Author Marlon James' New Epic Topples Fantasy Tropes
The first installment of Marlon James' Dark Star trilogy tests the reader's commitment. "The child is dead. There is nothing left to know." Of course, that's not entirely true—620 pages follow. James, a deft stylist with a taste for violence and grand revelation (just look to his Man Booker Prize–winning historical saga, 2014's A Brief…
Resurrecting a Long-Lost Galapagos Giant Tortoise
If you go to Floreana Island, in the Galapagos, you can still see descendants of the giant tortoises that Darwin documented in the 19th century when he visited these islands. From the dock, just weave between indolent sea lions and impassive ruby-red marine iguanas and ask around for the truck to the highlands. It’ll be…
See How Human Activity Is Changing Animal Migration Patterns
This story originally appeared on CityLab and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Zozu, like any other white stork in Europe, typically flies to southern Africa for the winter. Yet when researchers at Germany’s Max Plank Institute for Ornithology tracked the bird’s path using a GPS logger in 2016, they found that he and a few others had…
The Internet Made Dumbledore Gay
Just imagine the fanfiction now. It’s the kind of thing people write on social media after a tense scene between two heavily “shipped” characters, or when fan-favorite actors get cozy off set. It’s also what Potterverse creator J.K. Rowling said to a shocked Carnegie Hall in 2007, moments after she revealed that she’d “always thought…
Colloidal Silver Turns You Blue—But Can It Save Your Life?
In 2008, Paul Karason, a 57-year-old man from the Pacific Northwest, agreed to appear on the Today show. And appear is the best word for it, since he was there because of the way he looked. From head to toe, Paul Karason was the color blue. Not a subtle light-wash tint, either. This was closer…
Game of Thrones' Final Season Has a Launch Date
Happy Monday, and welcome to another installment of The Monitor, WIRED's roundup of the latest in the world of culture. In today's news, HBO has finally coughed up a release date for the final season of Game of Thrones, Netflix is facing a lawsuit, and it looks like the Super Bowl won't be marooned without…
The Astounding Engineering Behind the World's Largest Optical Telescope
It's easy to miss the mirror forge at the University of Arizona. While sizable, the Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory sits in the shadow of the university's much larger 56,000-seat football stadium. Even its most distinctive feature—an octagonal concrete prominence emblazoned with the school's logo—looks like an architectural feature for the arena next door. But…
The Best of Stan Lee’s Marvel Comic Books
To try and summarize the comic book career of Stan Lee is almost impossible. He was the primary—at times, sole—writer for Marvel in the 1960s when the company was becoming Marvel Comics. He was involved in the co-creation of almost all of the company’s most well-known characters, from Spider-Man to the X-Men, with Iron Man,…
Can Nike's New Marathon Shoes Make You Faster? A Nike-Funded Study Says Yes
Eliud Kipchoge, the world's best marathon runner, runs in Nike shoes. But do his shoes help him run faster? You'll be shocked—shocked!—to learn that Nike claims they do. Kipchoge wears a special version of the Vaporfly 4%, which got its name from a study out of CU Boulder. Funded by Nike, and conducted in collaboration…
How #HimToo Became the Anti #MeToo of the Kavanaugh Hearings
Since its inception, the #MeToo movement has received copious backlash: Survivors brave enough to speak up face harassment and doxing, while the media speculates about how being outed as an abuser will impact men’s careers. But until a few days ago, #MeToo hadn’t inspired a full-on hashtag-slinging countermovement. Now there’s #HimToo. The hashtag and its…