How NASA Nearly Lost the Voyager 2 Spacecraft Forever

PLUS: This Bold Plan to Kick the World's Coal Habit Might Actually Work, and more.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter preferences 08.16.23 Your weekly roundup of the best stories on health care, the climate crisis, genetic engineering, robotics, space, and more. For all our science coverage, visit WIRED Science.   How NASA Nearly Lost the Voyager 2 Spacecraft Forever CLOSE CALL | 3-MINUTE READ  The space agency lost touch with the beloved spacecraft following a faulty command signal. Here's how it happened—and how engineers worked to bring it back. By Ramin Skibba   This Bold Plan to Kick the World's Coal Habit Might Actually Work CLIMATE FINANCE | 5-MINUTE READ  Novel climate-financing deals are promising to shut off dirty energy plants in developing countries and retrain their staff to work in the green economy. By Bianca Nogrady   A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus STICKY BUSINESS | 4-MINUTE READ  By measuring inflated helium nuclei, physicists have challenged our best understanding of the force that binds protons and neutrons. By Katie McCormick   The Scary Science of Maui's Wildfires CLIMATE CHANGE | 3-MINUTE READ  Wildfires were once rare across the Aloha State. But drought, invasive species, and human development have pushed Hawaii into a fiery new age. By Matt Simon   Injecting a Gene Into Monkeys' Brains Curbed Their Alcohol Use BIOTECH | 4-MINUTE READ  Chronic drinking depletes the brain's dopamine levels. A single dose of a gene therapy reset them, and stopped the craving for alcohol. By Emily Mullin   How to Make Bionic Limbs (Literally) Very Cool SUPER CHILL | 6-MINUTE READ  Temperature is one of the hardest aspects of touch to re-create for prosthetic users. This tiny patch could help people with amputated limbs sense coldness. By Celia Ford ADVERTISEMENT More from WIRED Science How a Firefly Course Is Saving Japan's Favorite Glowing Insect The fireflies of Moriyama City have long been prized (and hunted) for their yellow-green glow. To bring populations back up, amateur conservationists are hitting the books. The Space Force Is Launching Its Own Swarm of Tiny Satellites Defense satellites used to be big, costly, and "juicy" targets for attack. Now the Pentagon is aiming for a more resilient network of nearly 1,000 mini orbiters. A New Idea for How to Assemble Life How would scientists even recognize biological signs of life beyond Earth? Assembly theory proposes a way to identify molecules made by living systems—even those using unfamiliar chemistries. Cities Aren't Supposed to Burn Like This Anymore—Especially Lahaina Humans figured out how to prevent huge fires in urban areas over a century ago. Why have they gotten so bad again? Trending on WIRED CARD TRICKS | 8-MINUTE READ Hackers Rig Casino Card-Shuffling Machines for 'Full Control' Cheating By Andy Greenberg Security researchers accessed an internal camera inside the Deckmate 2 shuffler to learn the exact deck order—and the hand of every player at a poker table. GET WIRED Get WIRED for just $29.99 $5. That includes subscriber-only content like Steven Levy's Plaintext column, plus free stickers! Subscribe now. ADVERTISEMENT Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.