Listen to an 18,000-Year-Old Instrument Sing Once More

Long, long ago, a human modified a conch shell to belt out a tune. Here's how scientists resurrected its triumphant sound.

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The Case for Launching an Easy Mode for Difficult Games

Balancing a studio’s desire to create a challenging game and casual players’ demands for something lighter can be tough. Control did it very well.

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The Best Mirrorless Cameras to Level Up Your Photos

Want the image quality of a DSLR without the bulk? These mirrorless cameras do more with less.

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A Barcode Scanner App With Millions of Downloads Goes Rogue

After an update in December, the app began infecting Android devices, bombarding users with ads on their default browser.

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Game Subscriptions Are On the Rise. Indies Could Suffer

Curated video game ecosystems pose an uncertain future for those outside the blockbuster bubble.

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The Digital Divide Is Giving American Churches Hell

Covid-19 has upended churchgoing in the US. Like so much else with the pandemic, the impacts are not felt equally.

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Beijing’s Ban on Clubhouse Won't Deter Some Listeners

The audio app hosted discussions on sensitive topics such as Taiwan and Uighurs before it was removed from the App Store. Some users have found workarounds.

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How to Make Your Music Streaming a Little More Social

Share playlists, listen with friends remotely, and stay connected with these tips.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Maker Was Hit With Ransomware—and Won't Pay Up

CD Projekt Red's list of woes gets longer, as hackers claim to have stolen the source code for their most popular games.

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Covid-19 Vaccine Scams Spread Under Facebook's Watch

Don’t use an iTunes gift card to purchase doses of the vaccine online.

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The Best Running Gear for Your Long and Chilly Winter

Your gym might be closed, but the roads and parks are full. Get started running with our favorite cold-weather picks.

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How to Keep Kids Engaged in School—With Games

Teaching my high school class remotely hasn't been easy. But it has taught me a lot about how to use interactive tools to keep their attention.

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How This Teeny-Tiny Sea Critter Punches Like Mike Tyson

Using a camera shooting 300,000 frames per second, researchers catch the amphipod snapping its extraordinarily powerful claw.

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Artists Reimagine How Covid-19 Will Shape the Art World

When galleries and museums closed, artists found new ways to present their work. Now they're looking ahead to what their craft will look like after the pandemic.

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Would You Trade a Bitcoin for a Tesla?

The maker of electric vehicles said it had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and plans to accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its cars.

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2034, Part III: One Left to Tell the Tale

“When the planes didn't attack, a silence fell over the crew. Why didn't they finish the job?”

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The AirPods Max Are Insanely Great—and Insanely Expensive

Apple’s flagship noise-canceling headphones have a premium build and a premium price tag, but they also sound better than the rest.

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A Hacker Tried to Poison a Florida City's Water Supply

The attacker upped sodium hydroxide levels in the Oldsmar, Florida, water supply to extremely dangerous levels.

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Everyone on Twitter Needs an Etiquette Manual

After a year of quarantine, we could all use help relearning how to connect to people in a healthy way.

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How Did They Find the Secret Space Lab in Captain Marvel?

They talk about something called state vectors. What the heck are those, and would it really work?

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Forget Blood—Your Skin Might Know If You’re Sick

This glowing microneedle test could catalyze a transition from blood-based diagnostics to a stick-on patch.

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Tips on How to Snag a PlayStation 5 (Good Luck!)

Months after launch, Sony's latest console is proving difficult to find for many. We've got some tips on how to score one.

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Films of the Era Will Be as Unbalanced as the Pandemic Itself

What will films look like because of Covid-19? The same as during any other traumatic event. Some good, some bad, some brilliant.

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The Secret, Essential Geography of the Office

A workplace has its own informal cardinal directions: elevatorward, kitchenward, bathroomward. It's a map we share.

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A Historic Union Vote Gets Underway at Amazon

A warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, could become the first Amazon union in the US. But it won’t happen overnight.

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All These Mutant Virus Strains Need New Code Names

As potentially more dangerous variants of Covid-19 spread, scientists are taking a crack at giving them clearer names that’ll help in the fight.

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How Choreography Can Help Robots Come Alive

Dance and robotics rarely overlap. But if they did, it could make robots seem less like industrial contrivances, and more like empathetic beings.

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A Silicon Chip Shortage Is Causing Big Issues for Automakers

Car companies have had to reduce output, pause production, and even idle shifts and entire factories.

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What Dust From Space Tells Us About Ourselves

Micrometeorites fill every corner of our planet. Matthew Genge is using these shards of interplanetary space to understand Earth and its place in the solar system.

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These Are the 11 Android Phones Worth Buying

Shopping for a new phone can be an ordeal. Let us take some of the pain out of it with these picks and tips.

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How to Free Up Space on Your Laptop

Running out of storage for that new game or work files you need to download? Here’s how to make some room.

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How to Stream the Super Bowl, Kitten Bowl, and Puppy Bowl

It's a day of Bowls and we'll tell you how to watch every one of them online, for free.

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Sad QAnon Followers Are at a Precarious Pivot Point

Disillusioned after Biden was sworn in, conspiracy theorists could now be swayed back to reality by conservatives and family members—or toward darker fringes.

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How to Find a Better Cell Phone Carrier

Everyone has an opinion on their wireless carrier, but the “best” option for you isn’t the best option for someone else. Here’s how to decide.

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Government Demands for Amazon User Data Exploded in 2020

Plus: Smartmatic lawsuits, a fake WhatsApp, and more of the week’s top security news.

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The Best Electric Toothbrushes for Your Pearly Whites

Yes, you have to recharge a toothbrush, but these can actually make brushing a little easier. Here are our favorites.

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How Steel Might Finally Kick Its Coal Habit

In order to curb the industry's prolific carbon emissions, the sector will have to transform how the material is traditionally made.

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Finally, an Interesting Proposal for Section 230 Reform

A new bill directly targets the most egregious excesses of online platform immunity.

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A New Vaccine, Protection Against Strains, and More News

Catch up on the most important updates from this week.

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Bliss Is the Worst Kind of Open-Ended Sci-Fi Movie

The director Mike Cahill loves ambiguity—and he used to be good at it.

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'Thoughts and Prayers' Is Clever Sci-Fi About Internet Trolls

Ken Liu's new short story is about a mother and father who get harassed online when they advocate for gun control following their daughter's murder.

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Screw It, Give 'The Mandalorian' a Golden Globe

It’s ridiculous that I May Destroy You wasn’t nominated. But if Michaela Coel won't get an award, at least give one to Baby Yoda.

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The Best Cheap Phones for (Almost) Every Budget

There’s little reason to pay top dollar for a phone these days. These are our favorite Android devices and iPhones for $200 to $500.

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Jeff Bezos Doesn’t Have Time to Be CEO of Amazon

Plus: The shelf life of a tech executive, innovation in the Covid era, and a green new emailer.

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Stunning Images of Starlings in Flight

For this Danish photographer, documenting the birds’ migration through the autumn dusk takes patience—and a fast shutter speed.

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Clubhouse Goes Mainstream—Where Does It Go Next?

This week, we discuss Elon Musk's drop-in and how the platform is weathering its growing pains.

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Why This Year’s Super Bowl Will Look Like Madden IRL

Sunday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might make TV viewers feel like they should have a controller in their hand.

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More Covid Vaccine Choices Mean New Equity Challenges

Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine can be delivered in a single dose, but it’s also slightly less effective. Who should get it?

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Everything You Need to Know About the Coronavirus

Here's all the WIRED coverage in one place, from how to keep your children entertained to how this outbreak is affecting the economy.

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The Gaming Platforms That Let Streamers Profit From Hate

WIRED has found dozens of far-right and white supremacist figures monetizing their livestreams through “donation management services” Streamlabs and StreamElements.

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A Coordinated Takedown Targets 'OGUser' Account Thieves

Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok have all taken action against the hacker community in recent days.

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A New Lens Technology Is Primed to Jump-Start Phone Cameras

The optics in your smartphone have been pretty much the same for more than a decade. That’s about to change.

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There Are Spying Eyes Everywhere—and Now They Share a Brain

Security cameras. License plate readers. Smartphone trackers. Drones. We’re being watched 24/7. What happens when all those data streams fuse into one?

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10 Great TV and Soundbar Deals for the Super Bowl

Yeah, there's a big football game this weekend, but we're more excited about these OLED TV and soundbar deals.

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The Video Games We’re Most Looking Forward to in 2021

New consoles mean new titles. Time to strap in and get ready to play.

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Here’s What Learning to Juggle Does to Your Brain

First of all, you have to stop thinking and kind of become a robot.

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On the Capitalist Internet, Even Celebs Join the Gig Economy

Gimmicky message services like Cameo treat goodwill as a friendly contagion, something anyone can catch and spread. Just don’t let the money run out.

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Lo-Fi Music Streams Are All About the Euphoria of Less

On an internet built around excess, lo-fi hip-hop channels have created a community for minimalist escape.

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How Censorship Can Influence Artificial Intelligence

A study finds that algorithms learn to associate words with other words. “Democracy” can equal “stability”—or “chaos.”

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How to Make a Fitbit for an Elephant

The accelerometers give scientists information about whether animals are swimming, walking, running, or even sprinting up a hill.

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Inside the World of Young Black Sims Content Creators

In The Sims, you can ideally design a whole new life. These modders and designers found the game fell short of that promise, so they're picking up the slack.

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Biden Has to Walk a Fine Line When Fighting Disinformation

The president pledged to defend the truth, but how far can he go without impinging Americans’ rights or undermining his cause?

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AI and the List of Dirty, Naughty … and Otherwise Bad Words

It started as a way to restrict autocompletes on Shutterstock. Now it grooms search suggestions on Slack and influences Google's artificial intelligence research.

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The Sims Made Me Realize I'm Ready for More In Life

I'm ready for a partner and kids—and if you're a little more mindful while playing, you just might realize something about yourself, too.

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So, Jeff Bezos, You Really Want to Fix the Planet?

Amazon's founder is stepping down to focus on other projects, like the Bezos Earth Fund. Here's what he can do to help fix the mess humans have made of the world.

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8 Tips to Transform Your Sims 4 Gameplay

From secret aspirations to custom graveyards, YouTube creator and transgender artist Juno Birch spills the tea on Sims 4.

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Amazon's Greatest Gadget Hits: Highlights of the Bezos Era

Amazon has made a lot of helpful, but also bizarre, stuff during CEO Jeff Bezos’s reign. Here are some of our favorites.

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Why ‘Inside Job’ Zoombombs Are So Hard to Stop

Researchers have found that most calls to disrupt videoconferences originate with the participants, especially in high schools and colleges.

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Among Us Taps Into Our Obsession With Betrayal

The massively popular game gives players the freedom and autonomy to backstab one another—but also build connections.

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The Chrome Update Is Bad for Advertisers, but Good for Google

The world’s most popular browser is about to make it a lot harder for advertisers to track your online activity.

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The Line Between Digital Trade and Security Is Always Blurry

Internet regulators around the world conflate the two, which strains international relations.

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The Medium Doesn’t Live Up to Its Best Ideas

Bloober Team’s newest horror title is a bad deal at $50 but a great way to pass a weekend on Game Pass.

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3 Services to Help You Take Charge of Your Mental Health

We're all having a tough time right now, but these apps, podcasts, and websites can provide a lifeline.

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What Will it Take to Make Covid-19 Vaccines Variant-Proof?

As emerging mutations threaten the progress made against the pandemic, scientists and regulators are racing to figure out a process for updating shots.

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The Best Deals and Cases for Every Galaxy S21

We break down the differences between Samsung’s three Galaxy phones—and our favorite accessories and discounts.

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It’s Time for a National Pandemic Prediction Agency

A federal office that collects outbreak data, models epidemics, and spreads the word to the public could keep the next Covid from being another Covid.

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A Second SolarWinds Hack Deepens Third-Party Software Fears

It appears that not only Russia but also China targeted the company, a reminder of the many ways interconnectedness can go wrong.

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Bezos' Departure as CEO Shows Amazon Is a Cloud Company Now

Andy Jassy, who helped create Amazon Web Services in 2006 and has run it since, will take over as chief executive later this year.

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The Amazon Case Signals a Tougher Stance on Gig Economy Firms

The retail giant agrees to repay almost $62 million in tips to drivers for its Flex delivery service; the company used the money to meet its promised hourly wages.

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US Cities Are Way Underreporting Their Carbon Footprints

A modeling system called Vulcan shows that on average, cities across the country pollute 18.3 percent more than they’ve estimated.

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How to Use Your Speedometer to Figure Out Where Your Car Is

You should never drive in a car with no windows. But in case you ever find yourself in one, you can use physics to get your bearings.

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The Audio Design Hacks That Made Mank Sound Like Citizen Kane

Ren Klyce had to experiment with a lot of new ideas to make David Fincher's movie sound old.

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The Race Is On to Stop Scalping Bots From Buying All the PS5s

The pandemic, and the resulting supply chain damage, has kicked retail bots into full gear.

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The No-Good Very Nasty Remastering of The Lord of the Rings

In correcting every imperfection and sharpening every blur of his epic fantasy trilogy, Peter Jackson has violated a fundamental law of nature.

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As Robots Fill the Workplace, They Must Learn to Get Along

Warehouses, factories, and hospitals are deploying more robots, often made by different companies. That can lead to communication problems.

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An Inclusive, Cyberpunk Future Is In the Cards

A humble card game, Android: Netrunner has the same roots as Cyberpunk 2077— but went in an entirely different direction.

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The New Moto G Series Really Phones It In

Motorola's new phones will meet the most minimal of expectations.

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Face ID Will Soon Work With a Mask—If You Have an Apple Watch

Recognizing you while your face is covered is still pretty tough for a computer.

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2034, Part II: Blackout in Washington, DC

“So much was happening and yet they had no news. Everything had been compromised.”

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Those Most Likely to Get Covid Are Last in Line for Vaccines

Distribution plans that favor people with time and internet access hurt Black and Latinx people disproportionately.

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The Lion, the Polygamist, and the Biofuel Scam

How a member of a breakaway Mormon sect teamed up with a Lambo-driving, hard-partying tycoon to bilk the government for hundreds of millions of dollars.

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The World in Cyberpunk 2077 Is Hollow—the Posters Prove It

Sex and violence sells, I guess.

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One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack - February 2021

This month's focus is on reporter Mohamad Mosaed, an outspoken critic of the Iranian government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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'Fake Famous' Review: A Fun Window Into Instagram Influencers

In Fake Famous, journalist Nick Bilton sets out to document how easy it is to manufacture celebrity online.

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Grado’s No-Frills Wireless Buds Have Seriously Good Sound

The GT220 have the excellent audio quality the company is known for, and they fit better than most of the competition.

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Biden Wants the Government to Run on EVs. It Won’t Be Easy

The president hopes electrifying the federal fleet will create jobs and encourage motorists to ditch gas-powered cars. But no automaker is ready yet.

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Two Paths for the Extremely Online Novel

Lauren Oyler's Fake Accounts and Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This ask the same questions about the internet. Their answers sound nothing alike.

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Here’s the Right Way to Rescue a Soaking Wet Smartphone

Given the hundreds of ways your phone could come into life-threatening contact with liquid, you should know what to do when it happens (because it will).

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February’s Gonna Be a Big Month for Mars

On the 9th, the first of three spacecraft will arrive at the Red Planet and inaugurate a new era of Martian exploration.

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The Recession Exposes the US’ Failures on Worker Retraining

Unemployment is high, and many pre-pandemic jobs will not return. But the US spends a smaller share of its economy on training than most developed nations.

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