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2,526 episodes — Page 9 of 51

How Airports Catch Illicit Radioactive Cargo
Hidden screening devices are used to track the movement of dangerous materials—and recently caught a shipment of uranium at London’s Heathrow Airport. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

People Love Electric Vehicles! Now Comes the Hard Part
EV sales are booming. But to keep the momentum going and make a dent in carbon emissions, the US will have to build a vast new charging infrastructure. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Police App Exposed Secret Details About Raids and Suspects
SweepWizard, an app that law enforcement used to coordinate raids, left sensitive information about hundreds of police operations publicly accessible. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The US Far Right Helped Stoke the Attack on Brazil’s Congress
Right-wing networks from Brazil and the US fueled calls for violence. Experts accuse tech platforms of looking the other way. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s Time to Teach AI How to Be Forgetful
By emulating the human ability to forget some of the data, psychological AIs will transform algorithmic accuracy. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How an Iraqi Instagram Influencer Became a People Smuggler
When police infiltrated the EncroChat phone system in 2020, they hit an intelligence gold mine. But subsequent legal challenges have spread across Europe. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Mass Extinction Is Taking Place in the Human Gut
To preserve humankind’s diverse bacteria, scientists are harvesting, freezing, and storing poop from around the world. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Humans Walk Weird. Scientists May Finally Know Why
Humanity’s peculiar gait has long confounded engineers and biomechanists—but it might be one of nature’s clever tricks. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Drug to Treat Aging May Not Be a Pipe Dream
New approaches to the biology of senescence can make lives longer and healthier. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s Time to Break Bad Pandemic Learning Habits
Schools adapted to remote learning, but students also got used to seeking easy answers instead of real understanding. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Everyone Is Using Google Photos Wrong
Ever-expanding cloud storage presents more risks than you might think. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This Was the Year That Electric Vehicles Took Off
More EVs were sold in the first half of 2022 alone than any previous year—and there are signs the surge can continue. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Year the NFT Died and Came Back to Life
The market for non-fungible tokens took a nosedive this year. Now, die-hard evangelists think the key to success is finding different ways to use them. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Crispr Baby Scientist Is Back. Here’s What He’s Doing Next
He Jiankui has plans for finding cures for devastating genetic diseases. Should the scientific community trust him? Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Spaceflight Companies Promised to Do Science—So How’s It Going?
Research has taken a back seat on the industry’s initial space jaunts, but it could become significant as the trips rack up. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The UK Is Enduring an Onslaught of Scarlet Fever. Is the US Next?
What’s causing the surge of Scarlet Fever in the UK and will it come to the US? The question drives home the need for better, faster data about how the disease moves. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Trump’s Twitter Ban Was Unfair, but Not for the Reason You Think
If Twitter had implemented its rules uniformly, other world leaders would have been banned too. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

GPS Signals Are Being Disrupted in Russian Cities
Navigation system monitors have seen a recent uptick in interruptions since Ukraine began launching long-range drone attacks. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There’s a New Explanation for ‘Genetic’ Trait Pairs: Your Parents
For years, researchers thought characteristics like weight and education had shared genetic roots. But the real answer might lie in how people choose to pair up. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sam Bankman-Fried’s House of Cards Is Falling Down
The founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX was arrested the day before his scheduled hearing in the US Congress. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Uncertainty, Social Media, and the Radicalization of the US
Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Holiday Travel Blob Has Begun
Remote and hybrid work has reshaped the typical seasonal rush. Airlines and hotels see dollar signs. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Americans Are Moving Into Danger Zones
Folks are flocking to areas plagued with wildfires and extreme heat. Climate change will only make things worse. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Everyone Is Sick Right Now
For the past two years, social distancing kept seasonal viruses at bay. Now they’re roaring back. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Park Rangers Are Using Silent Ebikes to Catch Poachers
A Swedish electric bike is helping Mozambique’s park rangers protect game and reducing the need for fossil fuel infrastructure in Africa’s remotest areas. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Tesla’s Berlin Hub Can’t Hire Enough People, or Keep Them
Tesla’s staffing problems have been magnified in Germany, where it is unable to meet targets as more workers head for the exit. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The World Needs Processed Food
The stigma against processed food is growing, but there's no way to sustainably feed 8 billion people without it. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Amazon’s Creep Into Health Care Has Some Experts Spooked
Using Amazon’s new telehealth service will mean trusting it with your private data. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Apple Won’t Let Staff Work Remotely to Escape Texas Abortion Limits
Apple managers in Texas said employees who are fearful of the state’s abortion restrictions can’t work from home or transfer to another office. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Scientists Reexamine Why Zebra Stripes Mysteriously Repel Flies
While biologists still aren't exactly sure how it works, a new study closes in on why the insects that pester Savannah animals zig when anything zags. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Peek Inside the FBI’s Unprecedented January 6 Geofence Dragnet
Google provided investigators with location data for more than 5,000 devices as part of the federal investigation into the attack on the US Capitol. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The US Congress Is Starting to Question This Whole Crypto Thing
Think Washington lawmakers have what it takes to tackle the volatile world of cryptocurrencies? Neither do they. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

America’s Billion-Dollar Tree Problem Is Spreading
Grasslands are being overrun by drought-resistant invaders that wreck animal habitats, suck up water supplies, and can cost landowners a fortune. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Air Quality Mirrors the Racial Segregation of US Neighborhoods
A new study shows that the more divided a community is, the higher the residents’ exposure to hazardous metals and particulates. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Twitter’s Layoffs Are a Blow to Accessibility
The company recently took major steps to make the platform more inclusive after pressure from disabled users. Then Elon Musk gutted its accessibility team. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There Is No Replacement for Black Twitter
A series of missteps by Elon Musk that has called the fate of the platform’s cultural engine into question. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Twitter Bubble Let Democrats Defy Political Gravity
The midterm elections showed that the far-right's manufactured narrative about trans kids doomed the GOP when they made it policy. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Want to Archive Twitter? Good Luck With That
Twitter’s meltdown has shed light on the steep challenge of preserving social media data. But not everything is worth saving. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

‘Dark Ships’ Emerge From the Shadows of the Nord Stream Mystery
Satellite monitors discovered two vessels with their trackers turned off in the area of the pipeline prior to the suspected sabotage in September. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The $6 Billion Shot at Making New Antibiotics—Before the Old Ones Fail
Antimicrobials cost as much to develop as other drugs, but don’t earn the same returns. Congress could give drugmakers a boost, but time is running out.Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Despite Big Layoffs, Tech Workers Are Still in Demand
Tens of thousands of job cuts have rocked the industry, but unemployment among tech workers remains low—and plenty of companies are desperate for talent. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Protest Is Risky at Egypt's Climate Talks. That Won't Stop Activists
At the international climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, long-standing restrictions on protesters and dissidents are front and center. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Twitter Users Have Caused a Mastodon Meltdown
Mastodon’s servers have been overrun by almost half a million new sign-ups, as Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover has thrust it into the spotlight. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Scientists Are Uncovering Ominous Waters Under Antarctic Ice
A super-pressurized, 290-mile-long river that’s running under the ice sheet. And that could be bad news for sea-level rise. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Europeans Are Burning Trees to Keep Warm
Sky-high energy prices have people turning to wood to provide a cheaper alternative—and EU laws are helping incentivize this. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The UN Climate Talks Are About to Face Maddening Uncertainties
Negotiators at this week’s COP27 conference need to get serious about massively reducing emissions—and fast. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Harms of Psychedelics Need to Be Put Into Context
As psychedelic therapy trials get bigger and the drugs become more accessible, researchers need to start talking about their potential adverse effects. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Inside the Underground Market for Fake Amazon Reviews
Seedy scam networks are using social media to organize campaigns that influence product ratings. They’re a headache for shoppers—and tough to crack down on. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Would You Sell Your Vacation Days for Cash?
More startups are inviting workers to trade their unused PTO, a perk that can also benefit employers. It may also worsen US workers' vacation deficit. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Check back in tomorrow to hear more stories from WIRED.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The World Needs More Gigantic Sci-Fi Sea Dams
As solar and wind proliferate, the power lurking in the world’s oceans is yet to make waves. In fact, tides could become the next essential energy source. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices