2026-07-12

Cool

• The biggest steam locomotive is whistle-stopping across the U.S.

Horseshit

• Ryanair passenger partially sucked out of window on flight from Greece

• Weak hands and blurry vision: Is your tech giving you 'phone body'?

• Sperm donors need limits, says a European fertility group

• Parents' Phone Addiction Affects Bond with Kids, New Study Finds

• The scary reason why you should never post photos of your keys online

• Orbital datacenter gold rush needs an environmental review, FCC told

  • ‘Reckless’ space-based data centers lack environmental review, drawing criticism.

• How the Bayeux Tapestry broke the internet

  • Bayeux Tapestry arrives in UK for first time in 900 years under police guard

• Gene-edited babies are now closer. The ethical debate is far from settled

• New dinosaur species as long as cricket pitch discovered in Thailand

• The Newest Way to Go Analog

• Modern Decor May Be Straining People's Brains

• More Americans are aging alone. One woman told us what it's like

• Is There Any End to the Atlantic's "End-Ism" Fetish?

• The Great American Fun Shortage of 2026

Obit

• South Africa midfielder dies aged 25, weeks after World Cup appearance

• Last American polio survivor in an iron lung dies at 78

  • Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, has died

  • Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78 in Oklahoma

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• The crypto billionaires building a world where money buys you a vote

• Ofcom Wants American Police to Collect Its Speech Fine

Musk

• SpaceX's near-term AI payoff seen tethered to Earth, not outer space

• SpaceX prepares for Starship Flight 13; company works toward orbital operations

• Elon Musk's family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, says Musk's father

Electric / Self Driving cars

• An Ex‑Apple Designer Built an EV with No Doors and a Top Speed of 40 MPH

• Waymo called the cops on teen riders, raising privacy concerns

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Discord Goes Ban-Happy, Suspends People for Benign Images

• Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System from Smart Glasses App After Wired Report

• Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch

• Nvidia RTX 3060 returns to retail 5 years after original launch, priced at $339

• Bluesky has an official CEO again

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• FAA approves first space mirror

  • FCC Approves Test of Space Mirror to Light Night Sky Despite Outcry

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets, blockbuster Silicon Valley lawsuit

  • Apple sues OpenAI, its employees claiming theft of trade secrets

  • Apple sues OpenAI, alleging the AI company stole trade secrets

  • Apple sues OpenAI over mass IP theft

• Meta pulls new AI image feature after days of backlash

• How AI is rewiring childhood

• Meta removes AI feature on Instagram after global backlash

• Big Tech Doubles Debt Load to $350B in AI Spending Spree

• OpenAI Safety Head Heidecke to Leave Firm After Reshuffle

• Haves, have-nots and know-nots: Inside AI's new class divide

• AI makes Pompeii victim's final moments look real

• New York Times and Other Publishers Ask Court to Penalize OpenAI

• AI Is Making Silicon Valley Productive, Anxious and Afraid to Log Off

• Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. To Gain an Edge in Battle

• Alex Karp Is Saying What Every Angry CEO Is Thinking About AI

• AI fiction is easy to detect because it's stupid and bad, research finds

• AI rebrands fail to deliver a lasting share price boost

• Alex Karp Is Saying What Every Angry CEO Is Thinking About AI

• AI 2040 and the Cult of Intelligence | the singularity is nearer

  Confronting why these people are wrong requires confronting deep beliefs I hold about myself. Intelligence is not the end all be all, it’s just the current bottleneck for a few things. You cannot take over the world with tokens. Software didn’t eat the world, it largely removed one layer of friction then reintroduced it for the benefit of a few tech companies.

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• Crypto Criminal Accused of Crypto Crimes Again, While in Jail

• The crypto billionaires building a world where money buys you a vote

Economicon / Business / Finance

• The Company That Owns AOL Gets a Million Job Applications–and Rejects 99.9%

• Almost $1B Later, the US Still Can't Make a Medical Glove

• Wall Street's booming $1T 'synthetic risk transfer' phenomenon

• World oil demand set for first annual decline since 2020, IEA says

• Washington's Bet on Intel Is Starting to Pay Off

• Rhode Island is regulating grocery checkout lines now

• Amazon layoffs take their toll in saturated job market

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Tax penalties/interest during the pandemic? You may be eligible for a refund

• San Francisco Inches Closer to PG&E Acquisition

• What's in the Housing Bill That Just Became Law

• Rep. Ro Khanna was detained by Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

Left Angst

• Like a cheat code for your car: We investigate ECU tuning

• Why Peter Thiel Searches for Reality-Bending 'Secrets'

• FCC weighs changing E-Rate program, which lowers school internet bills

• We Are Officially Beginning the Process to Convene Grand Juries over DOGE

  • DOGE Officially Shuts Down

• EPA to open habitats of endangered species to logging and mining

• Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID intervention

• Trump administration rescinds key rule protecting endangered wildlife

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• SF Farmers Market allows laundering food stamps for drug purchases

• Ransomware negotiator hired to represent victims was working for the attackers

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• The FCC is cracking down on DJI tech that dodged the foreign drone ban

World

• Count Binface, Nigel Farage's space-warrior foe

• Uncrewed missile ship prototype to join British fleet by 2030

• Key Volkswagen shareholder pitches producing China car models in Germany

• EU threatens Meta with fines over 'addictive' Facebook and Instagram

• Europe's slow electrification is a 'major mistake', warns IEA chief

• Young Indonesians fear for future after startup founder jailed

• High court rejects most of 'dieselgate' claims brought by 1.6M UK car owners

• Germany's richest man takes on Big Tech

• Microsoft loses Brazilian case after telling hacked user to re-purchase games

• Barcelona's New Message: 'Not One Tourist More'

Iran / Houthi

• CNN investigates Iran rebuilding nuclear facilities

China

• China recovered its first reusable rocket and showed a new way to do it

• Chinese courts allow heirs to inherit accounts of deceased gamers

Health / Medicine

• The allergy culprit histamine also boosts our memory

• Hip Replacements Are Lasting Far Longer Than Doctors Once Thought.

• How dementia is being defeated

• Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak on the Upper East Side of Manhattan

• Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Oxford don under fire for saying Britain needs air-con.

• Millions told to stay indoors lung-penetrating toxins sweep across two US states

• El Niño Is Wreaking Havoc on Pacific Fisheries

• Microsoft latest report shows 25% emissions raised due to AI data centers

• Why Rodents Can't Throw Up, in Case You Were Wondering

• Vermont becomes first US state to ban paraquat herbicide over Parkinson's fears

• We re living in a tick nightmare

• The world bank has ditched its climate targets

• Tropical forests facing increasing risks of exposure to critical temp thresholds

• El Nino forms, expected to strengthen, say NOAA forecasters