Tens of thousands of people have been laid off at Amazon, Meta, Salesforce and other once-voracious tech employers in recent months. But one group of workers has been particularly shortchanged: US immigrants holding H-1B visas for workers with specialist skills. Those much-sought visas are awarded to immigrants sponsored by an employer to come to the… Continue reading Big Tech’s Layoffs Highlight How the US Fails Immigrant Workers
Author: Wired Magazine
Mental Health Apps Won’t Get You Off the Couch
“Everyone’s so gung ho about therapy these days. I’ve been curious myself, but I’m not ready to commit to paying for it. A mental health app seems like it could be a decent stepping stone. But are they actually helpful?” —Mindful Skeptic Dear Mindful, The first time you open Headspace, one of the most popular… Continue reading Mental Health Apps Won’t Get You Off the Couch
The Tonga Eruption Is Still Revealing New Volcanic Dangers
It’s clear that Hunga involved an unusually explosive recipe that may not be easily replicated. For about a month, the eruption had progressed as expected—moderately violent, with gas and ash, but manageable. Then everything went sideways. That appears to be the result of at least two factors, Cronin says. One was the mixing of sources… Continue reading The Tonga Eruption Is Still Revealing New Volcanic Dangers
A Teenager Solved a Stubborn Prime Number ‘Look-Alike’ Riddle
Mathematicians wanted to better understand these numbers that so closely resemble the most fundamental objects in number theory, the primes. It turned out that in 1899—a decade before Carmichael’s result—another mathematician, Alwin Korselt, had come up with an equivalent definition. He simply hadn’t known if there were any numbers that fit the bill. According to… Continue reading A Teenager Solved a Stubborn Prime Number ‘Look-Alike’ Riddle
The Key to California’s Survival Is Hidden Underground
Water is urban planners’ nemesis. Because the built environment is so impervious to liquid, thanks to all that asphalt, concrete, and brick, water accumulates instead of seeping into the ground. That’s how you get the extreme flooding that has plagued California for weeks, so far killing 19 people and causing perhaps $30 billion in damages.… Continue reading The Key to California’s Survival Is Hidden Underground
AI Isn’t Hollywood’s Villain—It’s a Flawed Hero
Some of the most incendiary works of AI-enabled film, however, exist outside both commercial and nonprofit spheres. The wide breadth of playful mashups and advocacy-oriented PSAs that populate social media and video-sharing platforms serve as R&D for the film and TV industry (and at times offer studios fresh talent), as well as advancing trenchant social… Continue reading AI Isn’t Hollywood’s Villain—It’s a Flawed Hero
The TikTok That Will Be the Great Unsolved Mystery of This Era
The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter. It’s so stupid it’s perfect for the internet. In early December, someone posted a mirror on TikTok with the caption “imagine how good your life would be if you had a 26-year-old… Continue reading The TikTok That Will Be the Great Unsolved Mystery of This Era
The Gas Stove Culture Wars Have Begun
A new way to show your political affiliation may be emerging, and it’s close to home. So close, you’ll find it in your kitchen. A debate over gas stoves reignited this week and fell along ideological lines in the US: As researchers, regulators, and Democratic politicians are pointing out the problematic emissions from gas appliances,… Continue reading The Gas Stove Culture Wars Have Begun
2022 Wasn’t the Hottest on Record. That’s Nothing to Celebrate
Asia had its second-warmest year on record. On April 30, temperatures reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Jacobabad, Pakistan—unseasonably early for the region. When summer came around, heat waves may have killed 50,000 people in the European Union in July alone, and as vegetation dried out, fires broke out across London and burned wide swaths of France, Spain,… Continue reading 2022 Wasn’t the Hottest on Record. That’s Nothing to Celebrate
Best Tea Accessories (2023): Kettles, Infusers, and More
Tea is the world’s most popular beverage. Well, after water. Whether you like to brew from a bag or only sip rare yellow tea smuggled out of China by yak, there’s something for everyone. However, if you’re new to drinking tea, the different gadgets and styles can be overwhelming at times. To get you started,… Continue reading Best Tea Accessories (2023): Kettles, Infusers, and More