Skip to main content
THE WIRED APP IS HERE
DOWNLOAD NOW »

Climate

Digger Is a Box Office Flop. It Might Be the Most Relevant Film of the Year
Can You Dig It?

Digger Is a Box Office Flop. It Might Be the Most Relevant Film of the Year

Sold by its trailer as a gag reel, Tom Cruise’s strangest movie may be the most unsettling portrait of our tech and climate moment yet.
Carla Sertin
A Decade-Long Experiment Is Unlocking the Mysteries of the Ocean’s ‘Deep Reefs’
Long Time, No Sea

A Decade-Long Experiment Is Unlocking the Mysteries of the Ocean’s ‘Deep Reefs’

Byrd Pinkerton
The Data Center Backlash Should Also Be a Climate Reckoning. It Isn’t Yet
Power Play

The Data Center Backlash Should Also Be a Climate Reckoning. It Isn’t Yet

Molly Taft

Regulations and Solutions

Snag a Fat Discount on Bluetti’s Best Portable Power Station

Snag a Fat Discount on Bluetti’s Best Portable Power Station

The Bluetti Elite 300, my favorite portable power station, is on sale, and it’s perfect if you want to go off-grid or have a backup at home.
Simon Hill
The Best Power Banks for Keeping All Your Devices Charged

The Best Power Banks for Keeping All Your Devices Charged

Keep your phone, laptop, handheld gaming console, and other electronics running with these travel-friendly power banks.
Simon Hill
Rural Data Centers Are in for a Big Federal Tax Break

Rural Data Centers Are in for a Big Federal Tax Break

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,  data center projects in rural areas could be eligible for major tax benefits starting next year. Some hyperscalers do not seem eager to take the free cash.
Molly Taft
Plastic Is Melting Onto Corals

Plastic Is Melting Onto Corals

Scientists have found a new form of pollution, one where plastic and pieces of coral become irreversibly intertwined.
Ritsuko Kawai

Oceans and Waterways

We Put These Reusable Water Bottles Through the Daily Grind

We Put These Reusable Water Bottles Through the Daily Grind

We dropped them, tossed them in bags, and cleaned their fiddly lids. Here are the ones we recommend.
Boutayna Chokrane and Alexis Berger
A Startup Has a Plan to Make Water From Air Using Data Centers’ Waste Heat

A Startup Has a Plan to Make Water From Air Using Data Centers’ Waste Heat

Atoco’s new machines use specialized materials that can harvest water from some of the driest air on Earth without using electricity.
Brian Kahn and Molly Taft

Tiny Hairs That Help Corals Breathe May Malfunction in Warming Oceans

Several new studies have uncovered this long overlooked aspect of coral physiology that could be the key to the animals’ fate in a changing climate.
Marlowe Starling
You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules

You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules

And if your tap water is undrinkable, you have no “constitutional right to truthful information” about it.
Sophie Hurwitz

Extreme Heat

The Super El Niño Won’t Fix the West’s Water Crisis

The Super El Niño Won’t Fix the West’s Water Crisis

“People have talked about the Colorado River crisis for decades—we’re now in it,” says one expert. “Everyone you talk to is like, ‘Shit, man.’”
Molly Taft
Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater

Puerto Rico Is Rationing Water. It Could’ve Avoided It by Harvesting Rainwater

The island could capture billions of gallons of water a year if it implemented systems to catch it as it falls from the sky.
Yessenia Funes
Spokane Shows What the New Era of Wildfires Looks Like

Spokane Shows What the New Era of Wildfires Looks Like

With rising temperatures and drier conditions, fires are more likely to explode. And with more people living next to forests, the results can be catastrophic.
Sachi Kitajima Mulkey
France Had Never Seen a ‘Fire Cloud’ Until This Month’s Record-Smashing Blazes

France Had Never Seen a ‘Fire Cloud’ Until This Month’s Record-Smashing Blazes

Extreme fire conditions on the ground have created unprecedented conditions in the atmosphere.
Brian Kahn