Smartphone sales have been declining lately, mostly because the smartphones themselves have not been changing drastically year over year. A slightly better camera here, a nicer screen there—the technology has plateaued. The solution, according to tech companies? Folding smartphones that cost $1,799. That’s what the Pixel Fold is. Google isn’t first to the folding phone… Continue reading Google Pixel Fold Hands-On: A Pricey Folding Pixel
Author: Wired Magazine
The Weird Way Australia’s Bushfires Influenced a Weirder La Niña
This may not have been the first time that bushfire smoke significantly affected La Niña. Fasullo and his colleagues are now investigating Australia’s notoriously awful 1974–75 fire season. In 1975 and 1976, scientists had forecast a warm El Niño, but that turned into what researchers instead dubbed an “aborted El Niño event,” when a cool… Continue reading The Weird Way Australia’s Bushfires Influenced a Weirder La Niña
Google I/O 2023: Google Adds Generative AI to Search
Six months ago, Google didn’t appear remotely worried about its search business. Then OpenAI’s ChatGPT was unleashed, and Microsoft’s Bing spawned a chatbot. At Google’s annual I/O conference today, the search giant announced that it will infuse results with generative artificial intelligence technology similar to that behind ChatGPT. The company is launching an experimental version of its prized… Continue reading Google I/O 2023: Google Adds Generative AI to Search
The ‘Ted Lasso’ Fandom’s Push for Polyamory Just Makes Sense
Though Lasso cocreator and star Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard) says he doesn’t think connection should “automatically commute to throuple,” he’s thrilled people have become invested enough in the show to even have opinions about who should end up with who. “You just have to be happy that people give a shit,” Hunt says. Phil Dunster, who plays… Continue reading The ‘Ted Lasso’ Fandom’s Push for Polyamory Just Makes Sense
‘Death of an Author’ Prophesies the Future of AI Novels
An LLM cannot write a cohesive, novel-length narrative from start to finish. At present, ChatGPT can produce roughly 600 words at a time, so in order to complete a novel, a human has to feed it prompts and then collage its outputs into a complete story. One prompt might be something like “Describe the death… Continue reading ‘Death of an Author’ Prophesies the Future of AI Novels
30 Mother’s Day Gifts We’ve Tried and Love (2023)
Speaking as a mom myself, I know that the best gift you can give your mother is you. Vaccines, effective N95 masks, and at-home Covid-19 tests are now widely available, so traveling to see your parents and loved ones in person is feasible (though flying is more of a pain than ever). But if you’d… Continue reading 30 Mother’s Day Gifts We’ve Tried and Love (2023)
What Really Made Geoffrey Hinton Into an AI Doomer
“A lot of the headlines have been saying that I think it should be stopped now—and I’ve never said that,” he says. “First of all, I don’t think that’s possible, and I think we should continue to develop it because it could do wonderful things. But we should put equal effort into mitigating or preventing… Continue reading What Really Made Geoffrey Hinton Into an AI Doomer
Running Sucks. Kettlebells Are the Answer
The old adage “Use your body or you’ll lose it” becomes increasingly true as I age. But what’s also true is that the older I get, the harder it is to find an activity I’ll enjoy. I hate running. If I am running, it’s because I’m being chased. Or I am chasing something. Neither of… Continue reading Running Sucks. Kettlebells Are the Answer
Everyone Was Wrong About Reverse Osmosis—Until Now
Friction is resistance. In this case, it tells you how hard it is for something to get across the membrane. If you engineer a membrane that has less resistance to water, and more resistance to salt or whatever else you want to remove, you get a cleaner product with potentially less work. But that model… Continue reading Everyone Was Wrong About Reverse Osmosis—Until Now
21 Best Sex Toys (2023): Gender Inclusive, Couples, Solo
Sex tech has come a long way in the past 10 years—not only in terms of cultural acceptance and awareness, but also technology. Gone are the days of clunky, pink plastic rabbit vibrators and sex toys that feel like knockoff action figures. Today’s toys are designed by sex educators, medical professionals, and some of the… Continue reading 21 Best Sex Toys (2023): Gender Inclusive, Couples, Solo