A Woman Is Helming Doctor Who, and the World Has Not Collapsed
When BBC revealed, back in July 2017 that Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi would be handing over the TARDIS to Jodie Whittaker, network executives expected some backlash. Resistance to a "new" Doctor is as much a part of the British sci-fi series' brand as sonic screwdrivers and Daleks. And they certainly anticipated that the decision…
METI's First Message Is a Music Lesson for Aliens
Tromsø, Norway is usually a destination for northern lights lovers—tourists and scientists alike. But on October 16, the small city north of the Arctic Circle took on a new cosmic role. A radio telescope in the city, a hotspot for aurora investigators, became the origin point of a transmission aimed at the exoplanet GJ 273b,…
Porny Presidential Fanfic Isn't Just Kinky—It's Political
Internet Rule 34: If it exists, there’s porn of it. Yes, even President Donald Trump. Punch his name into a fanfiction site search bar, and you'll find yourself awash in NSFW alternate universes. A small and relatively inoffensive sampling (all these links will bring you to far more explicit erotica, so click at your own…
At Sundance, Virtual Reality Filmmakers Are Evolving Beyond VR
It was bound to happen. When you work with the folks in the room who always want to be the first to take a risk, the first to play in a new sandbox, they're never going to be the ones to stay in their lanes. And when you talk to the first filmmakers who took…
SpaceX Lifts Off as Kennedy Space Center Braces for Hurricane Irma
On the eve of Hurricane Irma's landfall, a scene out of a dystopian sci-fi novel unfolded around NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. There, in the path of the unprecedented storm, SpaceX managed to launch a secret uncrewed spacecraft for the Air Force and bring its Falcon 9 back home for a ground landing. Meanwhile, just a…
Ninja Made More Streaming Apex Legends Than You Make All Year
Happy Friday and welcome once again to another installment of Replay. What's happening in games this week? Well, for one, someone paid Ninja serious bank to stream Apex Legends. For another, there's some worrisome news about the next title from the developers behind Yakuza. Also, Dragon's Dogma is coming to Netflix. Let's go! Ninja Got…
Scientists Are Rewriting the History of Photosynthesis
Researchers have caught their best glimpse yet into the origins of photosynthesis, one of nature’s most momentous innovations. By taking near-atomic, high-resolution X-ray images of proteins from primitive bacteria, investigators at Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University have extrapolated what the earliest version of photosynthesis might have looked like nearly 3.5 billion years ago.…
Ralph Breaks the Internet Wrecked It at the Box Office
It's time once again to turn on The Monitor, WIRED's roundup of the latest in the world of culture, from box-office news to release-date announcements. In today's installment: A new Ralph and a new Rocky dominate the holiday; Disney's Lion King trailer feels the love; and a premiere date for The Walking Dead comes alive.…
What Ligers, Grolar Bears, and Mules Show Scientists About Evolution
Click:Press Release Distribution In 2006, a hunter shot what he thought was a polar bear in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Closer examination, however, revealed brown patches on its white fur, uncharacteristically long claws and a slightly hunched back. The creature was in fact a hybrid, its mother a polar bear, its father a grizzly.…
The Best Halloween Shows and Movies for Little Kids You Can Stream Right Now
The people most excited about Halloween are little kids. For humans aged between 2.5 and 10 years old, there’s really nothing better. They get to dress up and go out—at night!—and strangers give them candy. There are leaf piles to jump in and fake skeletons to scream at. But it can also be a nightmare,…