Test subjects were required to move a 30-pound kettlebell up and down a flight of stairs.
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Bird flu has been spreading in dairy cows in the US—and the scale of the spread is likely to be far worse than it looks. In addition, 14 human cases have been reported in the US since March. Both are worrying developments, say virologists, who fear that the country’s meager response to the virus is putting the entire world at risk of another pandemic.
The form of bird flu that has been spreading over the last few years has been responsible for the deaths of millions of birds and tens of thousands of marine and land mammals. But infections in dairy cattle, first reported back in March, brought us a step closer to human spread. Since then, the situation has only deteriorated. The virus appears to have passed from cattle to poultry on multiple occasions. “If that virus sustains in dairy cattle, they will have a problem in their poultry forever,” says Thomas Peacock, a virologist at the Pirbright Institute in Woking, UK.
Worse, this form of bird flu that is now spreading among cattle could find its way back into migrating birds. It might have happened already. If that’s the case, we can expect these birds to take the virus around the world.
“It’s really troubling that we’re not doing enough right now,” says Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. “I am normally very moderate in terms of my pandemic-scaredness, but the introduction of this virus into cattle is really troubling.”
Bird flu is so named because it spreads stably in birds. The type of H5N1 that has been decimating bird populations for the last few years was first discovered in the late 1990s. But in 2020, H5N1 began to circulate in Europe “in a big way,” says Peacock. The virus spread globally, via migrating ducks, geese, and other waterfowl. In a process that took months and years, the virus made it to the Americas, Africa, Asia, and eventually even Antarctica, where it was detected earlier this year.
And while many ducks and geese seem to be able to survive being infected with the virus, other bird species are much more vulnerable. H5N1 is especially deadly for chickens, for example—their heads swell, they struggle to breathe, and they experience extreme diarrhea. Seabirds like puffins and guillemots also seem to be especially susceptible to the virus, although it’s not clear why. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the worst ever outbreak of bird flu in birds. Millions of farmed birds have died, and an unknown number of wild birds—in the tens of thousands at the very least—have also succumbed. “We have no idea how many just fell into the sea and were never seen again,” says Peacock.
Alarmingly, animals that hunt and scavenge affected birds have also become infected with the virus. The list of affected mammals includes bears, foxes, skunks, otters, dolphins, whales, sea lions, and many more. Some of these animals appear to be able to pass the virus to other members of their species. In 2022, an outbreak of H5N1 in sea lions that started in Chile spread to Argentina and eventually to Uruguay and Brazil. At least 30,000 died. The sea lions may also have passed the virus to nearby elephant seals in Argentina, around 17,000 of which have succumbed to the virus.
This is bad news—not just for the affected animals, but for people, too. It’s not just a bird flu anymore. And when a virus can spread in other mammals, it’s a step closer to being able to spread in humans. That is even more likely when the virus spreads in an animal that people tend to spend a lot of time interacting with.
This is partly why the virus’s spread in dairy cattle is so troubling. The form of the virus that is spreading in cows is slightly different from the one that had been circulating in migrating birds, says Lakdawala. The mutations in this virus have likely enabled it to spread more easily among the animals.
Evidence suggests that the virus is spreading through the use of shared milking machinery within cattle herds. Infected milk can contaminate the equipment, allowing the virus to infect the udder of another cow. The virus is also spreading between herds, possibly by hitching a ride on people that work on multiple farms, or via other animals, or potentially via airborne droplets.
Milk from infected cows can look thickened and yogurt-like, and farmers tend to pour it down drains. This ends up irrigating farms, says Lakdawala. “Unless the virus is inactivated, it just remains infectious in the environment,” she says. Other animals could be exposed to the virus this way.
So far, 14 states have reported a total of 208 infected cattle herds. Some states have reported only one or two cases among their cattle. But this is extremely unlikely to represent the full picture, given how rapidly the virus is spreading among herds in states that are doing more testing, says Peacock. In Colorado, where state-licensed dairy farms that sell pasteurized milk are required to submit milk samples for weekly testing, 64 herds have been reported to be affected. Neighboring Wyoming, which does not have the same requirements, has reported only one affected herd.
We don’t have a good idea of how many people have been infected either, says Lakdawala. The official count from the CDC is 14 people since April 2024, but testing is not routine, and because symptoms are currently fairly mild in people, we’re likely to be missing a lot of cases.
“It’s very frustrating, because there are just huge gaps in the data that’s coming out,” says Peacock. “I don’t think it’s unfair to say that a lot of outside observers don’t think this outbreak is being taken particularly seriously.”
And the virus is already spreading from cows back into wild birds and poultry, says Lakdawala: “There is definitely a concern that the virus is going to [become more widespread] in birds and cattle … but also other animals that ruminate, like goats.”
It may already be too late to rid America’s cattle herds of the bird flu virus. If it continues to circulate, it could become stable in the population. This is what has happened with flu in pigs around the world. That could also spell disaster—not only would the virus represent a constant risk to humans and other animals that come into contact with the cows, but it could also evolve over time. We can’t predict how this evolution might take shape, but there’s a chance the result could be a form of the virus that is better at spreading in people or causing fatal infections.
So far, it is clear that the virus has mutated but hasn’t yet acquired any of these more dangerous mutations, says Michael Tisza, a bioinformatics scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. That being said, Tisza and his colleagues have been looking for the virus in wastewater from 10 cities in Texas—and they have found H5N1 in all of them.
Tisza and his colleagues don’t know where this virus is coming from—whether it’s coming from birds, milk, or infected people, for example. But the team didn’t find any signal of the virus in wastewater during 2022 or 2023, when there were outbreaks in migratory birds and poultry. “In 2024, it’s been a different story,” says Tisza. “We’ve seen it a lot.”
Together, the evidence that the virus is evolving and spreading among mammals, and specifically cattle, has put virologists on high alert. “This virus is not causing a human pandemic right now, which is great,” says Tisza. “But it is a virus of pandemic potential.”
Enlarge / The Kalalau Valley between sheer cliffs in the Na Pali Coast State Park on the western shore of the island of Kauai in Hawaii, United States. This view is from the Pihea Trail in the Kokee State Park. (credit: Getty | Jon G. Fuller)
The Hawaiian island of Kauai may not have any spewing lava, but hikers along the magnificent Napali coast have brought their own volcanic action recently, violently hollowing their innards amid the gushing waterfalls and deeply carved valleys.
Between August and early September, at least 50 hikers fell ill with norovirus along the famed Kalalau Trail, which has been closed since September 4 for a deep cleaning. The rugged 11-mile trail runs along the northwest coast of the island, giving adventurers breathtaking views of stunning sea cliffs and Kauai's lush valleys. It's situated just north of Waimea Canyon State Park, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
"It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. I feel really fortunate to be able to be there, and appreciate and respect that land,” one hiker who fell ill in late August told The Washington Post. "My guts exploding all over that land was not what I wanted to do at all."
The pitch sounds a bit sci-fi: a helmet called Lily that people undergoing chemotherapy wear to prevent hair loss, which is a common side effect of the treatment.
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23andMe, the personal genomics company, went public in early 2021 via a merger with a blank check company that valued it at $3.5 billion. Then its fortunes began to sink. Fading interest in DNA kits – 23andMe’s main product – was one driver. So was news last year that hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 […]
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Neuralink, the Elon Musk-owned brain-computer interface company, on Tuesday received “breakthrough device” clearance from the FDA. But this does not mean the outfit has developed a cure for blindness, no matter what Musk might say. The breakthrough devices program at the FDA is a voluntary program that developers can apply to that, if granted, “offers […]
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A joint pilot by Apian, Alphabet’s drone company Wing, and the U.K.’s NHS will see drones used to fly urgent blood samples between two hospitals in London.
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AI is increasingly being applied to protein design, the process of creating new proteins with specific, target characteristics. Protein design’s applications are myriad, but it’s a promising way of discovering drug-based treatments to combat diseases and creating new homecare, agriculture, food-based, and materials products. One among the many vendors developing AI tech to design proteins, […]
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Enlarge / A recall notice is posted next to Boar's Head meats that are displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024, in San Rafael, California. (credit: Getty | Justin Sullivan)
The Boar's Head deli-meat plant at the epicenter of a nationwide Listeria outbreak that killed nine people so far harbored the deadly germ in a common area of the facility deemed "low risk" for Listeria. Further, it had no written plans to prevent cross-contamination of the dangerous bacteria to other products and areas. That's according to a federal document newly released by Boar's Head.
On Friday, the company announced that it is indefinitely closing that Jarratt, Virginia-based plant and will never again produce liverwurst—the product that Maryland health investigators first identified as the source of the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. The finding led to the recall of more than 7 million pounds of Boar's Head meat. The Jarratt plant, where the company's liverwurst is made, has been shuttered since late July amid the investigation into how the outbreak occurred.
In the September 13 update, Boar's Head explained that "our investigation has identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst. With this discovery, we have decided to permanently discontinue liverwurst."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday published approval for sleep apnea detection on the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Watch Ultra 2. The green light comes four days ahead of the Series 10’s September 20 release date. The feature, announced at last week’s iPhone 16 event, will arrive as part of the […]
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There’s something oddly refreshing about starting the day by solving the Wordle. According to DeepWell DTx, there’s a scientific explanation for why our brains might feel just a bit better after a quick break to play a game. In fact, DeepWell now has the FDA clearance to support its claim that video games can treat […]
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Enlarge / Cinnamon buns. (credit: Getty | Christoph Schmidt)
Consumer Reports on Thursday reported the concentration of lead it found in 36 ground cinnamon products, leading to a round of startling headlines. The testing is particularly nerve-racking given that it closely follows the tragic poisoning of at least 519 US children, who were exposed to extremely high levels of lead from purposefully tainted cinnamon in applesauce snack pouches.
With that horrifying event in mind, parents are likely primed to be alarmed by any other lead findings in cinnamon. So, how concerning were the concentrations Consumer Reports found? And does one need to strictly adhere to the limits the organization recommends? By my calculations, not very and probably not. It's really not an alarming report.
Similar to the outlet's chocolate testing before it, the lead concentrations found in cinnamons were largely within standard ranges. In all, the report is more of a reminder that trace amounts of heavy metals are present in various common foods. And such watchdog testing can play a crucial role in keeping consumers safe, especially with underfunded and underpowered regulators.
Have you ever found yourself lost in a building that felt impossible to navigate? Thoughtful building design should center on the people who will be using those buildings. But that’s no mean feat.
It’s not just about navigation, either. Just think of an office that left you feeling sleepy or unproductive, or perhaps a health center that had a less-than-reviving atmosphere. A design that works for some people might not work for others. People have different minds and bodies, and varying wants and needs. So how can we factor them all in?
To answer that question, neuroscientists and architects are joining forces at an enormous laboratory in East London—one that allows researchers to build simulated worlds. In this lab, scientists can control light, temperature, and sound. They can create the illusion of a foggy night, or the tinkle of morning birdsong.
And they can study how volunteers respond to these environments, whether they be simulations of grocery stores, hospitals, pedestrian crossings, or schools. That’s how I found myself wandering around a fake art gallery, wearing a modified baseball cap with a sensor that tracked my movements.
I first visited the Person-Environment-Activity Research Lab, referred to as PEARL, back in July. I’d been chatting to Hugo Spiers, a neuroscientist based at University College London, about the use of video games to study how people navigate. Spiers had told me he was working on another project: exploring how people navigate a lifelike environment, and how they respond during evacuations (which, depending on the situation, could be a matter of life or death).
For their research, Spiers and his colleagues set up what they call a “mocked-up art gallery” within PEARL. The center in its entirety is pretty huge as labs go, measuring around 100 meters in length and 40 meters across, with 10-meter-high ceilings in places. There’s no other research center in the world like this, Spiers told me.
The gallery setup looked a little like a maze from above, with a pathway created out of hanging black sheets. The exhibits themselves were videos of dramatic artworks that had been created by UCL students.
When I visited in July, Spiers and his colleagues were running a small pilot study to trial their setup. As a volunteer participant, I was handed a numbered black cap with a square board on top, marked with a large QR code. This code would be tracked by cameras above and around the gallery. The cap also carried a sensor, transmitting radio signals to devices around the maze that could pinpoint my location within a range of 15 centimeters.
At first, all the volunteers (most of whom seemed to be students) were asked to explore the gallery as we would any other. I meandered around, watching the videos, and eavesdropping on the other volunteers, who were chatting about their research and upcoming dissertation deadlines. It all felt pretty pleasant and calm.
That feeling dissipated in the second part of the experiment, when we were each given a list of numbers, told that each one referred to a numbered screen, and informed that we had to visit all the screens in the order in which they appeared on our lists. “Good luck, everybody,” Spiers said.
Suddenly everyone seemed to be rushing around, slipping past each other and trying to move quickly while avoiding collisions. “It’s all got a bit frantic, hasn’t it?” I heard one volunteer comment as I accidentally bumped into another. I hadn’t managed to complete the task by the time Spiers told us the experiment was over. As I walked to the exit, I noticed that some people were visibly out of breath.
The full study took place on Wednesday, September 11. This time, there were around 100 volunteers (I wasn’t one of them). And while almost everyone was wearing a modified baseball cap, some had more complicated gear, including EEG caps to measure brainwaves, or caps that use near-infrared spectroscopy to measure blood flow in the brain. Some people were even wearing eye-tracking devices that monitored which direction they were looking.
“We will do something quite remarkable today,” Spiers told the volunteers, staff, and observers as the experiment started. Taking such detailed measurements from so many individuals in such a setting represented “a world first,” he said.
I have to say that being an observer was much more fun than being a participant. Gone was the stress of remembering instructions and speeding around a maze. Here in my seat, I could watch as the data collected from the cameras and sensors was projected onto a screen. The volunteers, represented as squiggly colored lines, made their way through the gallery in a way that reminded me of the game Snake.
The study itself was similar to the pilot study, although this time the volunteers were given additional tasks. At one point, they were given an envelope with the name of a town or city in it, and asked to find others in the group who had been given the same one. It was fascinating to see the groups form. Some had the names of destination cities like Bangkok, while others had been assigned fairly nondescript English towns like Slough, made famous as the setting of the British television series The Office. At another point, the volunteers were asked to evacuate the gallery from the nearest exit.
The data collected in this study represents something of a treasure trove for researchers like Spiers and his colleagues. The team is hoping to learn more about how people navigate a space, and whether they move differently if they are alone or in a group. How do friends and strangers interact, and does this depend on whether they have certain types of material to bond over? How do people respond to evacuations—will they take the nearest exit as directed, or will they run on autopilot to the exit they used to enter the space in the first place?
All this information is valuable to neuroscientists like Spiers, but it’s also useful to architects like his colleague Fiona Zisch, who is based at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture. “We do really care about how people feel about the places we design for them,” Zisch tells me. The findings can guide not only the construction of new buildings, but also efforts to modify and redesign existing ones.
PEARL was built in 2021 and has already been used to help engineers, scientists, and architects explore how neurodivergent people use grocery stores, and the ideal lighting to use for pedestrian crossings, for example. Zisch herself is passionate about creating equitable spaces—particularly for health and education—that everyone can make use of in the best possible way.
In the past, models used in architecture have been developed with typically built, able-bodied men in mind. “But not everyone is a 6’2″ male with a briefcase,” Zisch tells me. Age, gender, height, and a range of physical and psychological factors can all influence how a person will use a building. “We want to improve not just the space, but the experience of the space,” says Zisch. Good architecture isn’t just about creating stunning features; it’s about subtle adaptations that might not even be noticeable to most people, she says.
The art gallery study is just the first step for researchers like Zisch and Spiers, who plan to explore other aspects of neuroscience and architecture in more simulated environments at PEARL. The team won’t have results for a while yet. But it’s a fascinating start. Watch this space.
Brain-monitoring technology has come a long way, and tech designed to read our minds and probe our memories is already being used. Futurist and legal ethicist Nita Farahany explained why we need laws to protect our cognitive liberty in a previous edition of The Checkup.
Listening in on the brain can reveal surprising insights into how this mysterious organ works. One team of neuroscientists found that our brains seem to oscillate between states of order and chaos.
Last year, MIT Technology Review published our design issue of the magazine. If you’re curious, this piece on the history and future of the word “design,” by Nicholas de Monchaux, head of architecture at MIT, might be a good place to start
Design covers much more than buildings, of course. Designers are creating new ways for users of prosthetic devices to feel more comfortable in their own skin—some of which have third thumbs, spikes, or “superhero skins.”
Achim Menges is an architect creating what he calls “self-shaping” structures with wood, which can twist and curve with changes in humidity. His approach is a low-energy way to make complex curved architectures, Menges told John Wiegand.
Scientists are meant to destroy research samples of the poliovirus, as part of efforts to eradicate the disease it causes. But lab leaks of the virus may be more common than we’d like to think. (Science)
Neurofeedback allows people to watch their own brain activity in real time, and learn to control it. It could be a useful way to combat the impacts of stress. (Trends in Neurosciences)
Microbes, some of which cause disease in people, can travel over a thousand miles on wind, researchers have shown. Some appear to be able to survive their journey. (The Guardian)
Is the X chromosome involved in Alzheimer’s disease? A study of over a million people suggests so. (JAMA Neurology)
A growing number of men are paying thousands of dollars a year for testosterone therapies that are meant to improve their physical performance. But some are left with enlarged breasts, shrunken testicles, blood clots, and infertility. (The Wall Street Journal)
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