If Horses Are Gone From Modern Pentathlon, Is It Time For Mechanical Bulls?
A complete public relations debacle has Modern Pentathlon scrambling to either justify or replace the equestrian portion of the sport. This is my very serious pitch for why the replacement should be mechanical bull riding. (Defector)
The Fanfic Sex Trope That Caught a Plundering AI Red-Handed
Sudowrite, a tool that uses OpenAI’s GPT-3, was found to have understood a sexual act known only to a specific online community of Omegaverse writers. (WIRED)
As air pollution gets worse, a dystopian accessory is born.
The air is getting more dangerous to breathe all over the world — and a suite of companies are hoping to capitalize with a new fashion item. (Vox)
Why Are There So Many Weird Tech Patents?
Companies are constantly patenting strange things they have no intention of developing. Here’s why. (Slate)
The No. 1 Ladies' Defrauding Agency
What a 19th-century scammer can teach us about women, lying, and economic boom-and-bust cycles. (Longform)
Kelly, the Sassy Dolphin
What can one brash dolphin with an incredible back story teach us about personality? (Hakai Magazine)
Facing Tomorrow's High-Tech School Surveillance
Installed in the wake of recent high-profile mass shootings, controversial facial recognition systems that scan students’ faces could be the not-too-distant future for schools across America and beyond. (VICE)
When a cold case is solved, why can’t internet sleuths move on?
Redditors and forum users invest time trying to solve incidents involving total strangers, only to be left hanging when their research pays off. (The Outline)
The Limits of Empathy
Thanks to recent efforts in the virtual reality space, audiences can get up close and personal to folks living very different, and difficult, lives. But can attempts to foster empathy through simulation hurt more than they can help? (Topic)
Is Lab-Grown Meat Really Meat?
A labeling war is brewing (Slate)
COMMENTARY
What Can We Learn From The Biology Of Dead Athletes?
When Stella Walsh was shot and killed in a parking lot in 1980 while doing her holiday shopping, nobody thought it would call her Olympic medals, won nearly 50 years earlier, into question. But when the coroner’s report was leaked and publicized on local TV stations, people started talking. (Defector)
On Asphyxiation From Trains and Other Inaccurate Predictions
The internet loves to poke fun at people who got it wrong, but those ridiculed forecasters might get the last laugh. (WIRED)
The biggest lie tech people tell themselves — and the rest of us
They see facial recognition, smart diapers, and surveillance devices as inevitable evolutions. They’re not. (Slate)
It’s Time to Rethink Who’s Best Suited for Space Travel
Being an astronaut is mentally and physically grueling—which is why people with disabilities, who adapt to challenges every day, are perfect fits. (Wired)
Animals Need Digital Privacy Too
Humans are not the only living things beset by hidden cameras and tracked by portable devices. (WIRED)
Why the 'Kitchen of the Future' Always Fails Us
In a world full of incredible technology, why can we still not imagine anything more interesting than a woman making dinner alone? (Eater)
When disability tech is just a marketing exercise
Companies love to get press for disability tech projects, but they often aren’t all that interested in actually putting real money behind them. (The Outline)
When State-of-the-Art is Second Best
Prosthetic technology is certainly advancing rapidly, but there's a catch. For most people, these state-of-the-art devices are neither attainable, nor well suited for their lives. (Nova)