Mind control for the masses—no implant needed

PLUS: Uber for transit, the oldest story ever recorded, and whales explaining menopause. View this email in your browser  01.02.20   UNDER THE BUS Cities Struggle to Boost Ridership With 'Uber for Transit' Schemes BY FLAVIE HALAIS Helsinki, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Singapore, and other metros have been experimenting with on-demand buses—and not seeing a lot of success.   REPRODUCTION Whales Help Explain the Evolutionary Mystery of Menopause BY CATHLEEN O'GRADY, ARS TECHNICA Like humans, female killer whales stop reproducing decades before the end of their life span. Grandmothers might show why.    STORYTIME This Cave Contains the Oldest Story Ever Recorded BY KIONA N. SMITH, ARS TECHNICA Archaeologists say the 43,900-year-old cave painting might also include the oldest known religious images.   BRAIN GAMES Mind Control for the Masses—No Implant Needed BY ARIELLE PARDES A wave of startups wants to make brain-computer interfaces accessible without needing surgery. Just strap on the device and think.   SPONSORED CONTENT 80% of New Year's Resolutions Fail—Here's How You Can Beat the Odds New research reveals what we're getting wrong about habit formation (hint: repetition is overrated). According to BJ Fogg, the founder of Stanford's Behavior Design Lab, the key is Tiny Habits. GET WIRED   Get exclusive access to our extended New Year's Sale   For a limited time, get a full year of the print magazine + digital access to wired.com for just $5.   Subscribe Today   DECADE IN REVIEW Internet Deception Is Here to Stay—So What Do We Do Now? BY PARIS MARTINEAU Fake followers. Fake news. Foreign influence operations. The last decade revealed that much of what's online is not as it seems.   DECADE IN REVIEW The Two Myths of the Internet BY SIVA VAIDHYANATHAN The 2010s began with one story about the political power of technology. It ended with another. Both were wrong.   FOREST FOR THE TREES We Might Not Be Planting the Right Kinds of Forests BY ISABELLA KAMINSKI As the world scrambles to combat deforestation, experts warn our efforts could have far fewer benefits than we think.   IDEAS The Architects of Our Digital Hellscape Are Very Sorry BY ROSE EVELETH Tech leaders need to innovate on their apologies. But given the state of the internet, is a meaningful mea culpa even possible?     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions