Category Archives: Technology

How to Fix Slow Wi-Fi on Your Smartphone

What’s more annoying than when you’re streaming videos, browsing the web, or downloading apps and everything is taking forever? Slow Wi-Fi can occur because of weak signals, network congestion, device settings, router issues, etc., but most problems can be fixed with some simple steps. This guide will give you practical tips and quick solutions to […]

The Download: A longevity influencer’s new religion, and humanoid robots’ shortcomings

Bryan Johnson is on a mission to not die. The 47-year-old multimillionaire has already applied his slogan “Don’t Die” to events, merchandise, and a Netflix documentary. Now he’s founding a Don’t Die religion. Johnson, who famously spends millions of dollars on scans, tests, supplements, and a lifestyle routine designed to slow or reverse the aging […]

Bryan Johnson wants to start a new religion in which “the body is God”

I sat down with Johnson at an event for people interested in longevity in Berkeley, California, in late April. We spoke on the sidelines after lunch (conference plastic-lidded container meal for me; what seemed to be a plastic-free, compostable box of chicken and vegetables for him), and he sat with an impeccable posture, his expression […]

The Download: Foreign disinformation intel, and gene-edited pork

A previously unreported document distributed by senior US State Department official Darren Beattie reveals a sweeping effort to uncover all communications between the staff of a small government office focused on online disinformation and a lengthy list of public and private figures—many of whom are longtime targets of the political right. The document, originally shared […]

The US has approved CRISPR pigs for food

What’s certain is that the pig project was technically impressive and scientifically clever. Genus edited pig embryos to remove the receptor that the PRRS virus uses to enter cells. No receptor means no infection. According to Matt Culbertson, chief operating office of the Pig Improvement Company, a Genus subsidiary, the pigs appear entirely immune to […]

Senior State Department official sought internal communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics

The document also seeks all staff communications that merely reference Trump or people in his orbit, like Alex Jones, Glenn Greenwald, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In addition, it directs a search of communications for a long list of keywords, including “Pepe the Frog,” “incel,” “q-anon,” “Black Lives Matter,” “great replacement theory,” “far-right,” and “infodemic.” […]

The Download: China’s energy throwback, and choosing between love and immortality

—Gigi Kwik Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, explains the consequences of the Trump administration’s decision to force a health department focused on studying deadly infectious diseases to cease operating to Wired. One more thing The flawed logic of rushing out extreme climate solutions Early in 2022, entrepreneur Luke […]

The Download: Stereotypes in AI models, and the new age of coding

How close are we to genuine “mind reading?” Technically speaking, neuroscientists have been able to read your mind for decades. It’s not easy, mind you. First, you must lie motionless within a fMRI scanner, perhaps for hours, while you watch films or listen to audiobooks. If you do elect to endure claustrophobic hours in the […]

The Download: the AI Hype Index, and “normal” AI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The AI Hype Index: AI agent cyberattacks, racing robots, and musical models Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of […]