Our daily safari around the world

🌏 Nearly 400 new species were recently discovered in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong region. In a report published Monday, the World Wildlife Fund revealed that 290 plants, 19 fish species, 24 amphibians, 46 reptiles and one mammal species have been discovered over the past two years in the region, which encompasses Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. And that’s not all (warning: the report was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster) – the WWF also warned that nearly all of the newly-discovered species could soon become extinct due to loss of habitat caused by human activity🎢📉.

🇨🇳 China is on a path to securing access to one-third of the world’s lithium-mine production capacity by 2025. Lithium is a key component of cell phones, EV batteries, laptops, and other popular electronics. And Beijing has spent $4.5 billion over the past two years acquiring stakes in nearly 20 lithium mines, most in Latin America and Africa, according to data compiled by industry analytics firms Rystad and Benchmark. Though per the WSJ, this move represents a risky strategy for the Chinese government, due to its need to invest in many nations with a history of political instability, local resistance, and resource nationalism. For context, China itself contains around 8% of the world’s lithium.

🇨🇭 Swiss researchers helped a paralyzed man walk normally again with brain and spine implants. The 40-year-old man from the Netherlands was outfitted with two stimulators that, when activated, reestablish communication between his brain and the area of the spinal cord that controls leg movements. Using the new device, the man is now able to simply think about walking, and his legs will obey. The experimental system was detailed in a peer-reviewed study published yesterday in Nature.