Britain Wants To Ban Teens From Social Media. The Evidence Suggests It Won't Work.
Britain is following Australia into a policy that has already struggled to keep children off social media, while forcing adults through intrusive age checks.
Science & Technology
The White House vs. Anthropic's New AI Model
The government says this is about national security. But given the history—and ongoing litigation—between the White House and Anthropic, something more may be going on.
Elon Musk Becomes the World's First Trillionaire. Is That Such a Bad Thing?
Growing economies benefit all people, not just the uberwealthy.
Two Senators Offer a Bipartisan Solution to Censorship by Proxy
The JAWBONE Act would let Americans sue government officials who try to restrict their speech by pressuring social media platforms, broadcasters, or AI companies.
ACLU Sues After Facial Recognition Falsely Identifies Florida Man as a Child Abductor
Police arrested and charged Robert Dillon with a heinous crime based on nothing more than a faulty image search.
The FDA Finally Approved a New Sunscreen Ingredient. It Only Took Over 25 Years.
The FDA's burdensome regulatory process has throttled sunscreen innovation.
The Smartphone Theory of Birth Rate Decline Still Doesn't Hold Up
A new NBER study suffers from the same flaws plaguing previous research on phones and fertility rates.
The Next AI Success Story Might Be Nepal
A market-friendly ruling party, abundant energy, and ample talent could jumpstart a new tech hub in the Himalayas.
Illinois Just Adopted a Half-Baked Scheme to Tax Social Media
A lack of comprehension and sloppy language make a mess of a new tax scheme.
Why You Can't Settle Mars or Colonize the Moon Without Real Property Rights
The Outer Space Treaty and other legal obstacles could block our sci-fi future.
Israel Tests Iran
Plus: Trump watches the Knicks, H-1B fee ruling, Mormons off the list, and more...
Reading: The Quietest Way To Disobey
Today's anxieties about digital culture are prefigured in the long and wobbly history of books.
Do Democrats Still Have a Big-City Crime Problem?
Plus: What California's election results tell us, the economic costs of war with Iran, and the push to nationalize AI
Penis Measurements Cannot Justify a Sex Offender's Indefinite Detention, South Carolina's Top Court Says
The court unanimously ruled that penile plethysmography is unreliable and inadmissible as evidence of recidivism risk.
New Embryo Editing Technique Takes Us a Step Closer to Designing Babies Without Disease
Gene-editing human embryos may now be a reality.
The Best Way To Keep Data Centers From Driving Up Electricity Costs
Don't impose a moratorium. Produce more energy.
The Surgeon General's Screen Warning Is Not Science
The screen time advisory reveals why we don’t need a surgeon general.
Data Center Wars: North Carolina Resists Innovation While Texas Considers Market-Based Rules
As data centers dominate public debate, two states reveal their approach. Texas has taken a stance in line with market needs, while North Carolina reacts to fear and bad press.
The Debate Over Israel Aid Is Coming. Congress Wants To Future-Proof the Relationship First.
The Israeli government is willing to phase out U.S. financial grants. But Mike Rogers and Tom Cotton want to lock in other forms of aid—without a debate in Congress.
Google Aims to Debug California and Florida by Releasing 64 Million Mosquitoes
An earlier project already led to a 95 percent drop in biting females of one disease-carrying species in Fresno.
Do You Trust the Government to Control AI?
Donald Trump wants to give it a little more control. Bernie Sanders wants to give it a lot.
Bernie Sanders' AI Wealth Fund Bill Shows That He Doesn't Understand AI or Wealth
Sanders' plan would impose a one-time tax of 50 percent of AI companies' stock and give the government voting shares and the power to block corporate decisions.
The Enhanced Games Proved Enhancement Works But Youth Works Better
But many older enhanced athletes did achieve better results than their younger selves.
Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy
Unlike many people who tackle this topic, Kira Ganga Kieffer treats the vaccine-hesitant with respect and curiosity, not contempt.
James Talarico vs. Ken Paxton, the Pope on AI, and Caves
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss James Talarico changing his tune and how the Pope views artificial intelligence.
5 Bills Signed by Wes Moore That Will Impact Housing and AI Development in Maryland
Couched with good intentions, new laws aimed at housing and artificial intelligence development will add more layers of red tape to Maryland’s growing bureaucracy.
A Flawed Minimum Wage Study Shows How Bad Stats Get Turned Into Policy Gospel
A 2024 paper claimed higher minimum wages don't kill jobs. It was statistically significant—and almost certainly misleading.
Anti-Tech Extremism Worries the Same Federal Government That's Been Fueling Anti-Tech Extremism
Plus: Plan B for STIs, justifying "deadly force" to protect fertilized eggs, and more.
How to Make Sure AI Doesn't Spy on Us or Kill Innocent People
If we want powerful AI systems to respect liberty, now is the time to train them to be more libertarian.
Magnifica Humanitas
Plus: Another round of strikes, developments in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, weight-loss drug results, and more...
A Tennessee Man Jailed for 37 Days Because of an Anti-Trump Meme Will Get $835,000 for His Trouble
Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems preposterously claimed that Larry Bushart had threatened "mass violence" at a school.
Data Centers Use Less Water Than Almond Farms—and Do More Good
Left and right, the arguments against data centers are incredibly weak—and even suspicious.
Coffee Is Good for Your Brain
Researchers tracked 130,000 people for over 40 years and found coffee was associated with reduced risk of dementia.
The Smartphone Theory of Birth Rate Decline Doesn't Hold Up
Fertility rates started falling centuries before the iPhone was introduced.
Stewart Brand on Fixing Stuff, Modern Environmentalism, and the Nuclear Future
"There's always a place in not just the market, but a range of situations and mindsets, for things that are cheap, fast, and just barely in control," the Whole Earth Catalog creator tells Reason.
The Surprising Divide Over What Counts as True
A new study finds that what people think about facts, authenticity, or coherent beliefs explains why they disagree about what is true.
The Global War on Free Speech
Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff discuss the global decline of free speech, why democracies are embracing censorship, and what can be done to protect open debate.
Why I'm Cheering for This New Anti-Porn, Anti-LGBT, Christian Phone Network
Free market solutions for the win!
Reason Receives 17 Nominations for Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominees include stories on America's gerontocracy, the war on chocolate, how Texas beat California on housing, and more.
