Inside Obama’s Stealth Startup
President Obama has hired a team of Silicon Valley software engineers to reboot the U.S. government’s online services.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco bureau chief

The Rise of Africa’s Super Vegetables
African farmers and researchers are rediscovering the continent’s native vegetable crops, many of which are hardier and healthier than plants such as kale that displaced them around a century ago.
—Tom Simonite

A New Theory of Distraction
The relationship between technology and distraction.
—Brian Bergstein, executive editor

Researchers Discover First Sensor of Earth’s Magnetic Field in an Animal
Interesting piece on how the magnetic field was discovered in C. elegans worms.
—J. Juniper Friedman, associate Web producer

The Family Dog
Sony’s Aibo robotic dogs have been discontinued and are dying out, but their owners retain a deep emotional attachment.
—Nanette Byrnes, senior editor, Business Reports

Emoji Passwords Could Be Coming Your Way. Is That A Good Thing?
Emojis may be cute, but will they make for secure passwords?
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer

This Plane Runs on Sun and Is About to Smash Some Records
What it’s like to fly over the Pacific with no fuel.
—Megan Barnett, deputy editor

Virtual Reality Headsets, Gaining Scrutiny at E3 This Week, Raise Very Real Concerns
A good look at several of the issues that need to be addressed with virtual-reality headsets.
—Rachel Metz, senior editor, mobile

People Are Finally Talking About the Thing Nobody Wants to Talk About
Companies and nonprofits are finally inventing solutions to a global health issue that keeps many girls in developing countries out of school every month: menstrual hygiene.
—Anna Nowogrodzki, intern