WIRED Middle East
Health
How Much Microplastic Is Falling From the Sky?
Airborne microplastics settle on farmland, rivers and oceans. Scientists are working to measure how much falls–and what it means for the environment.
By Malak Saleh
Reviews
The iPhone 18 Pro Finally Let Me Leave My Portable Charger at Home
Better battery life, a camera I want to use and less heat during my Dubai routine make a convincing upgrade from the 16 Plus – but at nearly AED 6,000, it needs to earn its place.
By Dana Alomar
Space rocks
Built To Crash: The UAE’s Eight-Year, One-Way Trip to a Red Asteroid
A small probe has no engine to slow it down and no way to be steered from Earth. If it works, the mission could reveal what one of the solar system’s strangest asteroids is made of.
By Carla Sertin
Security News
The Man Behind a West Bank Telegram Channel Trying To Keep Palestinian Drivers Safe
With no accurate Big Tech mapping app to help him, Anas Hattab launched a Telegram group to get himself home at night. Now nearly 350,000 Palestinians rely on it to navigate the occupied West Bank.
By Lama Rabah
out of this world
Astronomers Confirm Discovery of the Youngest Known Exoplanet Ever
Under one million years old, “Elias 2-24b” is now the youngest exoplanet ever observed, and it may force researchers to reevaluate theories about how planets are formed.
By Teruyuki Hayakawa
Gaza
Security News
Israel’s Crocodile Prison Plan Is Part of a Wider Fight Over Nature
Palestinian ecologists say the proposal reveals how wildlife protections can be used to control land, resources and people.
By Kate McMahon
Algorithmic War
Palestinians Risked Their Lives to Document Gaza, Then Came The Algorithm
In Gaza, survival unfolds alongside a fight to be seen in a digital world increasingly shaped and manipulated by algorithms.
By Laura Albast
Digital Culture
How Palestinians Are Building a Digital Archive That Can’t Be Erased
Distributed backups, cyber resilience and half a million records are preserving Palestinian history beyond any single building or border.
By Tamara Davison
Interlocking Gaza
Gaza Is Rebuilding With Lego-Like Bricks Made From Rubble
As reconstruction materials remain blocked, Palestinians are crushing debris into interlocking blocks to build shelters from destruction.
By Hassan Herzallah
SPECIAL EDITION
Culture
Dig in
Digger Is a Movie About Making Art While the World Burns
Tom Cruise’s strangest movie was sold as a gag reel. It’s actually the most unsettling portrait of our tech and climate moment yet.
By Carla Sertin
Video Games
Is Roblox Safe for Kids? What Parents Need to Know
Roblox has introduced age-based accounts and tighter chat rules. Here’s what those protections do–and what parents should check themselves.
log in, lock in
In the Age of Social Media, Silence Doesn’t Pay
In the endless noise of social media, silence stands out.
By Carla Sertin
Digital Culture
What Would A Child-Free Internet Look Like?
Social media bans promise to protect children. But young users, creators and their economic influence may simply move somewhere less visible.
By Megan Tomos
Security
Security News
Every Iranian Strike on UAE Ports and Refineries Was Paired With a Cyberattack
The UAE says attacks on its ports and energy facilities have been accompanied by cyberattacks. Experts warn that connected industrial systems could be the next point of failure.
By Iain Akerman
Security News
US Strikes on Iran Were War Crimes, UN-Backed Mission Finds
The mission found failures in how a school in Iran was targeted. New reporting raises questions about AI’s role, but its impact remains unproven.
By Tamara Davison
Security News
Israel Is Blowing up South Lebanon So Hard It Registers as Earthquakes
A massive Israeli demolition in south Lebanon registered at magnitude 4.1. Here’s how an explosion can resemble an earthquake.
By Ghalia Alwani
Security News
What Happens to Your Photos After You Upload Them to ChatGPT?
The viral ChatGPT trend asks users to upload selfies – but what happens to your photos and personal data after you hand them over?
By Gia Chaudry
THE BIG STORY
How To and Advice
Israel Is Trying to Shape What Chatbots Say. We Tested Six.
Israel contracted a US firm to shape GPT conversations. WIRED Middle East tested whether its campaign sites are surfacing in chatbot answers.
By Malak Saleh
Business
Artificial Intelligence
What Is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, and How Close Are We?
Artificial general intelligence could transform how we work. But experts disagree on what it means—and whether today’s AI is close.
By Malak Saleh
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI Delays Release of Latest Model Over Safety Concerns
The company said its latest Astra model would undergo more work to meet safety standards, and issued an apology for the way it handled the hacking of an Australian government website.
By Isabella Ward
Encore
Napster Is Back and It Wants to Digitally Clone Your Teacher
Once the music industry’s biggest headache, Napster’s next act is bringing AI to the classroom.
By Iain Akerman
Artificial Intelligence
One of AI’s Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is “Meant to Distract Us”
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons.
By Lauren Goode
Gear
How To and Advice
How Apple Puts Indigenous Languages on the iPhone Keyboard
To save endangered languages, tech companies like Apple are working with indigenous communities to meet the next generation where they type.
By Julian Chokkattu
How To and Advice
The New ChatGPT Is More Show Than Tell
OpenAI is updating ChatGPT for all users with an “Intelligent UI” that’s more visual – generating interactive elements as part of the chatbot’s outputs.
Products
Fashion Tech Accessories We’re Watching in 2026
From a Diesel smart ring to Kylie Jenner’s AI glasses, these devices make a case for putting tech in your outfit.
By Megan Tomos
Gear News
Two Driverless Cars Crashed Going 250kmph. That Could Be a Good Thing.
At Imola, only two of five A2RL cars finished the race – exposing what happens when autonomous systems meet blind corners, sensor failures and physics.
By Tamanna Sajeed
Science
Health
You Probably Aren’t Going to Get the Plague
The death of a lab worker in Russia has authorities looking at whether plague played a role. Even if it did, though, the odds of it spreading are very low.
By Emily Mullin
Environment
This Cyborg Cockroach Could Save Lives in Disaster Zones
Researchers have developed remotely controlled cockroaches that can locate victims and deliver injections–but only to simulated targets so far.
By Ritsuko Kawai
Health
What Is TPO – And Could It Be in Your Gel Manicure?
Europe banned TPO from gel polish over fertility concerns. Dubai can test for it, but its presence in UAE salons remains unknown.
By Bianca Carrera
Psychology and Neuroscience
What’s the Difference Between Postpartum Psychosis and Postpartum Depression?
The Lindsay Clancy trial has put postpartum psychosis in focus. Here’s how the rare psychiatric emergency differs from postpartum depression.
By Evangeline Elsa
Digital Culture
No AI, No Uploads, No Ads: Divine's CEO Says Friction Could Save Social Media
The six-second video app is banning everything that made modern social media frictionless. Its founder says that's exactly what will make people trust what they're watching
By Megan Tomos
Security News
The Open-Source Investigators Reconstructing the Middle East’s Wars
As journalists are shut out of conflict zones, investigators are using satellite imagery, social media and 3D modelling to document atrocities. But evidence alone cannot deliver accountability.
By Iain Akerman
THE ESCAPE ISSUE
YouTube Star AboFlah Made Streaming His Life. He Wants His Kids to Live Offline
AboFlah talks about his new goals, streaming for charity, and when it's time to log off.
By Carla Sertin
Movies and TV
Roger Waters and Mona Miari Refuse to Become “Comfortably Numb”
Millions watch Gaza on their phones. Little changes. In a nine-minute reworking of a 47-year-old song, Roger Waters and Mona Miari refuse the numbness the feed is selling.
By Dana Alomar