Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 · about a 5-minute read
Good morning. Yesterday Tesla edged past Waymo on Texas's list of driverless cars, a magnetic-pulse treatment that slowed Alzheimer's decline in a small trial moved toward its big test, and the world's biggest battery maker took sodium batteries global. Today a lab-made skin protein takes on wrinkles.
The big one
Wrinkles Cut 56% in Lab Tests on Human Skin by Putting Back a Protein We Lose. People Are Next. Most wrinkle creams cover lines up or plump them for a few hours. Azitra says a lab-made form of filaggrin, the protein that helps build skin's outer barrier and hold in moisture, cut wrinkles 56% from where they started in human skin kept alive in the lab, and improved elasticity within 48 hours compared with a plain cream (company claim; not yet tested in people). A first human study is next, with initial results expected by the end of 2026, the company says.
Why it matters: if the lab result carries over to faces, repairing the skin barrier and smoothing fine lines could turn out to be the same job. Our odds on when a barrier-protein cream proves itself on real faces are below the line. Read it →
Yesterday on the site
The End of Aging
Fewer Sores for Amputees? Cells From the Sole of the Foot Toughened Skin in 10 People: Johns Hopkins researchers injected lab-grown cells from the sole of the foot under ordinary skin in 10 people, and the treated patches grew thicker and more elastic, the university says; people who wear prosthetic limbs stand to gain first.
Lose Weight, Not Muscle: Two Drugs to Protect Muscle on Wegovy and in Old Age Report Soon: Veru presents a new look at its muscle-protecting pill in patients 60 and up taking semaglutide on Nov. 16, and Scholar Rock's next muscle shot has first results due by the end of 2026.
The End of Disease
Slowing Alzheimer's Without Drugs: Magnetic Pulses Cut Decline 44% in a Small Trial. Now the Big One Begins.: Sinaptica says magnetic pulses aimed with each patient's own brain scans slowed decline 44% against a sham in a 48-person, year-long trial (company claim), and it is preparing to screen patients for its pivotal trial.
Arthritic Knees Get a New Kind of Shot: FDA Clears It for Human Trials: the FDA cleared Restem to test a shot made from the proteins that umbilical-cord lining cells release, with the trial expected to start in the first half of 2027.
Superhuman
Running a Computer by Thought After a Stroke: Neuralink's Next Trial Is Listed: a new trial record lists up to 10 stroke survivors for Neuralink's brain implant, with an estimated November start (secondary report).
Robots & Self-Driving
Robot Help Without Buying the Robot: Musk Says Tesla Will Probably Rent Optimus: Musk told an investor conference that Tesla will "probably rent" its Optimus robot, with outside deliveries aimed at about late 2027.
Driverless Rides Get a Real Race: Tesla Passes Waymo on Texas's Robotaxi List: Tesla had 1,302 cars on Texas's driverless registry to Waymo's 1,297 as of Nov. 10, according to reported figures.
Limitless Energy
Solar Power After Dark, No Lithium Needed: The World's Biggest Battery Maker Takes Sodium Batteries Global: CATL says its sodium-ion grid battery should reach about 1 gigawatt-hour of shipments by the end of 2026, with deliveries outside China from 2027 (company claims).
Sci-Fi Tech
Drone-Zapping Lasers Get a Plan to Work Safely Near Airliners: five federal departments signed a Nov. 9 agreement giving the FAA a safety review of every new drone-stopping system, lasers included, before it works near civilian aircraft.
Out of the Heat and Rain: Musk's Tunnel Machine Starts Digging a Campus Tunnel: a Boring Company machine started digging Nov. 10 on a nearly mile-long, donor-funded tunnel linking a San Antonio hotel, the Morgan's Wonderland campus and two care sites.
By the numbers
1,302 to 1,297: Tesla's and Waymo's cars on Texas's driverless registry as of Nov. 10. In May the count was 42 to 577.
44%: how much slower Alzheimer's decline was with real magnetic stimulation than with a sham in a 48-person trial, its maker says.
39.9%: CATL's share of the world's electric-car batteries in the first half of 2026, from the company now taking sodium batteries global.
29 days: the gap between the Boring Company finishing a test tunnel in Bastrop, Texas, and starting its San Antonio dig.
New on the odds board
Yesterday's posts put fresh odds on renting a Tesla robot, Tesla's driverless fleet catching Waymo's nationwide, a laser cleared to guard the skies near airliners, a brain implant for stroke survivors, San Antonio's campus tunnel opening, foot-cell shots for prosthetic wearers, sodium grid batteries beyond China and a magnetic-pulse treatment for Alzheimer's. Every milestone lives on the calculator.
On the calendar
Nov. 14–17: ObesityWeek in Washington, where Rivus presents posters on a weight-loss pill it says preserves muscle.
Nov. 16: Veru presents its look at physical function in older patients on its muscle pill plus semaglutide; the same day, AriBio's Phase 3 Alzheimer's results in 1,535 people come out at the CTAD meeting in Boston.
Nov. 17: Sinaptica's invited symposium on its magnetic-pulse treatment at CTAD.
Dec. 1–2: the Humanoids Summit.
December 2026: a federal counter-drone shoot-off at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, with lasers among the entries.
By the end of 2026: first results from Azitra's first human study of its wrinkle protein, the company says.
First half of 2027: Restem expects to start its knee-shot trial.
The story we're following
Driverless rides are turning into a two-company race. On Nov. 9 Tesla switched on driverless rides across about 272 square miles of San Antonio, joining Waymo there, and a day later Tesla edged past Waymo on Texas's list of registered driverless cars, 1,302 to 1,297. Two fleets competing in the same cities is how riders get more cars, more coverage and pressure on prices.
Quote of the day
"The future has arrived — it's just not evenly distributed yet." — William Gibson, the science fiction author, as quoted in the San Francisco Examiner in 1992, the earliest printing Quote Investigator found. Driverless rides are arriving that way, one city at a time, and San Antonio just got two companies at once.
Coming up
Already up this morning: wrinkles cut 56% in lab tests on human skin by putting back a protein the body loses. Later today: at 9 AM, laser shields against drones go on sale, with one country ordering $405 million; and at 11 AM, trains under the Panama Canal, and an AI that out-steered veteran drillers, a builder says.
Until next time
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