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2019 Innovator of the Year - Omar Yaghi

Scientific advances transform our lives in miraculous ways.

Nikon Z6: A Strong Debut

Nikon is tipping its full-frame mirrorless camera system with two bodies and a trio of lenses.

HP Envy Desktop (TE01-014): Excellent Productivity Performance

Productivity maximizers looking for an everyday desktop PC could do worse than to make the HP Envy Desktop their workhorse.

Galaxy S20 International Models Explained: Which Works For You?

The Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup will be the first set of unlocked phones that work on the 5G networks of all major US carriers. Even if you don’t buy your phone unlocked, only one hardware version of the S20+ and S20 Ultra will be sold in the US, although your phone will come loaded with carrier firmware.

WHAT TOKYO AND SEOUL ‘MUSEUMS OF THE FUTURE' CAN TEACH THE US

There’s a beautiful future ahead, but maybe not for all of us.

What Is a Deepfake?

In the opening session of his 2020 introductory course on deep learning, Alexander Amini, a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had invited a famous guest: former US President Barack Obama.

Stickers Are the Next Big Breakthrough in Secure Messaging

PC Magazine Senior Software Analyst Max Eddy has also written for publications such as International Digital Times, International Science Times, and The Mary Sue.

SMART MICROGRIDS - THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABLE POWER

Fueled by renewable resources and controlled by smart algorithms, microgrids stand to overhaul how we produce, consume, and share energy.

Samsung Develops 900Wh Solid-State Battery Prototype

The dominance of lithium-ion batteries may be coming to an end, if Samsung’s latest solid-state battery prototype makes it to market.

How to Spring Clean Your Electronics

There’s spring cleaning, and then there’s coronavirus cleaning. COVID-19 news has made you aware of how many times a day you touch your face, but how about the number of times a day you touch your phone and other devices?

Give Your Money to Black Women

PCMag Senior Features Editor Chandra Steele got her tech journalism start at CMP/United Business Media. She also writes fiction and has been published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.

Election War Games: How I Tried to Undermine Democracy

They brought me in through the back door. I had been standing on the steps of the San Francisco Mint building and staring at a heavy, gold-painted door that was chained shut, until I was given better directions. Once inside, I was led down a dark hallway that, like most of the 19th-century building, was lined with crumbling brick. We turned, passed through an ancient but still impressive vault door, and into a small room with two tables, several journalists, and representatives from the security company Cybereason. We were there to hack an election.

5 Tips for More Productive Meetings

Everyone has opinions about meetings: why some meetings aren’t necessary at all, what makes them needlessly long, and so on. But it’s not hard to improve meetings. With minimal preparation and forethought, meetings can be more productive for everyone.

Why do we need mice to develop a vaccine?

It’s a basic rule of medical research: Before you inject anything into humans, conduct experiments on animals—frequently mice—to determine whether treatments are safe and effective.

Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro + Wi-Fi Bridge: A Super Smart Lock

The Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro from U-tec is one of the most versatile smart locks to hit PC Labs.

Samsung Galaxy Buds+: Double the Battery LIfe

Samsung rolled out the Galaxy Buds last year to some success, offering a solid alternative to Apple’s AirPods for less money.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (13.5-Inch): An Excellent Ultraportable

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop line is expanding

RIP Essential Phone: Android Founder Andy Rubin's Startup Shuts Down

Android founder Andy Rubin is closing down his smartphone startup Essential, despite teasing a new product only a few months ago.

Motorola Razr (2020): Not Quite There Yet

I ’ve been reviewing Razr phones since 2004, when we saw arguably the first high-fashion handsets.

BEST FREE SOFTWARE

Your phone is full of apps, but don't neglect your computer. These free programs can make your life better on the PC, your browser, and beyond

the original illusions

ILLUSIONS HAVE FASCINATED HUMANS FOR centuries. Before we fully understood the science of sensation and perception, philosophers like Aristotle simply observed the world— and picked up on some weird stuff. According to Vincent Hayward, who studies such phenomena at the Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics in Paris, these tricks occur when experience and context make you expect one feeling but perceive another due to abnormal circumstances. Here are three of Aristotle’s earliest observed illusions, explained by modern science.

stairs that start nowhere

GLANCE AT THE STAIRS ABOVE.

BIGGEST. DIG. EVER.

One massive rail project, 10 millennia of history, 60-plus excavations, 143 miles of track, and thousands of skeletons. How a crew of British archaeologists will make sense of their…

WHY ARE WE NOSTALGIC?

WE’VE ALL FELT THAT JAB TO THE SOUL YOU get from driving by your old high school haunts or hearing a tune you once danced to. But why is that bittersweet sort of reminiscence so universal?

STARTER KIT: Fire it up

HUMANITY'S FIRST COOKS DIDN'T NEED ELABORATE BARBECUE SETUPS, AND NEITHER DO YOU. THESE FIVE TOOLS WILL HELP YOU PERFECTLY CHAR YOUR GRUB.

In Search of the Missing Microbe

Most Mongolians are lactose intolerant, and yet their diet relies on dairy. A mysterious world of bacteria could be at play.

DOGS: A LOVE STORY

IT’S ONE OF THE LONGEST RELATIONSHIPS IN HISTORY. SCIENTISTS ARE RECONSIDERING WHO STARTED IT.

Back to the land

To curb their climate impact, farmers are turning to ancient techniques that catch more carbon than they spew.

A WORLD OF THEIR OWN

The birth of a new trend puts everyday people in control of the data that maps our planet.

How Do We Know What Dinosaurs Looked Like?

YOU’VE SEEN ENOUGH MUSEUM models, illustrations, and CGI predators that you’d likely recognize a Tyrannosaurus rex if you saw one.