It came from outer space.
The tug of war over spending bills has delayed Congressional action on securing the nation's pandemic infrastructure. / STAT
The Biden administration says that after months of legal reviews, it doesn't have the authority to share Moderna's mRNA vaccine process. / The Washington Post
Rather than continuing to wait for the West to send its Covid shots, African scientists are working to reverse engineer mRNA vaccines. / Associated Press
See also: Moderna announces it will sell 110 million doses of its Covid vaccine to the African Union. All of the doses should arrive by the middle of 2021. / Reuters
The biggest stories from the thousands of newly available leaked documents that show Facebook is somehow worse than you imagined. / Nieman Journalism Lab
How bad is it? Facebook programmed its "angry" emoji reaction to push more provocative content into users' feeds. / The Washington Post
See also: A running list of all the stories coming out on the Facebook documents. / Protocol
Because of course: Facebook's third-quarter earnings surpassed expectations, and shares rose in extended trading yesterday. / CNBC
How a homegrown disinformation campaign in small-town Montana put a proposed heritage area's future in doubt. / The New York Times
The evangelical Liberty University threatens disciplinary action against rape victims who come forward. / ProPublica
Please take five minutes to find out why TMN and the Tournament of Books need your support. / TMN Membership
"Our defenses are limited, especially if a government decides it wants our data." Journalist Ben Hubbard explains how his phone was compromised in a zero-click exploit. / The New York Times
For now, atmospheric microplastics may be slightly cooling the Earth, but could eventually begin to trap the planet's radiation. / Ars Technica
Despite a drop in emissions during lockdowns, greenhouse gases reached a record high in 2020, according to a new UN report. / Reuters
Micrometeorites—most under 0.05 centimeters—found on the tops of buildings and photographed by Jon Larsen. / Colossal
On the prevalence of the sci-fi trope of an alien invasion that solves racism—Reagan even invoked it in a UN address. / Slate
"They expect you to know better by now, even if you feel like you don't." The moment the world no longer cuts you any slack. / constellations
It seems like this fall, homecoming mums in South Texas have exploded in dimensions. / Texas Monthly
Like the McDonald's hot-coffee lawsuit, "left-wing illiberalism" is the latest in a long line of moral-panic journalism. / Confirm My Choices
A trip to Salem's Ouija board museum. / The Boston Globe
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Since 1999, your Headlines are sourced and written by Andrew Womack and Rosecrans Baldwin, and arrive in your inbox, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest Headlines at TMN.