What's New

What is a blacklight and how do you make one? This is the topic of a recent MacGyver episode in which he quickly creates an improvised blacklight to find hidden messages on a wall. You can watch the scene here-and a disclaimer, I am currently the Technical Consultant for the show. But still, there's lots a great science in this one little scene. What is "Blacklight"? OK, it's not really a black light. It's better to call it what it is: ultraviolet light. Let's start with a quick overview of light. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Virtual reality needs motion controls, period. If you're an Oculus Rift owner, you may have had some fun times playing games that use the Xbox One controller packed in the box. Eagle Flight's pretty good. But eagles don't got no hands anyway. Any other situation, you're gonna want hands, and that means motion controls. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Pen-to-paper digital capturing tools like Wacom’s Bamboo Slate ($150) have been around for a while now, but they still seem like magic. There should be no way that you can draw a picture on a pad of paper, press a button, and have a perfect facsimile almost instantly pop up on your phone or your iPad. It defies the laws of… everything. Even if you know how it works, it still seems like it shouldn’t be possible. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Editor's note: We're proud to bring NextDraft-the most righteous, most essential newsletter on the web-to WIRED.com. Every Friday you'll get a roundup of the week's most popular must-read stories from around the internet, courtesy of mastermind Dave Pell. So dig in and geek out. The Mile Spry Club Like the US and many other countries, Britain has a childhood obesity problem. One teacher witnessed the issue firsthand when she watched a group of 11-year-olds struggle to complete a lap. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Playtime meets programming tool in Ozobot’s Evo, “the smart and social robot toy.” Well, let’s not get too carried away. Evo responds to programming, but that doesn’t exactly make it smart. I’m not sure a bunch of flashing lights, beeps, and whirrs qualify as social, but I suppose I’ve seen worse on Facebook. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When I was a young pup, I spent my first income tax refund on a pair of Cambridge SoundWorks bookshelf speakers. Those were my only speakers for more than ten years; they moved with me to six different cities. Later, I remember walking through the audio area of CES and stopping dead at the Tivoli Audio booth, impressed by how cool and retro the company’s little clock radios looked, and how surprisingly good they sounded. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

ZenBook is an awfully good name for the laptop we consider today. Careful meditation will come in handy when pondering whether to fork over a stratospheric $1,599 for a 12.5-inch ultrabook. Asus offers its latest ZenBook 3in two incarnations, both in the same 12.5-inch chassis. The $1,099 cheapie model offersstripped-down specs, while paying $500 more for theupscale version gets you all the bells and whistles: Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a high-end 512GB SSD. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In one corner of John Knoll’s office at Lucasfilm stand three racks of imposing black computer servers. The sleek 6-foot-tall towers, complete with mechanical switches and fans, flash blue LEDs. Each bears the insignia of the Galactic Empire from Star Wars and a name—Death Star 748, Death Star 749. Imperial computers, these are. As impressive and menacing as the machines appear, they aren’t real. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

One day in early July, the poet Claudia Rankine was working in her study when her husband walked in. "I can't watch this," he said. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You don't even have to watch the whole movie to get the best line from Doctor Strange. Let me set this up (mostly spoiler free). Stephen Strange (Doctor Strange) ends up meeting with The Ancient One and she shows him some seriously awesome stuff. Here is the conversation they have. Strange: How do I get from here to there? The Ancient One: How did you become a doctor? Strange: Study and practice-many years of it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the pantheon of supercars, the McLaren F1 holds a special place. Even now, almost a quarter-century after its arrival, its 240.1 mph top speed makes it the fastest naturally aspirated production car ever. Although designed for the street, it dominated at Le Mans. And it remains a drop-dead gorgeous automobile that deserves every superlative used to describe it. A list of things that set the F1 apart from any car you’ll ever drive runs as long as your arm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Whatever your politics, whatever your background, whatever your news sources, it seems fair to say that not many people saw the 2016 election ending this way. (Including, it appears, the guy who won the thing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Headphones rarely have to leave your head. They make phone calls, let you query of Siri or Google Assistant, and they give you hours of bliss as you consume podcasts, books, and playlists en masse. Having a pair that can do it all well is crucial. The Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 is a very capable and pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones that will give you more than 20 hours of comfortable listening on a charge. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

What’s the best way to elevate a family holiday gathering? Tactical warfare! Nerf’s latest rolling drone should win a few battles. The Nerf N-Strike Elite Terrascout Remote Control Drone Blaster is basically a little remote-controlled tank. The non-flying “drone” cruises across rough terrain and shoots Nerf darts. The drone itself comes in two parts that need to be snapped together. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We’ve written about Propel’s official Star Wars drones before, and frankly we’d write about them every day if we could find cause. Today brings actual news, though, of the flying speeder bike, X-Wing, Millennium Falcon, and Tie fighter that will be lighting up your living room this holiday season. You can pre-order them starting Tuesday, November 22, and they’ll cost $230 each. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Oh, to be young and touching yourself for the first time. You orgasm, and time stops. No, seriously. For a pubescent Suzie in Sex Criminals, the comic by writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky, that newfound superpower is real—and a cause for both excitement and confusion. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

DJI’s Phantom line of consumer drones is the 800-pound gorilla of the industry. And now, the company’s latest flying machine, the Phantom 4 Pro, looks like it’s poised to be the new king of the skies. The Phantom 4 Pro is an upgrade from last year’s Phantom 4. You can now fly a full 31 miles per hour while obstacle avoidance is engaged. Previously, if you wanted to go that fast, you had to put the drone into Sport Mode, which disengaged crash avoidance. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Acer says its latest ultrabook, the Swift 7, offers “unprecedented portability.” The basis for this claim? A laptop that is 12mm thick at its widest point and under 10mm thick if you ignore the rubber feet. That is thin! How thin? It’s thinner than an Apple MacBook Air (18mm) and thinner than the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (15mm with keyboard). At 10mm, it flirts with the thickness of many tablets, and is even thinner than some models on the market. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When you’re contractually obligated to publish three books in a single year, you can’t dilly-dally in dreamland. Unless, of course, your subconscious is as weird and fecund as Jeff VanderMeer’s. From its depths spring images of creaky lighthouses and buried towers, great beasts moaning at dusk, and a brightness that grows inside you—just some of the features that haunt Area X, the mysterious wilderness at the center of his Southern Reach trilogy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Juan Diego Calle’s grandfather bought a sky blue FJ40 Land Cruiser in 1968. He kept it for 14 years, then sold it and bought a sky blue 1982 FJ40. When he died, Juan’s cousin restored the old Toyota and showed it to Juan and his brother Nelson. “When we saw the work,” Juan says, “we said, ‘We have to own our grandfather’s truck.'” They brought the Land Cruiser from Bogota to Miami, and soon had the itch to restore more of the faithful old SUVs. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In his first address as president-elect, Donald Trump played the platitudes. He spoke of being a president for all Americans, of healing divisions, of unleashing potential. He avoided specifics of any kind beyond a few key areas, including infrastructure. “We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals,” Trump said. “We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With Eagle Flight, now you too can experience all the freedom and majesty of flight—coupled with all of the restrictiveness of a videogame. If you’re a VR early adopter, you should probably try out Ubisoft’s first-person eagle simulator. It’s been available for a little whileon Oculus Rift (which I played), is out this week on PlayStation VR, and is coming to Vive on December 20. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The lowly cooler is the last thing I would have ever expected to become a hipster status symbol. But Yeti has managed to make it happen, by transformingthe beverage chiller from a utilitarian device into a fashion accessory. The Yeti Hopper Flip 12, like the rest of its Hopper line, is a soft-side cooler, which makes for a generally more comfortable userexperience than a typical hard-side cooler. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Mate 9 flagship phone thatHuaweiunveiled in Europe is a massive Android handset available with different specs at different prices—expensive, and crazy expensive. Like, $1,500 expensive. But that’s what happens when Porsche Design does your styling. We’ll start with the cheap one, if you can call a $775 phone cheap. The Mate 9 is roughly the same size as an iPhone 7 Plus, but sports a giant 5.9-inch display. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

I'd be lying if I said unplugging my Amazon Echo didn't feel a bit like a breakup. "Alexa," I whispered while pulling the plug, "it's just for now." Butit wasn't Alexa, it was me. More specifically, it was someone else. I needed the space for Google Home. The $129 Home smart speaker playsa vital role inGoogle's futuristic vision of "a Google for everyone," powered by itsomnipresent Assistant. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It seems like we were just here a few weeks ago … but now Apple is back to tell us about its newest hardware. This time around, the focus is a product line that hasn’t gotten a lot of love lately: MacBooks. Yes, Apple’s line of portable computers is getting a much-needed refresh today. We can’t wait to see what’s in store. And of course, we here at WIRED will have a liveblog to bring you all the news. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You know I don't really do much political stuff-but I sure do love a good estimation problem. And that's just what we have with the following statement from Donald Trump: "You could have 650 million people pour in and we do nothing about it. Think of it. That's what could happen. You triple the size of our country in a week." OK, this is The Donald so I'm not sure if he's being serious or using hyperbole. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s been over 500 days since Apple updated its MacBook Pro. Now, the wait is over. And while the company’s new line-up of high-end laptops looks awfully similar to the previous version from the outside, there’s a world of difference, starting with what Apple calls the “Touch Bar.” First, the laptop itself, which comes in 13 and 15-inch varieties, and which retains the same basic look that has defined the Retina MacBook Pro for years now. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Your MacBook Pro was overdue for an upgrade, and today it got one. Apple announced a new MacBook Pro this morning at an intimate event in Cupertino, along with small refreshes of a couple of its other laptops. The Air is the cheapest MacBook, and the MacBook is the thinnest MacBook, but the MacBook Pro is the best and most important MacBook. The new Pro, which comes with either a 13- or 15-inch screen, does look like the last model. Which is to say, it still looks like a laptop. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Xiaomi’s share of China’ssmartphone market isheading in the wrong direction, but a phone as fine as the Mi MIX may change that—and inspire competitors. The stunning handset, designed by Philippe Starck,shuns bezelswith an edge-to-edge display that coversmore than 91 percent of thefront surface area. There’s so much screen that the selfie camera is at the bottom, because there’s simply no room at the top. The display measures 6. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s a question so simple we can believe we haven’t asked ourselves before: Who is better, Tom Cruise or Ben Affleck? One of them, Affleck, dominated the box office last weekend with The Accountant. The other, Cruise (obvi), has a big weekend ahead with the release of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Both have had their tabloid ups and downs. Both have had careers that slalomed between popcorn movies and credibility pictures. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Welcome to the Donald Trump show! Tonight, the Trump campaign is kicking off a show that will air on the candidate’s Facebook page every night at 6:30pm ET via Facebook Live from the campaign war room at Trump Tower. The show will be hosted by Boris Epshteyn, a senior adviser to the campaign, Tomi Lahren, a conservative commentator for Glen Beck’s TheBlaze, and Cliff Sims, another Trump adviser. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If the galaxy far, far away had Twitter (it doesn't, right?) and that universe tweeted about the movies made there, it would be filled with nothing but 🔥 and 💯 emojis considering all the Star Wars news that's come out recently. First, we got updates on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode VIII. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nintendo's next console is almost here. Nintendo Switch, previously codenamed NX and announced this morning, is on track to release in March 2017. When it's out, your home and portable play will be combined into one unit: Switch is a tablet with detachable controllers that can dock with your TV, playing its games anywhere. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The fall of Zenefits was swift. In mid-November, The Wall Street Journal reported that the human resources startup had fallen behind on its revenue targets. Two weeks later, BuzzFeed revealed that the startup's salespeople sold insurance in states where they weren't properly licensed, with some of them faking their online training requirements. By February, its founder, a former media golden boy named Parker Conrad, resigned as both CEO and director. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's just about judgement day for Volkswagen, which has admitted rigging its diesels to spew more pollution than the law allows. Tuesday, US District Judge Charles Breyer will decide whether to approve the $15 billion settlement VW struck with the Department of Justice. But some worry the agreement could harm the electric car industry it is meant to promote. The settlement, covering 2.0-liter diesel cars sold in the US, addresses three points. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Evan has a habit. He's not ashamed of it, but he doesn't want to reveal too much about himself, lest his colleagues learn how he's spending so much of his time. Like so many others, the middle-age software developer can't look away from the presidential election. But his fixation takes a particular form: with every browser refresh, he hopes math will reveal the future. Evan is a poll obsessive, FiveThirtyEight strain-a subspecies I recognize because I'm one of them, too. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Amid a seemingly incessant deluge of leaks and hacks, Washington, DC staffers have learned to imagine how even the most benign email would look a week later on the homepage of a secret-spilling outfit like WikiLeaks or DCLeaks. In many cases, they've stopped emailing altogether, deleted accounts, and reconsidered dumbphones. Julian Assange-or at least, a ten-years-younger and more innocent Assange-would say he's already won. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Here's a phrase we never thought would be true: Bob Dylan has won a Nobel Prize in Literature. Yes, the legendary folk-rock singer-songwriter has added to his apostrophe stash with "Nobel-Prize-winning," thanks to garnering an honor typically given to the likes of T.S. Eliot, Toni Morrison, and other internationally acclaimed novelists everyone likes to say they read. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Alexa can already order you an Uber, control your smart home devices, and keep you company. She's about to learn much better DJ skills, save you six bucks a month on streaming music, and possibly even change the way you listen to music in your house. Amazon Music Unlimited, a beefed-up subscription service built to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, launches today. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Just days after threatening to jail a political opponent should he win the presidency, Donald Trump's got a new campaign website that's so very … Trumpian. "Together, we are making waterboarding part of the Republican Party again," it declares. Also, "Together, unleashing, perhaps all of our nuclear weapons." Truer words have never come out of Trump's mouth. Except they didn't, really-at least not directly. A Trump AI generated all of the site's copy on its own. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This afternoon, House Speaker Paul Ryan essentially declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the 2016 presidential election. On a conference call with Republican representatives, he announced that he would no longer publicly defend or campaign beside Donald Trump. After a leaked videotape showed Trump boasting of his ability to sexually assault women, Ryan had apparently concluded his party's candidate was doomed. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

After The Washington Post released a bombshell video in which Donald Trump brags about groping women against their will, top Republicans began abandoning him in droves. But losing the endorsements of senators and governors isn't the biggest threat to Trump's chances in November. Multiple reports suggest the Republican National Committee is redirecting resources to protect down-ballot races from potential fallout over the Trump tape. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Across swaths of Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina, half the highway lanes have reversed. Traffic engineers call this "contraflow," the volte-face of normal traffic. Now, on both sides of these roads, vehicles only run one way-away from Hurricane Matthew. As the Category 4 storm ripped the Caribbean with 145 mph winds, local and state officials urged nearly two million Americans to flee their homes before it hit the southern Atlantic coast. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

After Kim Kardashian was threatened and robbed in Paris this week, celebrities are considering whether her frequent social media use made her more vulnerable, and may be reassessing their own digital sharing. But for prominent people, this won't resolve another perpetual threat: Being hacked. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

By the time Google announced its pair of Pixel smartphones on Tuesday, the devices had already been leaked all to pieces. Shape, size, specs; even color variants were laid bare by clumsy carriers. In fact, just about the only thing left unknown about the Pixels is what they'll do to the already splintered Android ecosystem. Google had previously released smartphones, made by a revolving set of hardware partners, under its Nexus line. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Lightning connectors? Micro USB ports? USB-Cee you later! Our forecast: most, if not all, Android phones will have a USB-C charging port by this time next year. We're expecting new phones from Google this week, and you can bet those will be USB-C, just like the last crop. Samsung and Motorola are moving to USB-C too. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Concern about potential election tampering continued this week. As noted in the roundup below, the FBI found evidence that hackers have been assessing the defenses of voter registries around the country and the cell phones of some Democratic party officials. But election officials aren't the only ones on high alert. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The new HBO show Westworld is based on the 1973 feature film of the same name. The movie, which was written and directed by Michael Crichton, explores the idea of a high-tech theme park that goes haywire, an idea Crichton later recycled in his much more famous Jurassic Park. The original Westworld has many fans, but film critic Theresa DeLucci says the new series is a major improvement in terms of quality. "It's an HBO show," DeLucci says in Episode 223 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you add them all up, Google actually makes a lot of gadgets. It sells Nexus phones, Chromebook Pixels, Pixel C tablets, Nest smart-home products, Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices