Outside Tonopah, Nev., a construction team of 600 is working to get the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy project up and running by 2014. WIRED has an exclusive look inside the construction of this first-of-its-kind renewable-energy power plant.

MIT Surveillance Video of Aaron Swartz, January 2011

Has everyone finished panicking about Ben Affleck being cast as the Dark Knight in Batman vs. Superman? Because the Angry Nerd thinks you should chill—Affleck could totally pull this off. (Just think of Daredevil as a…starter superhero movie.)

The Angry Nerd has read your comments about his loathing of Kick-Ass 2 and the trend of real-life people who become cosplay vigilantes. You have failed to convince him to change his position on the subject.

Agent Topple attempts to get some holiday spirit.

For years, it’s been a fantasy cinema rule that real actors and CG dragons just don’t mix—ever. With the new release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, will Peter Jackson be able to avoid the pitfalls of the disastrous dragons featured in flicks like Dragonheart, Reign of Fire, and Eragon?

Soon, the sharpest-dressed people will be wearing computers. Wearable technology will surpass fitness trackers and Google Glass to become as important as the smartphone, the primary interface through which we experience the world. For the January issue, industrial design firm Branch envisioned the classy wearable of the future for our cover, and senior editor Bill Wasik's feature laid out a roadmap for how we'll get there.

Belkin’s Conserve Insight energy monitor tells you how much juice—and dough—your appliances are using so you can decide what’s worth plugging in.

A quest for films that genuinely reflect the spirit of the holidays leads the Angry Nerd to create an all-new celebration in honor of the best Christmas movie-maker of all time: Shane Black.

It’s an outdoor version of the claw game, but with fast, low flying helicopters as the claw and Christmas trees as the prize. At the Hunter Family Farm in Olympia, Wash., helicopter pilots fly across nearly 400 acres, picking up bundles of trees and transporting them, so they can be processed and loaded for your holiday pleasure.

Seeing carnage through a character’s eyes used to mean something. Nowadays, Hollywood is wasting POV shots in sci-fi films like Vin Diesel’s Riddick. Angry Nerd explains why these fancy-schmancy first-person perspectives are failing, and he issues the Tinseltown execs an ultimatum.

Udacity CEO and co-founder Sebastian Thrun explains why self-driving cars are the future and Holy Grail for road safety. In this World Economic Forum discussion, the engineer and innovator describes how the auto-cruising vehicles will transform society and save lives.

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other tech titans have had to fight for their lives—against their own government. This month, we take a look inside their year from hell, and why the web will never be the same. Also, see what happens when gene-modifying masters Monsanto try to take nature's path, how one man hacked OKCupid to find the girl of his dreams, and the city-within-a-city Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is building in Las Vegas. Plus: the Data Miner's Guide to Romance, Rick Rubin, and more!

As the largest producer and consumer of milk in the world, India faces a serious problem when it comes to off-grid dairy farmers. In this World Economic Forum discussion, Promethean Power Systems co-founder Sam White describes his approach to ensuring that milk is properly refrigerated and not spoiled by bacteria.

You'd think the Angry Nerd would be square in the targeting sights of The Big Bang Theory. You'd think he'd love the show. And yet…and yet….

With Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, the House of Mouse and J.J. Abrams are well on their way to destroying all that’s right with Star Wars…or are they? Angry Nerd poses an alternate ending to the Walt and George partnership.

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?

In this World Economic Forum discussion, Johan Rockström, executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, proposes a new scientific framework called Planetary Boundaries—a way of thinking about consumption and sustainability that could help keep Earth habitable.

Jay Silver and his co-founder's concept was simple: Hook up everyday objects to small circuits and turn them into touchpads. See how their MaKey MaKey invention kit is changing the way we interact with the world. Brought to you by Intel.

They’ve resurrected RoboCop and we can’t figure out why. Actor Joel Kinnaman has a big helmet to fill, and considering all of the outrageous changes that have been made to the reboot, Angry Nerd is doubtful that the new cyborg will live up to the task.

Check out WIRED's music issue featuring Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson at: http://www.wired.com/listen Music: "Days Passed Me By" Performed by Kooley High Written Napoleon Wright II, Charlie Smarts, Tab-One

Check out WIRED's music issue featuring Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson at: http://www.wired.com/listen Music: "Unfound" Performed by Kooley High Written Napoleon Wright II, Charlie Smarts, Tab-One, Homeboy Sandman

Check out WIRED's music issue featuring Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson at: http://www.wired.com/listen Music: THEESatisfaction "Existinct"

Seth Meyers is ready to take over the Late Night throne, but with an antiquated show formula riddled with predictable monologues, commercials, celebrity interviews, commercials, skits—and did we mention more commercials?—how can the former S.N.L. star break out from the rest of the late night pack? Angry Nerd offers a simple solution.

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.

Infrared5 co-founders Chris and Rebecca Allen are revolutionizing the multi-screen experience. With their popular computer game Brass Monkey they’re bringing people together with socially, multi-screen experiences that turn smart phones into game controllers and PC/Tablets into consoles. Brought to you by Intel.

Can you reduce an earthquake’s impact before it strikes? In this World Economic Forum discussion, Japan’s director of land and real property market, Satoru Nishikawa, explains how better planning for natural disasters can help us manage catastrophic risk, enabling quicker recovery times.

Pertinent question about the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cartoon: Why? It's a half-century-old cartoon with no brand recognition. But more to the point, all these expensive reboots tend to take away the things that made the original kids' shows…weird.

Should people have the same rights and obligations online as they do in the real world? MIT computer scientist Alex “Sandy” Pentland explains how developing social networks as trusted networks will help establish a sustainable digital ecology for years to come.

Veronica Mars fans pledged more than $5 million on Kickstarter to get a film adaptation of the show off the ground. And while Angry Nerd is all for crowdfunding for a good cause, when it comes to fans calling the shots in return for financial backing, the money-making model might end up causing more harm than good.

Hollywood is always trying to sell us crazy computer interfaces. Wavy hands and holograms? Never gonna happen. But now Fox News is in on the game, too—and the Angry Nerd is unfairly unbalanced about the network's giant, newsgathering touch screens.

Solar, wind, and nuclear don’t make climate change worse, but they don’t meet the world’s energy needs. What can? Coal, and in the April issue Charles C. Mann writes about cleaning up the dirty, cheap fuel. Also this month: keeping your garden green, how mobile messaging captured our kids (and $19 billion from Facebook), and Mike Judge takes on Silicon Valley.

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.

Angry Nerd is ready to demote Captain America from his current rank to lieutenant. In the Marvel superhero’s newest movie adaptation, his vibranium shield defies everything that physics and materials science has taught us. Angry Nerd calls blasphemy on the ingredient-altered shield.

And on the eighth day, we got apps. Fxguide’s Mike Seymour details the how the upcoming blockbuster, Noah, was able to control the mechanics of a giant custom rain machine in a studio that size of two football fields with the use of a single iPad app.

There’s a massive publishing gap in the books that Game of Thrones is based off of, and Angry Nerd is concerned that the show could catch up to the plot before the next book is out. But, one simple solution could solve everything.

First Transformers, then G.I. Joe, now Magic: The Gathering? When will Hasbro learn that a successful game or toy does not equal a successful movie franchise?

Put a bit of facial hair (or swap hair color) for your protagonist and you get an evil twin. But just because you can doesn't mean you should. The Angry Nerd describes the slippery slope from plot twist to lazy trope.

From Airbnb to Lyft, the sharing economy is rewiring the way we interact with each other. In the May issue, Executive Editor Jason Tanz delves into the phenomenon of entrusting strangers with our most valuable possessions, personal experiences - and our very lives. Also this month: an inside look at the algorithms and formulas that Twitter and Facebook use to build the perfect feed, the story of a Silicon Valley startup struggling to survive, and the oral history of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

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.

When a TV show goes off the air, it's supposed to stay dead. Unless it gets syndicated. But networks don't seem aware of this rule anymore, with resurrections of "24" and "Heroes" on the way. Angry Nerd does not approve of this turn of events.

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.”

The 195-horsepower engine isn’t exactly meant for a daily commute. But Ducati’s 1199 Panigale S has a slew of features and the aerodynamics, torque, and weight reduction to make it one of the fastest production motorcycles in the world. Transportation editor Damon Lavrinc tests out the bike and talks to Ducati designers to see how they engineered one of the lightest street motorcycles on the market.

Watch a preview of our new documentary series, Teen Technorati, which follows 40 students under the age of 20 as they compete for a Thiel Fellowship. Created by investor Peter Thiel, the $2 million fund awards $100,000 to 20 winners who will have to drop out of school to further develop their individual medical, technology, and design-based projects. From team challenges to a lightning pitch in front of the judges, see who makes the cut as the next generation of young, innovative entrepreneurs.

The 1990s saw the rise—and fall—of virtual reality. While everyone could imagine a technology that allowed us to be somewhere else, no one was able to make it happen. No one, that is, until an 18-year-old named Palmer Luckey invented the Oculus Rift. We speak with Luckey and other Oculus employees about how they managed to crack one of technology's toughest riddles and make VR feasible for the first time. Music: "Disco Kerosene" Performed By Circa Tapes (http://circatapes.bandcamp.com/)

The makers of the new Godzilla movie are taking great pains to telegraph their deep reverence for kaiju cinema. In other words, they want us to know they won’t screw it up like Roland Emmerich did in 1998. Angry Nerd makes the case for why we should believe them.

Angry Nerd has been to the future and he brings back an important message: don’t see the new X-Men movie. With a scrambled timeline and inclusion of too many sub-franchises, the film adds a new dimension to the “days of future past” continuum: straight confusion.

The House of Mouse might be onto something: Forget the hero and make the villain the star. Disney’s new film Maleficent does just that and it actually…kind of…works. Angry Nerd explains the pros of putting the evil queens and wicked witches front and center.

Starting a hybrid car is as easy as pushing a button, but what’s really beneath the hood? For starters, a 100-lb rechargeable battery pack containing smaller nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, similar to those in your cell phone.

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.