2026-05-09

etc

• Solar Impulse aircraft destroyed in Gulf of Mexico crash

Horseshit

• Do We Think Too Much About the Future?

• I tried the viral 'jaw release' fascial massage

• Could Lovable's automatic 10% pay raise be the cure for toxic cultures?

• Companies help parents try to pick their babies' traits

• The Montgomery Ward Gasoline-Powered Clothes Iron

• Why is Silicon Valley suddenly obsessed with being tasteful?

• How to build a lunar mass driver

  • Great as far as it goes; but we have a lot to learn yet.

• Widower can't renew license because DMV software unearthed 47yo speeding ticket

• San Francisco's 'useless' Safeway bag nightmare continues

• Lidar threatens to rewrite everything we know about photography

celebrity gossip

• Happy birthday, David Attenborough Famed naturalist marks 100 years

  • Memories of David Attenborough as he turns 100

  • At 100, Attenborough's Voice Is a Lesson in Wonder and Planetary Stewardship

  • Attenborough: The risk-taker who changed how we see Earth

  • David Attenborough celebrating his 100th birthday today

  • A life in pictures: celebrating David Attenborough at 100

• Kyle Rittenhouse hospitalized following bite from venomous spider

  Kyle Rittenhouse, who gained fame for opening fire at a 2020 civil rights rally in Wisconsin, was hospitalized after a venomous spider bit him, the noted firearms enthusiast said Wednesday.

Musk

• Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Because Wheels May Fall Off

  • Tesla is recalling its cheaper Cybertruck because the wheels might fall off

• Higher usage limits for Claude and a compute deal with SpaceX

• SpaceX is starting to move on from the most successful rocket

• The ‘SpaceX mafia’ is here. Elon Musk’s big IPO could launch a constellation of new companies.

• She had four kids with Elon Musk. Now she's central to his courtroom fight

• US judge will not rubber-stamp Elon Musk settlement with SEC

• Tesla Model Y Passes NHTSA's New 'Advanced Driver Assistance System' Tests

Robot uprising / Humanioid Helpers

• Will robots ever achieve true sporting greatness?

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• I De-transitioned. My Body Will Never Be the Same.

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• The mathematician who doesn't exist

  A secret society of French mathematicians has been revolutionising the field of mathematics under a pseudonym for nearly a century. Columnist Jacob Aron finds that this mythic collective provided maths a rigorous and useful foundation, and did some real harm along the way

• Schools reach out to Canvas hackers as breach hits US classrooms, source says

• U.S. Schools Face a Crisis as the Number of Children Drops

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• AirPods Pro with AI Cameras Reach 'Advanced' Testing Stage

  • Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods In Late State Testing

  • AirPods with cameras for AI apparently close to production

• 'Dirty Frag' exploit leaks out, gives root on most Linux machines

  Today's bag of bad news comes by way of the Dirty Frag vulnerability, which uses a mechanism similar to the Copy Fail exploit that's currently setting the Linux server world on fire. This vulnerability affects nearly every Linux install since 2017, and no advance warning was given, so there is no patch available. This appears to be due to a broken embargo that revealed the vulerability before preparations were made. As a refresher, any local user can instantly get root (administrator) access on an affected box, just by running a small program.

  • Maybe you shouldn't install new software for a bit

• Nintendo confirms Switch 2 price rises, consoles now $500 in the US

  • Nintendo announces price increases for Nintendo Switch 2

• The Canvas Hack Is a New Kind of Ransomware Debacle

• Why does AI like goblins and Japan so much?

• Digging into Drama at the Document Foundation

• AWS says data center overheating in North Virginia disrupts services

  • Thermal event affecting AWS AZ use1-az4

  • AWS warns of EC2 'impairment' as power loss hits notorious US-EAST-1 region

• Reviving Teletext for Ham Radio Hack the airwaves with some tech of the 1980s

• The Sega Master System is still being made and sold in Brazil, 37 years later

• Meta Is Dying. It's About Time

• Meta Shuts Down End-to-End Encryption for Instagram Messaging

• Student sues matchmaking app for allegedly stealing her likeness for an ad

• General Motors fined $12.75M for selling location data

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• As NASA eyes lunar base, there's still much to learn about landing on the Moon

• Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters

  The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency." -United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

  • Pentagon says the public can draw its own conclusions on UFOs

  • De-classified Files documenting UFOs, 'extraterrestrial life' released

  Photos from the initial disclosure, which a White House official told Fox News is the first of a series of releases, show strangely shaped objects captured on film during the Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 space missions. One photo taken from the surface of the moon appears to show a cluster of three tiny dots in the sky. A transcript of communications between Apollo 17 operators released in the disclosure Friday details the operators' exchange over the unknown phenomenon. "Now we've got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver," an operator told the command center.

  • Pentagon Releases Files on U.F.O.s

  • Gemini conversion: Markdown archive for the public war.gov UFO/PURSUE Release 01 files

  • Trump releases previously classified UFO files

  • UFO Files Released by U.S. Shed Light on What the Government Knows

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• What Microsoft Executives Thought About OpenAI in 2018

• Utah data center: Projected daily heat equivalent to 23 atomic bombs

• Anthropic's Mythos Threw the White House AI Strategy into Chaos

• IMF warns new AI models risk 'systemic' shock to finance

  • IMF Warns That Evolving AI Threat Could Upend Financial Markets

• Using AI for Just 10 Minutes Might Make You Lazy and Dumb, Study Shows

• A judge has rule that Nvidia's book piracy software was designed to pirate books.

• AI Is Starting to Build Better AI

• Meta will use AI to analyze height and bone structure to identify underage users

• How dangerous is Anthropic's Mythos AI? - Bruce Schneier

• Thousands of Vibe-Coded Apps Expose Corporate and Personal Data on the Open Web

• Data centers at sea: Panthalassa nets $140M for wave-powered AI

• US Border Spending Spurs Boom in AI-Infused Surveillance

• The Ultra-Realistic AI Face Swapping Platform Driving Romance Scams

• Mythos set off a cybersecurity 'hysteria.' Experts say threat was already here

• Deepfakes are everywhere. The godfather of digital forensics is fighting back

• Meta's Embrace of A.I. Is Making Its Employees Miserable

• Pentagon will 'never again' rely on a single AI provider, official says

• Anthropic weighs deal for near $1T valuation as revenue surges

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• Coinbase logs second straight quarterly loss as crypto trading momentum fades

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Building for the future: Cloudflare lays off 1,100 employees

  • Cloudflare to cut about 20% workforce

• Best Buy mandating four days in office for headquarters employees

• US Adds 115,000 Jobs in April

• Young and old men are leaving the labor force, fueling a record decline

• Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal

  • Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement

• Jane Street Pulls in Record $16.1B Quarterly Trading Haul

• Michael Burry: the market today feels like 'last months of the 1999-2000 bubble'

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Gov. Bill Lee signs new redistricting map into law, hours after lawmakers pass it.

  Gov. Bill Lee signed a new congressional redistricting map into law Thursday, just hours after lawmakers passed it on the final day of a special legislative session. The session was called to redraw district boundaries following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for changes to the Memphis-based 9th Congressional District. The new map reshapes Tennessee's only Democratic-held congressional seat, District 9, into a Republican-leaning district. Shelby County, which forms the core of the current district, would be divided among three districts. Memphis would be placed in District 5, which would stretch east to include parts of Williamson and Maury counties. Several East Tennessee counties would change districts under the new map. Morgan and Scott counties would move to District 6, while Rhea and Meigs counties would shift to District 3.

  The Tennessee Democratic Party said the new maps, set to take effect for the August 2026 primary, "dilutes the voice of Black Memphians and harms their ability to elect a representative from their community."

• Supreme Court signals it may end Cisco human rights suit

• USPS considers allowing people to ship handguns through the mail

  Handguns could be mailed through the United States Postal Service (USPS) for the first time in nearly 100 years if a proposed Trump administration rule takes effect. Democratic attorneys general in two dozen states have sent a letter in opposition.

Trump

• Nuclear-Powered Shipping Initiative Push to Revive U.S. Maritime Industry

• Trump Media and Technology Group reports $405.9M net loss, $900k revenue

Democrats

• In Blow to Democrats, Virginia Court Strikes Down House Map

Left Angst

• A Dangerous New Attack on Press Freedom

• Global perceptions of US fall below Russia under Trump

• Trump Is Getting Away with Murdering an American Industry

• US will start revoking passports for parents who owe child support

• New York state set to ban law enforcement, including ICE, from wearing masks

• Canadian sues DHS over alleged Google data grab tied to social media posts

• Lawmaker calls for Memphis to secede from Tennessee following redistricting.

• Court to DOGE: Asking ChatGPT 'Is This DEI?' Is Not Proper Legal Process

• 'Hondurasgate,' the alleged US and Israeli plot to destabilize governments

• DHS earmarks millions for 'smart glasses' for immigration agents

• ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment

• Trump jumps from 'anything goes' to 'strict regulation' AI policy

• Judge rules DOGE cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional

• The FCC Wants Your ID Before You Get a Phone Number

  • Would this be a solution to spam calls?

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Driver accused of DUI tracks missing laptop to Illinois State trooper's house

World

• Police advised to disable Bluetooth on Axon body-worn cameras to avoid detection

• Poland is now among the 20 largest economies. How it happened

• Dutch authorities take down Motherless, porn site known for sexual abuse videos

• Four ways Europe's big immigration experiment has changed Spain

• Germany plans ban on disposable e-cigarettes

• Labour set for historic defeat in Wales as Reform surge continues in elections

  • Let this be the final nail in Labour’s coffin

• Japan sees largest protest in support of pacifist constitution

• Jamaicans to reap 'peace dividend' after major crime drop

• Korea Surpasses Canada as Seventh-Largest Stock Market

• Samsung chip workers reject $340k one-time bonus

Iran / Houthi

• The Long Journey from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gas Tank

• Trump pauses 'Project Freedom,' signals progress toward peace with Iran

• The companies making billions from the Iran war

• Suspected oil spill seen on satellite images near Iran's Kharg Island

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• ‘Whatever Russia is testing, it’s sophisticated’: 2 Russian satellites get within 10 feet of each other in orbit.

• Putin's Strongman Image Is Fading as Ukraine Brings War Home to Russia

China

• Huawei braces for $12B in AI chip revenue-Chinese fabs can barely keep up

• Iran war's global energy crisis sharpens China's advantage in clean tech

Health / Medicine

• The ‘100-Day Cough’ Often Missed in Adults Is Highly Contagious.

• Eating eggs could cut Alzheimer's risk by 27%

• Nonprofit hospitals spend billions on consultants with no clear effect

• I didn't think I could get addicted to weed. I was wrong – and I'm not alone

  • Te irritability bump after discontinuing use can be nasty. Rarely as bad as that from prescription happy pills, tho.

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• What Happened on the Hantavirus Cruise, According to a Doctor on Board

• Trump administration cut funding to study hantavirus

• Authorities scramble to limit hantavirus outbreak, trace contacts around globe

• Claude Flags Hantavirus Vaccine Questions as Security Risk

• HantaWatch Real time hantavirus outbreak tracker

• Rat-borne virus outbreak not the start of new pandemic, says WHO

• Why the Hantavirus Cruise Ship Outbreak Isn't Likely to Become a Global Crisis

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Can houseplants purify the air in your home?

• Sunburn inspired a new way to store energy

• Pentagon Tests Ingenious Plan to Protect Coasts from Hurricanes–and It's Working

  Tailor-engineered, porous concrete modules were installed offshore from Tyndall AFB, along the Florida Panhandle, seeded with tiny juvenile oysters to jump-start a natural reef formation designed to grow seamlessly into the surrounding marsh and seagrass habitats.

• Staten Island deer count drops nearly 50% since start of vasectomy program

• Three hikers dead after Indonesia's Mount Dukono volcano erupts

• Whales Are Screaming in the Strait of Gibraltar

• As drought worsens, Western states brace for wildfires, water shortages