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For decades, scientists believed Alzheimer's is caused by a substance called beta-amyloid. But that hypothesis has become clouded by doubt after several experimental drugs failed.

Now, a make-or-break study will put the theory to the “ultimate test.”🧵n.pr/3zAMCKq Past experimental drugs have removed amyloid from the brain, but they failed at preventing declines in memory and thinking for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients.

This new study will test an anti-amyloid drug on people as young as 18.

A crowd surge in Seoul killed more than 150 people and injured more than 140 more on Saturday night.

Just over 48 hours after the deadly Halloween stampede, here’s a comprehensive look at what we know so far🧵 Police had estimated that over 100,000 people would visit the neighborhood of Itaewon this year.

On Saturday alone, over 130,000 passengers used the Itaewon subway station, according to Seoul Metro Corporation. Many eyewitnesses lamented lack of crowd control measures.

The Mississippi River’s water levels are nearing record lows. Saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is creeping upstream as a result, threatening drinking water supplies in the New Orleans metro area.

Here’s what engineers are doing to counteract that🧵n.pr/3SG1i1w More than a third of rain in the U.S. ends up in the Mississippi River. But with minimal rainfall in the Midwest, drought is causing problems.

Ships and barges are running aground — one river gauge registers just 3 feet above sea level.

The federal government made lunch free to all 50.6 million U.S. public students during the pandemic, but that program expired last month.

Now, families, school districts and legislators are scrambling to deal with the new financial burden🧵 n.pr/3TC4dJH Pre-pandemic, about 25% of students attended a school with free meals, one expert said. Now, the most vulnerable are families with incomes just above the cutoff for free or reduced-price school meals.

"A lot of times, it's a financial burden for the parents,” one mother said.

In April, a Louisiana sheriff’s office got a call about a bomb in a classroom. Students evacuated and campus was searched.

Only no bomb was found.

We obtained reports about that false threat, and why it may relate to a plethora of more recent incidents🧵 n.pr/3DdTrm0 That same caller systematically made calls to 162 different places this spring.

Their rapid-fire dialing of numbers indicates that the user had a list of schools at the ready, and a specific focus on surrounding law enforcement agencies and emergency dispatchers.

You probably think plastic you throw into recycling bins will be… recycled.

The reality, however, is the vast majority heads to the landfill — only around 5% of plastic is actually being repurposed, according to a Greenpeace report.

Here’s why🧵n.pr/3Dxgbii No plastic — not even soda bottles — has ever been recycled or reused close to a 30% rate, the necessary threshold for something to be considered “recyclable,” according to a Greenpeace report.

It was 1962.

Southern segregationists, fuming over the civil rights movement, hatched a plan to lash out at Northern liberals: They tricked some 200 Black Southerners into moving North with false promises of opportunity.

There are dark parallels today.
npr.org/2019/12/10/786… The stunt became known as the Reverse Freedom Rides.

For the segregationists, the idea was simple: When large numbers of Black people showed up on Northerners’ doorsteps, they wouldn’t be able to accommodate them, wouldn’t want them, and their hypocrisy would be revealed.

The governor of Florida paid to fly about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.

3 migrants told NPR a woman lured them onto the plane, saying they'd be flown to Boston to get expedited work papers.

"She offered us help. Help that never arrived."
n.pr/3QMWXZw "We got on the plane with a vision of the future, of making it," said a 30-year-old Venezuelan, who recently crossed into Texas.

He explained why he boarded the plane with so little information: "Look, when you have no money and someone offers help, well, it means a lot."

🧵Following a 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II has died at her castle in Balmoral, Scotland, she was 96 years old.

These images showcase Queen Elizabeth II's extraordinary life. n.pr/3KZdvfn Lord Elphinstone (left) greets the British Royal Family; (L-R) Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (second from left), Princess Margaret (third from left), Princess Elizabeth (third from right) and King George VI (far right), at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, July 5th 1937.

Some of the Inflation Reduction Act's $369 billion in energy and climate spending aims to make it easier and cheaper for Americans to live more sustainably.

Here's what you need to know. 🧵 n.pr/3PlgwXY 💵 The Act calls for reviving a credit that ended last year.

Homeowners who front the cost of energy efficiency improvements would be able to claim up to $1,200 a year or 30% of the total cost at tax time. n.pr/3PlgwXY

The good news? Gas prices are dropping.

The bad news? Other costs continue to climb faster than wages. n.pr/3SQGSnU Consumer prices in July were 8.5% higher than a year ago, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The annual inflation rate was slightly lower than the 9.1% figure recorded in June.

🧵Tourism at Yellowstone National Park is down about 40% this summer after devastating floods wiped out roads in and around the park in June. Towns at two of the park's five entrances were completely cut off from it. @YPRadioNews
npr.org/2022/08/05/111… The raging flood waters took out big sections of paved roads in and near the park, and now the North Entrance from the neighboring town of Gardiner, Mont., is closed. It's expected to stay that way for at least a couple of years.

🧵Texas and Arizona governors continue to send buses full of migrants and refugees to Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, just a few blocks from the Capitol building.

Upon arrival no government officials are there to meet them.
npr.org/2022/08/05/111… Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he started sending the buses to D.C. because the Biden administration attempted to lift the pandemic-era emergency Title 42 order that allowed the U.S. to deny migrants entry.

🧵There's a news site called the Daily Catch in Red Hook, N.Y. The site usually covers local news.

Suddenly, in late winter, headlines like this appeared.

As Russians Inch Closer, Our Ukrainian Correspondent Declares: "I need to find a weapon!"
npr.org/2022/07/25/111… When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Emily Sachar, the editor of the Daily Catch, felt a responsibility to cover it.

Some of her readers were not prepared for the shift in coverage. How do you close the gap between local news and war dispatches from far away?

Monica Poole was eager to vote in Georgia's May primary. But new restrictions on drop boxes made it difficult for Poole to access them, who had limited mobility and a rigid work schedule.

She is one of the millions in Georgia affected by new voting laws. n.pr/3zDWWBE After breaking her ankle, she couldn't drive. Even navigating the stairs from her second-floor Atlanta apartment was impossible, so waiting in line to vote wasn't an option. n.pr/3zDWWBE

If passed, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would be the single largest federal clean energy investment in U.S. history.

Based on early math on the environmental impacts of the act, climate experts are experiencing a new sensation: optimism. n.pr/3JfsVeB The nearly $370 billion energy and climate deal struck between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and conservative Democrat Joe Manchin falls short of the $555 billion package Democrats proposed last year, but still makes experts like @JesseJenkins "incredibly optimistic."

🧵 A 75-year-old woman became entangled in COVID conspiracy theories.

After she got infected, she rejected effective treatments and sought out black market drugs instead. Doctors say that decision contributed to her death. npr.org/sections/healt… For Americans who don't trust the medical establishment, there's a network of fringe medical doctors, natural healers and internet personalities ready to push unproven cures for COVID. And a shady black market where you can buy them.

Meet Fred.

Fred, a mastodon, was born more than 13,000 years ago somewhere in the Midwestern United States.

He likely spent much of his early life at home. But at one point in his adolescent years, it came time to forge a path of his own. n.pr/3aju9Zh For the rest of his life, Fred roamed what is now Indiana.

Every summer, he would return to Northeastern Indiana, his preferred mating ground.

There, Fred would compete against other males for a mate. These competitions were violent, physical battles.

The first Gen Z candidates for Congress are here.

Age is a big part of their campaigns — and their views are shaped by political, social and economic upheaval.

What will their approach to politics be? n.pr/3usaxJk Gen Z has a new way of approaching politics, given that they’ve come of age during such a volatile period in American history, says Maxwell Alejandro Frost, 25, who is running for Congress in Florida's 10th Congressional District.

We asked NPR staff and contributors to tell us about their favorite books of the year so far. 📚

167 books made the cut, from beach reads and fantasy sagas to books that transport you to other times and places.

Need a new read? Here are some of our picks.npr.org/2022/07/02/110… 📖 The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

"I'm a sucker for gothic novels, and I've been loving the trend of gothics that take place somewhere unexpected (i.e., not Europe)," says @AskLeezul.