A kick-ass lady protagonist? Check. Greek mythology? Check. Comic book source material? Check. Wonder Woman has all the ingredients for a hit TV series. So…where is it?

It’s excruciatingly dull and doesn’t even feature the most important awards on the telecast—highlighting best actor over best scientific and technical achievement? The nerve! Angry Nerd offers advice on how to improve this year’s Oscar awards ceremony.

Director Peter Jackson and FXguide’s Mike Seymour reveal how a pivotal seven-minute action sequence in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was created with a combined 98 hours of footage from aerial shots, green-screen sets, live-action shoots, and complex CG environments.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down to talk about the cultural importance of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Journey, and how he plans to carry on the legacy with his new version of the transformative science exploration show.

In Brick Mansions, parkour co-founder David Belle shows off his wall-climbing, window-jumping, rail-surfing action skills. So why isn't Belle the new Bruce Lee? This should be the greatest genre in cinema history. Angry Nerd blames the French.

Character crossovers and storyline mash-ups are nothing new. But if the premise has been done before, are the character overlaps and reincarnations worth a watch? Angry Nerd makes the case for metaphysical mash-ups, including Showtime’s new “Penny Dreadful.”

Angelina Jolie stars in Disney’s new Maleficent, featuring a forest world of detailed visual effects. Mike Seymour delves into how facial movement experts Digital Domain, worked to re-create realistic, fully digital counterparts to the story’s three fairies.

After a weekend of activities and final pitches, the 40 students get ready to pack up their things and head back to reality until the 20 fellowships are awarded. In this episode, the students reflect back on what they’ve learned over the past few days, and what they’ll do if chosen as a 2014 Thiel Fellow.

Eighteen-year-old Darby Schumacher is trying to create a safer and healthier world for newborns. The 2014 Thiel Fellowship finalist is working to develop an alert system that tracks vital signs in babies to help combat Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The Tennessee native explains what prompted her to start the project and why she wants to become an entrepreneur.

Back in San Francisco, fellows Shantanu Bala and Kaushik Tiwari visit the community workshop and prototyping studio TechShop. As they tour the space and check out equipment, Shantanu develops new ideas that he can apply to his project of building new computer interfaces that use a sense of touch to get information.

A bunch of talented teens all under 20 years old move in together. Sounds like the plot of a new MTV show, but for the winners of the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, it’s reality. In this episode of Teen Technorati, the fellows give us a tour of their San Francisco and Oakland apartments, where they’re working on their projects and bringing their ideas to life.

He's the maestro of motion capture performance. From Gollum in Lord of the Rings to Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes movies, Andy Serkis is the greatest actor you've never seen. So where is this man's Oscar? The Angry Nerd has words for the Academy—doesn't he, my Precious?

Now you know what to do if a Planet of the Apes situation occurs, but is an ape takeover actually plausible? Host Quinn Beswick breaks down the likelihood of a primate invasion.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2013, WIRED debuted a giant robot mech. This year, a new version of the larger-than-life beast will be revealed at the ultimate fan convention. Watch a preview of what’s in store for the colossal creature, created in collaboration with the Stan Winston School, Legacy Effects, Stratasys, and WIRED. From design to tech and prototype to finished product, see how the ultimate cosplay creation came to life.

Now that the prototype is built, it's time to start constructing the full-scale pieces of the giant creature. In this episode, watch the dragon-like head come to life through an advanced sculpting process, after which it's refined, detailed, and painted for a realistic look.

Catch a first-look at the giant creature in action as the team tests out the mechanics of the frame.

Scarlett Johansson stars as the ass-kicking, nearly superhuman protagonist in the new sci-fi action flick Lucy. But while the French—namely the film's writer and director Luc Besson—continue to put out films with strong heroine leads, Marvel and DC seem content to sit on a reservoir of amazing female characters like She-Hulk and Black Widow.

In season four of Game of Thrones a combination of CGI and live character action were used to create impressive fight scenes and stunning visual effects. Mike Seymour breaks down the tech behind the hit HBO show.

The Indie Machines’ Erik Beck and Justin Johnson are here to destroy your electronics—all in the name of science. Watch as they put each gadget through a 3-part destruction test, like taking a sledgehammer to a Nintendo Game Boy and dropping a cinder block on an iPad.

Architect Michelle Kaufmann explains the convergence of technology and building design, and the importance of using software and data to create green, affordable homes for the global population.

Mike Seymour breaks down the tech behind the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick, including the facial animation effects. Plus, find out how an improvised, off-camera moment turned into one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig calls for a mayday on democracy and explains how he plans to do so with an innovative Kickstarter campaign.

Glenn Brown of Twitter Amplify explains how the social media service is giving brands and users a digital megaphone to tweet during broadcasts and major events.

Apple’s MacBook Air is light and easy to transport, but can it withstand a blow from our stunt performer who holds a black belt in karate? YouTuber @Jackson challenged us to find out—see what happened.

The latest victim in the movie studios' quest to take stories we know and love and destroy them with tedious pre-history? Dracula: Untold, which provides us with the unnecessary origin story on how the original vampire became a thirsty bloodsucker, long before the days of Twilight.

The British are coming. Can the new crime drama Gracepoint (based on the U.K. hit Broadchurch) find success stateside and join the shortlist of Brit expats that found their footing on red, white, and blue T.V.s, like The Office, House of Cards, and Shameless?

Dava Newman and Gui Trotti at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Just down the road from Facebook and Google, Dr. Phil Wagner runs a laboratory dedicated to optimizing the performance of some of the world’s top athletes.

Few Hollywood directors can match Christopher Nolan’s ambition, skill, and mind-bending story sense. For our December issue, the man behind Memento, Inception, the Dark Knight trilogy, and Interstellar brings his formidable talents to WIRED as our guest editor.

“Please leave a message after the ….” It’s a phrase we all know, but in 1971 the PhoneMate 400 took voicemail to the next level. Find out why the hi-tech machine changed the answering machine game.

Erik and Justin test out the most stylish gadgets available at this year’s WIRED Store. See what happens when the two get their hands on a Dyson handheld vacuum, the Ballo stool (a sleeker update to the balance ball chair), and a modern, Bluetooth-controlled gramophone.

On ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” Disney characters like Snow White, the Queen of Hearts, and Peter Pan are set against a modern backdrop. Realistic visual effects bring to life the magic and mystery of Storybrooke—the town they now inhabit. Mike Seymour from fxguide goes behind the stunning FX and animation that are needed to create the fairytale mashup.

Dan Winters at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Summer Glau has to attend her ex-boyfriend’s art gallery opening and who better to accompany her than a ten-foot tall robot? Jeff agrees to go and is tasked with one job, but things go haywire when he meets the ex—David Arquette.

YACHT at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com

Working for Facebook comes with a lot more than a cool job title. Check out what this Silicon Valley social media giant has to offer its employees in terms of crazy perks.

It’s 2015 and we’re finally living in the future. At least, according to Marty McFly. This week Angry Nerd hosts Andre from Black Nerdy Comedy to talk about the new flick “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” and the rules of time travel, according to cinema.

It’s one of the biggest tech rivalries of all time and we finally put it to the test. See which portable device comes out on top: Apple’s MacBook Air or Microsoft's Surface Pro 3.

Comic book movies are on the rise, but will it be Marvel or DC that pushes us over the edge? Andre from Black Nerd Comedy pays Angry Nerd another visit to discuss if it’ll be Spider-Man or Fantastic Four that makes us say no more.

Tech writer Brent Rose debunks a study claiming smartphones are as good as wearables at tracking activity. From the Fitbit Charge HR to the iPhone 6, Brent's stress tests uncover compelling results that demonstrate why wearables with heart rate monitors win.

Angry Nerd is celebrating 100 episodes of his infamous rants! In honor of the centennial celebration he’s decided to: 1. Party like it’s 1999 and 2. Answer YOUR questions…for better or worse.

Despite an underpowered processor and only one port, it may herald the future of notebooks.

Publicly traded U.S. tech companies have stashed as much as $530 billion in offshore tax havens. How’d they do it? Find out what magic tricks companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft have up their sleeves.

Twenty-three states have decriminalized marijuana to some degree. And with privateer holdings investing nearly $82 million in weed startups, the industry is poised to pull in a lucrative—and legal—profit.

Computer-generated characters are looking better every year, but there’s one thing that’s not up to technological snuff: the voices. The new Avengers film is no exception—Angry Nerd explains the problem with having Ultron sound exactly like James Spader instead of an evil robot.

The male orgasm is an explosive affair, but the female orgasm? Now, that’s a different story. Find out what’s really going down when a woman gets off.

HATE’S A STRONG word, obviously, but the question still stands. On this week’s episode, WIRED senior editor Peter Rubin and his wife Kelli jump into it. Well, she jumps into it; with Wayward Pines‘ premiere last night, she was reminded all over again that she has a serious problem with Terrence Howard, and she’s inclined to pass on his projects.

This year, Industrial Light & Magic celebrates 40 years of creating the impossible. In WIRED's June issue, we present an oral history of ILM, and look at how George Lucas’ little DIY effects shop changed movies forever. Also this month: Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht's journey from drug kingpin to convicted criminal, Senator Cory Booker's attempt to drag the Senate into the 21st century, the global battle over one of Earth’s most plentiful resources, and much more. #WIRED2306 #WIRED

With more than 100,000,000 players and 54,000,000 units sold, Minecraft is one of the biggest video games on the planet. Just how big? We break down the numbers behind the wildly popular game.

WIRED senior writer Andy Greenberg puts new homemade gunsmithing tools to the test as he tries three ways of building an untraceable AR-15 semi-automatic rifle---a so-called "ghost gun"---while skirting all gun control laws.