Headlines Edition

Thursday headlines: Making sense stop

A large genetic study shows the coronavirus mutating and potentially evolving amid its rapid spread in the United States. / The Washington Post

Johnson & Johnson says it has made advancements with its potential Covid-19 vaccine and hopes to know its efficacy by the end of the year. / The New York Times

Thanks to anti-COVID efforts like masks and social distancing, "we just didn't have a flu season this year in South Africa." / CBS News

Pictures of a father and daughter's journey after the loss of their wife and mother to the coronavirus. / The Associated Press

The Pentagon funneled most of its $1 billion Cares Act fund to defense contractors—instead of spending it on medical equipment. / The Washington Post

London’s St Pancras station is disinfected by robots beaming ultraviolet light. / The Straits Times

The $138 billion hedge fund Bridgewater currently has employees working from tents in the woods across from its offices. / The New York Post

Japan's national parks add WiFi, working spaces, and other amenities to attract teleworkers for "workations" during the pandemic. / The Japan Times

Anyone fearing the onset of winter may want to adopt the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv (meaning roughly “open-air living”). / Kottke

Related: "Don't think of it as the warmest month of August in California in the last century. Think of it as one of the coolest months of August in California in the next century." / The New York Times

California will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035. / New York Magazine

President Trump declines to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the November election. / The Associated Press

Trump’s state and national legal teams are already laying the groundwork for postelection maneuvers “that would circumvent the results of the vote count in battleground states.” / The Atlantic

The FBI warns delayed election results may be exploited by foreign actors. / USA Today

Facebook allows political advertisers to target hundreds of misleading ads about Biden and the Postal Service to swing-state voters. / CNN

A Kentucky grand jury brings no charges against Louisville police for Breonna Taylor’s death, and protests sweep the country. Two officers in Louisville were shot. / The Associated Press, CNN, CBS News

More comments emerge from the White House showing Trump’s racist thoughts about Black, Jewish, and Latino people. / The Washington Post

“Birtherism” misinformation about Senator Harris now exceeds that about President Obama at its peak in 2017. / The New York Times

Women and people of color who run for president bring literal color to campaign design. / The Pudding

A conversation on the late Randall Kenan, by Omari Weekes and Elias Rodriques. / Literary Hub

The Root publishes its list of 100 influential African Americans, "a reminder of the beauty and brilliance of blackness." / The Root

See also: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020. / TIME

A history of segregation walls in the United States. Meanwhile, Fossilized human footprints dating back 120,000 years have been discovered in Saudi Arabia. / Places, CNN

"During a time of great economic and general hardship, Civvl aims to be, essentially, Uber, but for evicting people." / VICE

Why Spotify houses so many tracks that seem to be gaming the system: Listeners don't care, and apparently neither does Spotify. / OneZero

Winning pictures from this year's Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards. / Royal Museums Greenwich

We’re digging this up from 2017 because it’s even more relevant now: Aleksandar Hemon’s “Stop Making Sense,” an essay on how to think and write alongside Trump. / The Village Voice

A literary supercut composed entirely of the last lines from 137 science fiction and fantasy books. / WIRED