Emily Mullin

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

there's a lot going on right now but did you know a massive amount of the world's fertilizer flows through the middle east, and did you know that that fertilizer needs to be shipped to the us *right now* for planting season, and uh did you know we are at war with iran

Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass

Autism researcher Uta Frith no longer believes that autism is a spectrum.

"Because of various cultural factors, the spectrum has gone on being more and more accommodating," she says. "And I think now it has come to its collapse."

Really interesting interview: www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Yes! Well said.

This Man Set the Record for Wearing a Brain-Computer Interface Implanted devices let people control computers and prosthetic limbs with their minds. But nobody knows how long they’ll last—and when they’ll need upgrades.

The longest-ever user of a brain-computer interface is Nathan Copeland, who's had one for 10+ years. His arrays are made by a company called Blackrock Neurotech. We wrote about him back in 2022: www.wired.com/story/this-m...

What It’s Like to Have a Brain Implant for 5 Years No one has had a Synchron brain-computer interface longer than Rodney Gorham. He's still finding new ways to use it.

Rodney Gorham recently passed a milestone that few people have reached. He’s had an implanted brain-computer interface for five years.

Gorham is now the longest-implanted participant in a trial by Neuralink competitor Synchron.

My latest for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/synchr...

X Is Drowning in Disinformation Following US and Israel’s Attack on Iran WIRED has reviewed hundreds of posts on X that promote misleading claims about the locations and scale of the attack.

“Almost all of the most viral posts reviewed by WIRED on Saturday came from accounts with blue check marks, meaning they…could be eligible to earn money based on how much engagement their posts generate, even if the content is false.”

From @davidgilbert.bsky.social

Senior Correspondent, Politics WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

Journalism job alert: @wired.com is hiring an experienced politics writer. I might be biased, but WIRED is doing some of the best political coverage out there. This is your chance to join our amazing newsroom! condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...

There's Cologuard, but you still have to get a colonoscopy if it's positive. And there's about an 8% false negative rate: agcosprings.com/procedures/c...

Fears of polio resurgence as US vaccine adviser questions need for childhood shots Survivors say US healthcare system not ready for new cases – ‘the only thing to fix polio is the polio vaccine’

Every time I write about measles, experts warn that polio is next.

But it's been so long since we had polio outbreaks, there are very few doctors who even know how to treat its long-term health issues. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Statement on the Resignation of the CDC Principal Deputy Director CDC announced Dr. Ralph Abraham stepped down as Principal Deputy Director, effective immediately.

RFK Jr.’s Deputy Director of the CDC, Ralph Abraham, who said that the measles outbreak was merely “the cost of doing business” has just stepped down from his position.

Before being installed at the CDC, he ordered the Louisiana Health Department to stop promoting vaccination.

The CDC Has a Leadership Crisis A 2023 law championed by Republicans requires the CDC have a director confirmed by the Senate. For months, though, it’s had only acting directors—and the White House won’t say when that will change.

The CDC has had a Senate-confirmed director for all of one month of Trump's second term.

NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will now run both temporarily. One source I spoke to said that's like “asking someone to manage live flight traffic while also designing the planes.” www.wired.com/story/the-cd...

The CDC Has a Leadership Crisis A 2023 law championed by Republicans requires the CDC have a director confirmed by the Senate. For months, though, it's had only acting directors—and the White House won't say when that will change.

NEW: The CDC doesn't have a real director and hasn't in months, and the clock is ticking on that becoming a legal issue; meanwhile, the White House doesn't seem in any particular rush to clear things up. @emilymullin.bsky.social has more:

This is the unfortunate fallout when a major magazine fails to label fiction as such. Rogers is a member of RFK Jr.'s new autism committee.

Ironically, this law change was proposed by Republicans as a way to keep the CDC in check: www.schmitt.senate.gov/media/press-...

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up

A 2023 law change made the CDC director position subject to Senate confirmation starting January 20, 2025.

If the administration just keeps cycling through temporary leaders, they don't need Senate confirmation and can keep pushing through their vaccine agenda. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

My best guess is this screenshot is for someone with diabetes, in which case raspberries are generally better than raisins. Though I agree it's not the best example they could have used.

I agree with you here, but employers know that few workers stick with the same company long enough for them to reap those long-term cost savings.

AI Digital Twins Are Helping People Manage Diabetes and Obesity As patients and employers look for alternatives to pricey GLP-1 drugs, Silicon Valley startup Twin Health is using AI and wearable sensors to help people make healthier choices.

Diabetes and obesity meds are a rapidly increasing health care expense for employers. Some are looking for alternatives to help workers go off pricey GLP-1s or avoid them altogether. Enter the AI digital twin.

www.wired.com/story/ai-dig...

NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute).

That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.

RFK Jr's Nutrition Chatbot Recommends Best Foods to Insert Into Your Rectum Realfood.gov will happily give you the worst possible advice.

While Grok might have answered my basic nutrition questions correctly, it gave another reporter this advice: www.404media.co/rfk-jrs-nutr...

RFK Jr. Says Americans Need More Protein. His Grok-Powered Food Website Disagrees The site Realfood.gov uses Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot to dispense nutrition information—some of which contradicts the government’s new guidelines.

I checked out realfood.gov, the new government website from Mike Tyson's Super Bowl ad.

It encourages people to use Grok to "get real answers about real food," yet Grok's advice conflicts with the administration's own nutrition messaging.

My latest for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/rfk-jr...

Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo Doctors, nurses, and other officers are increasingly being deployed to ICE detention centers. Some have resigned in protest, while others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.

I talked w/ uniformed health workers about their deployments to prisons where ICE holds immigrants.

ICE's operation is especially secretive at Guantanamo -- the place where America flouted its own rules to torture detainees post 9/11.

@wired.com and @kffhealthnews.org (no paywall)

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

One thing to keep in mind: We don't know how many hospitalizations and cases of encephalitis there are because South Carolina doesn't require those to be reported, only measles cases. The state *knows* about 19 hospitalizations (out of 876 total cases) but that could be higher.

PAHO issues epidemiological alert amid continued measles transmission in the Americas and urges strengthened vaccination and surveillance Washington, D.C., February 4, 2026 (PAHO) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued a new epidemiological alert on measles for the Region of the Americas, calling on countries to intens...

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued an epidemiological alert about measles outbreaks, including ours.

PAHO is “calling on countries to intensify epidemiological surveillance, vaccination, and rapid outbreak response…to interrupt transmission and protect vulnerable populations”.

Measles Is Causing Brain Swelling in Children in South Carolina In the ongoing measles outbreak in South Carolina that has infected more than 800 people, some children have developed a rare but serious complication called encephalitis.

NEW: South Carolina's measles outbreak has reached 876 cases, and for the first time, the state has confirmed encephalitis—brain swelling—in some children who have gotten measles.

Encephalitis can cause long-term neurological damage, including intellectual disability.
www.wired.com/story/measle...

HHS Is Making an AI Tool to Create Hypotheses About Vaccine Injury Claims Experts worry Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health Department will use an internal AI tool to analyze vaccine injury claims in a way that furthers his anti-vaccine agenda.

NEW: HHS is working on an AI tool to find patterns in VAERS—the national vaccine injury claims system that allows anyone to submit a report—and generate hypotheses.

RFK Jr. has repeatedly made calls to reform VAERS, including in his book.

My latest for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/hhs-is...

Thanks, Melody!

Tracker Newsletter: ICE in Focus As federal agents carry out Trump’s program of mass deportation, this limited-series newsletter will track what’s happening and what’s coming next.

As Trump’s mass deportation program unfolds, immigration policy and enforcement is shifting fast.

That’s why we’re launching Tracker, a limited-series newsletter navigating what’s happening and what’s next. Sign up for free: www.wired.com/newsletter/I...