Stop Planting Trees, Says Guy Who Inspired World to Plant a Trillion Trees

PLUS: Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue, and more.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter preferences 12.13.23 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.   Stop Planting Trees, Says Guy Who Inspired World to Plant a Trillion Trees SEEDS OF DOUBT | 6-MINUTE READ  Ecologist Thomas Crowther's research inspired countless tree-planting campaigns, greenwashing, and attacks from scientists. Now he's back with a new plan for nature restoration. By Alec Luhn   Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue LIQUID CRYSTALS | 5-MINUTE READ  After identifying interlocking symmetries in mammalian cells, scientists describe some tissues as liquid crystals. That lays the groundwork for a fluid-dynamic theory of how tissues move. By Elise Cutts   Jennifer Doudna Believes Crispr Is for Everyone LIVEWIRED | 2-MINUTE READ  Pioneering biochemist Jennifer Doudna sat down with WIRED's Emily Mullin to talk about the future of Crispr. By Kate Knibbs   The US Supreme Court Now Decide the Fate of Medication Abortion REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | 3-MINUTE READ  The Supreme Court will hear a case to determine access to the abortion pill in the US. If the court decides to curtail the availability of mifepristone, it would be a major blow to reproductive health care. By Kate Knibbs   Here's Scientific Proof Your Cat Will Eat Almost Anything CAT-ASTROPHE | 6-MINUTE READ  Free-ranging domestic cats eat over 2,000 animal species across the globe, including hundreds at risk of extinction. It's a problem with no easy solution. By Celia Ford   The First Crispr Medicine Is Now Approved in the US BIOTECH | 3-MINUTE READ  The one-time gene editing fix is meant to halt debilitating pain crises for sickle cell patients, who formerly could only be cured with a risky stem cell transplant. By Emily Mullin ADVERTISEMENT More from WIRED Science A Brilliant COP Agreement? It Depends Who You Ask The agreement at COP28 satisfies no one. But it's probably the best that countries could have hoped for. All the Fish We Cannot See In a dark, unexplored layer of ocean, a hidden cache of fish might play an unexpected role in our climate's future. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery. This Pill Tracks Your Vitals From the Inside An ingestible "digital pill" that measures heart rate and breathing from inside the stomach could detect the warning signs of sleep apnea, cardiac distress, and even opioid overdoses. Don't Worry, It's Just 'Fire Ice' Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance you can set on fire. Now scientists have found that more of it may be in danger of melting—and releasing powerful greenhouse gas—than previously realized. Trending on WIRED ANOTHER AI | 2-MINUTE READ How to Use Google's Gemini AI Right Now in Its Bard Chatbot By Reece Rogers You can try out Gemini, Google's rival to ChatGPT, for free. It's super easy to access right inside Bard. GET WIRED LIMITED TIME ONLY. Subscribe to WIRED for only $29.99 $5. That includes subscriber-only content like Steven Levy's Plaintext column, plus FREE WIRED stickers as a special bonus! 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.