Chocolate is more than a treat; it is Theobroma cacao, the "food of the gods." But our global craving for cocoa is putting a divine strain on the planet. As demand surges, tropical forests are often cleared to make room for plantations, destroying biodiversity and releasing stored carbon.

Isabella Steeley, a researcher from the University of Sheffield, is investigating a ground-breaking solution that could boost chocolate yields while fighting climate change: Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW).

Microplastics and nanoplastics now contaminate every human compartment that has been examined. Decedent brain tissue carries seven to thirty times the concentration found in liver or kidney. The burden rose by approximately fifty percent between 2016 and 2024. The heaviest loads sit in the brains of donors with documented dementia. Recent prospective cohort data link these particles to fourfold increases in the composite risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death. A new Perspective in the inaugural issue of Brain Health, published by Genomic Press, argues that the field must now move past alarm and toward the three priorities that follow from the evidence: validated measurement, polymer-specific mechanism, and population-scale removal.