A guidebook for the future

Celebrating WIRED's 30th anniversary.

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences When WIRED was founded 30 years ago, the editors who started the magazine wanted to create a kind of "guidebook for the future," a publication that would highlight the emerging technologies that stood to change the world and the way we live our lives. Today, our celebration of 30 years of WIRED continues, defending that future from the kind of doomerism and pessimism that threatens to overshadow the incredible work that activists, governments, companies, and individuals are all doing to make the world of tomorrow a better place.   If you haven't been keeping up with our series "In Defense of the Future," where we highlight people who are making waves in the world of cyber and geopolitical security, AI and emerging technologies, climate change and mitigation, and more, swing by our anniversary site to see more.   We've recently highlighted how a small group of passionate tabletop game players created the juggernaut called Critical Role, and the future they're charting with their work and their nonprofit. We also looked at how Pixar's Elemental reveals how computer graphics and AI will change moviemaking. We even went back over the 1984 seminal WIRED feature, "The Long Boom," and broke down all the ways we were wrong. After all, you can't make the future better without learning the lessons of the past. —Alan Henry, Special Projects Editor My Recommended Reads Pixar Used AI to Stoke the Flames in 'Elemental' It's harder to make fire than you might think. But the Pixar team was determined to do the impossible. NASA's Yearlong Mars Simulation Is a Test of Mental Mettle Four people will cohabitate in a small prototype Martian dwelling, mimicking the isolation and stresses of life on the Red Planet. Critical Role Lays Out the Next Era in Tabletop Games and Live-Action Role-Play The creators that made the original live-play Dungeons and Dragons show a blockbuster are back to share its magic and bring its platform to new and diverse creators. Listen to These Photographs of Sparkling Galaxies How do you make space images more accessible? Turn celestial data into sonic compositions that don't have to be seen to be enjoyed. The Curse of the Long Boom I run into a lot of incorrect predictions when reading through the WIRED archives. What should the takeaway be? To Make a Greener Building, Start With an Old One Corporations love to show off new constructions with fancy eco features. For truly green architecture, it's best to build on structures already in place. For more of the people, platforms, and organizations that give us hope for the future, visit WIRED30. ADVERTISEMENT WIRED30 Raves: Iconic Stories Our Editors Love  We Test the Best Festival Tents in McLaren's Monsoon Chamber When WIRED tests gear, we really test gear. A great example of this was when we convinced McLaren to let us use their state-of-the-art monsoon chamber (where newly minted cars are subjected to a 16,000-liter downpour at the equivalent pressure of driving into a monsoon at 50 mph) to see just how waterproof our tent picks were. You could go set them up in a field, of course—but where's the fun in that? —Jeremy White, Senior Editor The World Is Toxic. This is the Metabolic Era How do we talk about, digest, and imagine the imminence of climate catastrophe? Kelly Pendergrast argues that infinite growth is no longer possible, and as a result, we're going to need to learn to digest the toxicity that humans have created. But what's great about Pendergrast's essay is that it readily accepts how unsettling our planet has become while still having a little fun. —Eve Sneider, Deputy Ideas Editor The Epic Saga of The Well Way before social media became synonymous with toxicity, there was The Well, a 1980s vintage conferencing system that improbably gathered a passionate online community whose interests included parenting, and the Grateful Dead. Katie Hafner, acting as a modern-day version of the narrator in "Our Town," guides us deep into this virtual society, chronicling its joys, feuds, intrigues and, yes, tragedies. —Steven Levy, Editor At Large For the best and weirdest stories from WIRED's archive, sign up for the WIRED Classics newsletter. GET WIRED Get 1 year of WIRED for less than $1 per month. That includes Steven Levy's exclusive newsletter and a free tote! Subscribe now. ADVERTISEMENT Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.