You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Facebook says it has created a wristband that translates motor signals from your brain so you can move a digital object just by thinking about it. How does it work? The wristband, which looks like a clunky iPod on a strap, uses sensors to detect movements you intend to make. It uses electromyography (EMG) to interpret electrical activity from motor nerves as they send information from the brain to the hand. The company says the device, as yet unnamed, would let you navigate augmented-reality menus by just thinking about moving your finger to...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Facebook says it has created a wristband that translates motor signals from your brain so you can move a digital object just by thinking about it. How does it work? The wristband, which looks like a clunky iPod on a strap, uses sensors to detect movements you intend to make. It uses electromyography (EMG) to interpret electrical activity from motor nerves as they send information from the brain to the hand. The company says the device, as yet unnamed, would let you navigate augmented-reality menus by just thinking about moving your finger to...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.As a violent mob incited by President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on January 6, halting the procedure in Congress to formally certify Joe Biden as president-elect, a Redditor with the username Adam Lynch began on the subreddit r/DataHoarder—a forum dedicated to saving data that might be erased or deleted. “Archiving videos before potential removal from various websites …” it began.  The thread included a link to upload files to , a New Zealand–based cloud storage service. Within minutes, the thread was so inundated with Twitter...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.As a violent mob incited by President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on January 6, halting the procedure in Congress to formally certify Joe Biden as president-elect, a Redditor with the username Adam Lynch began on the subreddit r/DataHoarder—a forum dedicated to saving data that might be erased or deleted. “Archiving videos before potential removal from various websites …” it began.  The thread included a link to upload files to , a New Zealand–based cloud storage service. Within minutes, the thread was so inundated with Twitter...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.On November 13, Michael Giusto turned 18 years old. Becoming an adult is always a big moment in any teenager’s life. But Giusto’s landmark birthday comes with added responsibility. Thanks to a quirk in Georgia’s laws that requires at least 50% of the vote to win a US Senate seat, both the state’s Senate races are going to a runoff on January 5, 2021.  Giusto, a high school senior from Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta, missed voting in the 2020 election by just 10 days. This time he has the opportunity to vote for his state’s...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.On November 13, Michael Giusto turned 18 years old. Becoming an adult is always a big moment in any teenager’s life. But Giusto’s landmark birthday comes with added responsibility. Thanks to a quirk in Georgia’s laws that requires at least 50% of the vote to win a US Senate seat, both the state’s Senate races are going to a runoff on January 5, 2021.  Giusto, a high school senior from Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta, missed voting in the 2020 election by just 10 days. This time he has the opportunity to vote for his state’s...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.As the US election process wore on from Tuesday evening into Wednesday, multiple counties across the country are broadcasting the ballot counting process. What it is: Given the closeness of the election, it’s not surprising that voters and candidates alike are nervous about how votes are being tallied. So officials across the country have taken a note from Twitch and Instagram by installing a camera in ballot counting rooms and livestreaming the whole thing. The hope is to combat allegations of possible fraud. What are these livestreams like?...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.As the US election process wore on from Tuesday evening into Wednesday, multiple counties across the country are broadcasting the ballot counting process. What it is: Given the closeness of the election, it’s not surprising that voters and candidates alike are nervous about how votes are being tallied. So officials across the country have taken a note from Twitch and Instagram by installing a camera in ballot counting rooms and livestreaming the whole thing. The hope is to combat allegations of possible fraud. What are these livestreams like?...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.In middle school and high school, Nora Tan downloaded the big three of social media. It was only natural. “I grew up in the age when social media was really taking off,” says Tan, a Seattle-based product manager. “I created a Facebook account in 2009, an Instagram account in 2010, a Twitter account after that when I was in high school.” By the time she reached college, Tan was questioning her decision. “I thought about how content should be moderated and how it was being used in political campaigns and to advance agendas,” she says. Troubled...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.In middle school and high school, Nora Tan downloaded the big three of social media. It was only natural. “I grew up in the age when social media was really taking off,” says Tan, a Seattle-based product manager. “I created a Facebook account in 2009, an Instagram account in 2010, a Twitter account after that when I was in high school.” By the time she reached college, Tan was questioning her decision. “I thought about how content should be moderated and how it was being used in political campaigns and to advance agendas,” she says. Troubled...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Earlier this year, before the pandemic and lockdowns, audio engineer Stéphane Pigeon received an unusual request: would he consider making sounds that replicated the office? “I said, ‘No, no, no, I will not do it!’” says Pigeon, the creator of , which has become a cult resource among people looking for background noise to help them focus on work. “I thought, ‘That is so confusing. People don’t want to listen to those sounds.’” But Pigeon continued to receive more requests. So when the pandemic hit, he eventually gave in and set to work. Since...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Earlier this year, before the pandemic and lockdowns, audio engineer Stéphane Pigeon received an unusual request: would he consider making sounds that replicated the office? “I said, ‘No, no, no, I will not do it!’” says Pigeon, the creator of , which has become a cult resource among people looking for background noise to help them focus on work. “I thought, ‘That is so confusing. People don’t want to listen to those sounds.’” But Pigeon continued to receive more requests. So when the pandemic hit, he eventually gave in and set to work. Since...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Gina Assaf was running in Washington, DC, on March 19 when she suddenly couldn’t take another step. “I was so out of breath I had to stop,” she says. Five days earlier, she’d hung out with a friend; within days, that friend and their partner had started showing three classic signs of covid-19: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Assaf had those symptoms too, and then some. By the second week, which she describes as “the scariest and hardest on my body,” her chest was burning and she was dizzy. Her friend recovered, but Assaf was still...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.Gina Assaf was running in Washington, DC, on March 19 when she suddenly couldn’t take another step. “I was so out of breath I had to stop,” she says. Five days earlier, she’d hung out with a friend; within days, that friend and their partner had started showing three classic signs of covid-19: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Assaf had those symptoms too, and then some. By the second week, which she describes as “the scariest and hardest on my body,” her chest was burning and she was dizzy. Her friend recovered, but Assaf was still...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.When lockdown started in March, the world went instantly, strangely silent. City streets emptied. Joggers and families disappeared from parks. Construction projects froze. Stores closed.  Now a network of seismic monitoring stations around the world has quantified this unprecedented period of quiet. The resulting into “seismic silence,” published in Science today, has shown just how much noise we contribute to the environment. It has also let scientists get an unparalleled listen to what’s happening beneath our feet. “We can safely say...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.When lockdown started in March, the world went instantly, strangely silent. City streets emptied. Joggers and families disappeared from parks. Construction projects froze. Stores closed.  Now a network of seismic monitoring stations around the world has quantified this unprecedented period of quiet. The resulting into “seismic silence,” published in Science today, has shown just how much noise we contribute to the environment. It has also let scientists get an unparalleled listen to what’s happening beneath our feet. “We can safely say...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.There’s a certain routine to logging on to the now-ubiquitous videoconference: join a screen of Brady Bunch–like squares, ping-ponging your gaze between speakers but mostly staring self-consciously at your own face. What started as a novelty of working at home is now an exhausting ordeal that can leave us feeling mentally wiped out.  Microsoft thinks it’s got a solution. On Wednesday it launched “Together Mode” for its Teams business software, as part of a new suite of updates. The videoconferencing tool uses artificial intelligence to...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.There’s a certain routine to logging on to the now-ubiquitous videoconference: join a screen of Brady Bunch–like squares, ping-ponging your gaze between speakers but mostly staring self-consciously at your own face. What started as a novelty of working at home is now an exhausting ordeal that can leave us feeling mentally wiped out.  Microsoft thinks it’s got a solution. On Wednesday it launched “Together Mode” for its Teams business software, as part of a new suite of updates. The videoconferencing tool uses artificial intelligence to...WW…

You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.In the week after George Floyd’s murder, hundreds of thousands of people joined protests across the US and around the globe, demanding education, attention, and justice. But one of the key tools for organizing these protests is a surprising one: it’s not encrypted, doesn’t rely on signing in to a social network, and wasn’t even designed for this purpose. It’s Google Docs. In just the last week, Google Docs has emerged as a way to share everything from to templates for and to of that are accepting donations. Shared Google Docs that anyone can...…You need to enable JavaScript to view this site.In the week after George Floyd’s murder, hundreds of thousands of people joined protests across the US and around the globe, demanding education, attention, and justice. But one of the key tools for organizing these protests is a surprising one: it’s not encrypted, doesn’t rely on signing in to a social network, and wasn’t even designed for this purpose. It’s Google Docs. In just the last week, Google Docs has emerged as a way to share everything from to templates for and to of that are accepting donations. Shared Google Docs that anyone can...WW…