Jeff Wise

The Doorway From Impossible

The Wrights’ “first airplane” was such a poor flyer that it barely qualified to be called an airplane at all. But it achieved something more important than flight.

The Wrights’ “first airplane” was such a poor flyer that it barely qualified to be called an airplane at all. But it achieved something more important than flight.

What's Your Favorite Mistake?

I've never felt so flat-out dumb as I did that day. I'll never forget that horrible feeling of shame, seeping over me like hot acid, as I realized that I'd done something that could not easily be undone.

I've never felt so flat-out dumb as I did that day. I'll never forget that horrible feeling of shame, seeping over me like hot acid, as I realized that I'd done something that could not easily be undone.

The company has striven to bind together every aspect of the internet experience, to achieve immortality through intrusiveness. And this, I think, will be their undoing.

Why Your Brain’s Wrong About Danger

The world is full of potential hazards. Unfortunately, the things that we're afraid of oftentimes aren't the things that are actually mostly likely to hurt us.

The world is full of potential hazards. Unfortunately, the things that we're afraid of oftentimes aren't the things that are actually mostly likely to hurt us.

What Passengers Experienced During AF447's Final Moments

We will never know for sure what it was like to experience the last few minutes of this doomed flight, but the retrieved data allows for a pretty good guess.

We will never know for sure what it was like to experience the last few minutes of this doomed flight, but the retrieved data allows for a pretty good guess.

How Panic Doomed an Airliner

What doomed the 228 men, women and children aboard Air France 447 was neither weather nor technological failure, but simple human error. Under pressure, human beings can lose their ability to think clearly and to properly execute their training—a well-known failing that has proven all too difficult to eliminate.

What doomed the 228 men, women and children aboard Air France 447 was neither weather nor technological failure, but simple human error. Under pressure, human beings can lose their ability to think clearly and to properly execute their training—a well-known failing that has proven all too difficult to eliminate.

The truth about how professional interrogators can unmask liars is even more fascinating than the misconceptions spread by the popular media.

Surviving Fear under the Ice

"Here I am, under the ice, struggling upside down, and all but blind."

"Here I am, under the ice, struggling upside down, and all but blind."

Gerry Duffy, a rangy, chiseled 43-year-old from Ireland, ranks one of the most formidible endurance athletes in the world. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about him is that he used to be just like the rest of us.

If one addiction researcher's groundbreaking ideas are correct, then governments' plans tend to fall apart for the very same reason that our individual attempts at self-control do.