Editor’s Note: Does the ‘always on’ ethos resolve or create chaos? Depends who you ask

PLUS: AI loses to Covid-19 and Trump tackles Huawei. Also: join the discussion in our new comments section. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 07.27.20 We hope you enjoy this free edition of Nicholas Thompson's Letter from the Editor. Subscribe to WIRED to receive this exclusive email every other week. SUBSCRIBE NOW Anthony Goblirsch is a power user on the app Citizen, which means he maintains a busy schedule of monitoring police scanners and zipping around town to record live video from the scenes of suspected crimes. In the year after joining the app, he uploaded 675 broadcasts. Oh, and he's twelve years old. Before the pandemic, WIRED's Boone Ashworth spent some time with Anthony and his mother. In a new feature, he chronicles the adventures of the young crime spotter and the rise of an app that either resolves or creates chaos, depending on who you ask. Boone's reporting was also showcased in the inaugural episode of Get WIRED, our new podcast. Each week, host Lauren Goode will partner with another member of our team to dig into all the ways technology is changing how we live our lives. Please do give it a listen. As Covid-19 cases rise nationwide, we remain focused on putting out stories about the nuances of life online, like Boone's, in addition to providing you with the latest news about the pandemic. Lately, there has been no shortage of either. Our writers have investigated how we're being surveilled by law enforcement and how afrofuturism can help the world mend. They've written about the possibility of a US TikTok ban and the future of mass transit. They've covered new research on how llamas could help treat Covid-19 and further confirmation that hydroxychloroquine doesn't work at all. And they've also penned necessary guides to taking care of yourself and staying productive when the world is on fire. As always, we're grateful to you for reading and supporting our work. And we want your feedback! Starting this week, we're launching comments on our site. You'll be able to join discussions on stories across WIRED; stay tuned for more information. We look forward to hearing from you. Nicholas Thompson What Does It Mean to Say a New Drug 'Works'? BY ADAM ROGERS Ironically, it's harder than ever right now for researchers to define the proof that a drug does what it needs to. Universities Need Covid-19 Tests to Reopen. Few Have Them BY GREGORY BARBER If students are coming back to campus, colleges need to be able to test them. The question of how they'll do that, though, looms large. It's Time to Defund Social Media BY WHITNEY PHILLIPS Now is a good time to be asking ourselves how best to reform our networks and reimagine our information ecosystem. An Ethics Guide for Tech Gets Rewritten With Workers in Mind BY ARIELLE PARDES The Omidyar Network has crafted a tool kit designed to get tech workers talking about how the products they build will shape democracy and society. You Don't Need Single-Use Plastic Bags. You Need a Mask BY MATT SIMON The recycling business was in dire straits even before the pandemic. Now it's even worse. So ditch your single-use plastic, and please, wear a mask! A Summer Without Blockbusters BY ANGELA WATERCUTTER This year there are no hot new summer movies for us all to talk about, and that might actually be a good thing. Even the Best AI Models Are No Match for the Coronavirus BY WILL KNIGHT At quantitative funds, algorithms rely on historical data to make trading decisions. So in new situations, like the one we're in now, it's no surprise they didn't fare well. Could Trump Win the War on Huawei—and Is TikTok Next? BY GARRETT M. GRAFF The US's attack on Huawei continues to intensify in part because the company's potential to surveil could jeopardize the US government's surveillance ambitions.     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