On September 6, the Missouri health department announced it had recently identified a new human case of bird flu. This case was different from the other 15 human cases previously identified in the US in that the patient denied having contact with animals, raising the possibility that the illness had already begun spreading among humans. On September 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly released new information about the case: There were two more possible bird flu infections in people who’d had close contact with the first patient. According to a CDC website update, one was a household contact of the patient who got sick with similar symptoms on the same day as the case; they weren’t tested and have since recovered. The second case was in a health care worker who developed mild symptoms and tested negative for flu. The CDC said in a press briefing only the day before, on September 12, that to their knowledge, none of the patient’s close household contacts had gotten sick. The confusing messaging has led to disquiet about the lack of transparency in US public health communications. It was unclear why the CDC did not share the information initially: The Missouri health department has not requested the CDC’s assistance with its investigation of the case, and states typically determine what patient information they share with the CDC during outbreaks. In its press briefing, CDC officials did reveal that while the virus’s subtype would likely not be identified, genetic analyses showed it is “closely related” to the H5N1 influenza subtype circulating among dairy cows, which experts fear could lead to another pandemic. “There’s a few steps before this potentially becomes a pandemic threat,” said Nahid Bhadelia, who directs the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, in early September. “But I’m a lot more worried about it than I was.”  CDC officials also said the initially identified patient had “significant underlying conditions” and that the patient’s symptoms — which included chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness — were more typical of a stomach bug than of classic influenza infection. Bird flu’s threat to most people remains pretty low. Still, here’s what makes this case concerning to experts, and what you can do to keep yourself safe. Since the virus first spread to American dairy cows in January of this year, all 13 of the bird flu cases identified in humans before last Friday caused pretty mild disease — eye redness, otherwise known as conjunctivitis, and in one person, a cough without a fever.  That’s where the initial Missouri case is different: The patient was hospitalized, suggesting severe disease. The Missouri health department noted the adult patient “has underlying medical conditions,” but we don’t know their age or other risk factors. For a flu virus to cause a human pandemic, says Seema Lakdawala, a virologist and flu expert at Emory University, it needs to overcome three hurdles: It must access and replicate efficiently within the respiratory tract to cause disease; it must spread easily from person to person; and it must be novel to our immune systems. If the virus infecting the latest case turns out to be H5N1, the fact the patient was hospitalized suggests this germ is evolving to replicate more efficiently in our airways (and coming closer to overcoming the first hurdle).  Another thing all previous US human H5N1 cases shared was that they could be traced back to close contact with infected farmed poultry or dairy herds. This case doesn’t appear to have that link. Spread through casual contact — for example, between people standing next to each other on a bus — hasn’t been reported with this virus, and would be much more worrisome Without a known exposure to an infected animal, there’s concern that H5N1 may be spreading in other ways — for example, through drinking raw milk or, even more consequentially, from person to person, which could lead to a much larger outbreak. Some spread between household contacts or from a sick patient to health care workers has happened with H5N1 in the past, but hasn’t been sustainable, says Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist who leads the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health. The additional cases reported on September 13 fall into these categories. However, spread through casual contact — for example, between people standing next to each other on a bus — hasn’t been reported with this virus, and would be much more worrisome. Spread through casual contact would represent a step toward overcoming Lakdawala’s second hurdle for a pandemic: sustained person-to-person transmission. “The last time a flu virus did that, which was 2009, it was around the globe in a matter of days,” says Nuzzo.  It’s a promising sign that since the Missouri patient was hospitalized, there has not been a big bloom of flu-like illness in the state. “I don’t think there’s a whole iceberg out there that we don’t see,” says Nuzzo, but more details about the case would put her and other experts at ease. Transmission through raw milk would also be bad news. Although most of the US milk supply is pasteurized — that is, heated to the point that bacteria and viruses are killed — about 1 in 100 Americans surveyed in the late 2010s said they drank raw milk every week. In the September 12 briefing, CDC principal deputy director Nirav Shah said the patient had not reported raw dairy consumption. That long delay, says Nuzzo, suggests the US hasn’t switched on its sensitive flu surveillance system that would more rapidly identify bird flu infections in people with fever, cough, muscle aches, and other flu-like symptoms. If there were a lot of person-to-person spread happening, having that system switched on would mean detecting that spread early — perhaps at a stage when it could still be contained. If the system isn’t on, however, transmission among humans could get out of hand before there’s a chance to stop it using the vaccines and medications that we know work to prevent severe flu symptoms and flu transmission. The even longer delay preceding the announcement about the other two cases creates additional concern, and Nuzzo said in a follow-up email that the lack of detail surrounding those cases is also worrisome. “I am deeply concerned that the household contact was not tested … [and] that health authorities have not disclosed the dates on which the hospitalized patient or the health care worker were tested,” she wrote. “These data are standard reported data in outbreaks and are essential for interpreting the assessment that this virus was not transmitted between people.”  The more infection there is among dairy cows, the more infection there’s likely to be among the people who work with them, and the more opportunities that are created for H5N1 to mutate into a virus that spreads efficiently between people.  Despite this risk, most states rely on farmers to self-report infections among their herds. Widespread distrust of government and public health across the agriculture industry means self-reporting is rare, and farms can’t be forced to test workers or animals unless their state agencies mandate it. “If these state public health agencies are not willing to do that, and the state governors are not willing to say, ‘Hey, there’s an ongoing outbreak that’s causing public health concern, we need to know what’s going on,’ we’re not going to have information,” says Lakdawala. Although bird flu has been reported in Missouri only in poultry farms and not on dairy farms, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there, said Nuzzo. It just means farmers may not be testing their workers or cows for the virus, or they aren’t reporting it. Many experts are concerned that Americans’ low trust in institutions would create enormous challenges in the event of another pandemic, especially one involving a virus transmitted through the air. That makes it particularly important to do what’s needed to get a handle on this outbreak, says Lakdawala. This would largely involve preventative measures instituted on dairy farms and having stockpiled vaccines available for those at highest risk of infection. In a few months, the seasonal flu virus is going to be spreading in the US.  When animals get co-infected with different flu viruses at the same time, they can serve as “mixing vessels” for the viruses, allowing them to exchange segments of their genomes. That can lead to new viruses that are easier to transmit, better at causing disease, and above all, novel to the human immune system. That could lead to getting H5N1 closer to jumping Lakdawala’s third hurdle. “We don’t want those two viruses to swap genes,” says Nuzzo. There are steps you can take to minimize your already low risk. Every episode of bird flu infection in a human makes a good case for a seasonal flu shot, says Nuzzo, especially in people who work on poultry or dairy farms. Every person who’s immunized against seasonal flu is less likely to be a mixing vessel for some new nightmare Frankenflu. There’s a ton of H5N1 virus in raw milk: In April, 14 percent of American raw milk products contained the live virus, and the number may be higher now that more farms are affected. It’s never been safe to drink raw milk, but it’s particularly dangerous now; sticking with pasteurized dairy products is much safer, says Nuzzo. Fall often brings farm festivals, and with them, opportunities for lots of contact with animals that might be asymptomatically infected with H5N1, says Lakdawala. “Don’t get close with animals,” Lakdawala says, and wash your hands often during and after a farm visit. If you work on a dairy farm or a veterinarian’s office, wear a face shield and other personal protective equipment (the CDC has some helpful recommendations) to protect yourself from splashes. People tend to have only two settings when thinking about their risk of catching an emerging infection, says Bhadelia: “low risk and ‘oh my god.’” It’s more helpful to think of risk as a spectrum, and on that spectrum, Covid-19 and mpox currently pose a bigger threat to the general public than H5N1.  So if you’re someone who wants to avoid getting sick, Nuzzo suggests getting your Covid booster sometime this fall, wearing a mask in busy spots, and gathering outdoors instead of crowding inside. If you’d benefit from an mpox vaccine, get one. For now, it’s mostly public officials’ and farm owners’ job to worry about bird flu. The best path forward for the general population is to control the variables you can, Nuzzo says. “Being worried is not a protective action.” Update, September 17, 5:55 pm ET: This story was originally published on September 10 and has been updated to include information about newly identified cases and additional comment from a source.

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California governor Gavin Newsom has signed two bills that will protect performers from having their likeness simulated by AI digital replicas. The two SAG-AFTRA supported bills, AB 2602 and AB 1836, were passed by the California legislature in August and are part of a slate of state-level AI regulations. AB 2602 bars contract provisions that would let companies use a digital version of a performer in a project instead of the real human actor, unless the performer knows exactly how their digital stand-in will be used and has a lawyer or union representative involved. AB 1836 says that if a performer has died, entertainment companies must get permission from their family or estate before producing or distributing a “digital replica” of...

Google is taking away a Pixel Buds Pro feature that lets users touch and hold an earbud to hear unread notifications. In an update on Tuesday, Google confirmed that Assistant “will no longer read unread notifications when using the press Assistant feature.” Additionally, Google says Assistant will stop automatically alerting you to unread notifications on the Pixel Buds, nor will it let you reply. Instead, Google says you can hear notifications by activating Assistant and saying “Read my notifications.” The “touch and hold” gesture on the Pixel Buds Pro currently lets wearers switch between active noise cancelation and Transparency mode by default. Before this change, users could configure this gesture to have Assistant read...

When it comes to finding a device to read ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or use your phone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling on X. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while niche, are designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with limited functionality. Amazon, one of the pioneers of the e-reader, has dominated the space for years with its ever-expanding Kindle lineup, which consists of several unique models with their own pros and cons. The bulk of the devices function as simple ebook readers; however, with the Kindle Scribe, Amazon looks to be moving beyond books and...

Anthony Petrie's poster for John Carpenter's The Thing will haunt your dreams, and your wall.

Signature Plastics, the Custer, Washington-based company known for specialized mechanical keyboard keycaps, has announced it’s being acquired by a Portland-based investment group that intends to keep the company operating with all employees maintained. This comes after majority owner Bob Guenser announced his plans to retire and find new ownership back in January. Signature Plastics is well-regarded in the mechanical keyboard community for its high-quality PBT keycaps in vintage-looking SA and DSA profiles, such as DSA creamsicle and SA nuclear data, often selling runs of keycap sets in limited group buys with long lead times that can make them quite exclusive. It’s the only high-end, boutique keycap maker based in the US. The...

The Murdochs — the real-life media family that inspired HBO’s Succession — are currently navigating a court case that could rival any fictional drama.  The family, led by 93-year-old patriarch Rupert Murdoch, controls a vast, global news organization that includes the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, as well as Fox News in the United States. When it comes to Fox News in particular, Rupert Murdoch has exercised a great level of editorial control, helping to shape the network’s coverage — and, as a result, conservative political narratives in the US. Rupert Murdoch stepped back from running his empire in 2023, and handed the role of chair of News Corp to his eldest son, Lachlan, who also stayed on as CEO of Fox Corp, and is seen as the Murdoch child most politically aligned with his father’s conservative viewpoints.  Upon Rupert Murdoch’s death, however, the voting shares he holds in the companies are set to be split evenly among the four children he had in his first marriage to Patricia Booker and second marriage to Anna Murdoch Mann — including Lachlan. In a new court case set to begin this week, Rupert Murdoch is now pushing to amend the previously established trust to give the bulk of this power to Lachlan.  At stake is the ideological future of Fox News and News Corp: Unlike Lachlan, the other three elder Murdoch siblings — James, Elisabeth, and Prudence — are viewed as more centrist, and could take the family’s media outlets in a more moderate direction. That concern is among those that spurred Rupert Murdoch to pursue this court action, and to shift more control to the child he sees as most likely to carry on his vision. The outcome will be determined by Nevada probate commissioner Edmund Gorman in a closed Reno court. The trust, which was created in 1999 around Murdoch and Murdoch Mann’s divorce proceedings, was designed to be “irrevocable,” or quite difficult to change. In order to make the amendment, Rupert Murdoch will have to demonstrate that the alteration is to the benefit of all of his heirs.  Whether he succeeds could have a major impact, both on the future of the outlets in his media empire, and on the role they play in shaping US and global politics.  Fox News, which Rupert Murdoch first founded in 1996, has become a mainstay for conservative cable news, and is known for elevating former President Donald Trump as well as misinformation about everything from election interference to climate change. In 2023, Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 million after it was sued for amplifying lies suggesting that the company’s machines were rigged against a Trump win.  During that lawsuit, documents came out indicating that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch knew Trump’s claims the election was stolen were lies, but chose to do nothing to discourage them. Instead, they decided to focus on deepening viewers’ trust of Fox News, seemingly by broadcasting what Trump’s supporters wanted to hear. As of now, Rupert Murdoch holds a 40 percent voting share in both News Corp and Fox Corp, and under the existing trust, each of the four siblings would get an equal fraction of this when he passes away.  If Rupert Murdoch wins the Reno court case, and Lachlan gains the majority of these shares, the network could well continue, and even expand, its conservative approach. “It’s important to note that Lachlan’s politics are far more conservative than his father,” Hollywood Reporter special correspondent Lachlan Cartwright previously said on The New Abnormal podcast. In that scenario, his siblings would still receive financial inheritances, but they would have much less say in the media outlets’ future, much like Rupert’s two youngest daughters, Grace and Chloe, from his third marriage to Wendi Deng.  If the trust stays as is, however, there’s a possibility that James, Elisabeth, and Prudence work together to moderate the network’s tone.  James, in particular, has notably broken with his father publicly, including resigning from his position on the News Corp board in 2020. He and his wife Kathryn have also previously issued statements expressing disappointment in the climate change denial pushed by News Corp entities in Australia, and he’s condemned the media’s “lies” for contributing to the January 6 insurrection, though he stopped short of naming Fox News explicitly.  Rupert Murdoch has said that the possible changes in ideological direction — as well as potential disagreement among the siblings about next steps — could harm the company, and are some of the main reasons he’s trying to reopen the trust. According to the Wall Street Journal, those close to the Murdochs have also flagged concerns that James could urge a sale of Fox News. Allies to the other three siblings, meanwhile, argue that Fox Corp has suffered under Lachlan’s leadership, including setbacks like the Dominion case.  In the past, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence have also suggested proposals that would involve Rupert and Lachlan buying out the shares of the other family members, though those have fallen through.  All told, the messy court case is poised to have serious ramifications for the Murdoch family members — and for the broader state of media as well. Correction, September 17, 5:20 pm: This story previously stated that all four Murdoch children involved in the voting share dispute were from Rupert Murdoch’s second marriage, and has been updated to reflect that they are from his first and second marriages.

Enlarge AT&T agreed to pay a $13 million fine because it gave customer bill information to a vendor in order to create personalized videos, then allegedly failed to ensure that the vendor destroyed the data when it was no longer needed. In addition to the fine, AT&T agreed in a consent decree announced today by the Federal Communications Commission to stricter controls on sharing data with vendors. In January 2023, years after the data was supposed to be destroyed, the vendor suffered a breach "when threat actors accessed the vendor's cloud environment and ultimately exfiltrated AT&T customer information," the FCC said. Information related to 8.9 million AT&T wireless customers was exposed. Phone companies are required by law to protect customer information, and AT&T should not have merely relied on third-party firms' assurances that they destroyed data when it was no longer needed, the FCC said.

A horrifying sexual assault case playing out in France is adding to a larger French reckoning over abuse toward women.  The case centers on 71-year-old Dominique Pelicot, who is accused of drugging and raping his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and inviting dozens of other men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Dominique Pelicot — who has confessed to raping his wife repeatedly over the course of a decade — is now on trial, along with 50 other defendants, who are also accused of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. Some of these defendants have admitted guilt, while others have denied it.  During his testimony, Dominique Pelicot said he and all the men involved are guilty.  “I maintain that I am a rapist, like those in this room,” Dominique Pelicot said. “They all knew her condition before they came; they knew everything. They cannot say otherwise.” Although she had the option of a private trial, Gisèle Pelicot decided to make the proceedings public in order to support and raise awareness for other victims of similar crimes. “I speak for all women who are drugged and don’t know about it, I do it on behalf of all women who will perhaps never know,” Gisèle Pelicot said of her case. In total, police have used roughly 20,000 images her husband took of the assaults to determine that 72 men had been involved in raping her from 2011 to 2020.  The Pelicot case is roiling France and comes as the country continues to grapple with accountability regarding sexual misconduct toward women. As the New York Times reported this spring, the #MeToo movement had previously stalled in France’s film industry, and has found new momentum this year after prominent actor and director Judith Godrèche spoke out. French writers and actors have also previously noted that the country’s attitudes toward sexual freedom have distinguished it from the US in how condemning sexual misconduct is treated.  “French attitudes toward morality and sex have historically always been different to the US,” journalist Agnès Poirier previously told the BBC. “But it’s been brewing for years and it feels that 2024 is different.” Dominique Pelicot’s assaults on his wife were first discovered by police in November 2020, after he was initially investigated for taking photos up women’s skirts at a supermarket in southeastern France, where the couple lived.  After he was caught taking the photos, police searched Pelicot’s computer and found a folder titled “Abuses” on a related USB drive. In it, they discovered thousands of photos and videos of Pelicot and other men raping his wife while she was unconscious. “My world fell apart,” Gisèle Pelicot said after police informed her of their discovery.  The officers’ findings followed years of Gisèle Pelicot experiencing memory lapses, hair loss, and weight loss, so much so she feared that she might be developing Alzheimer’s or another serious illness. During that time, her husband had been drugging her regularly with a combination of medications, including the anti-anxiety drug Temesta, which can act like a sedative.  While Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious, Dominique Pelicot invited a number of men to their home so that they could rape her. Gisèle Pelicot has emphasized that she did not have any knowledge of these attacks, and did not feign unconsciousness as some of the defendants have suggested. Dominique Pelicot found the men via a messaging board called “Without their knowledge” on the now-shuttered website Coco, which was known for postings that involved illegal activities.  On the site, Dominique Pelicot solicited men to assault his wife, giving them specific instructions, including not wearing perfume or smoking, to avoid detection. According to Dominique Pelicot, the men were active participants in the crime: “They came looking for me. I was asked, I said yes. They accepted, they came. I did not handcuff anybody to make them come to my place.” The identities of these defendants haven’t been revealed, though authorities note that they range from the ages of 26 to 74, that many have partners, and that they come from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, including firefighters, journalists, and soldiers.  In their search of his computer, police also found naked photos of Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline Darian; Dominique Pelicot claimed during his testimony that the photos weren’t his and that he believed they were of someone else.  Gisèle and Dominique Pelicot, as well as Darian, all took the stand in recent weeks, and offered harrowing testimony about the assaults. “Frankly, these are scenes of horror for me,” Gisèle Pelicot said of the videos and photos her husband took to document the rapes. “They treat me like a rag doll.” Prior to learning of the attacks, Gisèle Pelicot had said that she had believed that she and her husband of roughly 50 years had been a close couple. Dominique Pelicot has admitted the abuse and also told a psychologist that he did it because Gisèle Pelicot had rejected swinging, or sleeping with other people outside their marriage. He added during the trial that he believes a sexual assault he says he experienced as a child also contributed to his “perversion.” Gisèle Pelicot says the decision to release her identity and to speak publicly about the case was intended to show that survivors shouldn’t be ashamed of the abuse they’ve suffered. Handling the case anonymously is “what her attackers would have wanted,” her lawyers said.  Darian also described the horror she felt upon learning what her father had done, calling him “the worst sexual predator of the last 20 years.” Both emphasized fears that they wouldn’t be able to regain any sense of stability or safety in relationships. “I no longer have an identity. … I don’t know if I’ll ever rebuild myself,” Gisèle Pelicot said.  The defendants have been charged with aggravated rape or attempted rape, with many facing 20 years in prison if convicted. The trial is set to continue until December as the defendants make their testimony in groups.  The Pelicot case is just the latest to raise awareness of sexual abuses in France this year, after multiple cases of sexual misconduct by prominent actors and directors came to light.  Since February, several high-profile French actresses, including Godrèche, have spoken about being sexually assaulted in their teens by film directors. Notably, Godrèche was invited to make remarks about this problem at the Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars, and was received with a standing ovation.  “After years in which the American #MeToo movement gained traction while in France it languished,” Rokhaya Diallo, a French journalist, wrote of Godrèche for the Washington Post, “this reception signaled that perhaps the larger culture here is finally ready to push back.” Such shifts come as France has been more resistant to confronting sexual abuses in the same way the US has, with some French commentators dubbing the #MeToo movement the latest extension of puritanical American culture.  But Godrèche’s speech and the Pelicot case, as well multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against famous French actor Gérard Depardieu, have put a new spotlight on the subject. Women’s rights advocates have also urged lawmakers to add the term “consent” into the legal definition of rape, a move that French President Emmanuel Macron has said he supports. Currently, French law defines rape as “an act of sexual penetration… committed on a person, with violence, coercion, threat, or surprise.” “While there is still perhaps more skepticism in France than in the US about the legitimacy of sexual assault and sexual harassment, these attitudes are changing fast, especially as a younger generation of women and French feminists and their male allies … are willing to confront these issues head-on,” Laura Frader, a professor of history emerita at Northeastern University who studies gender attitudes in Europe, told Vox. “The Pelicot case is certain to contribute to this trend.” Update, September 17, 5:15 pm ET: This story, originally published on September 9, has been update with the details of Dominique Pelicot’s testimony.

Scientists in China have found evidence in monkeys that metformin can reliably slow down the brain's aging process.

Apple’s watchOS 11 introduces sleep apnea tracking and a vitals app, but the Tides app makes me wistful for old sailing novels.