WIRED Middle East
Health
Ashwagandha Promises Calm. The Science Is More Complicated
The popular supplement may help ease stress, but evidence for anxiety remains uncertain–and rare side effects complicate its soothing reputation.
By Megan Tomos
Digital Culture
What Does It Really Mean When Fashion Is “Shot on iPhone”?
A month after Meta put robots on a Milan runway, Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max infiltrated a fashion show in Türkiye’s Cappadocia.
By Megan Tomos
Artificial Intelligence
How Much Water Does a ChatGPT Prompt Really Use?
A single AI prompt may use only drops of water. But the footprint depends on what’s being counted–and where that water comes from.
By Malak Saleh
Security News
Al Jazeera Devices Were Targeted With Spyware Hidden in Online Ads
Researchers uncovered a spyware campaign targeting Al Jazeera devices through online ads, exposing how advertising infrastructure can enable invisible attacks.
By Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman
Environment
Egypt’s “Super Coral” Is Feeling the Heat
Egypt’s Red Sea reefs could be among the last coral refuges on the planet. Recent bleaching is testing their resilience – and scientists differ on what protects them.
By Eli Siegel-Bernstein
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 Advice
Scammers Have Your Phone Number. What Can They Do With It?
A scam call doesn’t mean your phone has been hacked. But your number can help fraudsters build a convincing con–or target the accounts it protects.
By Megan Tomos
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
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
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
Gear News
Jais 3 Wants to Make AI Work in the Arabic You Actually Speak
The UAE-built AI model family aims to turn spoken Arabic, regional dialects and mid-sentence language switches into instructions it can act on.
By Dana Alomar
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
Gear
Products
The Apple HomeView Is Like a Giant Apple Watch for the Home
With customisable “faces,” this 7-inch smart display is a unique hybrid between an iPhone and an Apple Watch.
By Julian Chokkattu
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
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
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.
Science
Psychology and Neuroscience
Handwriting Still Has Something to Teach Kids
Handwriting gives children opportunities to learn, think and practise skills that tapping a keyboard doesn’t. How can schools and parents make room for both?
By Evangeline Elsa
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
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
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
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
