Technology
The Thrill of Terrapattern, a New Way to Search Satellite Imagery
Finding empty pools for skateboarding has never been so easy.
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Projects
Beyond the Cloud
eLISA Science / The Atlantic The Satellites That Could Trace the Ripples of the Cosmos
The eLISA space mission aims to detect gravitational waves with an enormous laser triangle and floating gold cubes.
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Reuters The Hazard of Tesla’s Approach to Driverless Cars
A fatal crash calls into question the car company’s approach to building autonomous vehicles—and underscores the stark contrast between its strategy and Google’s.
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Jumanah El-Heloueh / Reuters Should Prince's Tweets Be in a Museum?
Archivists are figuring out which pieces of artists’ digital lives to preserve alongside letters, sketchbooks, and scribbled-on napkins.
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NASA JPL The Dreamiest View in the Universe
A stunning new video of Juno’s approach to Jupiter captures an unprecedented glimpse of its moons.
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Ina Fassbender / Reuters Internet Reading Club: June 2016
The best science, technology, and health stories from around the web.
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The Next Aviation Adventure to Follow: Youngest-Ever Solo Around the World Flight
Many generations have gone by since the world-riveting exploits of Charles Lindbergh, since the tragic mystery of Amelia Earhart, since…
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Phelan Ebenehack / Reuters When Should Hacking Be Legal?
A group of academics and journalists say a federal computer-fraud law criminalizes their work.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Why (a Little Corner of) the Internet Is Losing Its Mind Right Now
Hillary Clinton wrote something for The Toast today. Are you sobbing yet?
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Damir Sagolj / Reuters When Algorithms Take the Stand
A case soon to be decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court considers the proper role of mathematical prediction in the courtroom—and beyond.
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Stephen Lam / Reuters A Tesla Fatality and the Future of Self-Driving Cars
The Model S’s Autopilot isn’t technically a driverless feature, but the federal investigation into why a driver using it was killed will still influence the future of driverless vehicles.
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Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP /Getty Tinder, But for Brexit
A Manchester-based company has launched a dating app for Remain voters seeking other Remainers.
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NASA / ESA / Hubble Jupiter Puts on a Light Show For Juno
Magnificent auroras light up the Jovian atmosphere as the spacecraft prepares to enter the planet’s orbit.
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Omar Sobhani / Reuters A Brief History of the Assault Rifle
The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler.
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Rick Wilking / Reuters Why Flash Drives Are Still Everywhere
The secret of technological process is that leftover devices never truly get left behind. An Object Lesson.
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ESA / Hubble / NASA The 6,000-Year-Old Telescope
Astronomers say they have discovered an ancient astronomical tool, potentially used by prehistoric humans for stargazing rituals.
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Mike Blake / Reuters Should Border Agents Scroll Through Foreigners’ Facebook Profiles?
A proposed change to a common U.S. customs form would allow the government to vet travelers’ social media accounts.
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Mark Lennihan / AP How to Write a History of Writing Software
Isaac Asimov, John Updike, and John Hersey changed their writing habits to adapt to word processors, according to the first literary historian of the technology.
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Library of Congress Your Grandmother’s Driverless Car
The driverless vehicles of the 1920s were called “phantom autos,” and they were remote-controlled by the tapping of a telegraph key.
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Felipe Dana / AP The Cable Empire Strikes Back
The 2016 Olympics will be a test of how well Comcast and NBC can deliver live programming in the digital, on-demand era.
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NASA / The Atlantic The Future of Archaeology Is 'Spacejunk'
Museum tours may one day rocket beyond Earth to explore abandoned satellites and derelict spacecraft.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Why Are Government Hacks Often Bigger Than First Disclosed?
The challenge of accounting for the damage reflects an outdated approach to cybersecurity.