The neocortex stands out as a stunning achievement of biological evolution. All mammals have this swath of tissue covering their brain, and the six layers of densely packed neurons within it handle the sophisticated computations and associations that produce cognitive prowess. Since no animals other than mammals have a neocortex, scientists have wondered how such… Continue reading Gene Expression in Neurons Solves a Brain Evolution Puzzle
Author: Wired Magazine
The TikTok Hearing Revealed That Congress Is the Problem
In one sense, today’s US congressional hearing on TikTok was a big success: It revealed, over five hours, how desperately the United States needs national data-privacy protections—and how lawmakers believe, somehow, that taking swipes at China is a suitable alternative. For some, the job on Thursday was casting the hearing’s only witness, TikTok CEO Shou… Continue reading The TikTok Hearing Revealed That Congress Is the Problem
TikTok Paid for Influencers to Attend the Pro-TikTok Rally in DC
Ahead of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s much-anticipated testimony in the United States House of Representatives today, the embattled tech firm conducted a full-court press on Capitol Hill. This included paying to bring TikTok influencers face-to-face with their home state lawmakers, staffers, and journalists, as well as sharing their journey with their collective audience of… Continue reading TikTok Paid for Influencers to Attend the Pro-TikTok Rally in DC
Withings Body Comp Scale and Health+ Review: Not Enough for Too Much
Smart scale pioneer Withings has been making Wi-Fi-connected scales for more than a decade. As the Body Comp name suggests, Withings’ latest scales provide a breakdown of your body composition, adding vascular age, visceral fat, and nerve health to the usual list of measurements. The Body Comp ($210) scales come with a year’s subscription to Withings’… Continue reading Withings Body Comp Scale and Health+ Review: Not Enough for Too Much
Inside Taiwan’s ‘Sacred Mountain’ of Chip-Making
Lauren Goode: Yeah. This is what Kara Swisher calls, assisted living for millennials. Here— Virginia Heffernan: Assisted living for millennials. Lauren Goode: —at the San Francisco tech companies. Yeah. Virginia Heffernan: It’s perfect. But I did say, I said, “So wait, do they get any perks here?” to one of the people in HR. And… Continue reading Inside Taiwan’s ‘Sacred Mountain’ of Chip-Making
Bug in Google Markup, Windows Photo-Cropping Tools Exposes Removed Image Data
At the beginning of March, Google released an update for its flagship Pixel smartphones to patch a vulnerability in the devices’ default photo-editing tool, Markup. Since its 2018 introduction in Android 9, Markup’s photo-cropping tool had been quietly leaving data in a cropped image file that could be used to reconstruct some or all of… Continue reading Bug in Google Markup, Windows Photo-Cropping Tools Exposes Removed Image Data
Nothing Ear (2) Review: Vibrant Sound, Control Issues
The app also has some welcome customization features. There’s an extensive listening test, for example, provided by hearing experts Mimi—let the app walk you through an eartip fit test, let it know how old you are, and then listen to the series of beeps. After this process is completed, analysis of the results allows the… Continue reading Nothing Ear (2) Review: Vibrant Sound, Control Issues
AI Loves—and Loathes—Language
A few years ago, I found myself investigating the thorny problem of Shakespearean authorship. I wanted to know if the anonymous Renaissance play Arden of Faversham (1590) was written partly or entirely by William Shakespeare. Perhaps, I thought, an AI could look over a field of plays divided into just two categories—Shakespeare on one side of the… Continue reading AI Loves—and Loathes—Language
Travelrest Nest Ultimate Travel Pillow: Neck Support for Great Sleep
Throughout my life, I’ve tried a bunch of U-shaped travel pillows—the ones that go around your neck—and frankly, they have all sucked. But recently I slept seven hours (seven!) in the middle seat of a long-haul flight with Travelrest’s Nest. Normally I’d feel like a defeated Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robot if I blinked too… Continue reading Travelrest Nest Ultimate Travel Pillow: Neck Support for Great Sleep
How You Can Tell the AI Images of Trump’s Arrest Are Deepfakes
The viral, AI-generated images of Donald Trump’s arrest you may be seeing on social media are definitely fake. But some of these photorealistic creations are pretty convincing. Others look more like stills from a video game or a lucid dream. A Twitter thread by Eliot Higgins, a founder of Bellingcat, that shows Trump getting swarmed by synthetic cops, running… Continue reading How You Can Tell the AI Images of Trump’s Arrest Are Deepfakes