Is Asymptomatic Spread of COVID-19 Very Rare? Depends How You Define 'Asymptomatic'
Plus: Netflix out-trademarks the U.S. government, contraception shortages, and more...
Science & Technology
Alone Together in the Pandemic
How we lost our social spaces and how we found them again
After Nearly 30 Years, Pennsylvania's Walter Ogrod is Released From Death Row
False testimony and prosecutorial misconduct put Walter Ogrod on death row.
Face Mask Volunteers DIY Their Own Kind of Division of Labor
Making masks, face shields, and other protective equipment is the bottom-up, COVID-19 version of rolling bandages or knitting socks for the troops.
It's Hard To Take Either Side in Trump's Twitter Spat Seriously
The president promises penalties he has no power to impose, while the company promises moderation it cannot deliver.
What Should We Do If YouTube Censors on Behalf of the Chinese Communist Party?
Technological—not political—solutions will secure true freedom of speech online
Australian Court Rules Media Outlets Are Responsible for Facebook Users' Comments
Online censorship is coming, and it’s going to be bad news for everybody.
NASA Astronauts Hitch a Ride With Elon Musk's SpaceX
Today's Crew Dragon launch marks the first time a private company has sent humans into orbit.
Trump's Illegal, Impossible Plan to Teach Twitter a Lesson
Plus: unrest in Minneapolis, Twitter labels Trump tweet, and more...
Trump's Executive Order on Twitter Is a Total Mess
Plus: the weird new battle lines on warrantless surveillance, more CDC incompetence, Minneapolis on fire, and more…
Judge to FBI: You Should've Gotten a Warrant Before Turning On That Phone
Plus: Virginia decriminalizes marijuana, it's not Trump's call whether we close the country again, and more…
Sanders Delegates Banned From Bashing Biden on Social Media
Plus: "Obscene" cartoonist gets probation, U.S. teen births plummet, a reopening win in Ohio, and more...
Supreme Court Won't Hear Suit Saying Facebook Helped With Hamas Attack
Hamas "used and relied on" Facebook "as among its most important tools to facilitate and carry out its terrorist activity," the plaintiffs claimed.
Justice Department Attempts To Blame Encryption for Terrorist Attack Feds Failed To See Coming
The FBI and attorney general want to ruin everybody's data security and draft Apple into compromising your safety.
Twitter Is Shifting to Remote Work. Will Other Firms Follow?
Will changes to how many of us work outlast the pandemic?
Are We Seeing Irrational Exuberance Over COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine News?
Stocks rise steeply on good news about mRNA vaccines.
Do the Divergent Results of COVID-19 Antibody Studies Reflect Real Differences?
The infection fatality rate probably varies from one place to another.
Sen. Josh Hawley Is the Ultimate Karen
Karen wants to speak to your manager. The senator from Missouri wants to become your manager.
Working From Home May Be a Permanent Feature of the Post-Pandemic World
That has interesting implications for where people will base themselves in the future.
Prager University and Tulsi Gabbard Lose Censorship Suits Against Google
Forcing Google to behave like a public utility would probably not serve the interests of those demanding that designation—or the rest of us.
Immigrants Have a Right to Privacy Too
Forcibly collecting DNA samples from immigrants in detention is yet another horrifying form of mass surveillance
This App Protects Privacy While Tracing COVID-19 Infections
Stanford researcher Tina White and the new nonprofit Covid Watch are committed to protecting both individual rights and public health.
New Facebook Oversight Board Will Handle Tricky Moderation, but Will It Value Free Speech?
Mark Zuckerberg can't please the anti-tech populists on the left and the right, no matter what he does.
How to Track COVID-19 Without Mass Surveillance
Apple and Google's Bluetooth-based app would reportedly be voluntary and anonymous. Privacy advocates say we should accept nothing less.
Will Americans Actually Use Contact Tracing Apps?
Apps that track users are being hyped as the way to lift lockdowns. But there are reasons to be skeptical.
The Consequential Frontier
The "privatization" of space has already expanded the possibilities of the cosmos for all mankind far beyond what six decades of federal bureaucracy could.
A Formerly Secret Memo Explains the DEA's Long Delay in Approving New Producers of Marijuana for Research
The Justice Department concluded in 2018 that an anti-drug treaty requires stricter controls than the DEA originally planned.
China Is Rolling Out a Government Digital Currency. We Shouldn't Try to Copy Them.
Western countries aren’t immune to the siren call of surveillance via commerce-tracking.
Billionaires in Space: How Musk, Bezos, and Branson Could Save Humanity
Aerospace pioneer and SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan on the dawn of private space travel.
Cellphone-Tracking Can Help Fight the Pandemic Only If Governments Resist Their Snoopy Instincts
Contact tracing might offer hope for slowing the spread of the pandemic—or fulfill every Big Brother-ish fear privacy advocates have ever raised.
Can Nicotine Treat COVID-19? French Researchers Think So.
Plus: abortion bans defeated again, Peter Thiel company gets contact tracing contract, and more...
Georgia High School Students Expelled for Racist TikTok Video Had Their Free Speech Rights Violated
The video was appalling, but it does not constitute a safety threat.
Snorkel Respirators, 3D-Printed Masks, and Other Grassroots Efforts To Fight COVID-19
People around the world are working together in unprecedented ways to help their neighbors and produce critical medical supplies.
Don't Get Fooled by Fake Photos of Coronavirus Lockdown Protests
Plus: Drudge challenges Trump on traffic claims, France taxes links, COVID-19 in Ohio prisons, and more...
No, Rep. Ilhan Omar: Amazon's Decision To Fire Three Workers Isn't a 'National Disgrace'
The congresswoman claimed that Amazon is "refusing to provide basic protective equipment to workers." That's not true.
2 Decades of Dubious Surveillance Will Make It Much Harder To Track COVID-19 Now
Government officials have only themselves to blame if citizens decline to share their information.
We Can Track COVID-19's Spread Without Violating Privacy
The coronavirus is no excuse to intrude on people's lives unnecessarily. Tech provides decentralized systems for contact tracing.
Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19
They trade tips and manuals through a decentralized information-sharing network. Biomedical technicians say it's the fastest and easiest way to get life-saving information.
Texas Teen Booked on Terror Charge for COVID-19 Snapchat Video
She posted on social media about deliberately spreading the disease, but she's not actually sick.
No, 5G Is Not Spreading Coronavirus. That Doesn't Even Make Sense.
These theories are dumb. Destroying 5G infrastructure is not going to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
U.K. Media Lobby Wants Government To Force Advertisers to Support Coronavirus Coverage
Desperate for revenue, online outlets try to use a crisis to overrule their customers’ judgment.
One Man's Battle With the IRS Over Bitcoin Privacy
William Zietzke’s tax battle may affect thousands of cryptocurrency holders.
Zoom Is Keeping Pandemic-Stricken America Connected. Cue Congress's Tech Panic.
Plus: Court upholds Texas abortion ban, Americans say they're choosing to stay at home, a doctor's view on hydroxychloroquine, and more...
