CATEGORIES

The Fractal Immortality of Grimes

I thought my interview with Grimes-the mysterious techno artist, fan of all nerddom, and the deepest of insiders in Elon Musk's world-would be one-on-one. Instead it wound up as a roundtable discussion. Turns out there are multiple personas embedded in the surprisingly haimish human who sat under a tree with me and spent the waning hours of an afternoon in conversation. There was Claire Boucher, the given name of a Vancouver kid obsessed with video games and devoted to provoking adults with misbehavior and the embrace of taboo subjects. There was Grimes, the self-invented, scrappy DIY musician and provocateur who weaves sci-fi into her work and released what Pitchfork judged to be the second-best song of the 2010s. And there was her preferred nomenclature, "c," invoking the speed of light

A.I. Is a Fiction

Stop freaking out when chatbots say they're in love or make disturbing threats. Just treat them like Pinocchio.

FRAUD TRACKER

With her blog Web3 Is Going Just Great, software engineer Molly White rains on the crypto parade. She doesn't feel great about it

BRING THE NOISE

A vast array of gadgets make it easy to blot out sonic intrusions-maybe a little too easy

MIND WIDE OPEN

Kids soak up new skills, adults not so much. But neuroscientist Gül Dölen might have found a way to help grownups learn like littles and heal from stroke and trauma. Step one: Take psychedelics.

Watch This Space

French satellite giant Eutelsat is taking on Elon Musk's Starlink-while navigating Russia's war in Ukraine, Brexit politics, and Iranian jamming attacks

Christopher Bouzy – "Building a Platform Like Twitter is Not Difficult"

When Elon Musk's reign of toxic chaos began, Christopher Bouzy didn't just go looking for a rival place to post. He joined the crowded race to create one. (It got difficult.)

SONIC BOOM

With hundreds of thousands of podcasts competing for listeners, hosts are using IRL events and other strategies to make their shows more of an \"experience.\" Fans dig it

THE THREE MOUNDS AT RED CLOUD

How much truth and healing can forensic technology really bring? On the sites of Native American boarding schools, Marsha Small has made it her life's mission to find out

THE CASE FOR SOFTWARE CRITICISM

Software may be the defining cultural artifact of our age. It's time to build a culture of critical analysis around it

THE UNPARALLELED SQUARENESS OF PETE BUTTIGIEG

Sure, the US secretary of transportation has thoughts on building bridges. But infrastructure occupies just a sliver of his voluminous mind

THE APOCALYPTIC OPTIMISM OF CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

The director says his new biopic, Oppenheimer, might just terrify you. At the very least, it'll force you to ask questions about history, fear, technology-all of it

Remote Workers of the World Unite

Zoom did not set us free. But a bit of solidarity can help remote work live up to its promise.

SHOOT THE MOON

Andrew McCarthy produces images worthy of the James Webb Telescope from his backyard-with gear that doesn't require a NASA-grade budget.

SAVE THE METAVERSE!

The internet is already ruined, but there's still a chance for the virtual universe to follow a different path.

ChatGPT Has Entered the Classroom

The Al chatbot has stoked fears of an educational apocalypse. Some teachers see it as a sorely needed reboot.

HOME KEY

Forget crypto, VR, AI. When it comes to empowering humans, new tech has nothing on the well-tempered clavier.

THERE IS NO CURE

New drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic may help people lose weight, but what we really need is a treatment for fatphobia.

BACK TO THE ANALOG FUTURE

COMPUTERS HAVE BEEN DIGITAL FOR HALF A CENTURY, WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO RESURRECT THE CLUNKERS OF YESTERYEAR?

PLUME AND DOOM

IN THE ARCTIC, THAWING PERMAFROST IS UNLEASHING CLOUDS OF PLANET-HEATING METHANE. SCIENTISTS RELY ON AN ARSENAL OF TECH TO GET A HANDLE ON JUST HOW NASTY THE PROBLEM IS.

much ado about buy nothing

How an idealistic community for exchanging free stuff tried to break away from Facebook, and ended up breaking apart.

THE FENTANYL KING

With no future in Iraq, a former translator for the US military emigrated to Texas to start a new life. He ended up becoming one of the biggest drug dealers on the dark web.

THE SPACEPORT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

A TINY VILLAGE IN SCOTLAND IS BETTING ITS FUTURE ON ROCKET LAUNCHES. BUT THE SCHEME MAY THREATEN THE FRAGILE LANDSCAPEAND THE AMBITIONS OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL LANDOWNER.

DEPTН CHARGE

Companies are gearing up to MINE the SEAFLOOR, targeting rocks rich with metals that are essential to our EV-powered future. THE BIG QUESTION: How much OCEAN are we willing to SACRIFICE?

STREAM COME TRUE

If a famous influencer you wish to be, you must answer these questions three.

NO, I CAN'T LET YOU HAVE THIS

The easy gratification of little viral lies is costing us more than it's worth.

CRYPTO KEEPER

iPod mastermind Tony Fadell made Ledger's new hardware wallet - a tiny vault for digital cash-flashy and fun. Plus, with this gadget you'll never get FTX'd.

Decoding THE Carbon Bomb

Since 2015, Exxon has discovered 11 billion barrels of oil off the coast of Guyana. Now one lawyer is going up against the petroleum behemoth-and her own country-in a bid to stop the drilling before disaster strikes.

MAX LEVCHIN'S WAR ON CREDIT CARDS

The PayPal cofounder on why his \"buy now, pay later\" company Affirm is a healthier way to borrow, what caused the techlash, and Elon Musk's Twitter.

SHAPE SHIFTERS

Whether exercise is already part of your daily routine or you've just embarked on a sweat-based self-improvement plan, this collection of workout gear will help you level up.