How to Take the Perfect Soccer Penalty
To understand how to take a match-winning penalty, you’ve got to understand the physics behind the perfect kick. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 20, 2024•7 min
Science, Spoken
Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
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Episodes
Starship’s Successful Test Moves SpaceX One Step Closer to Mars
The vehicle mostly survived launch and reentry—key stepping stones toward operational flights of the largest rocket in history. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 19, 2024•7 min
Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing
Extreme weather threatens the investment value of many properties, but financing for climate mitigation efforts are only just getting going. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 18, 2024•11 min
Sellers Call Amazon’s Buy Box ‘Abusive.’ Now They’re Suing
UK retailers have accused Amazon of using its Buy Box section to choke their businesses, reigniting a years-long debate over whether there was foul play. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 17, 2024•8 min
From the Archives: Generative AI Is Coming for Sales Execs’ Jobs—and They’re Celebrating
Generative AI Is Coming for Sales Execs’ Jobs—and They’re Celebrating Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 14, 2024•10 min
The 2024 US Open Is Designed to Thwart Golf’s Big Hitters
Players, aided by technology, are hitting the ball farther than ever, and courses can’t keep getting longer—meaning operators are having to find smarter ways to keep the sport challenging. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 14, 2024•9 min
Apple Intelligence Will Infuse the iPhone With Generative AI
At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced its first serious foray into generative AI, with a focus on app integrations and data privacy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 13, 2024•3 min
From the Archives: The Race to Save Yellowknife From Raging Wildfires
Some residents of Yellowknife are staying behind to fight back wildfires that could soon engulf the Canadian city. Others have shared harrowing stories as they race to escape the flames. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 12, 2024•9 min
Apple's Biggest AI Challenge? Making It Behave
Apple Intelligence will make apps and services smarter. But Apple’s most notable innovations focus on ensuring the technology doesn't disappoint, annoy, or offend. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 12, 2024•9 min
AI Tools Are Secretly Training on Real Images of Children
A popular AI training dataset is “stealing and weaponizing” the faces of Brazilian children without their knowledge or consent, human rights activists claim. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 11, 2024•6 min
The World’s Largest Fungarium May Unlock the Mysteries of Carbon Capture
Research is uncovering the key role that fungi play in getting soils to absorb carbon, and how humanity’s actions aboveground are wreaking havoc in the mysterious fungal world below. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 10, 2024•6 min
From the Archive: How a Firefly Course Is Saving Japan’s Favorite Glowing Insect
The fireflies of Moriyama City have long been prized (and hunted) for their yellow-green glow. To bring populations back up, amateur conservationists are hitting the books. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 09, 2024•8 min
From the Archives: What Do We Owe the Octopus?
Mounting research suggests that cephalopods experience pain. Now, the National Institutes of Health is considering new animal welfare rules that would put them in the same category as monkeys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 08, 2024•9 min
From the Archives: Why Scientists Are Bugging the Rainforest
Scientists use microphones and AI to automatically detect species by their chirps and croaks. This bioacoustics research could be critical for protecting ecosystems on a warming planet. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 07, 2024•7 min
Chatbot Teamwork Makes the AI Dream Work
Experiments show that asking AI chatbots to work together on a problem can compensate for some of their shortcomings. WIRED enlisted two bots to help plan this article. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 07, 2024•5 min
From the Archives: What Science Says About Social Media and Mental Health
We're bringing an extra episode from our show What's New. Here’s what the science really says about teens and screens—and how to start the conversation with young people of any age. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 06, 2024•9 min
Why the EU’s Vice President Isn’t Worried About Moon-Landing Conspiracies on YouTube
During a tour of Silicon Valley, EU vice president Věra Jourová said she expects tech giants to prioritize stamping out content that could distort democracy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 06, 2024•7 min
Woman Who Received Pig Kidney Transplant Has It Removed
Surgeons at NYU took out the pig kidney because it wasn’t getting enough blood flow. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 05, 2024•5 min
AI Is a Black Box. Anthropic Figured Out a Way to Look Inside
What goes on in artificial neural networks work is largely a mystery, even to their creators. But researchers from Anthropic have caught a glimpse. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 04, 2024•10 min
Ecuador Is Literally Powerless in the Face of Drought
Drought-stricken hydro dams have led to daily electricity cuts in Ecuador. As weather becomes less predictable die to climate change, experts say other countries need to take notice. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 03, 2024•8 min
From Security, Spoken: Deepfake Porn Is Out of Control
We're bringing an extra episode from our show Security, Spoken. New research shows the number of deepfake videos is skyrocketing—and the world's biggest search engines are funneling clicks to dozens of sites dedicated to the nonconsensual fakes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jun 02, 2024•10 min
From Business, Spoken: Why Read Books When You Can Use Chatbots to Talk to Them Instead?
We're bringing an extra episode from our show Business, Spoken. Book publishers are experimenting with chatbot editions of new titles, providing "conversational companions" for readers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 31, 2024•6 min
Chatbots Are Entering the Stone Age
Anthropic and other big AI startups are teaching chatbots “tool use,” to make them more useful in the workplace. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 31, 2024•6 min
Neuralink’s First User Is ‘Constantly Multitasking’ With His Brain Implant
Noland Arbaugh is the first to get Elon Musk’s brain device. The 30-year-old speaks to WIRED about what it’s like to use a computer with his mind—and gain a new sense of independence. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 30, 2024•7 min
From What's New: Stop Planting Trees, Says Guy Who Inspired World to Plant a Trillion Trees
We're bringing an extra episode from our show What's New. Ecologist Thomas Crowther’s research inspired countless tree-planting campaigns, greenwashing, and attacks from scientists. Now he’s back with a new plan for nature restoration. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 29, 2024•9 min
Mexico Is So Hot, Monkeys Are Falling to Their Death From Trees
Authorities and conservation groups are investigating the deaths of dozens of howler monkeys in Tabasco, where extreme heat and land-use change appear to be threatening the vulnerable species. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 29, 2024•7 min
The Auroras Should Be Spectacular This Summer, Thanks to Solar Maximum
Increasing solar activity over the next year could bring more opportunities to see fantastic displays of the northern lights. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 28, 2024•7 min
Don’t Believe the Biggest Myth About Heat Pumps
Not only do heat pumps work fine in cold weather, they’re still more efficient than gas furnaces in such conditions. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 27, 2024•9 min
Pocket-Sized AI Models Could Unlock a New Era of Computing
Research at Microsoft shows it’s possible to make AI models small enough to run on phones or laptops without major compromises to their smarts. The technique could open up new use cases for AI. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 24, 2024•5 min
How a Virus Found in Wastewater Beat Back a Woman’s ‘Zombie’ Bacteria
Viruses called phages offer a promising treatment option for bacterial infections when antibiotics stop working, but they have limitations. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
May 23, 2024•9 min
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