Brian Switek is a freelance science writer and a paleontology volunteer with the Natural History Museum of Utah. He is also author of the books My Beloved Brontosaurus and Written in Stone. ... Read More
TopicsGeology
A Hot-Air Balloon Landed in a California Backyard. The Owner Says It's a 'Very Rare' Event
The CEO of Magical Adventures Balloon Rides tells WIRED how the pilot made a safe landing after they got stranded over a neighborhood.
Brian Barrett
Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are
Companies hope that biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems.
Boone Ashworth
NASA Wants to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon
The White House has announced that NASA will work with the Departments of Defense and Energy to put nuclear reactors in orbit and on the surface of the moon.
Jorge Garay
Even Artemis II Astronauts Have Microsoft Outlook Problems
The mission commander’s email inbox failed during the journey to the moon. Have they tried turning the computer off and back on again?
Jeremy White
The ‘Lonely Runner’ Problem Only Appears Simple
Take a group of runners circling a track at unique, constant paces. Answering the question of how many will always end up running alone, no matter their speed, has vexed mathematicians for decades.
Paulina Rowińska
How Can Astronauts Tell How Fast They’re Going?
Weirdly, spaceships have no direct way to gauge their own speed. Luckily, we can use some physics tricks to figure it out.
Rhett Allain
You Can Soon Buy a $4,370 Humanoid Robot on AliExpress
Unitree is bringing its R1 to international markets. It arrives with some aerobatic capabilities and an entry-level price, but the question of what you'd actually do with it remains open.
Marco Trabucchi
The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril
As major news outlets cut off the Wayback Machine, journalists and advocacy groups are rallying to protect the Internet Archive’s vast collection of web pages.
Kate Knibbs
Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon
Artemis II remains on course for its lunar flyby as the crew shares historic photos of Earth, tests key systems for future lunar missions, and attempts to fix the toilet.
Javier Carbajal
The Trajectory of the Artemis II Moon Mission Is a Feat of Engineering
The astronauts will arrive about 10,300 kilometers beyond our satellite, breaking all previous records for distance from Earth. But how was their route chosen?
Luca Nardi
Bremont Is Sending a Watch to the Moon’s Surface
Bremont’s Supernova Chronograph will be attached to the chassis of Astrolab’s FLIP rover, which will land on the moon later this year.
Tim Barber
Dark Matter May Be Made of Black Holes From Another Universe
A model of the cyclic universe suggests that dark matter could be a population of black holes predating the Big Bang.
Jorge Garay