Reuben Wu, a British photographer and visual artist based in Chicago, was first introduced to National Geographic as most people are: When he was a child, he enjoyed looking at the magazines his father subscribed to for decades. He dreamed of seeing his photographs in the same magazine--and even on the cover. So when National Geographic asked him to photograph an iconic monument he knows well, he was ready to work. Last summer, Wu experienced a stark contrast of modern and prehistoric, as he used drones and artificial light to photograph Stonehenge, one of the best-known prehistoric monuments, while hearing honking cars passing by. The site in Wiltshire, England, is bisected by the A303--a major road that may soon be in a tunnel should a 2020 proposal become reality--which means motorists may have seen Wu's photo shoot and lit-up drones.

Ignacio Montoya pauses, gathers strength, takes a step. With the assistance of a walker, an exoskeleton suit and robotic legs that are attached to his own and help propel him forward, Montoya is making his way up and down the promenade along the water's edge at the Marina del Rey boat basin, next to the Trader Joe's. "Christopher Reeve would be amazed," says UCLA scientist Reggie Edgerton, who worked with the late actor and is now watching Montoya's every move. But some improvements in function, thought impossible until recent years, are now being realized. Montoya was nearly killed in 2012 when a minivan crossed into his path while he was on his motorcycle.

During the three years I've spent researching and writing about shyness, one of the most common questions people ask is about the relationship between shyness and technology. Are the internet and the cellphone causing our social skills to atrophy? I often hear this from parents of shy teenagers, who are worried that their children are spending more time with their devices than with their peers. The shy aren't necessarily antisocial; they are just differently social. They learn to regulate their sociability and communicate in indirect or tangential ways.