The United States swears RFID tags can secure travelers' documents against forgery. But German experts clone the chips at will, while another group shows how terrorists might build a passport-triggered roadside bomb. Kim Zetter reports from the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.
When the next hurricane hits Louisiana, will authorities be able to cope? As tropical storm Chris gathers steam, the gargantuan task of gathering accurate information -- and passing it on to the public -- remains daunting. Beverly Hanly reports from New Orleans.
Japanese alt-metal group Dir en grey's first U.S. tour finds the band playing packed halls and moving mountains of merch, all thanks to the promo power of anime conventions, video games and MySpace. By Robert La Franco from Wired magazine.
A long-delayed cross-country road trip is finally made and the Luddite can only marvel at all that asphalt rolling under his wheels. Commentary by Tony Long.
The latest wheat-field artwork displays a complex, 3-D design and reignites the age-old debate about the origin of the farmland phenomenon: crafty humans or little green men? By Nigel Watson.
Ballooning bandwidth brings an explosion of online picture trafficking. What are the best tools at your disposal? By Sean Hamilton Alexander from Wired magazine.
AT&T can stay mum on spying allegations related to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's wiretapping lawsuit -- at least for a little while. In 27 B Stroke 6.
It's the web, so of course eventually someone's going to make a video of a bunch of guys singing a cappella about math and romance. It was inevitable. In Table of Malcontents.
Moon rocks are so hard to come by that scientists turn to online auctions for study materials. And they're paying a pretty penny. By Kristen Philipkoski.
Shell-shocked soldiers are coming back from Iraq with snakes in their heads. But gritty, war-zone simulations might help treat psychologically scarred vets. By Jay Dixit from Wired magazine.
The Hollywood summer blockbuster not only serves as a testament to our culture's love of escapism, but also makes a tasty breakfast. Commentary by Lore Sjöberg.
The Japanese have no native word for "privacy" -- but a government crackdown on peace activists is quickly expanding their vocabulary. Commentary by Jennifer Granick.
Can't be bothered to look up from Bejeweled and grind out a TPS report? Perhaps it's time to find another job. Mr. Know-It-All takes the moral helm in today's tech workplace. By Clive Thompson from Wired magazine.
Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats transforms an anomaly originally mistaken for an extraterrestrial transmission into an out-of-this-world abstract exhibition. Keith Axline reports from Berkeley, California.
Liberal blog goddess and former California gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington plans an expansion of The Huffington Post that eschews political banter -- insisting there's more to life than politics. Wired News interview by Kathleen Craig.