Welcome to the laser wars

PLUS: NASA's Quest to Touch the Sun, and more.

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences 05.13.24 HOT STUFF | 6-MINUTE READ NASA's Quest to Touch the Sun BY THOMAS ZURBUCHEN The outer layers of the sun's atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface. NASA sent a probe to find out why—by getting closer to the star than ever before. FAILURE MODES | 6-MINUTE READ Generative AI Doesn't Make Hardware Less Hard BY LAUREN GOODE Wearable AI gadgets from Rabbit and Humane were panned by reviewers, including at WIRED. Their face-plants show that it's still tough to compete with big tech in the age of ChatGPT. BLOOD BANK | 4-MINUTE READ These Artificial Blood Platelets Could One Day Save Lives BY EMILY MULLIN Platelets help blood clot, but they have a short shelf life. With blood in short supply, synthetic platelets could help meet demand. PEW PEW | 10-MINUTE READ The US Has Unleashed the Age of the Laser Weapon BY JARED KELLER Amid a rising tide of adversary drones and missile attacks, laser weapons are finally poised to enter the battlefield. SPONSORED CONTENT Amor Towles Returns With Stylish, Short Fiction in the New York Times Bestseller Table for Two "Towles' best book yet. Each tale is as satisfying as a master chef's main course, filled with drama, wit, erudition and ... heart."—Los Angeles Times GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL | 6-MINUTE READ Time Is Running Out in the Hunt for Rare Bitcoin BY JOEL KHALILI A small band of collectors is finding and collecting rare fragments of bitcoin worth many times the face value. But their window of opportunity is closing. MACHINE READABLE | 4-MINUTE READ Inside the Cult of the Haskell Programmer BY SHEON HAN It's spooky. It's esoteric. It's also the key to understanding the rise and relevance of functional programming. DISC DRIVE | 9-MINUTE READ An Innovative EV Motor Used by Lamborghini, McLaren, and Ferrari Is Being Mass-Produced by Mercedes BY BEN OLIVER Compared to the usual EV power plants, axial-flux motors are smaller and lighter, and have more torque. But they're hard to make at scale. Now Mercedes is bringing them to the masses. RANTS AND RAVES | 5-MINUTE READ Reading Has Hurt Me for Years. With a Tablet Holder, It Doesn't BY NENA FARRELL Cysts in both wrists made reading a literal pain. But Lamicall's Tablet Holder takes that pain away by holding up my Kindle for me. Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world on jobs.wired.com Site Reliability Engineer – Client Platform Coinbase Location: Remote APPLY NOW Senior Software Engineer – Server SDKs PayPal Location: Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas, USA APPLY NOW Thanks for reading. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. Plus, browse more newsletters from WIRED. You're receiving this email because you signed up for the Daily newsletter from WIRED.   Manage your preferences  |   View our Privacy Policy  |  Unsubscribe   Have questions or comments? Send us a message. Need help? Contact us.   Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.