How to choose between a vital lithium mine and a rare species

PLUS: More of WIRED's best longreads from this week.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  06.20.21 As I write this, it's 117 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Western US is experiencing the worst drought in at least 20 years. And it's only June. These effects of climate change are obvious—as are the steps we need to take to hold the line, like using less fossil fuel and more clean energy. But what happens when climate change solutions have environmental consequences of their own? In the Nevada desert, on a lonely spot called Rhyolite Ridge, a stark choice is playing out between hundreds of thousands of electric-vehicle batteries and the survival of a species. On Rhyolite Ridge, a company plans to mine for lithium, the element that has made batteries lighter and more powerful and allowed electric cars to compete with gas-powered vehicles. But the strange soil that holds the lithium also nourishes a rare plant species, the Tiehm's buckwheat. Unearthing the lithium could mean destroying the buckwheat's entire universe. WIRED staff writer Gregory Barber traveled to Nevada and walked the ridge with Naomi Fraga, a botanist determined to save the odd plant that, as Greg describes it, "would make a splendid addition to a garden in Whoville." The plant and the lithium are particular to this corner in Nevada, but the questions they raise are broader, and becoming more urgent: How, as we attempt to stem climate change, do we weigh the value of competing claims on the health of our planet? Vera Titunik | Features Editor, WIRED   The Lithium Mine Versus the Wildflower BY GREGORY BARBER | 22-MINUTE READ The deposit could power 400,000 clean-energy car batteries. There's just one roadblock: a rare, fragile species of buckwheat, which for a mine might mean extinction.   What If Doctors Are Always Watching, but Never There? BY NEIL SINGH | 14-MINUTE READ Remote technology could save lives by monitoring health from home or outside the hospital. It could also push patients and health care providers further apart.   On Microphones, Music, and Our Long Year of Screen Time BY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN | 5-MINUTE READ Pianist Glenn Gould proved long ago that an existence heavily mediated by technology is not nonexistence.   The Unwitting Covid Allegory in A Quiet Place Part II BY JERRINE TAN | 7-MINUTE READ Delayed since March 2020, the horror film ironically forces us to contend with our fragile humanity—and perhaps shows us where to go.   Why Do I Like Waiting for My Smartphone Photos to 'Develop'? BY MEGHAN O'GIEBLYN | 5-MINUTE READ WIRED's spiritual advice columnist on apps, impatience, and the struggle to control time itself.   How Humans Think When They Think As Part of a Group BY ANNIE MURPHY PAUL | 13-MINUTE READ The fancy word for it is "entitativity," and it's produced when people act and feel together in close proximity. We need it more, but we're getting it less. GET WIRED Stare the future right in the eye. Get 1 year of unlimited access to WIRED for less than $1 per month. Plus, get a free tote! Subscribe now.         This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.

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[New post] Metroid Dread took 15 years to make due to technical limitations at the time

Sickr posted: " Yoshio Sakamoto, who has worked on several games in the Metroid series, has revealed to journalists why it took the team fifteen years to produce and deliver the upcoming Metroid Dread game for the Nintendo Switch platform. Sakamoto had the idea for Metr" New post on My Nintendo News Metroid Dread took 15 years to make due to technical limitations at the time by Sickr Yoshio Sakamoto, who has worked on several games in the Metroid series, has revealed to journalists why it took the team fifteen years to produce and deliver the upcoming Metroid Dread game for the Nintendo Switch platform. Sakamoto had the idea for Metroid Dread 15 years ago and the project had started and stopped numerous […] Read more of this post Sickr | June 20, 2021 at 10:46 am | Tags: interview, metroid, Metroid dread, Nintendo, samus aran, Switch, video games | Categories: Nintendo, Switch | URL: https://wp.me/pLMz-1cJx Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from My Nintendo News. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://mynintendonews.com/2021/06/20/metroid-dread-took-15-years-to-make-due-to-technical-limitations-at-the-time/

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[New post] US: Hotline Miami Collection physical editions pre-orders go live via major retailers

nintenmau5 posted: " The Hotline Miami Collection, developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital, has reappeared in physical format on major retailer websites Amazon, BestBuy, and GameStop. We've already seen it released physically through Special Reserve Gam" New post on My Nintendo News US: Hotline Miami Collection physical editions pre-orders go live via major retailers by nintenmau5 The Hotline Miami Collection, developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital, has reappeared in physical format on major retailer websites Amazon, BestBuy, and GameStop. We've already seen it released physically through Special Reserve Games, but come the 19th of July, fans can grab a copy that comes with a few neat goodies too. […] Read more of this post nintenmau5 | June 20, 2021 at 8:21 am | Tags: hotline miami collection, news, Nintendo, nintendo switch, video games | Categories: Nintendo, Switch | URL: https://wp.me/pLMz-1cJm Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from My Nintendo News. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://mynintendonews.com/2021/06/20/us-hotline-miami-collection-physical-editions-pre-orders-go-live-via-major-retailers/

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[New post] Stardew Valley for Switch has been updated and it’s fixed the ‘notorious mummified bat issue’

nintenmau5 posted: " If there's one game on the Nintendo Switch which has seen huge support post-launch from its developer, it's Stardew Valley. Spanning across most platforms, the cute and addictive farm sim received the long-awaited ver1.5 update earlier this year, but som" New post on My Nintendo News Stardew Valley for Switch has been updated and it's fixed the 'notorious mummified bat issue' by nintenmau5 If there's one game on the Nintendo Switch which has seen huge support post-launch from its developer, it's Stardew Valley. Spanning across most platforms, the cute and addictive farm sim received the long-awaited ver1.5 update earlier this year, but some fans on Switch have aired their annoyances (take one look at Reddit, for example) regarding […] Read more of this post nintenmau5 | June 20, 2021 at 7:54 am | Tags: eshop, news, Nintendo, nintendo switch, Stardew Valley, video games | Categories: Nintendo, Switch | URL: https://wp.me/pLMz-1cJd Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from My Nintendo News. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://mynintendonews.com/2021/06/20/stardew-valley-for-switch-has-been-updated-and-its-fixed-the-notorious-mummified-bat-issue/

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