Matt Reynolds

Great to see our report on LLM-enabled biorisk covered in the latest issue of The Economist: www.economist.com/briefing/202...

Cloning Came to Polo. Then Things Got Truly Uncivilized A polo legend and a businessman joined forces to copy the player’s greatest horse. But with a single clone worth $800,000, some technologies are a breeding ground for betrayal.

An attempt to subjugate nature to the desire of one man (41-year-old but ageless Argentinian polo player) is threatened by the secret business ambitions of another (third-generation oil-and-gas Texan) @jacobfeldman.bsky.social's favorite by @mattreynolds.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/clonin...

Thank you!

Thank you so much!

Thank you erica!

As always, Matt made this pice 10x better – digging up new info and making everything watertight. Gonna miss working with him!

Me neither!

Thank you Rob!

Cloning Came to Polo. Then Things Got Truly Uncivilized A polo legend and a businessman joined forces to copy the player’s greatest horse. But with a single clone worth $800,000, some technologies are a breeding ground for betrayal.

Make some time for this incredible @mattreynolds.bsky.social story—featuring a polo star, a Texas oilman, a Russian billionaire and a stunning betrayal. Oh, and clones!

www.wired.com/story/clonin...

This is wild

A lucrative scheme to clone the world's best polo pony turned into the sport's biggest scandal after a shady deal aboard a superyacht in the Bahamas.

It's about patrimony, jealousy and lots and lots of money.

Photographs by Gabriella Angotti-Jones

Cloning Came to Polo. Then Things Got Truly Uncivilized A polo legend and a businessman joined forces to copy the player’s greatest horse. But with a single clone worth $800,000, some technologies are a breeding ground for betrayal.

My final piece for @wired.com

A story of biotech and betrayal, based on thousands of court documents, depositions, testimony and interviews.

Featuring an Argentine polo star, a Texas oilman and an exiled Russian billionaire. Oh, and lots and lots of cloned horses.

www.wired.com/story/clonin...

I'm really excited to get stuck into some fascinating science that could really shape how the future turns out. Let's go!

Also, I'd love to talk to people who work in those industries—and beyond—who can benefit from the science of forecasting. Let's chat!

matt@forecastingresearch.org

If you're a journalist who covers AI, tech, or policy and want to know more you reach me on matt@forecastingresearch.org

Some *personal news*

I'm the new Director of Communications at
@Research_FRI

I'll be getting the word out on how the science of forecasting can help decision-makers approach high-stake issues, such as AI, nuclear and bio risks.

I have two gift subscriptions to the London Review of Books to give away! Shout if you want one (I have run out of friends to foist them on)

Am assuming you have to be UK-based

This Startup Says It Can Clean Your Blood of Microplastics The elective medical industry is cashing in on plastic pollution fears, but the evidence of harm from microplastics is still deeply uncertain.

I went to a blood-cleaning clinic to find out how many microplastics are lurking in my blood

www.wired.com/story/this-s...

Mississippi Passes Bill Banning Lab-Grown Meat Three states have now passed legislation making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or distribute cultivated meat.

New: Mississippi's bill banning cultivated meat has now passed in law, without the governor's signature. Will come into effect on July 1

I wrote about the bill when it passed both houses two weeks ago

www.wired.com/story/missis...

Scientists Just Created a ‘Woolly Mouse’ With Mammoth-Like Fur The de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the woolly mammoth—starting with a very furry mouse.

The de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences has used gene editing to make a "woolly mouse," which it says is a step toward bringing back the woolly mammoth. Story by my colleague @mattreynolds.bsky.social: www.wired.com/story/scient...

DOGE Is Inside the National Institutes of Health’s Finance System At least three people linked to Elon Musk’s DOGE task force have access to NIH systems that control budgets, procurement, and more, according to records and internal documents viewed by WIRED.

NEW: DOGE workers now have access to the NIH department known as the "wallet" of the entire organization. From @mattreynolds.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/doge-i...

DOGE Is Inside the National Institutes of Health’s Finance System At least three people linked to Elon Musk’s DOGE task force have access to NIH systems that control budgets, procurement, and more, according to records and internal documents viewed by WIRED.

New: DOGE representatives have access to the National Institute of Health's finance system

www.wired.com/story/doge-i...

USDA Layoffs Derail Projects Benefiting American Farmers The blanket firing of Department of Agriculture scientists has thrown a host of climate science and crop projects into chaos.

Layoffs at the US Dept of Agriculture have thrown projects into chaos, including important IRA-linked work, and many projects designed to benefit farmers

www.wired.com/story/usda-l...

@lindseyburbank.bsky.social Hi Lindsay – I'm a reporter at WIRED magazine. Could you follow back so we can dm?

WARNING: Yesterday, my X account (@JKFruit) was compromised and used to promote an inauthentic WIRED-branded crypto coin. Please disregard any further posts made to that account.

❤️

Hi David – I'm a reporter a WIRED. Could you follow me so we can dm?

NIH Funding Cuts Appear to Draw on Heritage Foundation Report That Blasts ‘DEI Staff’ In its notice outlining the large cut in university funding, the US National Institutes of Health seems to draw on a report from a conservative think tank that denounces the “political left.”

New from me and @emilymullin.bsky.social: NIH funding cut announcement draws on Heritage Foundation report attacking DEI and "the agenda of the political left"

www.wired.com/story/nih-in...

@alondra.bsky.social Hi Alondra – I'm a reporter at WIRED magazine. Would love to talk to you about the NIH indirect cost change – can you follow me so we can dm?