Is Today's True Crime Fascination Really About Justice?
Robert Durst. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. Adnan Syed. Michael Peterson. Brendan Dassey. Steven Avery. Any self-professed true crime fan worth their weight in luminol is undoubtedly familiar with not just these names but with the minute details of the crimes of which those individuals have been accused (wrongly or otherwise). While the genre is not new—its roots…
Peter Diamandis Is the Latest Tech Futurist Betting on Anti-Aging Stem Cells
Peter Diamandis’ ambitions have always been too big for the measly planet onto which he was born. The serial entrepreneur built his first dozen companies as technological launch pads for future space colonies. But in more recent years, the founder of the X Prize Foundation has become increasingly interested in helping humans live their healthiest,…
What We Like When We Like Eggs on Instagram
Five years ago, there was potato salad. Then there was half an onion, chicken nuggets, and now there's an egg. Eleven days ago, the anonymous Instagram account world_record_egg posted its first image, what appears to be a simple stock photo of a brown egg. (It might be hard-boiled, who’s to say?) “Let’s set a world…
How Much Energy Can You Store in a Rubber Band?
How much energy can you store in a rubber band? Obviously, the answer depends on the size of the rubber band. I'm talking about, of course, the energy density or specific energy of an energy storage material. The energy density is defined as the energy per unit volume, and the specific energy is the energy…
How Do I (Safely) Use Dating Apps?
Click:on the Q: How Do I (Safely) Use Dating Apps? A: Happy Valentine’s Day! Welcome to the delightful (and sometimes horrifying) world of dating apps. Flirting from your phone can be fun, as well as alluringly convenient—make a match on your morning commute!—but it’s also work. It takes time and effort to sort through the…
After Trump's Speech, Twitter Fact-Checks the Fact-Checkers
If President Trump's tenure in office has any lasting impact on the jobs market, it might just be his ability to keep fact-checkers gainfully employed. Going back to the election debates in 2016, diligent researchers at nearly every major news outlet have made it their business to find the truth (and fiction) in the claims…
How We Learn: A WIRED Investigation
That Johannes Gutenberg guy was on to something. He may not have been the first person to print texts on paper using movable type—systems in China and Korea predated his—but his printing press made it faster, and cheaper, to create a record of a thought. One by one, those thoughts spread across Europe, philosophy and…
To Fix the Space Junk Problem, Add a Self-Destruct Module
Humans have gotten pretty good at launching stuff into space—but way less good at getting stuff back down. Up in lower Earth orbit, along with a thousand-plus productive satellites, there are many more slackers: space junk, cosmic trash, garbage of the highest-orbiting order. According to the European Space Agency’s latest statistics, there are about 29,000…
How to Stop Netflix from AutoPreviewing Inappropriate Kids Shows
Parental controls were not a big thing in my household growing up. Both of my parents had acted in iconic horror films—Jaws and The Last House on the Left—and as such, didn't have much of an argument when I wanted to watch R-rated content. Now, as the parent of a 3-year-old, I'd like to shield…
Why No Gadget Can Prove How Stoned You Are
If you’ve spent time with marijuana—any time at all, really—you know that the high can be rather unpredictable. It depends on the strain, its level of THC and hundreds of other compounds, and the interaction between all these elements. Oh, and how much you ate that day. And how you took the cannabis. And the…