Girl hour
The National Weather Service issues a "particularly dangerous situation" warning for Southern California. / NPR
Since 2021, state authorities have declined to fund wildfire prevention efforts in communities devastated by the Palisades fire. / The Los Angeles Times
"Altadena Girls," a recovery fund for LA teenagers, is run by a 14-year-old whose school burned down. / TIME
See also: In national parks, "resource advisors" on fire crews protect sensitive habitats and cultural resources. / High Country News
Beijing is discussing selling TikTok's United States operations to Elon Musk. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
American economists worry that nobody in government listens to them anymore. / The New York Times [+]
The US Army achieves its recruitment target for the first time in a decade—thanks to women. / Military.com
Global electric-vehicle sales rose 25% to a record 17 million cars in 2024. / Semafor
Things we learned about large language models over the course of last year. / Simon Willison's Weblog
Health and development experts pick buzzwords for 2025: "techquity," "enchantment," "belonging." / Goats and Soda
Themes expected to define the art market include gallery collaborations and crypto. / artsy
Related: A judge ends a man's 11-year quest to dig up a landfill and recover $765 million in Bitcoin. / Ars Technia
Unrelated: The CEO of a song-generating AI says most people don't enjoy most of the time they spend making music. / Futurism
From November, "The Silurian hypothesis" won the title of "most interesting hypothesis most likely to be false" in science. / Pacificklaus
What it was like being trapped on a train in the Sierra Nevada in 1952. / Smithsonian Magazine
Fans of the new vampire film Nosferatu aren't happy about young people laughing during scenes not intended to be funny. / Daily Dot
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