Peacock feathers are greatly admired for their bright iridescent colors, but it turns out they can also emit laser light when dyed multiple times, according to a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. Per the authors, it’s the first example of a biolaser cavity within the animal kingdom. As previously reported, the bright iridescent…
Meta has paused all its work with the data contracting firm Mercor while it investigates a major security breach that impacted the startup, two sources confirmed to WIRED. The pause is indefinite, the sources said. Other major AI labs are also reevaluating their work with Mercor as they assess the scope of the incident, according…
One of the lesser-known apps in the Google Drive online suite is Google Forms. It’s an easy, intuitive way to create a web form for other people to enter information into. You can use it for employee surveys, for organizing social gatherings, for giving people a way to contact you, and much more. But Google…
Contrary to popular belief, a supersoft mattress isn’t always a natural fit for side sleepers. In fact, the average firmness of the models in this roundup is around 4, on a scale of 1 to 10. Support and pressure relief aside, side sleepers should also look for the qualities that everyone wants in a mattress,…
But my approach is not airtight, and sometimes my advance work backfires. Like the year I got stuck with a tie-dyed hoodie from a big-bucks brand after my daughter decided she was over the trend. Or the time I bought my husband a new battery case for his smartphone in July, and he updated to…
Before Wi-Fi became ubiquitous, Ethernet was the preferred way to get your devices onto the internet. By running Ethernet cables in a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), you could send data back and forth. It is still widely used because sending data along cables is usually faster, and always more reliable…
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Hard problems are usually not a welcome sight. But cryptographers love them. That’s because certain hard math problems underpin the security of modern encryption. Any clever trick for solving them will doom most forms of cryptography. Several years ago, researchers found a radically new approach…
You might want to save money by skipping collision or comprehensive coverage, but remember that teen drivers are statistically more likely to crash. More specifically, the III says parents of teen drivers should never skimp on liability insurance, which pays for damage or injury to others. Driving without liability insurance could expose the driver and…
Main theme: In this episode, the podcast panel gives their first impressions of the 2026 Hyundai Palisade. How does the redesign of this popular SUV stack up in a rather competitive SUV segment? Does the update balance fuel economy and power delivery? And do some of the luxury appointments come at a premium price? The…
It is impossible to overstate just how big an impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on an entire generation of kids growing up in the 1990s. I watched every episode with my mom. When I walked into my friend’s house after school, a gigantic cardboard cutout of virile, bald Captain Jean-Luc Picard greeted us…