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This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on e-bikes, power stations, and how to work anywhere, follow Thomas Ricker. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started With a deep breath, I took […]
Autocracy wasn’t inevitable in early civilizations. But when riches were there to monopolize, strongmen and inequalities emerged
"We achieved within a few years what had taken the European space industry decades before."
The wrong bag can aggravate you every single day. These WIRED-tested picks get comfort, capacity, and organization just right.
The silicon carbide transistor is designed to avoid low controllability and current leakage, which typically become problems at high temperatures.
Take full control of your desktop alerts by sending yourself recurring reminders and custom notifications triggered by specific events.
Collectively intelligent bricks figure out if they’re in a boat, chair or guitar
I was initially enamored with the beta version of Apple’s revamped smartphone assistant. As the full release approaches, I’ve forgotten Siri AI even exists.
The team embedded electrodes into live cockroaches, then outfitted them with cameras and injection devices to deliver medication via remote control.
Don’t let busted pipes or an overflowing washing machine dampen your day. These smart water sensors can help you catch problems quicker.
The shift in the fish’s diet is having significant downstream impacts on the environment and climate.
A dazzling new James Webb Space Telescope image reveals about 70 newborn stars buried inside a strangely shaped cloud in the Carina Nebula.
Polls show that overwhelming majorities of Americans hate data centers. China makes a perfect scapegoat for tech leaders and their allies—the only problem is a lack of evidence.
The best gaming chair is actually an office chair. Here are our top picks from our real-life testing so far.
How small can a transistor actually get? And is smaller even still the goal?
Germany's Isar Aerospace launched a rocket into orbit from Norway on Saturday as Europe races to boost its ability to economically send satellites into space independently of the United States.
Indonesia’s dangerous peat fires are surging early in the 2026 fire season as a strengthening El Niño and severe drought dry out wetlands that can burn underground for months. These slow smoldering fires are especially destructive because they release far more fine particles and several pollutants than typical tropical forest fires, while thick smoke can make them difficult for satellites to detect.
Acrid smoke hung heavily over the Malaysian town of Serian, seeping into homes and cloaking roadside stalls, as residents navigated an air-quality emergency fueled by transboundary haze from Indonesia's raging fires.
Princeton researchers have tested an AI system that can monitor and control fusion plasma in milliseconds, reacting far faster than a human operator. In one experiment, it predicted a damaging instability about 200 milliseconds before it appeared and adjusted the plasma to stop it from forming.
Researchers may have found a new way to weaken glioblastoma’s defenses against treatment. Blocking a protein called SET prevented tumors from forming in preclinical models, while targeting related proteins made cancer cells more vulnerable to radiation. The strategy works by restoring activity of PP2A, an enzyme that glioblastoma cells appear to suppress. Human testing will be needed to determine whether the approach is safe and effective.
Scientists used Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere as a planet-sized detector to search for some of the lightest proposed forms of dark matter. The approach dramatically improved limits on ultralight axions and uncovered several intriguing dark photon signals that still need to be explained.
Archaeologists have identified tiny 80,000-year-old projectile points in Uzbekistan that may have been used like arrowheads. Their size, design, and impact damage closely resemble weapons found much later at a Homo sapiens site in France. The discovery suggests sophisticated projectile technology may have appeared in Central Asia long before modern humans became firmly established in Europe, potentially rewriting a major chapter of human migration.
iPhones are smaller than iPads, so why aren't they cheaper? Several variables factor into the price difference between the two product lines.
Heart disease and chronic kidney disease can accelerate one another, but new guidelines say simple screening and early treatment could substantially reduce the risks. Blood and urine tests, combined with proven heart and kidney therapies, may help catch problems sooner and prevent serious complications.