Randy had always been the skinniest kid among his friends. And then he got cut by that chicken. The post The Mysterious Virus That Could Cause Obesity appeared first on WIRED.

From <em>Zelda</em> to <em>Kingdom Hearts</em>, honoring the best games that didn't come out this year. The post Thanks for Nothing, Videogames: The 2016 Vaporware Awards appeared first on WIRED.

The year's biggest color trend wasn't a single hue, at all. It was a blend of them. More precisely, it was ombré---the ten dollar word for color gradients. The post Forget Rose Gold. In 2016, Tech's Big Color Trend Was Ombré appeared first on WIRED.

"20th Century Women" is a warm, hilarious story about parenting, punk, and late-'70s suburbia. The post How Mike Mills Made 20th Century Women One of the Best Movies of the Year appeared first on WIRED.

The best ways to get you out of your car. The post 7 'Last Mile' Solutions That Don't Look Unacceptably Stupid appeared first on WIRED.

These are the stories you, our dear readers, loved most. Thank you. The post WIRED's Most Popular Stories of the Year appeared first on WIRED.

A lack of trust formed the perfect petri dish in which a plague of misinformation could bloom. The post 2016: The Mainstream Media Melted Down as Fake News Festered appeared first on WIRED.

The Standard Model, the framework that has defined—and confined—physics for so long, still reins. But sometimes cracks appear in its walls. The post A Year in Dark Energy, Antimatter, and Gravitational Waves appeared first on WIRED.

We checked them out in person at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The post Meet the Three Most Absurd Creatures of 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

Everything from extreme street design to a shape-changing car, from a blind man "driving" to a truck hauling beer all by itself. The post Our 11 Favorite Video Stories From the World of Transportation in 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

Vaporeon, potty-mouthed superheroes, and the death of music marketing, oh my. The post The Top 5 Culture Stories of the Year, in One Easy Video appeared first on WIRED.

2016's most noteworthy user interface upgrades---from the incremental but astute, to the truly momentous. The post The Best User Interface Upgrades of 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

We understand if you missed some of these features. Not to worry. Our editors choose a handful of stories that we believe reflect our very best work. The post Our Favorite WIRED Longreads of the Year appeared first on WIRED.

Ridley Scott's return to the sci-fi franchise has lots of gore in store. The post Everyone Will Hear You Scream at the First Alien: Covenant Trailer appeared first on WIRED.

It's been a strange year for comics, but one that has also resulted in some amazing books. The post From Squirrel Girl to Giant Days: The Best Comics of 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

From the rings of Saturn to colliding galaxy clusters, WIRED presents the best space photos of 2016. The post The Most Stunning Space Photos of 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

"Okay Google, help me set up Google Home." The post How to Set Up Your New Google Home appeared first on WIRED.

In uncertainty times, these non-profits need your year-end charity to protect privacy and civil liberties online. The post Where to Donate to Protect the Internet in 2017 appeared first on WIRED.

Artificial intelligence is remaking tech giants from the inside out, and it's rapidly spreading to the rest of the world. The post 2016: The Year That Deep Learning Took Over the Internet appeared first on WIRED.

Look what it is: the Amazon Echo. Let's get it set up and ready to place anywhere in your house. The post How to Set Up Your New Amazon Echo appeared first on WIRED.

A former advisor to Hillary Clinton offers the president-elect suggestions for keeping the nation's technology industry thriving. The post Dear Mr. Trump: Here's How to Maintain America's Tech Lead appeared first on WIRED.

On the latest 'Geek's Guide to the Galaxy' podcast, the panel talks about the latest 'Star Wars' movie. The post Should Rogue One Have Been Even Darker? appeared first on WIRED.

2016 told a tale of two drugs, and how people using them circumvented the way America thinks about getting high. The post America Is Finally Ready to Change the Way It Talks About Drugs appeared first on WIRED.

We exit the year with more logos than we entered with. Below, a selection of 2016's most notable work. The post From Instagram to Budweiser, These Are the Year’s Most Notable New Logos appeared first on WIRED.

Everyone should have some practice creating things rather than just consuming things. Here are some ideas to get you started with making. The post WIRED’s Guide to Turning Your Kids Into Masterful Makers appeared first on WIRED.

Did Russia hack the DNC? Did North Korea hack Sony Pictures? Try to answer these questions and you run into the attribution problem. The post Hacker Lexicon: What Is the Attribution Problem? appeared first on WIRED.

This year was an eventful one for science—physics, climate science, public health threats, you name it. The post From Theranos to Space Waves, These Were the 9 Biggest Science Stories of 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

An army of drones captured images of this threatened resource in the new book <em>Water</em>. The post Stunning Images Show the Earth's Imperiled Water appeared first on WIRED.

These are the greatest true crime, inventive fiction, and deep rabbit hole audio stories of the year. The post The 10 Best Podcasts of 2016—From Conspiracies to Digital Revenge appeared first on WIRED.

From Apple vs FBI to WhatsApp, it was a banner year for end-to-end encryption. The post The Year Encryption Won appeared first on WIRED.

3M keeps a tight seal on the recipe for its sandwich of polymers and chemicals. So we did our own research on what likely makes the tape stick. The post What's Inside the Secret Recipe for Scotch Magic Tape appeared first on WIRED.

Here's how to get the most out of hitting the multiplex over the holidays. The post Simple Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday at the Movies appeared first on WIRED.

It used to be people who disrupted the establishment. Now? It's mostly the establishment. The post The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2016 appeared first on WIRED.

And made clear they're on the way to dominance. The post 2016 Was the Year Self-Driving Cars Took the Wheel appeared first on WIRED.

Land Lines is a clever new tool that lets you search satellite images by drawing just a line. The post Google's Mesmerizing Game Turns Scribbles Into Satellite Images appeared first on WIRED.

Nintendo's ill-fated dual-screened home game console is barely four years old, and it's already dead. Sayonara! The post A Farewell to Wii U, the Game System for Nobody appeared first on WIRED.

Last year, Greenpeace estimated that within two years, information tech will account for between seven and 12 percent of all electrical use. The post The Cloud Needs to Get a Whole Lot Greener in 2017 appeared first on WIRED.

Print is not dead. At least, LifePrint is banking on it remaining alive for some time to come. The post Review: LifePrint appeared first on WIRED.

Hey slacker, time to get shopping. The post 13 Last-Minute Gift Ideas to Save Christmas appeared first on WIRED.

Filip Wolak takes magical photos of winter landscapes ... while flying his plane at the same time. The post Majestic Aerials of the Winter Wonderland That Is New Jersey appeared first on WIRED.

The DMW revoked the registrations for Uber's self-driving cars, leaving the company with no choice but to sideline its San Francisco fleet. For now. The post Uber Bows Before California's Power and Parks Its Robo-Cars appeared first on WIRED.

The idea is to match the companies' areas of expertise. The post Google and Honda Are Teaming Up on Self-Driving Cars appeared first on WIRED.

When Mario jumps in Super Mario Run, is it realistic or not? What is the acceleration of Mario? How big is he? The post Let's-a-Go: The Physics of Jumping in Super Mario Run appeared first on WIRED.

A new White House report predicts that millions of jobs could be displaced by AI and automation. The answer, it says, is more education. The post The White House’s Fix for Robots Stealing Jobs? Education appeared first on WIRED.

A technique called "domain fronting" makes the app's encrypted traffic look no different from a Google search. The post Encryption App 'Signal' Fights Censorship With a Clever Workaround appeared first on WIRED.

"Permafrost is a silent ticking time bomb," says Robert Spencer, an environmental scientist at Florida State University. The post Bacteria, Methane, and Other Dangers Within Siberia's Melting Permafrost appeared first on WIRED.

Spend some time with the Pfeffermans. You won't regret it. The post WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Transparent appeared first on WIRED.

Here is a sign that shows a quarter pound of Lego for $8.99. What does this say about the distribution of Lego blocks? Density included. The post Here’s How Much That Lego Brick You Stepped on Is Worth appeared first on WIRED.

After four years in prison, Anonymous' rabblerousing information activist is back with a new plan to restart his radical muckraking. The post Anonymous' Barrett Brown Is Free—and Ready to Pick New Fights appeared first on WIRED.

Explore the 1966 Lockheed P-3 that helps with Operation Icebridge. The post Take a Chilling 360-Degree Tour of NASA’s Glacier-Spying Plane appeared first on WIRED.