Wired has a deal with Quanta to republish some of their stories. There are other stories from Quanta in Wired; I no longer read Wired, but I believe that this is how I first learned of Quanta.
Ahh, thanks, I didn't realize this was a thing.
I don't know but would assume it's marketing-related, the story seen as meeting the demographic requirements of both publications, with an established mutually-beneficial relationship satisfied in the transaction, eg. maybe cheaper content for Wired, bumped readership figures for Quanta.