Joshua Rapp Learn is an award-winning D.C.-based science writer. An expat Albertan, he contributes to a number of science publications like National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, New ...

In the sci-fi world crafted by Douglas Adams in “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,” you'd just slap a bright yellow Babel fish in your ear and simply be able to understand any mix of languages ...

Microsoft-owned Skype promised that real-time translation tools were coming, and now they’re here. Skype Translator is now live for all Windows desktop users. If you’ve ever wanted your German cousin ...

A universal language translator has long been the stuff of science fiction — from Star Trek to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. So it might be surprising that technology imagined by authors ...

All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more. Today’s ...

Noriyuki Matsuda's idea for a pocket-sized "magical device" that would provide instantaneous translation exceeded the capacity of technology available in 1989. But he continued to plan and work on ...

Translating is difficult work, the more so the further two languages are from one another. French to Spanish? Not a problem. Ancient Greek to Esperanto? Considerably harder. But sign language is a ...

Sign language is used by millions of people around the world, but unlike Spanish, Mandarin or even Latin, there’s no automatic translation available for those who can’t use it. SLAIT claims the first ...