Author: Wired Magazine

New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power

On Sunday, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, tying with 2020’s Hurricane Laura as the strongest storm ever to hit the state. Winds topping 150 mph tore apart the electrical infrastructure, leaving a million people without power. All eight transmission lines into New Orleans were severed.  Now temperatures are in the 90s, and brutal humidity—it’s… Continue reading New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power

What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida

Two days after Hurricane Ida tore through, New Orleans and its surrounding area remain almost totally without power. Levees, floodwalls, floodgates, pumps, and other protections prevented massive flooding, but Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines into the city, plunging it and nearby parishes into darkness. Getting the lights back on will be an arduous… Continue reading What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida

Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other

The cane toad may be the poster animal for invasive species. Native to South America, it has been introduced to many other ecosystems in the hope it would chow down on agricultural pests. Instead, the toad has become a pest itself, most notably in Australia. Free from the predators and parasites in its native range,… Continue reading Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other

California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes

There’s a lot to worry about in the world today, so apologies in advance for this additional level of existential stress: New research indicates that in the event of a solar superstorm—the kind that hit in 1859—the internet could go down entirely, and take even longer than the power grid to restore. The risk lies… Continue reading California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes

The 8 Best Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant

Connects to Amazon Alexa If you aren’t in it for the music, the Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (4th Gen) and Google’s Nest Mini (7/10, WIRED Recommends) will give you most of the perks of owning a smart speaker, and you can use them to smarten up existing speakers on the cheap. The sound is… Continue reading The 8 Best Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant

‘Prebunking’ Health Misinformation Tropes Can Stop Their Spread

The scene comes into focus: A car is driving down a winding mountain road at night. Suddenly, the headlights flicker, then fade to black. The car stops dead. Moonlight is all that’s left for our heroine, owls hoot, and vaguely ominous music plays in the background. You know that things are about to go south… Continue reading ‘Prebunking’ Health Misinformation Tropes Can Stop Their Spread

Explosion in Geofence Warrants Threatens Privacy Nationwide

Police around the country have drastically increased their use of geofence warrants, a widely criticized investigative technique that collects data from any user’s device that was in a specified area within a certain time range, according to new figures shared by Google. Law enforcement has served geofence warrants to Google since 2016, but the company… Continue reading Explosion in Geofence Warrants Threatens Privacy Nationwide

Why Florida’s Covid Surge Is Screwing With the Water Supply

On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay water utility announced a rather bizarre side effect of Florida’s out-of-control Covid surge: It wasn’t getting enough deliveries of liquid oxygen to treat its water. More than 17,000 Covid patients—who require supplemental oxygen to stay alive—are now hospitalized across the state, and there isn’t enough oxygen to go around.  Even… Continue reading Why Florida’s Covid Surge Is Screwing With the Water Supply

A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an ‘Internet Apocalypse’

Scientists have known for decades that an extreme solar storm, or coronal mass ejection, could damage electrical grids and potentially cause prolonged blackouts. The repercussions would be felt everywhere from global supply chains and transportation to internet and GPS access. Less examined until now, though, is the impact such a solar emission could have on… Continue reading A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an ‘Internet Apocalypse’