Where Did Omicron Come From? Maybe Its First Host Was Mice

PLUS: Sorry, Prey. Black Widows Have Surprisingly Good Memory, and more

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter preferences 11.02.22 Welcome to the WIRED Science newsletter—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.   Where Did Omicron Come From? Maybe Its First Host Was Mice PUBLIC HEALTH | 5-MINUTE READ  The Covid virus can infect many animal species. The variant that tore through human populations last winter may have previously circulated in rodents. By Maryn McKenna   Sorry, Prey. Black Widows Have Surprisingly Good Memory SPIDEY SENSE | 5-MINUTE READ  Despite having tiny arthropod brains, spiders in a new experiment showed some complex cognitive calculations. By Max G. Levy   This Brain Molecule Decides Which Memories Are Happy—or Terrible NEUROSCIENCE | 8-MINUTE READ  When the brain encodes memories as positive or negative, a small peptide called neurotensin determines which way they will go. By Yasemin Saplakoglu   The World Is Drowning in Plastic. Here's How It All Started BOOK EXCERPT | 7-MINUTE READ  It's the miracle material that makes cars, computers, and modern medicine possible. It has also corrupted every corner of the environment. By Matt Simon   This Ancient Grain-Sowing Method Could Be Farming's Future BREAD WINNER | 6-MINUTE READ  The traditional practice of mixing crops was nearly wiped out by industrial agriculture, but maslins are poised for a comeback. By Gemma Tarlach More from WIRED Science Thawing Permafrost Exposes Old Pathogens—and New Hosts The 'Brightest of All Time' Gamma-Ray Burst Sparks a Supernova Hunt Could Namor's Ankle Wings From Black Panther 2 Really Work? The Push to Scale Plant-Based Plastics The Spooky Science of How Undead Spores Reanimate Trending on WIRED SECURITY ROUNDUP | 4-MINUTE READ China Operates Secret 'Police Stations' in Other Countries By Matt Burgess Plus: The "New York Post" gets hacked, a huge stalkerware network is exposed, and the US claims China interfered with its Huawei probe. GET WIRED Get WIRED for just $29.99 $5. Includes the print edition plus editor in chief Gideon Lichfield's column, System Update. Subscribe now. 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 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.