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9 great reads from CNET this week: Scotch whisky, NASA's Lucy, ransomware and more

How Scotch distilleries are crafting whisky for tomorrow's world, what the Lucy spacecraft will be up to out in the solar system, why ransomware is now a national security threat, and much more.

CNET News staff
2 min read

The makers of Scotch are accustomed to working on long timelines, what with single malts that'll age in casks for 12 or 18 years or more. But they have to keep an eye on today as well, given changing tastes in cocktails and a fiercely competitive market for spirits.

So tradition, meet new technology -- think experiments with flavor profiles on a molecular level -- as well as micro-distilleries that are toying with the idea of introducing vintages rather than aiming for year-on-year continuity. CNET's Katie Collins offers a generous pour of fine writing to introduce you to what's going on in Scotland, accompanied by a tasty sampler of spectacular photos from our Andy Hoyle.

That story is among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don't want to miss:

Future proof: How Scotch distilleries are crafting whisky for tomorrow's world

Scotland and whisky are such an iconic duo that they spawned their own moniker. Here's how distillers of Scotch are preserving its heritage with one eye firmly on the future.

Cameron Ewen, manager of the Scotch Bar at The Balmoral in Edinburgh
Andrew Hoyle/CNET

NASA's Lucy mission: 20 minutes of terror will define the next 12 years

A NASA engineer takes us behind the scenes of the momentous mission to the Trojan asteroids that orbit Jupiter.   

Lucy spacecraft with solar panels deployed
Lockheed Martin

Ransomware rises as a national security threat as bigger targets fall

Governments around the world look for ways to fight back.

JBS USA Holdings building
Getty Images

Dave Eggers' heartbreaking list of staggering tech concerns: 'We're never unstudied'  

The best-selling author of The Circle has only grown even more wary of big tech in his follow-up novel The Every, out now.

Cover image from Dave Eggers' book The Every

Highways to the horizon: A 10,000-mile road trip around the US

Thirty states, 10 weeks and one epic road trip: Corner to corner, coast to coast.

Standing on a highway at the Forrest Gump point, near Monument Valley
Geoff Morrison/CNET

The final countdown: Faraday Future's CEO tells us what comes next 

Faraday Future has kept us waiting for nearly half a decade for its FF 91 EV. As the car company's self-imposed deadline approaches, CEO Carsten Breitfeld walks us through its steps.

Faraday Future CEO Carsten Breitfeld at the wheel of the FF 91
Faraday Future

Digital divide fix at risk as $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill stalls

The stakes are high for expanding broadband access in the US. Democrats have been hunkered down for two weeks in negotiations.  

A woman walks down the steps outside the Capitol building.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are still trying to work out a deal on infrastructure spending.  

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

'Extraordinary' unknown radio signal from heart of Milky Way puzzles astronomers

What buzzed Earth from the center of the galaxy? Scientists are trying to work that out.  

University of Sydney

Metroid Dread's creator on life among the Metroidvanias

Yoshio Sakamoto discusses Samus, Dread and the big Switch question: TV or handheld?

Samus' suit design and its evolution in the Metroid games
Nintendo
Watch this: How Scotch blends old and new to thrive in the 21st century