05 Sci-Tech

This is concerning if you like oysters.

The Florida Department of Health has revealed four people have died after eating raw oysters.

According to health officials the four people who died ate raw oysters that were contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus.

Yahoo News had the full scoop and shared details on how oysters can be contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus

A fourth person has died in Florida this year from an infection caused by Vibrio vulnificus, a potentially deadly bacterium commonly associated with eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters.

The latest fatality was a Broward County resident between 75 and 79 years old, according to Florida Department of Health data last updated September 10. The state has recorded 21 Vibrio vulnificus infections in 2026, including previous fatalities in Bay, Palm Beach and Marion counties.

It remains unclear how the latest victim contracted the infection. However, most people develop vibriosis after eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Vibrio vulnificus occurs naturally in warm coastal and brackish waters. People can also become infected when an open wound comes into contact with contaminated water. The bacteria can enter the body through cuts, scrapes or other breaks in the skin, putting swimmers, boaters and people who work around coastal water at risk, particularly if they have an open wound. Recent tattoos or piercings can also provide an entry point for the bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vibrio is more prevalent in warmer water, which is one reason infections tend to increase during the warmer months.

Oysters can pose a particular risk because they filter large amounts of seawater as they feed, allowing bacteria such as Vibrio to accumulate inside the shellfish. A contaminated oyster can look, smell and taste normal, meaning consumers cannot tell whether one contains the bacteria.

Cooking oysters thoroughly can kill the bacteria. Health officials also advise people at higher risk of severe Vibrio infection to avoid raw or undercooked shellfish.

Hey, my Florida Friends, be careful out there.
The oysters are wildin’.🦪 https://t.co/RSRB2kBtQA

— George Wept (@GeorgeWept) September 16, 2026

For years, neuroscientists have faced a paradox: the human brain is the most complicated organ known, yet also the most difficult to study directly. It is almost impossible to access living tissue, and even the most sophisticated lab-grown models cannot replicate the full richness of human neural circuits.

Stanford Medicine researchers have now achieved a breakthrough that extends the limits of neuroscience by successfully transferring human cortical organoids, that is, small groups of brain tissue that are able to self-organize, into mice that have been genetically engineered so as to lack most of their own cortex.

The result is a new type of hybrid animal, the xenocortical mouse, the brain cavity of which contains human neurons that have not only survived but have grown, joined into neural circuits, and even made connections with the mouse’s spinal cord. This achievement marks a new stage in the study of human brain development, disease, and possible therapies.

To their surprise, the mice had an important nerve cell type that researchers hadn’t previously seen in laboratory culture. Researchers have found it only in autopsied human brains.

The number of people aged 100 years or more in Japan surpassed 100,000 for the first time, according to newly released government figures.

Japan’s Health and Welfare Ministry statistics released Tuesday confirmed the milestone, showing that Japan now has 107,677 centenarians, up 7,914 from the previous year.

Of the people over 100, 13,379 are male and 94,298 are female, meaning women made up about 88 per cent of the total.

The figures were released on Sept. 15, known in Japan as Respect the Aged Day, when centenarians are honoured by the government with a letter from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and a silver sake cup.