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Tech News
WIRED evaluated more than 20 travel adapter models and narrowed them down to eight recommended picks for international travelers in 2026. The guide breaks down the world's 15 different plug types, explains which adapter style suits single-destination versus multi-country trips, and clarifies why most travelers don't actually need a voltage converter alongside their adapter.
Security experts warn that travel scams have become more sophisticated than traditional pickpocketing, targeting vacationers through new digital and in-person deception methods. They are urging travelers to adopt updated precautions before and during trips to avoid falling victim to these schemes.
A new open-source project called EterDB extends PostgreSQL with the ability to reverse individual transactions, including updates, deletes, or entire batches, even after they have been committed. It tracks dependencies between reads and writes so that changes relying on a bad transaction are also caught, and it retains an append-only history that allows recovery of data from weeks or months earlier.
Roame, a Y Combinator-backed search engine that helps travelers find flight and hotel award seats using points and miles, is hiring a Content Editor. The role focuses on building a repeatable, partly automated video production system rather than manual editing, aimed at quickly publishing time-sensitive content like mistake fares and transfer bonuses.
Google's Gemini chatbot is being highlighted as a travel-planning tool that draws on the company's broader ecosystem, including YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Google Flights. Users can ask it for optimal ticket-buying windows, flight recommendations, hotel suggestions at various price points, and personalized itineraries based on past trips mentioned in their email.
A new speculative fiction piece from Nature Futures follows Melba, an employee managing the Lost Luggage Department at a nearly abandoned interstellar flight headquarters. The story details how travelers' bags are shrunk via molecular-reduction technology before space voyages, and how some end up misrouted for decades, eventually landing in Melba's basement office filled with stacks of miniaturized suitcases.
The Transportation Security Administration has launched a program allowing certain people without boarding passes to clear security checkpoints so they can accompany or meet passengers at the departure gate. This practice was common before the September 11, 2001 attacks but was eliminated afterward as airport security tightened nationwide. The new initiative marks a limited return of that pre-9/11 gate access for specific individuals.
Venture capital firms are increasingly directing funding toward businesses built around physical, real-world experiences—such as sports, gambling and travel—rather than digital or software-based startups. The strategy reflects investor concern that AI's rapid advancement could quickly disrupt or devalue many traditional tech business models.
Ryan Ali, a former healthcare marketing VP, launched a side hustle as a travel advisor on Fora's platform in April 2025 with a goal of $500,000 in bookings by year's end. He more than doubled that target, reaching $1.3 million in sales within a year, and has since left his corporate role to work as a full-time advisor, now totaling $2.6 million in booked travel.
New research cited by The Wall Street Journal suggests vacations do more than offer temporary fun—they can measurably boost mental well-being. A Journal of Travel Medicine study found improvements in mood and sleep that persist after returning home, while a separate meta-analysis of over 4,400 participants tied nature time and active pursuits like hiking to real psychological benefits.
Google has expanded its AI Mode search feature to let users track flight prices across more than 180 countries, receiving email alerts when fares change. The tool can also display flight and hotel costs in points or miles, and in the US, users can now book hotels directly within AI Mode using Google Pay through partner services.
Google announced that its AI Mode conversational search tool can now track flight prices, help users book hotels, and show flight and hotel costs in points or miles. Flight price tracking pulls from over 300 airlines and travel sites and is available in more than 180 countries, while hotel booking is rolling out first in the U.S. in English through partners like Booking.com.