Kids and starts
Since 2022, in partnership with Microsoft, Israel has secretly collected recordings of millions of phone calls made by Palestinians. / +972 Magazine
If you've driven to a Lowe’s or Home Depot recently, there’s a good chance your license plate was shared with law enforcement. / 404 Media
Civil liberties advocates are sounding the alarm over a New Jersey digital ID law that could turn your phone into a surveillance tool. / New Jersey Monitor
Related: Digital IDs threaten healthcare privacy by creating a digital trail that could be especially dangerous for those who must travel to receive care. / Convergence
Trump did not win Texas by a historic margin in 2024. Any claims that he did and therefore deserves more House seats is asinine—and more Democrats should be raising hell about it. / The New Republic
A running tally of the crypto companies that have seen their SEC investigations thrown out after they donated to Trump. / Follow the Crypto
As the National Weather Service struggles to maintain its forecasts amid deep staffing cuts, private companies are supplementing data assets. / Undark
See also: After months of budgetary whiplash—with grants canceled and reinstated sometimes within days or hours—the NIH finds itself barely able to function. / The Atlantic [$]
Do neck cooling fans really work? "It's a bit like playing sports with a painkilling injection." / NPR
On the ethics of “slow code,” where doctors only appear to perform CPR because they know a patient’s death is inevitable, and life-saving measures could inflict more pain. / STAT
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This winter, a homeschooled 17-year-old solved a 40-year-old math mystery. / Quanta Magazine
Research suggests parental influence pales when compared with other environmental factors in shaping who children become. / The Atlantic [$]
Unrelated: “The Mystery of the L.A. Mansion Filled With Surrogate Children.” / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Brief profiles of contemporary artists who specialize in woodworking. / Artsy
Artist Lucy Sparrow handsews an entire British fish and chip shop with 65,000 felt pieces. / dezeen
A writer finds out how many protein-boosted foods she can eat in a single day. “Honestly, I’d rather eat the grocery bag.” / The Washington Post [$]
See also: “You Don’t Eat Enough Protein and It Sickens Me.” / McSweeney's
According to a live tracker, Bluesky users have collectively posted nearly 40% of the words in the English language. / The Bluesky Dictionary
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