Scientists create Liquid Trees; a tank full of water and micro-algae that could be an alternative to trees in urban areas YUP
Strange Acceleration of Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Finally Explained Science Alert
What Was She Thinking? An Investigation Defector
Some Guy Bought the Flatiron Building and Didn’t Pay for It HellGate
Climate
Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater Nature
Whether you’re a snorkeller or CEO, you can help save our vital kelp forests The Conversation
Global population could fall to six billion with ‘unprecedented investment’ in tackling poverty, researchers say Sky News. The Club of Rome’s Earth4All model.
Water
LDS environmentalists want their institution to address the Great Salt Lake’s collapse High Country News
Barge loaded with toxic methanol partially submerged in Ohio River after 10 vessels break free from tug Cleveland.com
As More Chemicals Spill, More Questions Arise The Brockovich Report
Philadelphia Residents Avoiding Tap Water After Catching Horrifying Glimpse Of Hairless, Wheezing Gritty The Onion
#COVID19
Real-World Effectiveness of the OBERANA02 and SOBERANA-Plus Vaccine Combination in Children 2 to 11 Years of Age during the SARS CoV-2 Omicron Wave in Cuba: A Regression Discontinuity Study (preprint) The Lancet. Cuban vaccine. From the Abstract: “Immunization of 2 to 11 years-old with the SOBERANA-02+SOBERANA-Plus scheme provided strong durable protection against symptomatic and severe disease caused by the Omicron variant. These favourable results contrast with observations in previous real-world SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness studies in children. They may be explained by the type of immunity SOBERANA’s conjugated protein-based platform induces.” “Effectiveness did not wane over time.”
Covid cases rise by 75% in 11 days driven by spring socialising and waning immunity iNews. The UK. Nobody could have predicted…
The growing evidence that Covid-19 is leaving people sicker FT
COVID-origins report sparks debate over major genome hub GISAID Nature
China?
Aukus subs deal firms China support for Asean nuclear weapon-free zone South China Morning Post
AUKUS gets awkward Down Under Pearls and Irritations
From war to peace: Cambodian goldsmith turns bullet casings into jewellery Reuters. Maybe get a product endorsement from Henry Kissinger?
India
India’s Boom Is a Dangerous Myth Project Syndicate
European Disunion
A Long Weekend in Paris London Review of Books
What US Social Movements Can Learn From France’s Pension Protests Jacobin
Dear Old Blighty
London loses sole lead as world’s top financial centre FT
Exclusive: Mass food fraud and safety scandal engulfs sector Farmers Weekly
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy is ‘ready’ for Chinese leader to visit AP
Preliminary Lessons from Russia’s Unconventional Operations During the Russo Ukrainian War, February 2022–February 2023 Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. RUSI authored that interesting study on industrial warfare.
What Frederick The Great’s Army Can Tell Us About Russia’s Private Military Company War on the Rocks
Agile Ukraine, Lumbering Russia Foreign Affairs
Mark Hamill lends ‘Star Wars’ voice to Ukrainian air-raid app AP
South of the Border
Elián González, known in US for international custody fight, now an elected official in Cuba USA Today
Biden Administration
Biden Kicks Off “Summit for Democracy” With Netanyahu and Modi The New Republic
Biden declines to veto GOP-led measure to end COVID-19 emergency The Hill
B-a-a-a-d Banks
Credit Suisse whistleblowers say Swiss bank has been helping wealthy Americans dodge U.S. taxes for years CNBC (Rev Kev).
A Rapid-Finance World Must Ready for a Slow-Motion Banking Crisis WSJ
Stability Breeds Instability Investor Amnesia. “The night they reread Minsky.” –Paul Krugman (reference).
Supply Chain
Group: Oil tanker tied to US-traded firm receiving Iran oil AP (Re Silc).
Tech
A misleading open letter about sci-fi AI dangers ignores the real risks AI Snake Oil. Much good perspective: “Companies building text-to-image tools have used artists’ work without compensation or credit…. One way to do right by artists would be to tax AI companies and use it to increase funding for the arts.” Or — hear me out — we could nuke AI from orbit and increase funding for the arts.
The GPT-x Revolution in Medicine Eric Topol, Ground Truths. “The book starts with a brief and balanced Foreword by Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI.” Dude. Come on.
What happens when your AI chatbot stops loving you back? Reuters
How to track the protests posing a risk to your company’s assets with Feedly AI Feedly
Regular Old Intelligence is Sufficient–Even Lovely Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years
US hands China easy PR win with TikTok show Asia Times. Is TikTok allowing the FBI to censor its videos and eliminate accounts in wholesale lots? No?
TikTok bills could dangerously expand national security state Responsible Statecraft
Rand Paul: Do Congressional Republicans really want to emulate China by banning TikTok? Courier-Journal
Wearable Brain Devices Will Challenge Our Mental Privacy Scientific American. “We need the individual power to shutter this new view into our inner selves.” No, we need the collective power to halt the madness entirely. I mean, “you do you” for brain devices? Really?
Dumb phones are on the rise in the U.S. as Gen Z looks to limit screen time CNBC
Whistleblowers
The US Supreme Court Just Legalized Private Corporate Prosecutions. Activists Beware. Donzinger on Justice
Realigment and Legitimacy
Republicans Push Anti-Trans Rhetoric In Response to the Nashville Shooting Teen Vogue and Here’s what’s known about the Covenant School trans-identified killer and her 6 victims The Christian Post. “Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, who attended the school years ago.” Atypical. If I am correct in my speculation — underline speculation — there’s a lot more going on at The Covenant School than an occasion for a grudge match between Republicans and Democrats.
What the Republican Push for ‘Parents’ Rights’ Is Really About Jamelle Bouie, NYT
Class Warfare
Why Starbucks got roasted on Capitol Hill Politico. “Hearings like the one today have negligible material consequences, at least for now.”
Chocolate Factory Blast Highlights Combustion Risks Manufacturing.net
The Wages of Mother-Work Compact
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
