This hiker was found dead two years ago. We still don't know his name

PLUS: The history of poop, and a closer look at the polls. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  11.08.20 The man started his trek on the Appalachian Trail in New York, heading south. As WIRED editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson writes this week on Backchannel, the man—who soon picked up the nickname Mostly Harmless—wanted to get away "from something and maybe from everything." He may have worked in tech. He carried a giant backpack but no cell phone. Fifteen months later, two hikers all the way down in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve came across a yellow tent with a pair of boots sticking out of it. Mostly Harmless was dead, and an internet mystery was born. Authorities in Collier County, Florida, had no luck identifying the man, but soon Facebook and other social media sites were buzzing with leads—people who had talked to Mostly Harmless on the trail, people trying to match up photographs with missing-person databases. "The internet can decode family mysteries, identify long-forgotten songs, solve murders, and, as this magazine showed a decade ago, track down almost anyone who tries to shed their digital skin." Thompson writes. "This case seemed easy." Except: nothing. Despite the community of avid searchers that coalesced online to identify him, Mostly Harmless remained—and remains—entirely nameless, unknown. A genetic testing company has now joined the search and may soon solve the mystery, unless the internet can do it first. Mark Robinson | Features Editor, WIRED   A Nameless Hiker and the Case the Internet Can't Crack BY NICHOLAS THOMPSON The man on the trail went by "Mostly Harmless." He was friendly and said he worked in tech. After he died in his tent, no one could figure out who he was.   BACKCHANNEL The History of Poop Is Really the History of Technology BY HAROLD MCGEE Sure it's gross, but human mastery over its chemistry allowed the success of agriculture—and the rise of civilization.   IDEAS So How Wrong Were the Polls This Year, Really? BY GILAD EDELMAN Pollsters spent four years preparing to better capture Trump support and avoid a repeat of 2016. Somehow, they missed it again.   CHECKS IN THE MAIL How We'll Know the Election Wasn't Rigged BY LILY HAY NEWMAN Whether you casted a ballot in person or by mail, there's plenty to worry about. Mass voter fraud shouldn't be on the list.   OPINION OK, You've Just Won the Election. Now Fix Covid BY JEREMY SAMUEL FAUST The next president, whoever it is, should start by convening a brand-new Coronavirus Task Force.   IDEAS The Xenobot Future Is Coming—Start Planning Now BY AMY WEBB We're on the cusp of being able to program biological systems like we program computers. That raises some thorny questions.         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