Major Indian states that were virus hotpots are easing restrictions as Covid numbers continue to fall. / BBC News

A study of federal pandemic aid finds the largest benefits going to the poorest households and those with children. / The New York Times

One unexpected upside of the pandemic: The flu virus became less diverse, simplifying the task of making flu shots. / STAT

Europe’s vaccination campaign gathers pace, though Eastern Europe still lags. / The Economist

Amid vaccine jubilation and urban reopenings, something else is returning: the fear of missing out. / The Cut

Researchers find that sea ice across much of the Arctic is thinning twice as fast as previously expected. / The Guardian

There is no reason to believe that ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, and Facebook are committed to overhauling their socially destructive business models. / Project Syndicate

Getting people to chill out, amid the thousands of crises wracking our modern world, is apparently worth billions. / The Atlantic

Ross Douthat offers three paths to containing Trump—with the humility to acknowledge that all three are likely useless. / The New York Times

Timothy Snyder: It is so easy to look away, to imagine it was all an accident, “to think that institutions will save us.” / Thinking about...

Putting women in powerful positions is not going to buck the system if there is “never an intent to change it.” / Vox

Related: Girls are raised to be limitless, but society prefers grown women to only go so far. / Men Yell at Me

See also: “How 50 Years of Suits Shaped the Way Men Think About Their Bodies.” / GQ

Naomi Wolf gets suspended from Twitter for spreading vaccine misinformation. / Jezebel

If you want a way to contextualize the problems of a life spent online, consider that the internet is flat, but people are three-dimensional. / Galaxy Brain

Video of an amphibious robot that can swim, skate, slither, and crawl through water. / Kottke

A new cafe in Tokyo enables people who have difficulty leaving their homes to remotely control robots that chat with customers. / The Mainichi

A Covid-era love story: “I’m a trans woman. And, for once, I wasn’t fetishized.” / The Los Angeles Times