A single film prop with two tubes and flashing lights has been used in countless sci-fi movies and shows.
via Kottke
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A single film prop with two tubes and flashing lights has been used in countless sci-fi movies and shows.
via Kottke
Friday headlines: All shall Paris
What to know about this weekend's presidential elections in Venezuela. / Chatham House
Kristina Foltz: In partnership with Hezbollah, "Caracas is directly threatening security for the entire hemisphere." / Newsweek
Riley Beggin explains why so many US Democrats support Israel, but not its leader. Meanwhile, the Obamas endorse Harris. / Riley Beggin, Politico
Related: Harris's stepdaughter is said to be making knit paintings cool. / The Art Newspaper
Unrelated: Time is the condition of two things existing in the same space. Space is the condition of two things existing in the same time. / Futility Closet
After some 50 years, Southwest Airlines abandons its open seating process. / NPR
A group of sound financial advice fits on an index card. / Kottke
How to buy everything you need to make $3 million worth of fentanyl with only $3,600. / Reuters
Arson attacks disrupt France's high-speed train network only hours before the Olympics' opening ceremonies. / BBC News
For some Olympic contests, NBC plans to put heart monitors on the athletes' parents, which viewers will then be able to monitor on-screen. / Variety
Researchers say Sha'Carri Richardson, the fastest woman in the world, could probably run on water, just not on Earth. / them
The share of Olympic medals won by American athletes between 2000 and 2021? Eleven percent. / The Economist
Scientists find the teeth of Komodo dragons are coated with iron to keep their edges sharp. / The Guardian
Unrelated: A history of rock music in 500 songs. / 500 Songs
Thursday headlines: From thirst to last
The United States economy looks to be strong for the next couple years—so, who gets to take credit for it? / The New York Times [+]
Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff face sexist, racist attacks online. Same for JD Vance's wife and children. / The Guardian, ABC News
Yet another account says Donald Trump uses the n-word. / Daily Beast
A new study suggests that metals in the deep ocean may be producing "dark oxygen." / Yale Environment 360
More "whale falls" are found off Los Angeles than in the rest of the world combined. / Hakai Magazine
Unrelated: A Belgian tourist in California's Death Valley melts his feet after losing his flip-flops in sand dunes. / The Los Angeles Times
Did you know? African elephants address each other vocally with individual names. / Atlas Obscura
Also this: More people have likely worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies than were actual pirates of the Caribbean. / The New Yorker
A new art exhibit about pirates is anchored by a well preserved, authentic pirate's flag. / The Art Newspaper
A tour of designer Tom Ford's $250 million collection of "trophy homes." / The Wall Street Journal [+]
Voting for the Tiny Awards 2024—celebrating small, quirky web sites—is now open. / Tiny Awards
In case you were wondering, currently trending are "meme tattoos," perms for teenage boys, and Skibidi Toilet. Not popular? Thirst traps. / Dazed, The Cut, The Washington Post [+], Refinery29
Wednesday headlines: It’s the same old wrong
A big new Dexter Filkins article on whether Israel and Hezbollah, i.e., Iran, will go to war. / The New Yorker
See also: How October 7 unraveled a landmark Mideast climate deal. / Grist
Israel's Netanyahu to speak "in one of the few places he can count on for support"—among Republicans in Washington. / NPR
Explaining the GOP's claims of being a working-class party. "It is very dumb." / How Things Work
Unrelated: A visual history of color charts. / Hyperallergic
The number of unwanted Paris Olympics tickets available for resale has hit more than a quarter of a million. / Marginal Revolution
Olympic athletes show off the free clothing they receive, also their cardboard beds. / The New York Times [+], Yahoo Sports
Why are CDs so popular in Japan? Factors like an older population and government price controls. / digg
Erroll Morris on generative AI: "Our task is to get back to get back to the real world, to the extent that it is recoverable." / NiemanLab
Two gay men—Alan Turing and Christopher Strachey—essentially invented AI writing decades before ChatGPT. / Big Think
Few people read Ph.D. theses, and fewer read the acknowledgments sections, but they're said to contain their own poetry. / ANU College of Science
Elaborate notes on Douglas Adams's later years. "He seemed more or less happy when he wasn't brooding." / The Digital Antiquarian
Abdul "Duke" Fakir, last of the original Four Tops, dies at 88. / The Associated Press
From a biography of the Four Tops: "It's the Same Old Song" was literally an overnight hit, recorded one day and in DJs' hands the next. / 64 Quartets
Tuesday headlines: We are watch amused
Vice President Kamala Harris says she has enough verbal commitments from delegates to clinch her party's presidential nomination. / Politico
Goldman Sachs tells clients it's "impossible" to model US trade policy under a potential second Donald Trump presidency. / Semafor
Could Republicans sue to keep President Biden on the ballot? "Who knows with this Supreme Court?" / Vox
See also: Seven ways to spot a bad argument. / BBC News
Palestinian factions including Hamas agree to form a unified government in the future. / The Guardian
One of the biggest direct income programs to date finds that distributing $1,000 monthly to people provides improved financial flexibility without disincentivizing workforce participation. / Fast Company
Is Silicon Valley pushing basic income as a way to replace all other safety nets? A way to accelerate A.I.? / The New York Times [+]
Thirty years later, the George Foreman grill still outsells rivals. / The Hustle
"They are wearing the shirts, they are buying the hot dogs." Studying the appeal of baseball to British people. / The Dial
Watches are said to account for around 30% of all counterfeit goods. / Ape to Gentleman
Related: A case study in counterfeit shopping in Istanbul. / Watches of Espionage
Seventy-two percent of Gen Zers and Millennialssay traveling is part of how they express themselves. / Thrillist
Travel experts say you should stow in your luggage in a bathtub (to avoid bedbugs). And maybe sleep in a silk cocoon. / Travel + Leisure, Outside
Monday headlines: Caught in the rot
Looking at Truman and Johnson's withdrawals and subsequent electoral defeats for Democrats, historians say Biden's circumstances differ quite a lot. / The New York Times [+]
Drug-resistant bacteria often spread in war zones; as conflicts proliferate around the globe, the risk of superbugs reaching civilian populations rises. / Rolling Stone
"The pool itself [was] rendered unusable by fallen glass, concrete, plaster and assorted debris." Ukrainian swimmers train for the Olympics amid Russian attacks. / The Guardian
The Crowdstrike outage is a direct result of the Rot Economy, where profit is absolutely valued over people. / Where's Your Ed At?
Related: A 12-hour timelapse depicting the number of US flights grounded due to the CrowdStrike outage. / X
Thanks to its ancient technology infrastructure, the MTA has been running normally during the Crowdstrike meltdown. / Curbed
As more content owners restrict their data, AI companies are quickly running out of new material to feed their models. / The New York Times [+]
Unrelated: It's apparently quite common for Americans to shoot at delivery drones. / Quartz
"Perhaps, amid a deluge of AI-generated jingles and podcast music and pop songs, we will all search even harder for the human." AI can't make music. / The Atlantic
See also: The top 18 albums of 2024 so far. / Andrew Womack
What it's like to attend a "predatory conference," a disorganized event with little quality control that's designed to make its organizers money. / Nature
"When I told a friend I was revisiting The Gods Must Be Crazy 40 years later, he said, 'Oh, I remember that movie! It must be totally racist.' It really is." / Slate
Friday headlines: Maps, they don’t love you
Please note: We're going on summer break starting tomorrow, and will be back on Monday, July 22—see you then!
As areas of Houston continue to suffer without power, who gets access to generators has illuminated the city's socioeconomic divisions. / The New York Times [+]
Nearly all AT&T customers' call and text records over several months in 2022 were illegally accessed and downloaded by hackers. / NPR
Targeting homebuyers looking to move to Israel, North American real estate firms are offering properties in illegal West Bank settlements. / The Intercept
"The need for mass deportations was taken for granted." A dispatch from the National Conservatism Conference, where Project 2025 "is alive and well." / In These Times
An investigation into guest reviews complaining about prostitution at Red Roof Inn, which is currently facing dozens of lawsuits alleging the chain ignored sex trafficking. / The Independent
"Ketamine is approaching world domination" and more in the world of drug trends. / VICE
After her sculpture Witness was beheaded this week, Shahzia Sikander doesn't want it repaired: "The damage reflects the hateful misogynistic act and it should not be forgotten." / Hyperallergic
How sci-fi films have changed since the 1950s: Present-day existential threats have been replaced by near-future dystopias. / The Pudding
"I was like, 'I bet Ben did that.'" The AI controversies at USA Today and Sports Illustrated can be tied to one person with a speciality in churning out internet sludge. / The Verge
From Egyptian cubits to 18th-century French feet, period-correct rulers of obsolete measuring systems. / burnHeart
"We have all become so reliant on online maps that we have lost the deep knowledge that allows us to make our own calculations of an optimal route." / The New York Times [+]
Scientists have 3D-printed LEGO-like bricks using meteorite dust as part of a test for how clean and sustainable buildings could be constructed on the Moon. / My Modern Met
Thursday headlines: Poetic energy
This week's Nato summit finds the global center left enjoying a moment together—perhaps temporarily. / Politico.eu
An argument for political neutrality. "The world likely needs more thoughtful interventions and politically neutral spaces and less activism for activism's sake." / Dust to Dust
The French government removes thousands of homeless people from Paris ahead of the Olympics. / The New York Times [+]
A Bitcoin mining facility moves into a small Texas town and suddenly residents are getting sick. / TIME
Vending machines in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas grocery stores now sell ammunition. / The Associated Press
People currently throw out 92 million tons of clothes a year and only an eighth of it gets recycled. / The Washington Post [+]
See also: Copenhagen tries a new approach to addressing overtourism: rewarding visitors who seem climate-friendly. / The New York Times [+]
How to make the next generation more intelligent? "The simplest way is to fortify basic foods." / The Economist
"Inner speech," or a voice inside one's head, is found to vary greatly in different people. / Scientific American
An open call for submissions for a physical directory of "the vast poetic web." / Internet Phone Book
A round-up of American swimming holes. And some aerial views of glacial rivers in Iceland. / Huckberry, YouTube
A collection of early macrophotographs of insects and spiders. / The Public Domain
Wednesday headlines: Boys pollution
Nigeria's debt to gasoline suppliers has surpassed $6 billion, doubling since early April. / Reuters
Young men in Sri Lanka face an epidemic of kidney disease linked to extreme heat, dehydration, and heavy pesticide use. / The New York Times [+]
"Sun kinks" refer to train tracks getting "visibly wavy" during severe heat waves. / The Grist
Dozens of Alaskan rivers are taking on an eerie shade of orange. / Atlas Obscura
Microsoft will pay an oil company hundreds of millions to remove carbon from the atmosphere. / Semafor
Online shopping, data collection, and algorithms are combining to generate individual prices for customers. / The Lever
See also: Buying a car is "an uneven negotiation from the beginning." / Prospect
George Stephanopoulos tells a passerby in New York City he doesn't think Biden can serve four more years. / Reliable Sources
Margaret Sullivan: The media has been breathlessly attacking Biden. What about Trump? / The Guardian
Related: Some details on the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025. / Kottke
Thoughts on the in-flight safety video. "Air New Zealand really leaned into it." / Why is this interesting
Exploring the cultural impact of Boyz n the Hood's title graphics. Also, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is said to be a good book to read aloud. / It's Nice That, The Common Reader
Young men are said to be "glaringly absent" from contemporary writing about intimacy. / Esquire
Exam questions from a course taught by Vladimir Nabokov on European literature. "Did she like her mountain lakes with or without a lone skiff?" / Futility Closet
Tuesday headlines: Bite the Europe
An explanation of what just happened in France's shock election, and where it leaves Macron. / BBC News
Ukranian tennis star Elina Svitolina wears black at Wimbledon after a Russian missile barrage hits Ukraine's largest children's hospital. / The Guardian
Are you sure you wouldn't have been a Nazi in 1930s Germany? "If we want to play at time travel, we should look at how we're doing now and extrapolate backwards." / The London Review of Books
"Because everything was unfamiliar, my perspective on the world and my place within it shifted." Self-discovery via swimming in France. / AFAR
Seven signs that you're traveling in Europe. / Meditations in an Emergency
Some thoughts on different modes of travel. "Have a reason for each place you go—or better still, have no reason at all." / Shore Leave
Avian detectives in Washington DC investigate birds who get sucked into plane engines. / Smithsonian Magazine
There's a subreddit for people attempting to figure out if they're disqualified from obtaining federal security clearance. / 404 Media
Why is Donald Trump trouncing Joe Biden on TikTok? Because Trump is "treating it like he's a lifestyle girly, but he's catering it to his audience." / Politico Magazine
A deep dive into Biden's performances over decades in the public eye. / Wake Up to Politics
Unrelated: Is the coconut tree the most consequential dumb joke of the year? / Read Max
A Taiwanese barista is the 2024 "World Latte Art Champion." / Sprudge
A disturbing look into Alice Munro's moral relativism after the author's daughter told her that Munro's husband had sexually abused her throughout her childhood. (See also: The original statement.) / The New York Times [+], The Toronto Star
Monday headlines: Herb unenthusiasm
Tropical Storm Beryl is now pushing inland, leaving more than two million people in Houston without power. / Associated Press
Scalpers have reverse-engineered the anti-scalping technology used by major ticketing platforms, and are creating counterfeit tickets that can be resold. / 404 Media
Slop is rampant in video games, and AI— "a tool designed to manufacture nothing but the obvious and average"—is about to make it worse. / The Baffler
See also: "Tech giants and beyond are set to spend over $1tn on AI capex in coming years, with so far little to show for it." / Goldman Sachs
On the cinematic and real-life histories of AI voices and gender. / The New York Times [+]
See also: What should an electric car sound like? / YouTube
The company with a monopoly on ice cream truck music has a playlist that's barely changed since the 1970s, though it's about to mix in a 45-second jingle from RZA. / The Hustle
How the Library of Congress preserves audio from obsolete formats, the most fragile of which are lacquer discs, which are in a constant state of chemical degradation. / Library of Congress Blogs
"Remove hobbies, then risk, thrills, and adventures where you might have gotten hurt—imagine 80% of that gone." Loneliness is rising among American teens—what's that feel like? / After Babel
The Look Book goes to Brooklyn Prep's prom. / Curbed
"That weekend in New York, the bars were still open, though at half capacity. By Monday, every venue in the city had gone dark." One last rave before the pandemic. / The New Yorker
With no new buildings erected, and makeshift accommodations and BYO food for athletes, the first post-war Olympics, in 1948 London, were an exercise in austerity. / Messy Nessy
Cilantro fell out of favor after the fall of Rome, and its popularity has continued to ebb and flow ever since. / Atlas Obscura
Tuesday headlines: Pivotal to video
Please note: We'll be off the rest of the week and will return on Monday—see you then!
Following yesterday's Supreme Court decision, Manhattan prosecutors agreed to delay Trump's sentencing in the hush money trial. / Associated Press
"It's mind-blowing in terms of not just the results but what it means in the change in the French population." Why the French far right triumphed. / The New Yorker
As the far right continues its rise in Europe, authorities are increasingly confiscating party drugs embellished with Nazi symbols. / VICE
There was a time when corporations chose employees over stock prices, but that died with a 1916 court decision that ushered in today's Shareholder Supremacy. / Where's Your Ed At
Beyond "delve," a new analysis of AI-generated text uncovers more telltale "marker words," such as "comprehensive," "intricate," and "pivotal." / Ars Technica
Figma disables its new AI-fueled app design tool after a user demonstrates how asking it to design a weather app produced a ripoff of Apple's weather app. / 404 Media
The accuracy of US weather forecasts depends on the region—the Great Plains are the most volatile, while Florida predictions are good for at least a week. / The Washington Post [+]
As streaming companies turn to bundling—and become more like cable—now cable companies are turning to streaming. / Ars Technica
An inside look at the decade-long grind of producing the Game of Thrones content that publications depended on for their very survival. / The Verge
The era of famous influencers may be over—reasons why include engagement metrics, the continuing fracturing of the monoculture, and too many influencers. / Glamour
"The pinnacle of his pyramid is reached once a fridge contains foods that express collective virtue." The stages of affluence according to refrigerator contents. / WIRED
See also: Kitchen appliances are smarter, cheaper, and more efficient than ever—but as they become less mechanical, their lifespans shrink. / The Washington Post [+]
Paris's Olympic Village will use geothermal cooling instead of air conditioners—but some national teams are bringing their own ACs anyway. / The Week
Greco-Roman societies were enthusiastic about swimming; but by the Middle Ages, the practice was demonized and feared. / Literary Hub
To connect ancestral roots that span from Istanbul to North Carolina, a writer learns the dulcimer. / Longreads
Monday headlines: Touchless grass
After the far right came out ahead in yesterday's elections, France's other parties are withdrawing candidates to try and block Le Pen's party from reaching a majority. / France 24
A new lawsuit alleges Microsoft and two sex-toy retailers are tracking users' personal, private, sensitive information without consent. / 404 Media
"A friend in Los Angeles told me she had recently gone to a party, in a canyon she couldn't disclose, with Hollywood eminences whose names she redacted." NDAs are everywhere now. / The Cut
One theory for why there's an apparent uptick in cases of head lice among children and teens: group selfies with head-to-head contact. / The Washington Post [+]
A health reporter on the one weird health hack you really do need to know: You have an internal bullshit meter. Use it, because it could save your life. / Vox
"Not having power in that situation can be very scary for a lot of individuals." How to deal with the buzzing of cicadas for those with tinnitus or sensory issues. / NPR
On the appeal—and surprisingly, the history—of lawn-mowing video games, beloved for their ability to send our brains into flow states. / The Guardian
Cooking with an electric grill tests what it means to barbecue, and in the case of one model it was "like taking a giant George Foreman grill out on the patio." / Lifehacker
"They seemed like an aspirational item." We have now entered the era of aesthetically pleasing window air conditioners. / The New York Times [+]
A buying guide to beautiful vintage CD players. / In Sheep's Clothing Hi-Fi
Why Alaska's rivers are turning orange: As permafrost melts, acids and metals are released into rivers, rusting the waters. / Atlas Obscura
"Writers of autofiction tend not to spend much time on the Internet, viewing it (wisely) as competition. Other writers do." / Literary Hub
Saturday headlines: Free for me but not for thee
By overruling the decision that led to Chevron doctrine, the Supreme Court just upended federal agencies' authority to interpret laws. / SCOTUSblog
Related: The ruling could have a major effect on environmental regulations and the speed with which agencies can react to scientific findings. / Yale Environment 360
Drought and inflation have hit prairie states particularly hard, with farm income expected to be at its lowest since at least 2010. / Reuters
India is set to embark on a massive project that would link several of its rivers in hopes of balancing areas prone to flooding and those prone to water shortages. / Hakai Magazine
By allowing hemp sales but bungling the legal limits of THCa, Texas inadvertently created a massive drug market that understaffed regulators can't contain. / Texas Monthly
After Roe was overturned, the rate of young women getting sterilized doubled in America. / KFF Health News
If anything, AI search can offer a starting point when looking for answers, but humans still outperform bots in discerning the accuracy of information. / Vox
See also: Microsoft AI's CEO calls online content "freeware" for training models—except for content that's produced by anyone with lawyers. / The Register
"Something else to know about Jane's friends and coworkers is that they all use two spaces after periods." Plundering Jane Appleseed's emails from an Apple Store. / Escape the Algorithm
Caity Weaver on Frontier House, the PBS reality show that remains unmatched in its unhinged authenticity. / The New York Times Magazine [+]
Considered the first horror film, 1896's three-minute The House of the Devil established some of today's horror-movie clichés. / Boing Boing
"I feel myself stepping into the role of the critics who went after the magazine in 1974." What happened to People magazine? / Culture Study
Friday headlines: Mind games
Yes, Democrats are panicking about Biden's poor debate showing, and while there are calls to replace him, he'd have to drop out first. / The New York Times [+], POLITICO
Hamilton Nolan: "This is the outcome of any system in which wealth and power naturally accumulate over time." / How Things Work
By allowing officials to pressure social networks to remove content, the Supreme Court may have squashed influence operations—but the decision threatens free speech. / Platformer
AI search engine Perplexity, which bases its business on plagiarizing news sources, is under investigation by AWS for scraping sites without consent. / The Verge, Engadget
"My job wasn't to be a Shakespeare expert, it was to be interesting." Behind the scenes as a book commentator tasked with training an AI reading companion. / WIRED
Human brains are nothing like computers—not in the ways they process, access, or store data—and it's a fallacy that has persisted since the dawn of the computer age. / Aeon
BreakTime is a game like Breakout, but it runs inside Google Calendar and can—if you wish—decline the meetings you destroy. / eieio.games
"Rather than living longer, people who consumed daily multivitamins were marginally more likely than non-users to die in the study period." / The Guardian
How the colors fire hydrants are painted denote their capacity—red is the highest, blue is the lowest. / National Fire Sprinkler Association
See also: The federal government's official color palette—yes, it has one—controls much of what we see. An investigation into how America elects to paint itself. / The Morning News
Legendary Texas satirist, musician, and onetime gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman has died at 79. / The Texas Tribune
The BBC sound effect library. / BBC
Thursday headlines: Newsy nugz
Explaining the Supreme Court's decision in the Idaho abortion case: It "does nothing to help those same patients in the other 49 states." / Vox
Since Biden's new asylum restrictions took effect, daily crossings of undocumented migrants have fallen to the lowest level of his presidency. / POLITICO
Yesterday, armored vehicles broke into Bolivia's government palace as part of a general's apparent coup attempt. / The Boston Globe
"If we have access to the technology and finance, I think we can save the Maldives... the problem is, we don't have access to finance and technology." / The New York Times [+]
The audio samples that show how AI music startups are infringing on copyright sure do make the music industry's lawsuit sound like an open-and-shut case. / 404 Media
See also: YouTube is offering record labels upfront payments to let it train AI song generators on artists' music. / Ars Technica
"I started working as a data scientist in 2019, and by 2021 I had realized that while the field was large, it was also largely fraudulent." I will fucking piledrive you if you mention AI again. / Ludicity
Why medical ethics need to be integrated as early as possible in the development of AI digital health tools: It all comes down to "do no harm." / STAT
Josh Wardle shows Wordle's early design iterations, and reveals the game's original name: Mr. Bugs' Wordy Nugz. / The Verge
A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at how the British Film Institute restores sound to aging films. / BFI
Paramount just "streamlined" its site and in the process erased more than 25 years of The Daily Show. / LateNighter
"When you remove the headphones, there is probably no one around to talk to." Life as a low-ranked pro tennis player. / The Guardian
See also: A pro author challenges a pro tennis player to a tournament. A story of dueling, drumming, and one extraordinary victory. / The Morning News
A Q&A with the no-tipping influencer who is either a hero holding restaurants accountable or just some asshole. / LA Taco
Wednesday headlines: Canceling noise
Some Providence residents say the city is too noisy, and the mayor agrees, but plans to curtail noise could unfairly target poor and immigrant communities. / The New York Times [+]
See also: Johns Hopkins undergrads have invented a 40% quieter leaf blower. / Johns Hopkins University
"It's designed to fix a problem that technology is responsible for introducing into our lives in the first place." Is noise canceling bad for us? / Heavies
A study has found forever chemicals can enter the bloodstream through the skin—especially concerning in the case of sunscreen and waterproof cosmetics. / The Washington Post [+]
"It's oddly relaxing because of the nostalgia factor, but it's also the lack of any real drama that I love." The John Candy guide to Midwestern summer. / The Melt
See also: Even as some summer camps ban ghost stories, a reasonable amount of spookiness may help some children learn to deal with feelings of stress and fear. / Atlas Obscura
And also: This week at Camp ToB, we wrap up our discussion of Tommy Orange's Wandering Stars. / The Tournament of Books
Your weekly white paper: "An Anatomy of Algorithm Aversion," or when people "prefer human forecasters or decision-makers to algorithms." / SSRN
"How someone talks is no longer a reliable indicator of where they're coming from." How social media broke slang. / The Atlantic
An interactive deep dive into where the 4.1 million migrants who live in the US originally came from, and where they've settled. / The Washington Post [+]
Recreating Schotter, Georg Nees's iconic 1968 generative artwork, in Python. / Zellyn
Watch: Ranking every elevator in the Myst series. / YouTube
Tuesday headlines: Crushing it
Abortions are on the rise nationally, bans are more likely to hurt the maternal health of Black women, and other ways abortion has changed since Roe ended two years ago. / Vox
A Texas medical panel has approved additional guidance for doctors performing abortions, including modifying some reporting requirements—but refused to list exemptions to the ban. / Associated Press
See also: Before Roe was overturned, Texas had an average of 4,400 abortions a month; now it's five. And infant mortality has increased by nearly 13%. / The Texas Tribune, STAT
"They wrote off our heat rashes as poor hygiene." Amazon workers say facilities are blazing hot, with some indoor work areas reaching into the 90s. / The Daily Beast
Google's AI search consumes 10 times the energy of a traditional Google search, and around the same amount of power as talking on a landline for an hour. / Jacobin
"Flooding the internet with an infinite amount of what could pass for journalism is cheap and even easier than I imagined, as long as I didn't respect the craft, my audience, or myself." / 404 Media
All three major record labels have filed a lawsuit accusing AI music startups Suno and Udio of copyright infringement, seeking damages up to $150K per stolen work. / Musically
"I…wanted to crush this object with another iconic element from the oldest culture in America." Sculptor Chavis Mármol drops a nine-ton replica of an Olmec head on a Tesla. / Hyperallergic
In 2018, health guidelines stopped recommending adults over 60 take aspirin daily to prevent cardiovascular events, though nearly a third still follow the old guidance. / STAT
Nine years after the Apple Watch launch, users will finally be able to choose a ringtone. / 9to5Mac
See also: Why "By the Seaside" is Apple's most polarizing ringtone. / CNN
"Imagine an extra-extra-thick, slightly under-seasoned soup. Anyone would be lucky to eat it." Dog food is so fancy now that I ate some. / The Atlantic [+]
Saturday headlines: Don’t even glow there
More than 1,170 pilgrims die during this year's hajj due to extreme heat. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
A journalist shot by Minneapolis police while covering protests over the death of George Floyd is dying of her injuries. / NPR
Extremist groups are using AI to spread their messages more efficiently and recruit new members. / WIRED
Derek Thompson: We really are living in an era of negativity-poisoned discourse that is historically unique. / X
Barcelona plans to ban apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, to make the city more liveable for residents. / Reuters
A new show in New York City underlines the importance of Vivian Maier's street photography. / Artsy
Could a "glow-down" become a trend for bity-city restaurants? I.e., "an unphotogenic room, clashing and utilitarian signage, low-key food and service." / The New Yorker
Unrelated: What viewers of gay porn are searching for, state by state. / Them
A guide to trends in the wine world at the moment. / Punch
Some scans from 1976's Cocaine Consumer's Handbook. / Flashbak
A professor of medieval literature answers questions from X about the Middle Ages. / Open Culture
Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, and other actors explain what it's like to be in a Yorgos Lanthimos movie. "He does like to do impressions of me." / GQ
Friday headlines: Sorry, Homer
The White House plans to send nearly $110 million in security and police assistance to Haiti. / Reuters
While Zimbabwe's economy worsens, traditional healers are making money by promising people wealth. / rest of world
Congress almost unanimously passed a clean energy bill this week and "it didn't receive a single mention from any of the cable news networks." / Wake Up to Politics
Related: See how your city is likely to feel in 2070 as the climate crisis continues. / The Pudding
Montana contains nearly twice as many cows as people, but only about one percent of beef eaten by locals is raised and processed in the state. / The New York Times [+]
Smartphones are a global phenomenon, but the rise in youth anxiety is not—unless young people start copying Americans. / The Atlantic
Young designers and illustrators describe what it's like to watch corporations mimic their style. / It's Nice That
Millennials love ankle socks, Gen Z loves calf socks, and never shall the twain meet. / The New York Times [+]
Need a new hobby for summer? A basic guide to reading wildlife tracks and signs. / Atlas Obscura
A report from attending some of this winter's balls in Vienna, a tradition that started in 1814. / The Dial
A music teacher explains why the bottom number in time signatures is so confusing. / Ethan teaches you music
"It feels kinda blasphemous to say, but by modern standards, I don't think the Iliad is very good. Sorry, Homer." When classics don't live up to the hype. / A Reasonable Approximation
Thursday headlines: It’s a disc, man
Leading AI chatbots are spreading Russian disinformation created by an American fugitive operating from Moscow. / NewsGuard
A major expansion is underway inside one of Iran's nuclear facilities. / Semafor
A majority of Iranians now support Iran pursuing nuclear weapons. / Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
See also: How to use free satellite imagery to monitor the expansion of West Bank settlements. / Bellingcat
Students from more than 120 colleges pledge to refuse work from Google or Amazon until they quit selling cloud services to the Israeli government. / WIRED
Two thirds of Gen Z workers on Linkedin want a "green" job. / Business Insider
Climate activists paint Stonehenge orange to the dismay of politicians and pagan priests. / The Guardian
Trees more than 1,500 kilometers apart will drop their fruit at the same time. / Quanta Magazine
What is it like to eat at one of supposedly the world's 50 best restaurants? "It was an assault, and not fun." / The New York Times [+]
A fashion expert explains why "the most powerful men in America are the worst dressed." / Vox
Unrelated: Some tips on how to extract insights with seemingly limited resources. / Understanding the unseen
Scenes from a ballet by one of the former members of Daft Punk. Also, l from "the early ufology scene." / YouTube, Instagram
An argument for buying an old Discman: "There is no better format for discovery than streaming, but no better format for listening than CD." / Andrew Womack