The Battle Against the Fungal Apocalypse Is Just Beginning

PLUS: Is It Real or Imagined? Here's How Your Brain Tells the Difference, and more.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter preferences 08.30.23 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.   The Battle Against the Fungal Apocalypse Is Just Beginning PUBLIC HEALTH | 6-MINUTE READ  Fungal infections are rising worldwide and climate change may be to blame. Medicine isn't ready. By Maryn McKenna   Is It Real or Imagined? Here's How Your Brain Tells the Difference REALITY CHECK | 8-MINUTE READ  New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by checking whether they cross a "reality threshold." By Yasemin Saplakoglu   The Massive Campaign to Air-Drop Tiny Rabies Vaccines to Raccoons SPECIAL DELIVERY | 5-MINUTE READ  Raccoons are a main carrier of rabies in the US. A government effort distributes millions of tasty vaccines to protect both animals and people. By Emily Mullin   Brain Implants That Help Paralyzed People Speak Just Broke New Records BIOTECH | 5-MINUTE READ  Two new studies show that AI-powered devices can help paralyzed people communicate faster and more accurately. By Emily Mullin   How to Cool an Object Without Using Any Energy DOT PHYSICS | 8-MINUTE READ  It seems impossible, but there's a way to cool things off without tapping into a fuel source. (Hint: It involves outer space.) By Rhett Allain   Welcome to the Republic of Cows MOO-TOPIA | 20-MINUTE READ  When habitat loss is one of the biggest issues facing wild animals, why has Alaska given an uninhabited, remote island to feral cattle? By Jude Isabella ADVERTISEMENT More from WIRED Science This Brutal Summer in 10 Alarming Maps and Graphs From the Maui wildfires to ultrahigh ocean temperatures, climate change is leaving its devastating mark on the Earth. It's but a taste of the pain to come. The Winds That Doomed Lahaina Gusts primed the Maui landscape to burn, then drove an out-of-control blaze. It's a worst-case scenario that's growing increasingly common around the world. How to Use AI to Talk to Whales—and Save Life on Earth With ecosystems in crisis, engineers and scientists are teaming up to decipher what animals are saying. Their hope: By truly listening to nature, humans will decide to protect it. It's Easy to Check the Air Quality. Meet the People Collecting That Data for You The network of citizens who publicly report their air quality readings are helping their neighbors brave the proliferation of harmful wildfire smoke in the atmosphere. Trending on WIRED BAD SIGNAL | 3-MINUTE READ The Cheap Radio Hack That Disrupted Poland's Railway System By Andy Greenberg The sabotage of more than 20 trains in Poland by apparent supporters of Russia was carried out with a simple "radio-stop" command anyone could broadcast with $30 in equipment. 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.