When you flip the Lick around, things look more complicated—especially if you’re new to suction play—but if you take your time to understand these features, you’ll be a happy camper. On this end, you have a suction cup and a tongue-shaped clitoral stimulator. Remove the cup—just a quick twist and it’s off—you can easily access the flicking tongue. The tongue has three speeds that, with a bit of water-based lube, are meant to mimic the sensation of oral sex.

It didn’t feel much like oral sex to me, which probably says more about my partners than the Lick, but it felt great against my clitoris. So much so that this was my favorite function of the Lick. However, I want to stress the importance of lube. To truly experience the incredible sensations, you want it to glide seamlessly over your clitoris. Because your clit doesn’t naturally lubricate, the best way to make that happen is with your favorite water-based lube.

Finally, we get to the suction feature. While not as intense as sex toys that market themselves as bona fide pussy pumps, the suction on the Lick is pretty strong. Before I used it on my vulva, I used the pump of my hand to get an idea of what I was up against, and there was some major sucking happening. If you’re unsure why this might be an asset when dealing with pleasure, it comes down to sensitivity.

With the suction cup on your vulva, each time you press the corresponding button, it tightens its grip, essentially demanding that more blood come into the vulva. When this happens, sensitivity in the area is heightened, which, for some, can lead to stronger and longer orgasms. While not a sensation that everyone may be into, it is one that, if you haven’t tried it, is worth giving it a whirl at least once—if only to prove to yourself it’s not (or absolutely is) for you.

Some Initial Finagling

As much as the Lick’s features deliver on the pleasure front, the four control buttons are a bit difficult to navigate at first. When you hold the Lick in your hand with the suction cup at the top, the buttons descend in order down the shaft. The on/off button is second-to-last—most sex toys give this button its own spot, or at the top or bottom of the layout of buttons. That way, you won’t push it accidentally in the heat of the moment and kill the vibe. Sadly, that exact thing happened to me. The buttons just didn’t make sense in my brain.

Battery life is very much dependent on how you use the Lick. It takes about two hours to fully charge, and with that, you can get anywhere from 80 to 180 minutes of run time. I didn’t exhaust the vibrator by trying to get 180 minutes out of it, but that’s a broad spectrum of time that should be taken into consideration.

Ultimately, the Le Wand Lick 3-in-1 does exactly what it promises: gets you off. It’s waterproof, has a unique look, and its trio of options keeps things interesting. I’ve only used the Lick solo, but I can definitely see the pussy pump feature being a fun little addition to partnered play.

Researchers are developing reusable and environmentally friendly electronics for the health care, consumer and manufacturing sectors, replacing scarce materials with circular alternatives to build a sustainable future.

Europe’s appetite for electronics keeps growing, but so does the waste. From smartphones and laptops to medical sensors, more devices mean mounting piles of discarded hardware.

According to Eurostat, around 5 million metric tons of electronic waste is collected for recycling in the EU each year. That is more than 11 kilograms per household, enough to cover around 2,000 football pitches stacked a meter high.

These 5 million metric tons represent less than 40% of the total mass of electronics put on the European market annually. The rest often ends up in landfills because mixed materials make recycling difficult.

Smarter design

To tackle this challenge, the SUSTRONICS initiative is rethinking how electronics are made, from the materials used to the way products are assembled and repaired. Led by Dutch technology company Philips, it brings together 46 partners from 11 countries. The three-year initiative runs until May 2026.

“The SUSTRONICS researchers focus mainly on fundamental research into new solutions,” explained Ramon Caanen, who leads a sustainability consulting team at Philips.

This includes the use of bio-based, paper-based and more widely available materials, the sustainable manufacturing of electronic components as well as designs that enable better recycling.

The researchers’ goal is to embed sustainability into design, production and functionality, so that products can be better reused and more easily recycled.

That focus has gained urgency since the EU introduced new regulations on eco-design and the right to repair in 2024. They are meant to extend product lifespans, improve energy efficiency and make repairs simpler. They also aim to reduce environmental impact and promote a more circular economy with less waste.

Health care pilots

Health care is one of SUSTRONICS’s main proving grounds. While connected medical devices can improve patient care, their single-use electronic parts add to the e-waste problem. Three pilot studies are developing sustainable electronics for health care.

At Swedish hygiene company Essity Hygiene and Health, a partner in the global research, principal scientist Shabira Abbas is working on a smart incontinence pad designed to make life easier for both patients and staff.

The device is known as a change indicator and alerts staff when a pad needs replacing. A small clip-on reader sits outside the pad, is cleaned between patients, and is reused with each new pad.

“It is designed to improve both skin health and dignity,” said Abbas.

A removable electronic strip inside the pad measures temperature, humidity and enzymes. It can be recycled separately where facilities allow. The team uses paper substrates and 3D-printed metal-oxide sensors to reduce the use of material.

The pad also requires a small reader, which sits outside the pad, to transmit data to staff. This clip-on reader can be reused with each new pad.

“In between patients, you have to clean the reader, but otherwise they are reusable,” said Abbas. Her team’s challenge is making the connector foolproof and easy for staff to attach and remove.

They are also working on energy efficiency, adapting software to use minimal power while processing pad data. This is vital for medical devices that must run continuously, since the combined energy demand of many units greatly increases their overall carbon footprint.

The other two pilot devices include a skin patch for tracking glucose metabolism and a smart dressing for wounds, which signals when it needs replacing. In today’s medical practice, both are still single-use, so sustainability is a key challenge.

Better materials

The SUSTRONICS team is also exploring ways to improve production efficiency and use recyclable or environmentally friendly materials whenever possible. Part of the solution is moving to more common resources from those that are scarce and environmentally harmful, such as silver.

“Silver has a high upstream footprint. Replacing silver with more common materials such as copper or carbon can lower impact significantly. But the key challenge is to make these substitutes perform well in their intended electronics application,” said Caanen.

Beyond medical devices, pilots also target repairability in shavers and lighting, easier dismantling for recycling, and lower energy use.

Looking ahead

Their work ties in with wider EU goals. A new Circular Economy Act, expected in 2026, will create a stronger market for recycled materials, boosting both supply and demand across Europe. It supports the EU’s ambition to lead the world in circular economy practices by 2030.

Today, only about 12% of Europe’s materials are reused or recycled. The target is to double this to 24% by 2030 under the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.

Caanen hopes that SUSTRONICS will become a flagship project for sustainable electronics, by demonstrating how the European electronics industry can benefit from sustainable, alternative materials for electronic components, while maintaining competitiveness.

For hospital patients, innovations like the smart pad could mean greater comfort, dignity and quality of care, while also contributing to a more sustainable, circular economy.

By combining practical health care solutions with ambitious environmental goals, the SUSTRONICS team demonstrates how technological innovation can improve everyday lives and support Europe’s drive for sustainability.

In the long term, such efforts could transform both the electronics industry and health care, showing that small devices can have a big impact.

Leah Feiger: Zoë, I am obsessed with this story. Before you continue, I think that it’s really important to say that Caroline, the lovely reporter of this story on your business desk, obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the dispute about Zuckerberg’s house. This story is canon now.

Zoë Schiffer: Caroline Haskins is a complete star. Our fact-checking team literally cried when I asked them. They were like, “Wait, sorry, how many documents are we looking through?” I was like, “Yes.”

Leah Feiger: Shout out to the WIRED research team.

Zoë Schiffer: Absolutely. The school, I think we just have to say, is named after one of the Zuckerberg family chickens. It’s called the Bicken Ben School.

Leah Feiger: I mean, hearing you say this, it’s, I know you’re being serious, but again.

Zoë Schiffer: So, the Crescent City neighborhood in Palo Alto, where the Zuckerbergs live, as you can imagine, is some of the best real estate in the entire country. It’s filled with these gorgeous homes, a ton of greenery. Mark Zuckerberg has been expanding his presence throughout the years in this ultra fancy neighborhood. The plot of land that the Zuckerbergs live on has expanded to include 11 previously separate properties. This is so funny and just such a nightmare. If you’re living on the street, you paid whatever, $5 million for your house, and suddenly all of your neighbors are Mark Zuckerberg.

Leah Feiger: Important to note that not all of them are connecting either. I don’t totally understand what that means. Do they walk through a neighbor’s porch to get to their horse’s pool? What does this entail?

Zoë Schiffer: We have more questions. We have to Google Earth this. I think there’s some holes in this story that we need to fill in. The expansion first became a concern for Mark Zuckerberg’s neighbors, back in 2016, due to fears that his purchases were driving up the market pretty dramatically. But then, about five years later, neighbors started noticing that a school appeared to be operating out of the Zuckerberg compound. So, this is illegal to do without a permit, at least under the area’s residential zoning code. And so, naturally, the neighbors started to alert the city. Caroline Haskins, the reporter on the story, obtained over a thousand documents, like you said, outlining the resulting fight between the neighbors and the city authorities, basically arguing that, it felt to them like the Zuckerbergs were getting special treatment.