The propellantless engine that could unlock interstellar travel

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

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 09.25.21 Every spacecraft that has ever left Earth has relied on a propellant to get it to its destination. That's also why humans have remained stuck so close to home. A spacecraft can only accelerate as long as it has fuel to burn or a planet to loop around for a gravitational assist. Jim Woodward has a different idea: a propellantless engine that relies on electricity from solar panels or a nuclear reactor. For years, Woodward's peers have dismissed this concept as nonsense. He believes he finally has data that will prove him right. Read how Woodward's idea could unlock interstellar travel, plus more of the best WIRED stories from this month a year ago, below.   Gravity, Gizmos, and a Grand Theory of Interstellar Travel For decades, Jim Woodward dreamed of a propellantless engine to take humans to the stars. Now he thinks he's got it. But is it revolutionary—or illusory? The Best Stories From This Month, Last Year Qualcomm's Founder on Why the US Doesn't Have Its Own Huawei "Our government has not provided R&D support or other support that Huawei and ZTE managed to get from their own government." The Oysters That Knew What Time It Was Scientists long believed that biological clocks were predominantly driven by internal rhythms. Then came a fraught discovery—about mollusks and the moon. A Texas County Clerk's Bold Crusade to Transform How We Vote How Dana DeBeauvoir set off the biggest, weirdest, and most promising revolution in election technology since the 1800s. QAnon Is Like a Game—a Most Dangerous Game The conspiracy theory has the best attributes of a multiplatform game, except that it can cause harm in the real world. Twitter's Sexual Fascination With a Not-Sexual Octopus Movie Netflix's My Octopus Teacher has a reputation for being a very different movie than it is. Here's why. No, Amazon Won't Deliver You a Burrito by Drone Anytime Soon Several companies are testing airborne deliveries. But rules are years away, and no one knows if consumers are even interested. GET WIRED Flash Sale: Get WIRED for just $10 $5. Get the print edition and exclusive subscriber-only content. 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.