The Wired mission is to tell the world something they've never heard before in a way they've never seen before. It's about turning new ideas into everyday reality. It's about seeding our community of influencers with the ideas that will shape and transform our collective future. Wired readers want to know how technology is changing the world, and they're interested in big, relevant ideas, even if those ideas challenge their assumptions—or blow their minds.
ELECTRIC WORD
TOTALLY WIRED
WE ASKED CONTRIBUTORS: “WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO YOU MOST WISH WAS AROUND WHEN YOU WERE A KID?”
INTELLIGENT DESIGN?
THE SHALLOWFAKES • What forgeries of counterfeit achievements truly reveal.
CHARTGEIST
OWNED • We have become tenants on our devices.
COLOR FAST • 5G is coming, fortified with fiber.
CODE SPACE • Why tech should find some new homes.
DEMYSTIFY TRANSFORMATION
Catalysts For Change
ANGRY NERD
No Bad Vibes • Errant sound waves can keep speakers from delivering their best performance. Q Acoustics neutralizes sonic invaders in three ways.
Unbound Sound • These ingenious designs are pushing wireless audio into a hi-fi future.
Hear Me Out • Spurred by regulations that will allow over-the-counter sales, hearing aids get a tech-minded upgrade.
Bring the Noise • Our lives are increasingly entangled with our devices; great sound design could make that a more perfect union.
THE K1D5 ARE ALRIGHT
“PEOPLE WATCH STUFF THAT’S HAPPY AND GOOD” • One family’s video empire shows what it takes to shield young YouTube stars from the platform’s dark side.
WHAT’S YOUR SCREEN TIME SCHEME? • Parents and children weigh in on their family’s tech protocol.
WE, ROBOT • With just $60 worth of hardware and 10 lines of code, you and your kid can build a simple wheeled droid that can drive around your house. It might even be your youngling’s first step toward starting their own DIY robotics channel on YouTube.
THE RECKONING • It was time to face the ubiquity of Fortnite in our kids’ lives.
HAPPY MEAL • A food pyramid for kids’ media consumption.
GAME OF PHONES • High school is hard; the internet is messing with our self-esteem. Then my friends insisted I download Chess Time.
How—And Why—STEAM Is Picking Up Steam In Our Schools
LET’S GOO! • Welcome to the World Slime Convention, where fans and purveyors of the internet’s gloppiest trend gather by the thousands to network and talk shop—many with their parents in tow.
WHY I (STILL) LOVE TECH • In defense of a difficult industory.
JavaScript • Jerome Hardaway, Geek-at-Arms, Vets Who Code
Shudder streaming service • Meredith Graves, Director of Music, Kickstarter
The Heavenly Hellsite • I came for the hostility, but Twitter became my sacred space.
Chat apps • Colonel Enrique Oti, Director, Project Kessel Run, US Air Force
Concordia open source software • Kate Zwaard, Director of Digital Strategy, Library of Congress
The Kindness of Strangers • I tweeted out my phone number and rediscovered humanity.
Signia 7Nx hearing aids • Dan Kohn, Executive Director, Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Right Noses Under Our • FOR AGES, THE SENSE OF SMELL HAS BEEN UNDERESTIMATED AND POORLY UNDERSTOOD. NOW SCIENTISTS ARE TRYING TO CRACK THE CODE OF HOW IT WORKS—AND CREATE ROBOTS THAT CAN SNIFF OUT THE WORLD'S SECRETS LIKE A DOG.
TRUE GRIT • It’s superfine. It’s sharp. It’s got a serious case of static cling. And it may very well stand in the way of our lunar ambitions.
SIX-WORD SCI-FI: STORIES BY WIRED READERS