Ashley Fike

2 days ago | vice.com | Ashley Fike

You probably already know you’re being watched. What you click, what you buy, where you stand, who you’re with. Your phone knows. The apps know. The cameras know. What you might not know is that all of this constant, ambient surveillance could be eroding how your brain actually works. New research suggests the mental effects of being watched don’t just show up in our behavior—they show up in our cognition, in ways we barely understand. We’re not just acting different under surveillance.

2 days ago | vice.com | Ashley Fike

If your dating life is a long scroll of icks—like the way they chew, talk, sit, blink—you may want to pause before blaming your ex. According to a new study published in Personality and Individual Differences, people who frequently experience “the ick” tend to score higher in traits like narcissism and other-oriented perfectionism. In short, you might be the problem.

2 days ago | vice.com | Ashley Fike

Somewhere between nihilism and boredom, a new TikTok trend was born—one that involves teenagers deliberately setting their Chromebooks on fire. Not metaphorically. Literally. The so-called #ChromebookChallenge encourages students to shove paper clips, pencil lead, or aluminum foil into their school-issued laptop’s charging port until it short-circuits and starts to smoke. Then, hope the fire alarm goes off. Bonus points if it gets uploaded before the firefighters arrive.

5 days ago | vice.com | Ashley Fike

Blond, horned, and bloodthirsty: that’s the Viking image most of us were raised on. But according to archaeologists and historians, a lot of what we think we know about Vikings is basically fan fiction. Let’s start with the helmets. The idea that Vikings wore horned or winged helmets comes not from history, but from 19th-century opera. Specifically, German artist Carl Emil Doepler designed those dramatic accessories for Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and the aesthetic just kind of stuck.

5 days ago | vice.com | Ashley Fike

Chicago-born Robert Prevost just got elected Pope Leo XIV, and the internet has responded in the only way it knows how: with deep-dish blasphemy and cursed Photoshop. Because nothing says papal respect like immediately comparing the Holy Father to the Superfans from SNL. He’s already being called Da Pope, which feels exactly right for a guy who probably blesses brats with Miller High Life and believes forgiveness starts with a Portillo’s order. The memes came in hot.