How Not to Get Brain-Eating Worms and Mercury Poisoning

PLUS: Elon Musk's Neuralink Had a Brain Implant Setback. It May Come Down to Design, and more.

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences 05.15.24 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. How Not to Get Brain-Eating Worms and Mercury Poisoning PARASITE LOST | 4-MINUTE READ  Are you experiencing unexplained memory lapses or brain fog? Ever considered that you may have mercury poisoning? For RFK Jr. it was worse—he also had a brain parasite. Here's how to avoid both (extremely rare) predicaments. By David Cox Elon Musk's Neuralink Had a Brain Implant Setback. It May Come Down to Design BRAIN TRUST | 4-MINUTE READ  Neuralink experienced a mechanical issue with its first human brain-computer interface implant. Its novel design may make it more prone to failure. By Emily Mullin NASA's Quest to Touch the Sun HOT STUFF | 6-MINUTE READ  The outer layers of the sun's atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface. NASA sent a probe to find out why—by getting closer to the star than ever before. By Thomas Zurbuchen Sell Lab-Grown Meat in Alabama and You Could Go to Jail STEAK OUT | 3-MINUTE READ  Anyone found guilty of selling or manufacturing cultivated meat in Alabama will face up to a three-month jail sentence and $500 fine. By Matt Reynolds In Defense of Parasitic Worms BIODIVERSITY | 5-MINUTE READ  Nature can't run without parasites, and climate change is driving some to extinction. What happens when they start to disappear? By Jesse Nichols The First Person to Receive a Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died XENOTRANSPLANTATION | 2-MINUTE READ  The hospital that carried out the procedure two months prior says there's "no indication" that the transplant was related to his death. By Emily Mullin ADVERTISEMENT More from WIRED Science City Trees Save Lives Green spaces significantly cool our ever-hotter cities. New research suggests more trees could cut heat-related ER visits in LA by up to two-thirds. These Artificial Blood Platelets Could One Day Save Lives Platelets help blood clot, but they have a short shelf life. With blood in short supply, synthetic platelets could help meet demand. Despite Bird Flu Risk, Raw-Milk Drinkers Are Undaunted As H5N1 continues its spread among US cow herds, raw milk enthusiasts remain utterly unfazed. The Earth Is About to Feast on Dead Cicadas Two cicada broods, XIX and XIII, are emerging in sync for the first time in 221 years. They're bringing the banquet of a lifetime for birds, trees, and humans alike. Trending on WIRED SMOKE AND MIRRORS | 7-MINUTE READ A (Strange) Interview With the Russian-Military-Linked Hackers Targeting US Water Utilities By Andy Greenberg In an exclusive interview, the Cyber Army of Russia laid out their grand ambitions of disrupting US infrastructure. In reality, they've missed the mark—but that hasn't stopped them from hyping their hacktivity to the government back home. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for reading. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. Plus, browse more newsletters from WIRED. You're receiving this email because you signed up for the Science newsletter from WIRED.   Manage your preferences  |   View our Privacy Policy  |  Unsubscribe   Have questions or comments? Send us a message. Need help? Contact us.   Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.