Coder-Turned-Kingpin Paul Le Roux Gets His Comeuppance

The programmer who became a flagrant drug lord and weapons trafficker was sentenced in New York City to 25 years in prison.

Deepfakes Aren't Very Good. Nor Are the Tools to Detect Them

The winning detection algorithm from a Facebook-led challenge could spot about two-thirds of the altered videos, highlighting the need for improvement.

The Covid-19 Economic Slump Is Closing Down Coal Plants

This year, coal usage has dropped in the US, and renewables now generate more electricity. To some experts, the financial crisis is a clean energy opportunity.

PS5 Games Revealed (Trailers): Every Game Sony Just Announced

The company's June E3-like online event was filled with trailers and teasers galore. Here’s everything we learned.

Twitter's Newest Trick Relies on Tracking More of Your Clicks

The social media company is testing warnings for users who try to share links to articles they haven't read. To do that, it has to know what you've read.

This Is What the PlayStation 5 Looks Like. Both of Them

We finally saw Sony’s new PS5 and the two consoles (plural!) are ... curvy.

Best Summer Game Sales (2020): Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC, and More

The annual videogame conference may have shut down this year, but there are still celebratory deals. Here are our favorites.

Plastic Rain Is the New Acid Rain

Researchers find that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic fall on 11 protected areas in the US annually, equivalent to over 120 million plastic water bottles.

The Removal of 'Gone with the Wind' From HBO Max Isn't Censorship

The streaming service's decision to temporarily pull the film from its roster isn't suppression—it's an opportunity to recontextualize.

OpenAI's Text Generator Is Going Commercial

The research institute was created to steer AI away from harmful uses. Now it's competing with tech giants to sell a cloud computing service to businesses.

Is it Save to Send My Child to Back to Day Care

As parents, we may have to develop a new level of comfort with a certain level of risk.

The Musk of Romance

Like her brother Elon, Tosca Musk is a revolutionary—in the steamy, softcore genre of romance movies.

What's Confusing About Calling Covid-19 Cases ‘Asymptomatic’

There’s a difference between people who never develop symptoms and people who just don’t have them yet. And that matters when calculating public health risk.

Amazon Won't Let Police Use Its Facial Recognition Tech for One Year

Amid nationwide protests over police brutality, the company is stopping law enforcement from using its most controversial product.

Coronavirus Guide: Symptoms, Testing, Treatment, and Economics

Everything we know about Covid-19, from avoiding the virus to caring for your loved ones, with regular updates.

CHIP PORN

3 Black Photographers on Capturing the George Floyd Protests

Lynsey Weatherspoon, Alexis Hunley, and Darrel Hunter capture the narrative and moral identity of Black protesters in an era of misinformation and surveillance.

Georgia’s Failure Shows How Not to Run an Election in the Pandemic

Limiting in-person polling sites makes it both harder to vote and more dangerous.

Zynn, the Hot New Video App, Is Full of Stolen Content

Multiple influencers told WIRED that their videos had been copied from other platforms and reposted to Zynn without permission.

Black Investors Call On VCs to Fix Hiring and Funding

Mentoring and networking advice aren’t enough to solve the industry’s dismal diversity numbers, say business leaders: Firms need to “Make the hire. Send the wire.”

Black Hole Paradoxes Reveal a Link Between Energy and Entropy

What happens to a black hole as it decays? Investigating the possibilities has led researchers in recent years to major clues about quantum gravity.