TBT: Mad scientists revive 100-million-year-old microbes

PLUS: The best WIRED stories from this month a year ago.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 07.29.21 In the already horrible year that was 2020, scientists went to some of the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, dug into the sediment, collected samples from an ancient community of microbes, brought them back to a lab, and revived them. A prudent person might ask: With so much going wrong, why tempt fate like this? Don't worry, the destruction of humanity by ancient microbes is not nigh. In fact, things are going (ahem) swimmingly in the deep-sea muck of the world's oceans. Read what the mad, microbe-reviving scientists learned about the least-explored large biome on earth, plus more of the best WIRED stories from this month a year ago, below.   Mad Scientists Revive 100-Million-Year-Old Microbes Researchers collected sediment thousands of feet deep, filtered out bacteria, and revived the cells. But fear not—the destruction of humanity by ancient microbes is not nigh. The Best Stories From This Month, Last Year What Happens After a 'Million-Mile Battery' Outlasts the Car? Electric-vehicle makers hope to roll out super-long-lasting batteries. That raises interesting questions about resources, performance—and a battery's second act. Deepfakes Are Becoming the Hot New Corporate Training Tool Coronavirus restrictions make it harder and more expensive to shoot videos. So some companies are turning to synthetic media instead. A New Map Shows the Inescapable Creep of Surveillance The Atlas of Surveillance shows which tech law enforcement agencies across the country have acquired. It's a sobering look at the present-day panopticon. Nuclear Tests Have Changed, but They Never Really Stopped 75 years after the first explosive nuclear tests, now outlawed, sophisticated virtual testing allows American physicists to understand these weapons better than ever. This Algorithm Doesn't Replace Doctors—It Makes Them Better An artificial intelligence system has outperformed physicians when detecting skin lesions. The results are changing how one school trains dermatologists. My Glitchy, Glorious Day at a Conference for Virtual Beings Spectators spent much of the time debating who was real and who was fake. GET WIRED Summer Sale! Ending Soon: Get WIRED for $10 $5. You can't see into the future, but you can subscribe to WIRED. Subscribe now.     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   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.