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If You See This in Your McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, Don’t Panic

As far as cult classics go, McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish is right up there with the best of them. Love it or hate it, the sandwich has thrived for more than 60 years. It does, however, have a fishy horror associated with it. The Filet-O-Fish has four simple ingredients: a crispy fried fish filet patty, tartar sauce and a half-slice of cheese on a plain steamed bun. It’s made with wild-caught Alaskan pollock sourced from sustainable fisheries, and it’s cut right from the fish — no chopped and formed patty here. What else might be in your Filet-O-Fish? Okay, deep breath. You might actually find a dead worm in your sandwich. That’s right, it turns out that nematodes — a type of roundworm — are commonly found in saltwater fish such as pollock, cod, flounder and halibut. Small numbers of these worms are normal and commonly present in healthy, wild-caught fish. “Nematodes get into fish through the ocean food chain,” said Kimberly Baker, Director of Food Systems and Safety at Clemson University. She went on to explain that fish like pollock, which McDonald’s uses, will eat small fish or crustaceans that have eaten the worms, and then the worms will move into the larger fish. “If anything, it tells you that it’s real fish,” said Baker. It has nothing to do with McDonald’s food-prep techniques or cleanliness. In fact, it’s likely you’ve ingested these tiny worms before. They aren’t dangerous, because they’re always dead when you eat them, thanks to the fish frying process. The only way the parasites can cause problems is if they’re consumed while still alive, which is why you should never eat raw fish. If you're worried about worms in seafood, the only real way to avoid them is to not eat seafood. So, the next time you order up a Filet-O-Fish, don’t be surprised if there’s a deceased hitchhiker in the mix.

What It Means When Royals Are Stripped of Their Titles

Prince Andrew, the disgraced son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor after King Charles publicly stripped him of his title, Andrew isn’t the first royal rocked by scandal to lose a title. In the 16th century, Henry VIII’s daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, were declared illegitimate and had their princess titles removed, though they each later became the queen of England. Unlike Andrew, Mary and Elizabeth, a handful of royals have given up their titles. Princess Patricia fell in love with a commoner and gave up her title to marry him in 1919. King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry American Wallis Simpson, and more recently, Princess Diana retained the title of princess but was barred from using the address style Her Royal Highness following her divorce from Charles. Prince Harry and Meaghan lost their address style — no longer able to use His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness — after abandoning England for a life in the U.S. Royals stripped of their titles also have no legal protection. That said, Congress can’t force a foreign national to testify, so requests from the House Oversight Committee for Andrew to answer questions about his involvement with Epstein are just that — requests. Surprisingly, Andrew is still in the line of succession, remaining 8th in line to the throne. Removing him would require the British government to pass a formal law, and that’s not likely to happen. Most likely, your next question is: Will Andrew still get money from King Charles? Andrew is said to have received an annual allowance of $1.3 million from the queen. While Charles has since stopped these payments, he continues to pay Andrew an unknown amount of money and will privately fund his new accommodations. In case you’re wondering, Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, will retain their princess titles.

Study Finds That Human Aging Happens in Bursts

If you've ever felt like everything in your body is breaking down at once, that might not be your imagination. A new Stanford Medicine study shows that many of our molecules and microorganisms dramatically rise or fall in number during our 40s and 60s. Researchers assessed molecules from people aged 25 to 75, as well as their microbiomes — the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live inside us and on our skin — and found that the abundance of most molecules and microbes don’t shift in gradual, chronological order. Rather, we undergo two periods of rapid change during our lifespan — at around age 44 and again at age 60. "We’re not just changing gradually over time; there are some dramatic changes,” said Michael Snyder, Professor of Genetics and the study’s author. That so many dramatic changes happen in the early 60s is perhaps not surprising, Snyder said, as many age-related disease risks and other age-related phenomena are known to increase at that point in life. However, the large cluster of changes in the mid-40s was somewhat surprising to scientists. Significant changes were seen in the number of molecules related to alcohol, caffeine and lipid metabolism, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle. It’s possible some of these changes could be tied to lifestyle or behavioral factors that cluster at these age groups, rather than being driven by biological factors. whatever their causes, the existence of these clusters points to the need for people to pay attention to their health, especially in their 40s and 60s, the researchers said. That could look like increasing exercise to protect your heart and maintain muscle mass at both ages or decreasing alcohol consumption in your 40s as your ability to metabolize alcohol slows. The team plans to further explore the drivers of these clusters of change.

Abandoned New York Church Transformed Into Stunning $3 Million Retreat

A long-forgotten 19th century church in upstate New York has been reborn as a breathtaking $3 million retreat, complete with a dramatic timber frame interior and a bell tower library. The early Greek Revival structure, which was built in 1837 and sits on 37 acres of land in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, underwent a painstaking restoration that transformed the abandoned sanctuary into a sprawling luxury residence. At the heart of the property is the church's original structure, where huge hand-chopped beams, which are almost two centuries old, remain exposed. The beams create a cathedral-like space that dominates the home's interior. The structure stopped being used as a church in the 1990s when it fell into such disrepair that it was nearly torn down. Decades later, the property has been revived by architects Nik Vekic and Quinn Marquardt of ICDT Studio, who purchased the deteriorating structure in 2023 for $425,000. Over the next two years, Vekic and Marquardt undertook the meticulous transformation, turning the once-abandoned church into a 5-bedroom, 4½ bath, 6,242-square-foot residence that blends its historic bones with modern design. Beyond the walls of the former church, the property sits on 30 acres of land and includes wooded trails, streams, waterfalls and rock formations scattered across the rolling terrain.