How a solar storm could cause an 'internet apocalypse'

PLUS: Why Florida's Covid Surge Is Screwing With the Water Supply (Hint: Oxygen), and more

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 08.27.21   CONSEQUENCES | 4-MINUTE READ Why Florida's Covid Surge Is Screwing With the Water Supply (Hint: Oxygen) BY MATT SIMON More people in the hospital means more people need oxygen. But treatment plants also need the gas to purify water.   THE MONITOR | 3-MINUTE READ You Should Have Waited for the Official Spider-Man Trailer BY ANGELA WATERCUTTER Also: The latest Matrix sequel has a title, and that's all I want to know about it.   BUYING GUIDE | 6-MINUTE READ The 5 Best Portable Espresso Makers for a Shot on the Go BY SCOTT GILBERTSON Make a barista-worthy cup on the road, back at camp, or anywhere else, with these handheld machines.   SUN STOPS | 4-MINUTE READ A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an 'Internet Apocalypse' BY LILY HAY NEWMAN The undersea cables that connect much of the world would be hit especially hard by a coronal mass ejection. GET WIRED End of Summer Sale: Get WIRED for $10 $5. Get the print edition and exclusive subscriber-only content. You can't see into the future, but you can subscribe to WIRED. Subscribe now.   STRANGE BREW | 5-MINUTE READ Titan's Strange Chemical World Gets Simulated in Tiny Tubes BY ERIC NIILER A research chemist mixed nitrogen, methane, and other molecules to recreate the conditions that might harbor life on one of Saturn's moons.   PRODUCT REVIEW | 5-MINUTE READ This Rice Cooker Also Slow Cooks, But in Teensy Batches BY JOE RAY This Zojirushi's limited ability to cook large quantities of anything other than rice and grains makes it hard to justify its higher-than-average price.   DOT PHYSICS | 6-MINUTE READ Would the 'Free Guy' Inflatable Bubble Protect a Real Person? BY RHETT ALLAIN In the movie's video game world, a whole-body airbag protects Ryan Reynolds as he falls off of a building and onto a car. Would that … work?   CORONAVIRUS UPDATE | 3-MINUTE READ New Vaccine Decisions, an Influx of Mandates, and More Coronavirus News BY EVE SNEIDER Catch up on the most important updates from this week.   GADGET LAB PODCAST | 40-MINUTE EPISODE Can the Metaverse Thrive If It's Fully Owned by Facebook? BY WIRED STAFF This week, we step into the social network's vision of the metaverse, where reality and the simulated world become one. Kinda.     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.