Wired Top Stories

How NASA Makes Those Incredible High-Res Images of Earth

Adam Mann — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:46:00 GMT

In recent weeks, a pair of high-resolution images of the Earth has captivated the Internet. Taken by the Suomi NPP satellite, these pictures portray our planet's incredible beauty with a whopping 8,000 by 8,000 pixel and 11,500 by 11,500 pixel detail.

Gunning for Netflix: Redbox and Verizon to Launch Video Service This Year

Tim Carmody — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:47:00 GMT

This morning, Verizon and Coinstar announced a long-rumored joint venture, combing a new video download and streaming service from Verizon with Coinstar's popular Redbox kiosk rentals of DVDs, Blu-rays and video games. The service will launch in the second half of 2012.

Giants' Win Draws 12,233 Tweets per Second

Jeff Beckham — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:29:00 GMT

The biggest highlights of Super Bowl XLVI ? the thrilling final seconds and Madonna?s halftime performance ? lit up social media, setting a record for the most tweets per second (TPS) on Twitter for any sporting event.

The Army Wants You ... to Be a Virtual Lab Rat

Katie Drummond — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:00:00 GMT

In the Army's latest call for research proposals, the service is looking for ways to develop a "Virtual Laboratory of Aggregate Behavior," or VLAB. Put simply, the program would yield a digital domain wherein hundreds or thousands of civilians could assemble and partake in "randomized controlled trial experiments" of the Army's design.

The Probabilities of Pennies

Samuel Arbesman — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:10:00 GMT

To complete a full set of pennies released since 1959, how many pennies do you need to collect? Mathematician Samuel Arbesman explains how anyone can pull off the feat for less than $7.

Russian Drill Penetrates 14-Million-Year-Old Antarctic Lake

Wired UK — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

After 20 years of drilling, a team of Russian researchers has breached the prehistoric Lake Vostok, which has been trapped deep beneath Antarctica for the last 14 million years.

A Rose by Any Other Name Might Smell as Sweet, But it Would Probably Be Larger

Scott Gilbertson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:31:00 GMT

The JS1K contest seeks the web's smallest, most impressive JavaScript experiments. This year's love-themed entries include a remarkable 3D rose rendered with less than 1k of code.

Rdio's Android Player Gets a Much-Needed Update

Michael Calore — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:21:00 GMT

The subscription-based streaming music service has just released a completely redesigned Android app that fixes all of the little annoyances.

Superbowl at Sea: Marines Prep for Huge Wargame with Gridiron Fight

Spencer Ackerman — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:35:00 GMT

ABOARD THE U.S.S. WASP -- Very early Monday morning, over 14,000 U.S. sailors, Marines and their foreign allies will launch the most ambitious naval war game in a decade, testing their ability to come ashore by sea and air from dozens of miles out in the Atlantic Ocean against a hostile force, (hopefully) demonstrating that amphibious warfare is back after ten years of grueling land battles. And tonight, in the hangar deck of this 40,000-ton assault ship, no one cares.

Let the Robot Drive: The Autonomous Car of the Future Is Here

jmckeel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

Robotic vehicles, from Google to Mercedes, have arrived. So what form and purpose will these cars have when we finally let go of the wheel?

Feb. 6, 1959: Titan Launches; Cold War Heats Up

wired — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

The United States successfully test-fires its first Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile. The threat of global nuclear holocaust moves from the plausible to the likely.

Alt Text: 100-Word User Agreements for Google, Facebook and Friends

Lore Sj?berg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

In Digital Age, Sourcing Images Is as Legitimate as Making Them

Pete Brook — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

API: Three Letters That Change Life, the Universe and Even Detroit

Cade Metz — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

There was a time when APIs were just a way of building applications for a desktop operating system like Microsoft Windows. But in the age of the internet, they have the power to plug applications into, well, almost anything. They've already transformed websites like Google and Facebook and Twitter into services that talk to a world of other applications, across PCs as well as mobile phones. But that's small potatoes. They're also reinventing old-world operations, including mobile carriers like AT&T and even auto makers like GM.

A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 6

Ken Denmead — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.

A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 5

Ken Denmead — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.

A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 4

Ken Denmead — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.

AMD Eyes ARM Alliance in War on Intel

Robert McMillan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:54:00 GMT

Could the low-power-chip design that's used in your iPhone someday show up inside the chips built by Intel-rival Advanced Micro Devices? Definitely maybe. Or as AMD's brand new Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster put it to us: "The answer is not no."

How Windows Phone 8 'Apollo' Would Stack Up Against iOS 5, Android 4

Christina Bonnington — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:52:00 GMT

Microsoft's Windows Phone OS is often criticized for lagging far behind iOS and Android. But on Thursday, a leaked description of Microsoft's next big mobile OS, Windows Phone 8, came to light, revealing how the operating system will improve. But can it really compete? We handicap Apollo against iOS 5 and Android 4.

Sugar May Be Bad, But Is the Alternative Worse?

Brandon Keim — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:15:00 GMT

Given the recent controversy over sugar, one might look to artificial sweeteners for an easy alternative to thorny scientific and ethical questions. But to anyone seeking pastel-packaged reassurance that regulators won't ever need to pry donuts from their cold, dead and pudgy fingers, science offers only more uncertainty.

Motorola Tablet Snafu Exposes Some Users to Privacy Risks

Christina Bonnington — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:56:00 GMT

Today Motorola issued a fail alert of epic proportions: From October to December 2011, 100 out of 6,200 refurbished Xooms sold from Woot.com may contain the previous owner's personal data.

Me @the Zoo Exemplifies Internet's Infiltration of Indie Film

Angela Watercutter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:54:00 GMT

Nothing illustrates the web's growing influence on filmmakers more effectively than Me @the Zoo, a feature-length documentary that premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Why Margarita Can Purr, but Can't Roar

Brian Switek — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:47:00 GMT

Cosmonaut Couture: Russian Photo Shoot Makes Space Sexy

Dave Mosher — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:31:00 GMT

In a resurgent space-themed fashion shoot, supermodel Natalia Semanova mingles with real-life cosmonauts in Star City, the home of Russia's space training program. We interview the spread's photographer, Arthur Elgort, for the back story.

Sonic Youth

Christina Bonnington — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:26:00 GMT

The Chevy Sonic, a 40-mpg, sub-$20K subcompact, has got the price point, performance and spunk necessary to stand out in a perennially crowded category.

Micron CEO Steve Appleton Dies in Plane Crash

Caleb Garling — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:05:00 GMT

Steve Appleton, the Chairman and CEO of memory and semiconductor manufacturer and one of the giants of the industry, died on Friday in a solo plane crash in Boise, Idaho. He was 51.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Hacker Way and the Art of the Founder's Letter

Steven Levy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:01:00 GMT

Apple to Authors: Content You Make in iBook App is Yours, Not Ours

Tim Carmody — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:59:00 GMT

Hide From Google

How-To Wiki — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:44:00 GMT

Have Google's new privacy policy changes prompted you to question whether the company is capable of "doing no evil"? If so, here's how to protect your online privacy while still using the services.

Art Installation Tracks Visitors' Time With Tape Measures

Angela Watercutter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:24:00 GMT