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…
Tech companies have invested so much money in building data centers in recent months, it’s actively driving the US economy—and the AI race is showing no signs of slowing down. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg told President Donald Trump last week that the company would spend $600 billion on US infrastructure—including data centers—by 2028, while OpenAI…
You finally found the car that you love and worked out a great deal with the salesperson. Now they send you over to the finance and insurance (F&I) manager’s office to sign some paperwork. It’s the F&I manager’s job at a car dealership to finalize the transaction and, in doing so, upsell you on extras…
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…
As we get out of the house, the gear-obsessed WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite bags and EDCs. Today, reviewer Boutayna Chokrane raves about her love for her Lululemon gym bag. You can also check out other Bag Check stories where WIRED writers share their carryall of choice. There’s a certain type of…
Prior to publication, CR contacted the manufacturers of all 23 products we tested and shared our results and methodology with them. Five companies have not responded to our requests for comment: BSN, Dymatize, Jocko Fuel, Muscle Milk, and Owyn. Optimum Nutrition declined to comment, and Huel did not respond to questions about the amount of…
A decade ago, kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.” They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they…
If you were trying to learn how to get other people to do what you want, you might use some of the techniques found in a book like Influence: The Power of Persuasion. Now, a preprint study out of the University of Pennsylvania suggests that those same psychological persuasion techniques can frequently “convince” some LLMs…
Michael Calore: Recording works. Lauren Goode: Recording. Yeah. Michael Calore: Yeah. It’s like when people say, let me film that. You’re not actually filming anything. You’re shooting a digital video. Lauren Goode: So then if you have a video podcast, are you shooting the podcast? What do you say? Do you say taping, then? Michael…
The recall action covers SUVs from the 2020 to 2025 model years. The problem is attributed to a trim bezel around the switch being misaligned due to incorrect installation. On vehicles with this problem, owners may notice the button sticking in the down position. Ford is not aware of any crashes or injuries related to…