Day: November 5, 2025

Ever-evolving research is steadily turning science fiction into science fact. Neural implants —tiny devices that read or stimulate brain activity —have already entered human trials, showing what’s possible when technology and neuroscience intersect. While early results prove the concept works, the race is now on to make these systems smaller, safer, and more reliable.

Developers and philanthropists alike have ambitious goals: from controlling computers and prosthetics with nothing but thought to restoring movement after paralysis and monitoring neurological disorders in real time.

Now, researchers from Cornell University have taken a major step forward. They’ve created a neural implant smaller than a grain of salt that can wirelessly transmit signals from inside the brain. Their results, published in Nature Electronics, show that this tiny implant emitted clean, uninterrupted data in healthy mice for more than a year.

It’s the smallest functioning neural implant ever designed, proving that advanced technology can be miniaturized to a level once thought impossible. Measuring brain activity on a cellular scale with minimal intrusion could open entirely new windows into how organisms grow, adapt, and decline over time.

Read More: Brain Cells on a Computer Chip Offer Advanced Medical Treatments and Use Less Energy

Implants Powered by Infrared Laser Beams

Turning the dream of real-time brain monitoring into reality has always faced the challenge of scale. Even the thinnest-wired implants can irritate the surrounding tissue as the brain subtly shifts with each breath or heartbeat. That friction and tugging can trigger inflammation and scarring, limiting how long such devices remain usable.

To avoid that, scientists have been exploring tetherless, or wireless, systems. Power and data can be transferred through radio waves, ultrasound, or light. Each approach comes with its own trade-offs in safety, precision, and energy efficiency.

After weighing the options, the Cornell team designed a microscale optoelectronic tetherless electrode (MOTE) that runs entirely on light. Red and infrared laser beams can safely pass through the skull and brain tissue to deliver power. In return, the device uses infrared light to send recorded brain activity back out.

Mice Unbothered By Tiny Implant for Over a Year

The system relies on light both for energy and communication. As explained in a press release, a semiconductor diode made of aluminum gallium arsenide captures incoming light to power the circuit and then emits infrared light to send out data. A low-noise amplifier and optical encoder, identical to semiconductor technology found in everyday microchips, handle the signal processing.

The result is a fully functional implant just 300 microns long and 70 microns wide, a thousandth of an inch.

The team first tested the implant in cell cultures, then implanted it into the barrel cortex of mice —the region of rodents’ brains that processes sensory input from whiskers. For an entire year, the tiny implant tracked everything from individual nerve cell firings to broader waves of brain activity, while the mice stayed healthy and behaved normally.

The Smallest Neural Implant to Measure Neural Activity

“As far as we know, this is the smallest neural implant that will measure electrical activity in the brain and then report it out wirelessly,” said study co-author Alyosha Molnar, professor at Cornell University, in the press statement. “By using pulse position modulation for the code — the same code used in optical communications for satellites, for example — we can use very, very little power to communicate and still successfully get the data back out optically.”

Molnar and his team believe the MOTE’s material composition could one day allow it to collect brain data even during MRI scans, something that’s currently not possible with most implants.

Beyond neuroscience, similar designs could be used to study other tissues, such as the spinal cord, or even be embedded into artificial skull plates to create long-term, fully integrated neural interfaces.

Read More: How Scientists Are Building a Better Brain-on-a-Chip

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A multistate Listeria monocytogenes outbreak has turned an easy dinner staple into a public health emergency. Six people have died and 25 have been hospitalized after eating contaminated pre-packaged pasta meals sold at major grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and Kroger.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working together to trace the source of the outbreak, which was first announced in June of 2025.

Investigators have linked the infections to ready-to-eat pasta products from the supplier Nate’s Fine Foods, including pre-cooked fettuccine, linguine, and bowtie pasta. These products can be both refrigerated or frozen, and are designed to be lightly cooked in the microwave or oven. A list of contaminated products can be found on the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service website.

Read More: To Avoid Bacteria Buildup, Ditch the Kitchen Sponge and Switch to a Brush Instead

Why Does Listeria Thrive on Ready-to-Eat Foods?

The bacteria L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a potentially life-threatening infection. Listeria is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the U.S., responsible for roughly 172 deaths each year. It’s a persistent microbe that can thrive even in cold environments, surviving refrigeration and sometimes growing in packaged food over time.

When it comes to food, Listeria is often spread in processing facilities where the bacteria can be hard to remove, even in the cleanest of circumstances. Listeria can enter a food processing facility through multiple avenues, including on food that was contaminated during the harvesting process. It can also be spread through the facility via food processing, preparation, packaging, and transportation.

Something as unassuming as incoming air can contain traces of L. monocytogenes and be enough to start an outbreak.

Symptoms of Listeria Infection

If you’ve contracted Listeria, symptoms typically appear within two weeks of eating contaminated food, but can start as early as the day of consumption or as late as 10 weeks later. For most healthy adults, illness may pass with rest and fluids, but the infection can be devastating for pregnant women, newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

According to the FDA press release, “mild symptoms may include a fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting, and diarrhea. If the more severe form of listeriosis develops, symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.”

Most people who encounter L. monocytogenes will contract a non-life-threatening intestinal illness. In these cases, the infection will likely present flu-like symptoms and clear up without medical intervention. However, the invasive strain of L. monocytogenes, where the bacteria spreads beyond the gut, is deadly — nearly one in six people who contract invasive listeriosis will die.

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself From Listeria?

The good news is that Listeria infection is preventable. Awareness and proper refrigeration habits can make all the difference. For the current outbreak, consumers are encouraged to check their refrigerators and freezers for recalled products.

To protect against Listeria in the home, keep your refrigerator at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below and your freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash produce, cook food thoroughly, and promptly throw out anything that looks suspicious or is expired.

If you’ve eaten recalled pasta and are experiencing fever, fatigue, or muscle aches, the CDC recommends contacting a healthcare provider immediately. However, if you’re symptom-free, testing or treatment likely isn’t necessary.

This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.

Read More: Wood vs. Plastic Cutting Boards: Which One Is Cleaner and Healthier?

Article Sources

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article: