What were WIRED readers interested in during the past year? Well, they seem to be no more interested in Donald Trump than in bananas, which they care about less than Apple. They cared a great deal, too, about hackers and about the great reckoning that the tech industry faced in 2017—reckoning with the responsibilities that come with power and reckoning with gender dynamics that have remained little discussed for too long. They also were interested in ways to live forever, but also in how we think through the inevitability of death. And no one wanted to burn their eyes during the solar eclipse.
Here are the seventeen most-read stories published on WIRED.com of 2017, arranged chronologically. Look back to get a sense of this intense, crazy, and inventive year. And, of course, for daily dispatches of the best of WIRED, sign up for our newsletter.
A Russian Slot Machine Hack Is Costing Casinos Big Time
Digging through slot machine source code helped a St. Petersburg-based syndicate make off with millions.
—Brendan Koerner, February 6
Humans Made the Banana Perfect—But Soon, It'll Be Gone
The history of coffee gives us surprising insight into the future of the banana.
—Rob Dunn, March 14
What Does 'Covfefe' Mean? The Internet Will Define That For You.
When President Trump tweeted a fake word, the rest of the world defined it for him.
—Angela Watercutter, May 31
What's Wrong with Apple's New Headquarters
The architecture and design of the years-in-the-making Apple Park are brilliant. How it fits into the world around it? Not so much.
—Adam Rogers, June 8
Forget the Blood of Teens. Metformin Promises to Extend Life for a Nickel a Pill
The more researchers learn about metformin, the more it seems like a medieval wonder drug that could boost longevity in the 21st century.
—Sam Apple, July 1
James Damore’s Google Memo Gets Science All Wrong
Damore's analysis of the science cited his memo is at best politically naive, and at worst dangerous.
—Megan Molteni, Adam Rogers August 15
How to Watch the Total Solar Eclipse Without Glasses
Sure, you could buy solar glasses. Or you could save your money and make a DIY pinhole.
—Rhett Allain, August 21
The Day I Found Out My Life Was Hanging by a Thread
Startup CEO Matt Bencke, 45, thought he’d thrown out his back. Then he went to the ER and received the most sobering news of his life.
—Matt Bencke August 24
Why Men Don’t Believe the Data on Gender Bias in Science
In this opinion column, a physics professor explains why male scientists devalue research that identifies gender bias in the field.
—Alison Coil, August 25
The Equifax Breach: Here’s How to Protect Yourself
Don't panic, but start watching your credit report and financial accounts very closely.
—Lily Hay Newman, September 7
Meet the iPhone X, Apple's New High-End Handset
All the details on Apple's newest iPhones, including the much-anticipated iPhone X.
—David Pierce, September 12
‘I Forgot My PIN’: An Epic Tale of Losing $30,000 in Bitcoin
Veteran tech journalist Mark Frauenfelder tries everything, including hypnosis, to recover a small fortune from a locked bitcoin device.
—Mark Frauenfelder, October 29
Apple's iPhone X: The First Field Report
Yeah, it’s gorgeous. But the most impressive thing about it is what happens next.
—Steven Levy, November 1
Google’s Artificial-Intelligence Wizard Unveils a New Twist on Neural Networks
Google's Geoff Hinton helped catalyze the current AI boom—and says he knows how to make machines smarter at understanding the world.
—Tom Simonite, November 1
Elon Musk Reveals Tesla's Electric Semitruck
Everything we learned about the big battery, specs, and range of Elon Musk's most electrifying gamble yet.
—Alex Davies, November 16
What Does Tesla's Automated Truck Mean for Truckers?
Well, that kind of depends on what you mean by "trucker."
—Aarian Marshall, November 17
The Mirai Botnet Was Part of a College Student Minecraft Scheme
The DDoS attack that crippled the internet last fall wasn't the work of a nation-state. It was three college kids working a Minecraft hustle.
—Garrett Graff, December 13
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