New system shows the earliest life could cooperate despite “cheaters”

Enlarge / Populations of RNAs, as in this cartoon, may have helped the first life overcome some limits on complexity. (credit: NASA) Physics is filled with papers where the authors don’t actually do anything—at least not anything empirical. Instead, they explore the math behind a topic and try to gain new theoretical insights, leaving it […]

One of Uber’s earliest backers told us why he’s bullish on the company, even though ‘they’re still finding a few skeletons’

Getty From boycotts to hacks to lawsuits, 2017 has been a rough year for Uber.  But early backer and former board member Bill Gurley still think there’s a case for it.  Gurley argues that the bull case hasn’t changed.  Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark Capital and early investor in Uber, still has faith in […]

Earliest Black Hole Gives Rare Glimpse of Ancient Universe

It weighs as much as 780 million suns and helped to cast off the cosmic Dark Ages. But now that astronomers have found the earliest known black hole, they wonder: How could this giant have grown so big, so fast? https://media.wired.com/photos/5a29bbfbadd77b1dfdfea42d/master/pass/Magellan_EarlySMBH_2880x1220_BW-2880×1220.jpg Feed: All Latest

‘Jerry Before Seinfeld’ Trailer: The Comedian Tells His Earliest Jokes on Netflix

Jerry Seinfeld is a stand-up comedy legend. The comedian’s self-titled sitcom that he created with Curb Your Enthusiasm mastermind Larry David is one of the most successful network comedies of all time, which is impressive for a show that is famously about nothing. Plus, it’s kind of the inspiration for all the sitcoms following stand-up […]

Drones: Is the Sky the Limit showcases drone tech from earliest stages to now

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link) Drones have become so mainstream that you may have considered getting one for a family member or a friend for their birthday. But this wasn’t the case just a few decades ago, when drones were mostly used by those in the military and special forces. The Intrepid Sea, Air, and […]

This is what the earliest ancestor of birds and dinosaurs looked like

Before there were dinosaurs, there was this creature: the 10-foot, long-necked Telocrater. For a study published today in the journal Nature, a team of researchers analyzed the remains of Teleocrater rhadinus, a common ancestor of birds and dinosaurs. It walks on four legs, has a very long neck and tail, and can be seven to […]