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.

In Brett Ratner's new big-budget flick Hercules, the title star portrayed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson battles mythical creatures, including a three-headed dog, giant boars and lions, and multi-headed serpents. Mike Seymour shows how the visual effects experts at Double Negative created the complicated, yet lifelike beasts.

What inspires a 17-year-old to go into cancer research or a 19-year-old to develop an obsession with astrophysics? Find out, as the 2014 Thiel Fellows explain how they first discovered their passions and why they've decided to turn them into careers.

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.

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.

You know what's not cool? A Batman show that's not about Batman. Yet, that's what we're getting with FOX's upcoming Gotham. The series centers on Bruce Wayne's childhood and features origin stories of the franchise's villains. Sound like a prequel to a prequel? That's because it is.

Based on the hit YA novel of the same name, the upcoming flick The Maze Runner takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. To create the vast maze and relentless mechanical creatures called Grievers, FX experts Method Studios used technical and complicated special FX. Mike Seymour breaks down the tech behind the film.

We trust them to clean our floors, but how do they stack up against a battle axe? Angry Nerd dared us to test the vacuuming robot Roomba—see what happens when we put it through a destruction test of viking proportions.

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

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

Viewer Greg Kindra dared us to test the compact sound system, but will it live to jam another day once we’re through with it? Find out what happens when we go old school on a JAMBOX.

Our friend Jake over at Vsauce3 dared us to put the two biggest gaming consoles up against each other for our first-ever knockout episode. Find out whether the Xbox One or PS4 ends up being the toughest and which one gets the chainsaw in our season finale.

From the incredible helicarrier crash in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to the realistic motion-capture-driven apes in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," this year brought us some unbelievable special effects. Mike Seymour from fxguide counts down the top 10 design FX from 2014.

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.

LED screens were once the way of the future, and now OLEDs are ushering in a new wave of television viewing. Featuring organic molecules that illuminate in response to electric currents, OLEDs allow for a thin screen that produces deeper, more detailed images.

DJI’s latest batch of quadcopters lets users get sky-high while capturing hi-definition photography and video. Take a look under the hood of DJI’s Phantom 2 Vision+ and Inspire 1 to see how the technology and advanced features are allowing for a bird’s eye view that was previously reserved for, well, birds.

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

Can’t make it to the WIRED store in person? Take an exclusive tour of this year’s gadget haven and check out everything the store has to offer with Erik and Justin from Battle Damage.

Weta Digital was behind the striking effects in two of this year's big-franchise films: “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”—which picked up an Oscar nomination for best visual effects—and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.” Mike Seymour takes an exclusive look at the impressive, large-scale battle sequences that Weta designed for the final installment in The Hobbit trilogy.

In the new series “Agent Carter” Marvel expands its universe to the small screen with help from Industrial Light & Magic. Creating high-quality visual effects was nothing new for the the award-winning team, but working against grueling weekly delivery dates proved to be a monstrous challenge. Mike Seymour finds out how they did it.

Movie robots fall into one of three categories: the cutesy ones who do repairs (C3PO), the menacing bad guys designed to inflict pain (Mechagodzilla), and the child-like naifs who learn about the wonders and horrors of the world through experience. Angry Nerd explains why Neill Blomkamp’s new sci-fi flick “Chappie” falls into the third group and he breaks down why we need more movies that cast robots as the wide-eyed outsider.

We gave tech writer Brent Rose $500 to stress-test Silicon Valley’s overnight sensation, Magic. From meatballs to medicinal cannabis to Mexican wrestling, see what unfolds when he pushes the new text message-based delivery service.

Justin and Erik are equal opportunity destroyers. So after testing every generation of the iPhone it only made sense to see how android devices hold up. See what happens when Samsung’s Galaxy S series gets put to the test.

Neill Blomkamp's new dystopian sci-fi thriller "Chappie" stars a fully digital A.I. robot as the title character, acted out by Sharlto Copley. Mike Seymour goes behind the scenes of the CG robots.

You’re either #TeamiPhone or #TeamGalaxy but at the end of the day only one of the devices can be named the toughest. Find out which phablet comes out on top when Erik and Justin put them up against a toilet.

Designer and JimmyJane Founder Ethan Imboden at The 2015 Adult Novelty Expo, Las Vegas

If Netflix’s new Daredevil series is anything like Ben Affleck’s Daredevil film, we’re all in trouble. Angry Nerd explains what the latest incarnation needs to get right to make sure the man without fear doesn’t turn into a total flop.

WIRED editor Chris Kohler breaks down why Sam & Max Hit the Road is the funniest video game of all time. What’s not to love about a duo of anthropomorphic “freelance police”?

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.

The Juul from PAX might be the slickest e-cig ever with its pocketable design, squared edges, and tiny magnetic USB charging dock. But it might look a bit too much like a puffable memory stick for its own Good.

In this exclusive clip from the new documentary "Planetary," we learn how space travel has affected human beings on a greater scale, allowing us to view the world in which we live, with a completely new perspective.

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.

Ekso Bionics, known for its powered therapeutic exoskeletons, is getting into the construction business with a new exoskeleton suit that makes hefting heavy tools a breeze. WIRED's Adam Rogers suits up for a test drive.

Peter and Kelli Rubin love TV, movies, and games but don’t always see eye to eye. Peter and Kelli dig into why they’re drawn to favorite characters in games like Mortal Kombat, which has been thrilling players with grisly fatality wins for more than two decades.

The Avengers return in Age of Ultron. Mike Seymour sat down with the men behind the special effects.

WIRED editor Chris Kohler explains why Super Mario Bros. is the most important video game in history. From rich graphics to expertly composed music to innovative game design, Super Mario Bros. set the standard for what makes a great video game.

Elite Beat Agents is based off a Japanese video game for Nintendo DS. But instead of male cheerleaders and Japanese pop songs, the U.S. version relies on “Men In Black”-like agents and good ol’ fashioned American hits from the Jackson 5 and Madonna. Chris Kohler explains why the stateside edition is the best music game of all time.

It’s reminiscent of old Grand Theft Auto games, but Hotline Miami is in a league of its own. It tricks you into thinking it’s cute, but don’t be fooled, it's one of the most gruesome and bloody video games of all time.

See how Industrial Light & Magic created the futuristic tech and magical world in Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland.

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.

Shot mostly in Africa with real vehicles and complex stunts, “Mad Max: Fury Road” brings a high intensity to the post-apocalyptic franchise. Mike Seymour breaks down the complicated camerawork and VFX behind the action-adventure flick.

Super Hexagon is not a video game for the easily discouraged. You die early and often until eventually (hopefully) you get into the swing of things. WIRED editor Chris Kohler explains why it’s the most difficult video game of all time.

“Jurassic World” debuted with a record-shattering opening weekend, netting nearly half a billion dollars. See how Industrial Light & Magic used motion capture to help design the complex dinosaurs, including the genetically modified Indominus rex.

He's back—this time in a time-traveling standoff. See how Arnold Schwarzenegger faced off against a digitized version of his younger self.

Pixels director Chris Columbus talks to WIRED about the fun of 8-bit arcade games and building a real life Donkey Kong set for the new action comedy.

Find out how the visual effects came together for the end of season five on Game of Thrones, including Daenerys' elaborate and cinematic escape with her drogon.

Hackers released the names of millions of users of the infidelity website Ashley Madison. Here's why the hackers say they dumped the data online.

Most people think of carbon dioxide as a poison, but in nature it’s a building block. Find out how we can imitate coral reef by using CO2 as a raw material for the creation of concrete.

What did we really find out from the Ashley Madison hack? For starters, there were only three zip codes in the U.S. with no registered users, plus the company netted $1.7 million from a full-delete feature (that didn’t actually delete). Find out what else was revealed in the hack, as told by bad stock footage.