"Mystery Disease Leaves Five Dead in Burundi, with Investigations Ongoing"

New, from me, in the BMJ. It's always fascinating to speak with tropical disease experts.

Hoping we find out what the cause of this outbreak is—but there's every possibility we won't.

www.bmj.com/content/393/...

Can't agree with Starmer's take that this won't cost more money though. More evidence of Labour's detachment from reality.

All food served in UK public sector institutions—schools, hospitals, even prisons—should meet the government's standards of nutrition. That it's 2026 and the level of provision is still this low in places is depressing.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What the constant sound of modern life is doing to our minds What has changed is not only how we listen, but what listening is for.

I've had a nagging sense for a while that I spend too much time with headphones in—I want to start reintroducing some quiet into my life. Let's see how this goes.

theconversation.com/what-the-con...

RIP. My teenage homework wouldn't have been the same without it.

How the Next Big Thing in Carbon Removal Sank Without a Trace With support from Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, Running Tide billed itself as on the cutting edge of carbon removal. In the end, it resorted to dumping thousands of tons of wood chips in the sea.

This was a really complex investigative piece, with lots of different types of sourcing, and it took a lot of hands from different depts to get it over the line. But it's fantastic—and a great milestone (I think) in looking at the topic of marine carbon removal.

www.wired.com/story/how-th...

Scientists Have Discovered a New Set of Blood Groups The ‘Er’ grouping could help doctors identify and treat some rare cases of blood incompatibility, including between pregnant mothers and fetuses.

This piece from Chris Baraniuk is, to date, the most-read article I've ever edited. I love stories about blood. As does everyone else, it seems.

www.wired.com/story/new-bl...

These Robots Are Recovering Dumped Explosives From the Baltic Sea In the face of seabeds becoming valuable real estate and corroding bombs polluting the oceans, teams are turning to technology to clean up this dangerous and expensive problem.

So much of the news is negative, while solutions journalism can sometimes feel a little cloying. But not in this case. A good example of humans innovating out of a problem they created for themselves.

www.wired.com/story/these-...

This Homemade Drone Software Finds People When Search and Rescue Teams Can’t British Mountain Rescue workers have developed an automated drone system that can scour a landscape far quicker and more thoroughly than human eyes.

Drones being used for good + fantastic imagery + getting to work with Tristan made this piece a real pleasure to publish.

www.wired.com/story/this-h...

Insiders Reveal Major Problems at Lab-Grown-Meat Startup Upside Foods Billion-dollar cultivated-meat startup Upside Foods wants you to think the breakthrough chicken fillets it sells are made in a futuristic factory. A WIRED investigation tells a different story.

Is lab-grown meat coming to a store near you? Probably at some point.

If it does, the industry will have navigated many hurdles, including in production. Matt Reynolds and Joe Fassler did an excellent job of looking at troubles Upside Foods faced trying to scale up.

www.wired.com/story/upside...

The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined A year after OceanGate’s sub imploded, thousands of leaked documents and interviews with ex-employees reveal how the company’s CEO cut corners, ignored warnings, and lied in his fatal quest to reach t...

The Titan submersible disaster was tragic—but after delving into the practices of the company, seemed, shockingly, inevitable. If there's only thing you read on this list, read this piece.

www.wired.com/story/titan-...

It's been difficult to trim this down, but here are some pieces I'm especially proud to have worked on here:

I'm going to be taking a break this January before returning to science journalism next month—if you are looking to fill an editor position, or have freelance writing/editing commissions that you're looking for help with, please drop me a message in the meantime.

Some personal news: I'm moving on from WIRED. I'm really proud of the work I've done here over the past 3.5 years, and it's been a real privilege to edit some excellent writers both on staff and freelance.

I'm wary of setting goals/resolutions at this time of year, but one thing I do want to try to do is create and stick to a better evening routine, and try to sleep better as a result.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn Why we procrastinate has less to do with willpower than with how flexibly our brains handle stress and discomfort - and the good news is, flexibility is trainable.

"A generation ago, procrastinating required creativity. You had to find distractions. Today, they find you."

A great piece on why we procrastinate, and steps to take to get yourself out of the habit.

theconversation.com/why-procrast...

Congrats on a great year Chris. So many great pieces here!

Editors, not only does Chris produce great work, but it's always a pleasure working together.

Here's to many more commissions in 2026!

How the Next Big Thing in Carbon Removal Sunk Without a Trace With support from Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, Running Tide billed itself as on the cutting edge of carbon removal. In the end, it resorted to dumping thousands of tons of wood chips in the sea.

New on @wired.com—@alexandratalty.bsky.social reveals how carbon-removal company Running Tide was able to gather millions from investors, despite little evidence that its technology worked, dumped tens of thousands of tons of materials into the ocean, likely removing no carbon, and then went under.

For more on how decarbonization is being achieved on the ground, check out The Reengineer!

www.thereengineer.pro

British Churches Are Putting Their Faith in Heat Pumps Ancient buildings and old bones aren’t getting in the way of the transition.

This was such a fun piece—which we syndicated on @wired.com from Chris's own excellent newsletter, the Reengineer. I wonder where else in the world such moves are being made.

www.wired.com/story/let-th...

Google Search Could Change Forever in the UK New regulation from the UK’s competition authority means Google may be forced to make major changes in the way that people use its search engine.

Google may be forced by the Competition and Markets Authority to make major changes in the way that people use its search engine in the UK, @natashabernal.bsky.social reports for @wired.com

www.wired.com/story/uk-wat...

Scientists Made Human Eggs from Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos The embryos weren’t used to try to establish a pregnancy, but the researchers behind the technique say it could one day be used to address infertility.

An incredible way of upping access and success of IVF, or an unnerving development that ushers in the possibility of ‘embryo farming’. Maybe it's both.

www.wired.com/story/scient...

Inside the Nuclear Bunkers, Mines, and Mountains Being Retrofitted as Data Centers Companies are going to great lengths to protect the infrastructure that provides the backbone of the world’s digital services—by burying their data deep underground.

Absolutely loved this piece looking at the innards of a high-security data centers housed underground.

www.wired.com/story/inside...

Anti-Trump Protesters Take Aim at ‘Naive’ US-UK AI Deal Thousands marched in London to protest President Donald Trump’s second state visit. Among them were many environmental activists unhappy with Britain’s new AI deal with the US.

I covered the protests in London against Trump for @wired.com. Protesters aren't convinced by the AI deal from US tech giants: They want to know what the UK is giving them in exchange for up to $45bn in investment and where the power for data centers will come from www.wired.com/story/climat...

I hope we see more of this around the world in the future.

This is your chance to learn from the best!

Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom “It’s getting out of hand,” one seller says. “They realize the US market is a gold mine.”

My two takeaways from this piece:

1) ugh, this is bad, is there nothing that this administration will leave unsullied etc.; and

2) keeping ants (legally) seems pretty cool, I should look into it.

www.wired.com/story/usda-a...

Features Editor WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

Dream job alert! @wired.com is hiring a features editor to join our team. You’ll work with @harmancipants.bsky.social and her gang of genius storytellers on ambitious reporting, investigations, packages, and more…

Why the US Is Racing to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon NASA has set a 2030 deadline to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon. It’s an ambitious but potentially achievable goal that could transform space exploration, experts tell WIRED.

Assumed there'd be no legs in this idea over this timeframe... but experts who spoke to @wired.com explain how getting a nuclear reactor on the moon in five years is plausible—and why the US wants to pursue such an ambitious goal on this schedule.

www.wired.com/story/why-th...

Opinion | Two Words: Plastics Treaty

Negotiations are underway, again, for a global treaty on plastics. If you're not sure what's going on or why this matters, this is a good primer:

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/o...