music Like a Pro

Want to play guitar, piano, or your old clarinet? From mics to metronomes, here's a list of our favorite tools for learning a musical instrument.

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How to Prevent and Treat Face Mascne

Just in case you needed more to worry about, mask-related acne is also breaking out nationwide. Here's how to get it under control.

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Finally, a Fun Conspiracy Theory: Ted Lasso’s Roy Kent Is CGI

Truly, is any beard that perfect?

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Hurricanes, Solar Storms, and the Fight to Keep the Power On

This week, we look at what happened to New Orleans’ electrical grid in Ida’s wake, and we learn how a major solar eruption could knock out the internet.

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Lenovo's Laptop-Tablet ThinkPad Goes After the Surface

Want to live that hybrid life—without sacrificing a good keyboard or battery life? The X12 Detachable is the machine for you.

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Richard Lewontin's Legacy of Fighting Racism in Science

The late evolutionary biologist made a reputation—and enemies—by speaking out against the idea that genes are destiny. Science still needs people like him.

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Chicago Claims DoorDash and Grubhub Misled Customers on Fees

The city capped commissions on restaurant deliveries amid the pandemic, but it says the apps added new fees and marketed deceptive promotions.

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Why Ransomware Hackers Love a Holiday Weekend

Looking forward to Labor Day? So are ruthless gangs of cybercriminals.

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The 20 Best Hiking and Camping Deals for Labor Day

This is our favorite time to hit the trails. Here's what you need to make the outdoors feel like home.

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The NYC Subway Wasn’t Built for 21st Century Storms

Deadly flooding in and around New York City dramatizes the risks to infrastructure that was wasn’t built to handle warmer, wetter climate.

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Second Time's the Charm: NASA Perseverance Drills a Mars Rock

After a first attempt brought up an empty tube, the rover finally cored a sample.

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New Orleans Was Already a 'Heat Island.' Then Ida Cut Power

Urban areas soak up the sun’s energy, dramatically raising temperatures. In the hurricane’s aftermath, Louisiana is sweltering without AC.

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Twitch And Reddit Protests May Only Be the Beginning

#ADayOffTwitch and dozens of subreddit blackouts were organized separately, but together they show the potential power of collective action by users.

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They Watched a YouTuber With Tourette’s—Then Adopted His Tics

Hundreds of people are displaying similar behaviors to that of YouTube star Jan Zimmermann. Do they have a disorder or something more mysterious?

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The Case for Video Game Tutorials

They might not all be perfect, but they've become necessary.

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The Best Turntables for Your Vinyl Collection

Looking for fresh indoor hobbies? Why not start a record collection? These entry-level turntables will help you enjoy analog audio at home.

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12 Face Masks Your Kids May Actually Wear

This fall, your child still needs a face mask for school or play. These are the ones my little ones will tolerate.

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I Want My Daughter to Live in a Better Metaverse

The metaverse could be beautiful. But left unchecked, it will further fragment reality and make us even more polarized.

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You’re Not Alone: Monkeys Choke Under Pressure Too

Now you can blame the primate brain. And neuroscientists are eager for a deeper look.

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Our Favorite Mattresses on Sale for Labor Day

Need a new bed? Holidays are the best times to get a decent price. Here are our recommendations in all price ranges.

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We're Giving Away a 75-Inch Version of Our Favorite TV

We're working with TCL and CBS Sports to give away our top WIRED-Recommended TV. (Open to the US only. See rules for details.)

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Can the Wisdom of Crowds Help Fix Social Media’s Trust Issue?

A new study finds that small groups of laypeople can match or surpass the work of professional fact checkers—and they can do it at scale.

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Six-Word Sci-Fi: Stories Written By You

Here's this month's prompt, how to submit, and an illustrated archive of past favorites.

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Fleeing Disaster Is Hard. Climate Change Is Making It Harder

Hurricane Ida and California wildfires are two sides of the same coin: On a warmer planet, it’s getting harder to evacuate from extreme events.

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I'm Trapped in the Witcher 3 Grind, and I Hate It Here

No one should have to work this hard this early in a game.

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This Tiny Robot Mimics the Mantis Shrimp's Mighty Punch

Researchers built a miniature version of the crustacean to better understand the biomechanics of its legendary strike.

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The Best Sex Toys and Tech for Every Body

These are our favorite gender-inclusive adult devices to give you and your partner(s) a helping hand.

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I’m Vaccinated. When Is It Safe to Take My Mask Off?

Mask guidance continues to change. Here’s what you need to know, depending on who you are, to protect yourself—and, most importantly, others.

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The Fight to Define When AI Is ‘High Risk’

Everyone from tech companies to churches wants a say in how the EU regulates AI that could harm people.

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This Touchscreen Table Lets You Summon Board Games With a Tap

It's expensive, but Arcade1Up's Infinity Game Table will save you valuable shelf space while delivering fun board games for the whole family.

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Artificial Intelligence and the ‘Gods Behind the Masks’

In an excerpt from AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future, Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan explore what happens when deepfakers attack the deepfakes.

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Covid Has Created a Virtual Renaissance for Life Drawing

As lockdowns began, artists and models migrated to video conferencing—revolutionizing who gets to sketch and be sketched.

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What It'll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida

It could take weeks to get the lights on in parts of Louisiana, but the playbook on how to do it is clear.

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Facebook Quietly Makes a Big Admission

The company’s new approach to political content acknowledges that engagement isn’t always the best way to measure what users value.

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Funimation’s Crunchyroll Acquisition Means Big Anime Is Here

The Funimation-Crunchyroll deal represents a big shift for the industry, and the latest twist in the streaming wars.

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The Best Wireless Earbuds for Working Out

Rock your inner jock with a pair of sturdy and sweatproof wireless headphones. Here are our favorites.

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Dell's New Laptop-Tablet Hybrid Is Great—but Pricey

The Latitude 7320 Detachable is a Surface wannabe that'll cost you.

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So … What If Aliens’ Quantum Computers Explain Dark Energy?

A wild thought experiment by Jaron Lanier and physicist Stephon Alexander concerning gravitons, virtual reality, and Incan khipu.

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Mass Effect Is Kind of a Utopia for the Chronically Ill

It’s a universe where disabilities don’t slow people down or dominate their lives.

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Should Kids Get Covid Shots Through Off-Label Prescriptions?

The CDC and FDA are begging docs not to jump the gun on giving children the shot before clinical trials can establish the risk of side effects for young users.

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Meet the Little-Known Genius Who Helped Make Pixar Possible

Alvy Ray Smith helped invent computer animation as we know it—then got royally shafted by Steve Jobs. Now he’s got a vision for where the pixel will take us next.

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Zoom Dysmorphia Is Following People Into the Real World

Eighteen months of using front-facing cameras has distorted our self-image—and a new study reveals that the effects aren't going away easily.

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These Are the 9 Android Phones Worth Buying

Shopping for a new phone can be an ordeal. Let us take some of the pain out of it with these picks and tips.

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Our Favorite Paper Planners for Crossing Tasks off Your List

Digital tools are not always superior. We love good old-fashioned pen and paper for keeping on track.

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An Experimental Birth Control Attacks Sperm Like a Virus

Monoclonal antibodies have been touted for their potential to fight off infections like Covid-19. Could they be used as contraceptives, too?

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How to Prepare for Your Eventual Return to the Office

Whether your company wants you back sooner or later, these tips will help you make the adjustment smoothly.

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The $150 Million Machine Keeping Moore’s Law Alive

ASML’s next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography machines achieve previously unattainable levels of precision, which means chips can keep shrinking for years to come.

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The Delta Variant Is Making Covid a Pandemic of the Young

Children and teens have been spared the worst of the pandemic, but without vaccines they’re sitting ducks as the virus rages. What risks are they facing?

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Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other

The species' relentless invasion of the continent has taken a turn towards cannibalism.

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6 Things You Need to Do to Prevent Getting Hacked

You are your own biggest weakness, but changing just a few of your behaviors can reduce the chances that your online accounts get breached.

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Which Google Pixel Phone (and Gear) Should You Buy?

Here’s a guide to all the models, along with case recommendations and software tips.

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Computer Scientists Find a Key Research Algorithm's Limits

The most widely used technique for optimizing values of a math function turns out to be a fundamentally difficult computational problem.

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The Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone

Whether you’re skiing in the backcountry or trampolining in the backyard, we have an activity tracker for you.

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11 Ways to Upgrade Your Wi-Fi and Make Your Internet Faster

There's always something you can do to improve your connection at home.

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How to Save Money on Your Digital Subscriptions

You don't have to be tied down to multiple costly services month after month.

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California Man Stole 610,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes

Plus: The T-Mobile hacker, another big bad Microsoft bug, and more of the week's top security news.

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The 8 Best Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant

Chatty assistants from Google, Amazon, and Apple are popular. But which one is right for you?

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‘Prebunking’ Health Misinformation Tropes Can Stop Their Spread

Preemptively familiarizing people with centuries-old anti-vaccine narratives may be more effective than retroactive fact-checking.

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Is Almost Android's Apple Watch

The company's new smartwatches breathe new life into Google's Wear OS 3, and a dose of hope for the future.

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Radioactive Rat Snakes Could Help Monitor Fukushima Fallout

Scientists have attached dosimeters to the reptiles so they can serve as living “bioindicators” to gauge contamination levels near the shuttered nuclear power plant.

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Last Stop Is a Playable Love Letter to London

The title’s three codirectors discuss bringing their TV-show-meets-adventure-game project to life.

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17 Early Labor Day Deals on Laptops, Headlamps, and TVs

Get ready for fall with the best discounts on everything from home entertainment to fitness tracking.

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Explosion in Geofence Warrants Threatens Privacy Nationwide

New figures from Google show a tenfold increase in the requests from law enforcement, which target anyone who happened to be in a given location at a specified time.

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Why Florida’s Covid Surge Is Screwing With the Water Supply

More people in the hospital means more people need oxygen. But treatment plants also need the gas to purify water.

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New Vaccine Decisions, an Influx of Mandates, and More News

Catch up on the most important updates from this week.

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Making Diablo II Was Pure Hell

David L. Craddock's recent book about the game reveals the massive amount of development that went into it.

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The Architects of the Metaverse Need to Read the Virtual Room

Plus: Ten years of Apple without Steve Jobs, thoughts on the Apple Watch, and a baby bird’s worst nightmare.

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You Should Have Waited for the Official 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Trailer

Also: The latest Matrix sequel has a title and that’s all I want to know about it.

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The 5 Best Portable Espresso Makers for a Shot on the Go

Make a barista-worthy cup on the road, back at camp, or anywhere else, with these handheld machines.

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Would the Free Guy Inflatable Bubble Protect a Real Person?

In the movie’s video game world, a whole-body airbag protects Ryan Reynolds as he falls off of a building and onto a car. Would that … work?

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Can the Metaverse Thrive if It’s Fully Owned by Facebook?

This week, we step into the social network's vision of the metaverse, where reality and the simulated world become one. Kinda.

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The Joy of Walking in Games

Here's what you need to know about walking simulators and the psychological benefits of how games can offer a much-needed escape.

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Titan's Strange Chemical World Gets Simulated in Tiny Tubes

A research chemist mixed nitrogen, methane, and other molecules to recreate the conditions that might harbor life on one of Saturn’s moons.

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This Rice Cooker Also Slow Cooks, But in Teensy Batches

This Zojirushi's limited ability to cook large quantities of anything other than rice and grains makes it hard to justify its higher-than-average price tag.

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A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an 'Internet Apocalypse'

The undersea cables that connect much of the world would be hit especially hard by a coronal mass ejection.

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Vaccine Mandates Work—but Only If They’re Done Right

Requiring people to get their shots can stop Covid-19, but those rules have to be doable and equitable.

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Pokimane Has Done Enough—and Has So Much Left to Do

The 25-year-old Twitch star has built her life into the optimal internet content machine. Now she just wants to enjoy it.

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The Best Cheap Phones for (Almost) Every Budget

There’s little reason to pay top dollar for a phone these days. These are our favorite Android devices and iPhones for $200 to $500.

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Now Isn't the Time to Abandon Contact Tracing

As the nation battles the Delta variant, contact tracing seems to have disappeared from the arsenal of defenses—right when it could help the most.

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Samsung's Galaxy Buds2 Are Perfect Everyday Earbuds

These are the new standard in midrange wireless earbuds.

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The Poop About Your Gut Health and Personalized Nutrition

Researchers are coming around to the idea that there isn't a one-size-fits-all diet. Some companies are going further to find out what fits you, specifically.

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The OnlyFans Porn Ban Reversal Does Not Reassure Creators

Performers of sexually explicit content are relieved, but still worried about their futures on the subscription site.

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The Stealthy iPhone Hacks That Apple Still Can't Stop

After another “zero-click” attack, security experts say it's time for more extreme measures to keep iMessage users safe.

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GM Recalls Every Chevy Bolt Ever Made Over Faulty Batteries

The automaker is recalling the electric vehicle after investigating two manufacturing defects linked to car fires.

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Our Favorite High-Tech Bassinets for Cantankerous Tots

We soothed, swung and strapped babies into bassinets that vibrate, move, adjust, and even react to crying.

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Social Media Algorithms Are Controlling How I Grieve

What happens to a loved one's account after they pass—and how does their digital afterlife affect the ones who survive them?

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Which Microsoft Surface Laptop or Tablet Should You Buy?

Can’t decide whether to get the 2-in-1 Windows tablet hybrid or a traditional laptop? We’re here to help.

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Samsung's Latest Folding Phones Finally Feel Ready

The Galaxy Z Flip3 and Galaxy Z Fold3 are more polished than ever, and surprisingly purpose-driven.

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Afghanistan Almost Beat Polio. Now the Future Is Uncertain

It’s a heart-stopping moment for health officials, who reported only a single case this year—and whose campaigns may end up paused.

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A New Chip Cluster Will Make Massive AI Models Possible

Cerebras says its technology can run a neural network with 120 trillion connections—a hundred times what's achievable today.

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Gavin Newsom’s Recall Election Divides Silicon Valley’s Elite

How the tech world’s unique brand of politics is shaping the fight over who governs California.

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Which Amazon Echo or Alexa Speaker Is Best for You?

We've rounded up our favorite speakers—from the Echo Dot to a voice-enabled Yamaha soundbar—from Amazon and its partners.

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Hackers Could Up Medication Doses Through Infusion Pump Flaws

It would take a determined hacker to break into the vulnerable B. Braun products, but the impact could be devastating.

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Social Media Helped These Chefs Branch Out of the Kitchen

The restaurant industry was hit hard by the pandemic, but some pros went online to share skills, recipes, and just stay connected. Here’s how you can too.

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The Hisense U8G Is the Best Affordable Android TV

This moderately priced TV looks great and has every app you will ever need.

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How Hub Worlds Shape Video Game Design

Whether players come to chat, organize activities, buy and sell items, or just to log out, hubs have a language all their own.

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This Barnacle-Inspired Glue Seals Bleeding Organs in Seconds

The paste sticks onto wet tissue firmly by repelling blood. Surgeons hope it can save time—and lives.

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