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10.21.25
AI Is Changing What High School STEM Students Study
BY SOFIA BARNETT | 3-MINUTE READ
A degree in computer science used to promise a cozy career in tech. Now, students’ ambitions are shaped by AI, in fields that blend computing with analysis, interpretation, and data.
How to See Comet Lemmon This October
BY RITSUKO KAWAI | 3-MINUTE READ
This long-duration comet will make its closest approach to Earth this fall, before disappearing into the outer solar system for another 1,000 years.
A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone
BY EMILY MULLIN | 2-MINUTE READ
Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.
SpaceX’s Second-Gen Starship Signs Off With a Near-Perfect Test Flight
BY STEPHEN CLARK, ARS TECHNICA | 5-MINUTE READ
This was the last flight of SpaceX’s V2 Starship design. Version 3 arrives next year.
Anthropic Has a Plan to Keep Its AI From Building a Nuclear Weapon. Will It Work?
BY MATTHEW GAULT | 4-MINUTE READ
Anthropic partnered with the US government to create a filter meant to block Claude from helping someone build a nuke. Experts are divided on whether its a necessary protection—or a protection at all.
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Is Spewing Water Like a Cosmic Fire Hydrant
BY SIMONE VALESINI | 2-MINUTE READ
Analyses of its emissions using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory indicate that the interstellar comet probably has a very different structure than comets in the solar system.
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data
BY ANDY GREENBERG AND MATT BURGESS | 10-MINUTE READ
With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypted.
Can AI Avoid the Enshittification Trap?
BY STEVEN LEVY | 5-MINUTE READ
Cory Doctorow’s theory of “enshittification” explains how tech platforms rot from within. As AI grows more profitable—and powerful—it risks the same fate.
When Face Recognition Doesn’t Know Your Face Is a Face
BY MATT BURGESS | 7-MINUTE READ
An estimated 100 million people live with facial differences. As face recognition tech becomes widespread, some say they’re getting blocked from accessing essential systems and services.
Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck
BY ZOË SCHIFFER | 9-MINUTE READ
“We were the targets.” WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they’re proud to drive it.