From A.I. to Chips, Big Tech Is Getting What It Wants From Trump
The president has backed policies that allow the industry to grow unfettered. The mutually beneficial alliance is causing concern among some conservatives.
Science/Tech
Twins’ Peaks: The Gilbertson Brothers Want to Rewrite Your Country’s Map
Two brothers, both mechanical engineers, are climbing many of the world’s tall peaks to prove they have been measured incorrectly.
The Dollar Is Facing an End to Its Dominance
Questions around the reliability of the US greenback are dulling the luster of what was the world’s currency of trade. New, global alternatives are emerging.
Sal Khan: Companies Should Give 1% of Profits To Retrain Workers Displaced By AI
“I believe artificial intelligence will displace workers at a scale many people don’t yet realize,” says Sal Kahn (founder/CEO of the nonprofit Khan Academy). But in an op-ed in the New York Times he also proposes a solution that “could change the trajectory of the lives of millions who will be displaced…” “I believe that every company benefiting from automation — which is most American...
Behold the Manifold, the Concept that Changed How Mathematicians View Space
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics.
Therabody Promo Codes and Deals: Get 30% Off This Month
Save on the science-backed devices you’ve been eyeing with 15% off Theragun discount code and 30% off other great deals.
Hungryroot Coupon Codes: 30% Off This Month
Get up to 30% off your first order and free gifts using a Hungryroot promo code today. Discover our best coupons and discounts to let you save on your healthy groceries as a new or returning customer.
Cycle Theory: Why Banking Tokens Like Digitap ($TAP) Outperform $88k Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced significant growth in the past four years. Although Bitcoin climbed to a new ATH of $126,198, it faced strong headwinds soon afterward and plunged. As a result, investors began searching for high-potential altcoins to buy and hedge against further losses. This search has led investors to Digitap ($TAP), an emerging Web3 […]
Bad news for Netflix and streaming services in South Africa
The proportion of BitTorrent traffic on one major South African ISP’s network has more than doubled relative to total traffic in 2025, while the contribution of real-time streaming has declined.
Military Planners Dread the Arctic, ‘Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire’
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Wall Street Journal:Sending drones and robots into battle, rather than humans, has become a tenet of modern warfare. Nowhere does that make more sense than in the frozen expanses of the Arctic. But the closer you get to the North Pole, the less useful cutting-edge technology becomes. Magnetic storms distort satellite signals; frigid temperatures...
OpenAI is Hiring a New ‘Head of Preparedness’ to Predict/Mitigate AI’s Harms
An anonymous reader shared this report from Engadget:OpenAI is looking for a new Head of Preparedness who can help it anticipate the potential harms of its models and how they can be abused, in order to guide the company’s safety strategy. It comes at the end of a year that’s seen OpenAI hit with numerous accusations about ChatGPT’s impacts on users’ mental health, including a few wrongful...
Researchers Show Some Robots Can Be Hijacked Just Through Spoken Commands
An anonymous Slashdot reader shared this story from Interesting Engineering:Cybersecurity specialists from the research group DARKNAVY have demonstrated how modern humanoid robots can be compromised and weaponised through weaknesses in their AI-driven control systems. In a controlled test, the team demonstrated that a commercially available humanoid robot could be hijacked with nothing more...
New Runtime Standby ABI Proposed for Linux Like Microsoft Windows’ ‘Modern Standby’
Phoronix reports on “an exciting post-Christmas patch series out on the Linux kernel mailing list” proposing “a new runtime standby ABI that is similar in nature to the ‘Modern Standby’ functionality found with Microsoft Windows…”Modern Standby is a low-power mode on Windows 11 for letting systems remain connected to the network and appear “sleeping” but will allow for instant wake-up for...
The Best After-Christmas Deals on Gear We’ve Tested (2025)
Money gifts burning a hole in your pocket? These deals on WIRED-tested gadgets and gizmos will stretch your dollars.
Internet problems in South Africa
A Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route leak on the network of a major undersea cable firm connecting South Africa to the rest of the world was behind a recent local Internet outage.
Hyperkin The Competitor Controller Review: A DualSense Copycat
This copycat controller can’t clone the PS5’s best features, but it’s a solid option for Xbox and PC gamers.
The 48 Best Shows on Netflix, WIRED’s Picks (December 2025)
Stranger Things, City of Shadows, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft are just a few of the shows you need to watch on Netflix this month.
The Environmental and Human Rights Costs of China’s Clean Energy Investments Abroad
Chinese companies have pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy manufacturing investments overseas, but the projects are having significant social, environmental, and human rights impacts.
Tuft & Needle Original Hybrid Mattress Review: A Soft Landing
Choosing a mattress for your guest room, Airbnb, or VRBO rental is challenging. This hybrid is up for it.
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In Cryptoland, Memecoin Fever Gives Way to a Stablecoin Boom
In a year that began with a memecoin trading frenzy, stablecoins have emerged as the respectable face of the crypto industry.
So Long, GPT-5. Hello, Qwen
In the AI boom, chatbots and GPTs come and go quickly. (Remember Llama?) GPT-5 had a big year, but 2026 will be all about Qwen.