Technology

As the coronavirus spreads around the globe, it has mutated in tiny, subtle ways. Those mutations aren’t cause for concern, and so far, don’t appear to be making the virus any more or less dangerous. But scientists can use those slight changes to track the virus from person to person, and location to location. “If…

But that logic is difficult to follow after watching several episodes of Dishmantled, a cooking show hosted by Titus Burgess that's part hyper-accelerated Chopped, part voyeuristically punishing Japanese gameshow. In every 5 minute episode, chefs are blindfolded and assaulted by an exploding mystery dish. Their goal: To eat the disgusting remnants from the floor and…

During the summer of 2006, back when RJ Scaringe was working through a degree in automotive engineering at MIT, he began to wonder how difficult it might be to live within strict environmental boundaries. How much would you have to change—and how fast, for how long—if you desired to wipe away the carbon traces of…

And, of course, there was the Wii U in 2012. Though it represents a cringeworthy period of Nintendo history, the Wii U served as a necessary predecessor to today's Switch, allowing the company to experiment with its own brand of dual-display gaming and welcoming developers to think in new ways. Rayman Legends was arguably the…

Hello again. In these times of enforced isolation, I’m thankful to have this direct line to all of you. Feel free to stay in touch through [email protected], and use the subject line ASK LEVY, even if you’re not asking me a question. But do ask me a question—I’m running low.And a gentle reminder: For now,…

ASUS's engineers have added a few other premium features as well, including a full desktop-style keyboard with per-key RGB LED backlighting, and a unique AAS cooling solution that opens a large intake vent beneath the system when the lid is raised.The Zephyrus 15, meanwhile, comes with the same top-level components in a more compact form,…

Lenovo is leaping quickly on the latest NVIDIA and Intel technology for its gaming laptops. It's introducing Legion 5i and Legion 7i portables (successors to the Y540 and Y740 respectively) that, most notably, are among the first to use NVIDIA's Advanced Optimus graphics switching. The tech both lowers power consumption in less-intensive moments and ramps…

First up, as rumored, NVIDIA revealed portable versions of the RTX 2080 Super and RTX 2070 Super Max-Q GPUs for flagship-caliber gaming and creator laptops. These will be NVIDIA's best laptop GPUs, though they have very similar specs to the older models.The RTX 2080 Max-Q will be discontinued, but NVIDIA will continue to sell the…

T-Mobile completed its acquisition of Sprint Wednesday, officially reducing the number of major mobile carriers in the US from four to three.With the deal closed, T-Mobile's outspoken CEO John Legere stepped down, as planned, and was replaced by company president Mike Sievert.To win approval of the deal, T-Mobile promised regulators not to raise prices and…

The United States is currently undertaking its population census, the once-a-decade effort to count every single person living here. More than 150 other countries will join in this world census round—the 10-year period centered on 2020, and around 90 percent of the world’s population has already been or will be counted.But while impressive on a…

Sony isn't clear if it's the exact same adaptive noise cancellation that the WH-1000XM3 employs, but the WH-CH719N comes with powerful ANC that should hold its own. The company says these headphones monitor your surroundings with "Dual Noise Sensor Technology" and uses it to "improve" the noise cancellation as needed. Like the WH-1000XM3, these headphones…

Back in 2001, a middle-aged man made a video of his car and sent it around to a few friends. So far, so predictable—but this video featured a dilapidated Vauxhall Nova whizzing around a junk-strewn yard in a cloud of fog. At the wheel was Peter Dearman, a rumpled-looking autodidact who had spent the better…