Astronomers Detect Water Vapor Around Jupiter’s Moon Europa

In the search for life in our solar system, Mars tends to steal the spotlight (thanks, David Bowie). But in recent years Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa, has emerged as a promising extraterrestrial nursery. Planetary scientists have long suspected Europa may harbor a vast liquid water ocean beneath its thick, icy crust. If Europa’s ocean…

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To See the Future of Disinformation, You Build Robo-Trolls

Jason Blazakis’s automated far-right propagandist knows the hits. Asked to complete the phrase “The greatest danger facing the world today,” the software declared it to be “Islamo-Nazism,” which it said will cause “a Holocaust on the population of Europe.” The paragraph of text that followed also slurred Jews and admonished that “nations who value their…

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With #Fartgate, Twitter Was a Gas Once Again

OK, boomers—and by “boomers,” I mean anyone over 25 years of age—hear me out. Last night was marvelous, wasn’t it? At around 7:02 pm Eastern, US representative Eric Swalwell appeared on Hardball to talk about the ongoing impeachment hearings against President Trump. During his response to host Chris Matthews, what can only be described as…

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The Messy Legal Fight to Bring Celebrities Back From the Dead

Last week, independent production company Magic City Films announced that it would be bringing James Dean back from the dead. Not literally, but digitally, using full-body CGI and existing footage and photos. The Rebel Without a Cause actor will become the secondary lead in a new Vietnam War film called Finding Jack. The two directors,…

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The Most Iconic Space Movies Get a Very Grounded Fact-Check

Before Stanley Kubrick melted everyone’s brains with the unprecedented scientific realism of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Hollywood directors had a lot more creative leeway in their space adventure films. Francis Ford Coppola wants to make a movie about giant genitals fighting in space? Sure, why not. Adam West and his pet monkey hanging out on…

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Google Shakes Up Its ‘TGIF’—and Ends Its Culture of Openness

Last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email blast to his 100,000 or so employees, cutting back the company’s defining all-hands meeting known as TGIF. The famous free-for-alls had epitomized the company’s egalitarian ethos, a place where employees and leaders could talk freely about nearly anything. More recently, however, the biweekly meeting had become…

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Wish List 2019: 52 Amazing Gift Ideas You’ll Want to Keep for Yourself

One of the best things about working at WIRED is that we get to touch all of the latest gadgets—everything from headphones to ebikes to cameras to blenders—before anyone else. We test each of those things thoroughly, then write considered reviews of them that help you decide how to spend your money.When the holidays come…

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