Technology
A Website That Gives You Points as It Spies on You
Click, and a calm voice explains how easy it is to follow your cursor’s every move.
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Alex Brandon / AP Is the White House Hiding Secrets About Russia's Role in the Election?
Seven senators have asked President Obama to declassify additional information about the Kremlin’s possible involvement.
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Radhika Nagpal A Wall-Crawling Roomba That Teaches Kids to Code
Harvard roboticists have created a robot that will gradually introduce children to programming skills by blending them with art.
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evantravels / Shutterstock Why Skee-Ball Doesn't Change
A century after its creation, the game is still a perfect balance of skill and chance. An Object Lesson.
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Artur Debat / Getty People Censor Themselves Online for Fear of Being Harassed
New research reveals that when tech companies don't police abuse, it can put a damper on free speech.
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Rafael Marchante / Reuters Watching the World Rot at Europe's Largest Tech Conference
Notes from a writer’s visit to Web Summit
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Danish Siddiqui / Reuters The Toxic-Waste Drum Is Everywhere
Created by a globetrotter, the 55-gallon barrel became one of the best-traveled inventions in human history. An Object Lesson.
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How Augmented Reality Will Change Tech Experiences
The CEO of the company behind Pokémon Go describes the future of what smartphones will be able to do.
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Carlos Osorio / AP How Well Can Computers Read Fiction?
Computational tools have the ability to analyze books’ emotional arcs, but it’s unclear what they can really find out about literature.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP Trump’s CIA Director Wants to Return to a Pre-Snowden World
He’s called for a “fundamental upgrade” to U.S. spying powers.
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John Locher / AP Why Silicon Valley May Warm to Trump
The technology industry has resisted him, but a Trump presidency is compatible with its business goals.
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Jean-Sebastien Evrard / AFP / Getty How Light Bulbs Watch You Buy Groceries
The same technology that helps stores track shoppers may one day replace Wi-Fi.
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Pascal Pochard-Casabianca / AFP / Getty Playing the Workaholic on Social Media
"Public displays of working" are part humblebrag, part cry for help.
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Michael Everson / Katie Martin / The Atlantic The Alphabet That Will Save a People From Disappearing
As kids, two Guinean brothers invented a new script for their native language. Now they’re trying to get it on every smartphone.
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Stephen Lam / Reuters Facebook and Google Won’t Let Fake News Sites Use Their Ad Networks
The changes still don’t stop the companies from enabling the spread of misinformation.
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Dado Ruvic / Reuters Why Online Allies Matter in Fighting Harassment
A clever experiment with Twitter bots shows that telling people not to be racist can work—but only if it comes from someone influential and white.
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Alvaro Dominguez Baby, Monitored
Parents can remotely track infants’ heart rate, their mood, and their every move—but should they?
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Eric Thayer / Reuters Three Millennia of Safety Pins
The tiny tool has held up Roman togas and decorated punk rockers. Now, it’s a symbol of support. An Object Lesson.
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William H. Mumler / Wikimedia / The Atlantic The Broken Technology of Ghost Hunting
The best tools for tracking down spirits have always been the ones fallible enough to find something.
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Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters The Tech White Power Used to Go Viral
Trump’s most fringe supporters found a voice—and an audience—on mainstream social media sites.
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Mike Segar / Reuters Facebook Goes Full Nietzsche, Declares Users Dead
People reported seeing a memorial banner on the site that urged friends to celebrate their lives.
