Surviving three or four rounds of this multiplayer knock-out game makes you feel like a total athlete, even as a pirate-costumed bean
Decades-Old Email Flaws Could Let Attackers Mask Their Identities
Researchers found 18 exploits that take advantage of inconsistencies in the email plumbing most people never think about.
A Summer Camp Covid-19 Outbreak Offers Back-to-School Lessons
A CDC report from a Georgia hotspot illuminates just how easily kids can spread coronavirus, adding to our understanding of kids’ role in transmission.
Hackers Could Use IoT Botnets to Manipulate Energy Markets
With access to just 50,000 high-wattage smart devices, attackers could make a bundle off of causing minor fluctuations.
Apple Just Upgraded Its iMacs, a Little
The upgrades are dramatic if you’re looking for more power, but if you’re holding out for Face ID or a fresh look, keep waiting.
6 Best Sound Machines for 2020 (Best White Noise Machines)
Our favorite white noise and sleep sound machines for babies, kids, and adults. Tested by WIRED’s Gear team.
‘Calling Bullshit’ Skewers the World’s BS-Merchants
Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West’s new book teaches us how to live in a world that’s full of it, and how to spot BS in ourselves.
Should Governments Slap a Tax on Plastic?
More than a billion tons of it could enter the environment in the next 20 years. It’s time, advocates say, to put a sin tax on single-use plastic.
Dell XPS 15 Review: A Luxury Windows Laptop
With more real estate and power, the company’s roomy new laptop retains everything we like about the 13-inch—almost.
There’s No Such Thing As a Tech Expert Anymore
Members of Congress clearly don’t understand the tech companies they’re supposed to regulate. But neither does anyone else.
Hackers Are Building an Army of Cheap Satellite Trackers
NyanSat is an open source ground station that lets you listen in on low-orbit transmissions for about $100 worth of gear.
The American Scientists Who Saved London From Nazi Drones
For months, German V-1s terrorized the city. To take them down, US physicists had to develop a “smart fuse”—a task they were told was practically impossible.
The Tech That Can Help Keep Your Dogs Happy and Healthy
You don’t need a lot of gear to keep your pup’s tail wagging, but the right stuff can vastly improve their lives and your relationship with them.
It’s Not Just TikTok. Chinese Firms Face More US Roadblocks
Chinese companies have been free to expand in the US while American firms were stymied by Beijing. Now, the climate is not as welcoming.
TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface
On the app, users drape themselves in the trappings of Black culture—and steal the viral spotlight. It’s exploitation at its most refined and disturbing.
An American Pickle Might Have Been Fresher in the 2010s
Seth Rogen’s new movie is funny, although some gags meant to skewer hip Brooklynites seem strangely dated.
Google Pixel 4A Review: Nearly Perfect and Only $350
The 4A is an upgrade in almost every way over its predecessor, yet it’s cheaper. It’s our new fave Android phone.
Frog Eats Beetle. Beetle Crawls Through Guts to Escape
Regimbartia attenuata doesn’t take too kindly to being eaten. Once locked inside a frog’s maw, it turns around and starts heading for the exit.
One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack – August 2020
This month’s focus is on Austin Tice, an American photojournalist who has gone missing in Syria and is presumed to be alive.
The Hate-Fueled Rise of r/The_Donald—and Its Epic Takedown
The notorious subreddit trafficked in violent rhetoric, growing a prodigious following over five years. Here’s how—and why—Reddit finally shut it down.
The Rise of the Virtual Being
On the latest episode of the Get WIRED podcast, we attend the Virtual Beings Summit and contemplate Lucy, Lil Miquela, and what it means to be human.
SpaceX Brings Astronauts Home Safely in a Historic First
That’s a wrap on SpaceX’s crewed demo mission, which clears the way for the company to regularly launch astronauts for NASA.
Archaeologists Have Found the Source of Stonehenge’s Boulders
Modern scholars have only been able to speculate about where the huge stones came from—until now.
I Bought the Duffel Bag That’s in ‘The Expanse’—and Loved It
I use it to pack pillows on a paddleboard. But you can also use it to pack guns. In space.
Why Are Plants Green? The Answer Might Work on Any Planet
A new model of photosynthesis points to an evolutionary principle governing light-harvesting organisms that might apply throughout the universe.