When Covid came for Provincetown

PLUS: The World Has Too Much Stuff, and more [View this email in your browser]( | [Manage newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=wir) [WIRED logo and a robot carrying a WIRED magazine]( [06.14.22](   [Stacked cardboard boxes]( [STOCKPILE | 4-MINUTE READ]( [The World Has Too Much Stuff]( BY CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER [Retailers bamboozled by the pandemic now find themselves staring at mountains of unwanted stock. Here’s what happened and how it can be fixed.](   [test kit]( [PUBLIC HEALTH | 5-MINUTE READ]( [Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out]( BY DAVID COX [Testing, vaccinating, and contact tracing can control the virus in Europe and North America—unless complacency allows it to take hold.](   [A collage of images including a portrait of Charles Darwin and an egg with sperm. ]( [IDEAS | 7-MINUTE READ]( [The Sexist Pseudoscience at the Heart of Biology]( BY LUCY COOKE [For centuries, zoological law taught that sexual inequality was inevitable. Then women began studying Darwin for themselves.](   [Photograph of downtown Provincetown, Massachusetts]( [RAPID TEST | 14-MINUTE READ]( [When Covid Came for Provincetown]( BY MARYN MCKENNA [In a queer vacation hot spot on Cape Cod, an ad hoc community proved that Americans can stifle large outbreaks—if they want to.]( [GET WIRED]( [A helicopter on Mars. What to expect post-Covid. The next electrifying/terrifying leap in AI explained.]( [Get 1 year of WIRED for less than $1 per month. That includes Steven Levy's exclusive newsletter and a free tote!]( [Subscribe now.](   [hiker with hat shining a light on ground]( [THE DOWNLINK | 8-MINUTE READ]( [How Lost Hikers Can Send an SOS to Space]( BY SARAH SCOLES [The Sarsat satellite system is a kind of celestial lifeguard for explorers, boaters, and aviators who might be in need of search and rescue.](   [Blake Lemoine]( [IDEAS | 3-MINUTE READ]( ['Is This AI Sapient?' Is the Wrong Question to Ask About LaMDA]( BY KATHERINE CROSS [The bigger problem is what happens when we act as if AIs are conscious, and how that could be used against us.](   [Australian coal mine aerial]( [GREEN LIGHT | 5-MINUTE READ]( [Australia Has Finally Woken Up to Climate Change]( BY BIANCA NOGRADY [The newly elected government has promised stricter emissions limits and more renewables in the wake of fires, droughts, and floods.](   [An illustrated word doc. ]( [NO CLIPPY | 3-MINUTE READ]( [How to Use Microsoft Word for Free]( BY DAVID NIELD [If you don't want to pay for the word processor, and Google Docs won’t work for what you need, you have options.](   [An image from FBoy Island on HBO.]( [PRIMAL STREAM | 5-MINUTE READ]( [Reality TV Has Become a Parody of Itself]( BY KATE KNIBBS [If you can think of it, there’s probably a reality show about it. The surplus has taken the genre into the surreal.]( [(image) WIRED Logo]( [(image) WIRED on Facebook]( [(image) WIRED on Twitter]( [(image) WIRED on Instagram]( [(image) WIRED on LinkedIn]( [(image) WIRED on YouTube]( [Podcasts]( Have questions or comments? [Reply to this email](mailto:hello@wired.com?subject=WIRED%20Newsletter%20Questions,%20Comments%20or%20Feedback). 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](newsletter=wir) Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.