• ‘The global average Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score fell to 42 out of 100, the first decline in more than a decade.
• Only five countries now score above 80, down from 12 a decade ago.
• The U.S. ranks 29th with a score of 64, its lowest-ever result in the index.…’ (Srijaa Chatterjee via Visual Capitalist)

‘We critically examine proposals for the so-called warp-drive spacetimes and classify these models based on their various restrictions within the framework of General Relativity. We then provide a summary of general formalism for each class, and in the process, we highlight some misconceptions, misunderstandings, and errors in the literature that have been used to support claims about the physicality and feasibility of these models. On the way, we prove several new no-go theorems. Our analysis shows that when the principles of General Relativity are applied correctly, most claims regarding physical warp drives must be reassessed,
and it becomes highly challenging to justify or support the viability of such models, not merely due to the violation of energy conditions.…’ (via Arxiv)

‘For some Americans’ finances, the Iran war was over almost as soon as it began. Those with access to stocks — a majority of Americans have some, though the ultrawealthy have most — saw the S&P 500 dip about 8% when the war started, only for it to bounce 19% starting in late March, more than making up its losses. The index is now up 10.7% for the year, which if it held would make for the fourth consecutive year of double-digit stock increases.

President Donald Trump has been quick to trumpet these gains. “We have 401(k)s at their all-time high, highest they’ve ever been, and that goes along with the stock market, which is the highest it’s ever been,” Trump said at a televised Cabinet meeting this week, repeating a refrain he has adopted to celebrate market wins. That is all despite the war, he said. 

But as Trump — along with anyone who has to put gas into their car — also knows, the real economic weight of the war is much heftier than lofty stock prices would suggest. The war is heightening an already historic disconnect between those who can share in the affluence spun off by U.S. financial markets and those who can’t. That is aggravating Americas’ frustrations with the president’s economic performance, and likely will weigh on his fellow Republicans’ performance in November’s midterm elections. …’ (Matt Peterson via CNBC)

‘Particles of light cannot be divided into smaller particles, but if you try to snip off the end of one, instead of shortening it multiplies…’ (Karmela Padavic-Callaghan via New Scientist)

‘For years now, President Donald Trump has been showing off a signature dance move at events and campaign rallies, jerking his bent arms and clenched fists forward and backward, often to the sound of the Village People’s “YMCA.”

 

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The dance is a regular feature when he’s onstage — so much so that it has become part of his signature brand, experts told HuffPost.

“It’s typically the same exact song and it’s the same exact set of moves, and he’s typically doing it when he’s wearing the blue suit, the white shirt and the red tie, so it’s part of his brand,” said Patti Wood, a body language expert and author of “Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.” “One of the reasons it is so interesting to observe is that we know exactly what he’s going to do, and yet we look at it every time [and try] to understand.”

This “very on brand for him” move is even a “visual version” of his speech patterns, said Denise Dudley, a clinical psychologist and behavioral expert. “If we think about it a certain way, he dances like he talks,” Dudley said. “It’s super repetitive, it’s really simple. I mean, it’s not complicated at all.”…’ (Jillian Wilson via HuffPost)

‘In 2024, Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. (Trump received a no-penalty sentence, or unconditional discharge, just 10 days before his January 2025 inauguration to a second term.)…’ (via The Boston Globe)

‘A new study suggests ChatGPT may stereotype you based on where you live, with the artificially-intelligent model classifying some locations as smarter, some as smellier and some as uglier or stupider.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Kentucky asked OpenAI’s GPT-4o-mini model over 20 million questions between March and May of last year. They got the ChatGPT model to compare two places in order to get “a single, unambiguous consistent answer” about how it classifies certain states, according to researchers…’ (Monica Torres via HuffPost)

‘Belarus’ president has been accused of flagrant human rights violations and enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine. That hasn’t served as a barrier to his friendship with Donald Trump.…’ (Yuliya Talmazan via NBC News)

‘”Sand and dust storms do not just mean dirty windows and hazy skies.”…’ (Joe Wilkins via Futurism)

‘[W]hat is going on and what can we do about it? I put these questions to Laurie Santos. Santos is a cognitive scientist and professor whose class on happiness quickly became the most popular in Yale’s history. And through her podcast “The Happiness Lab” and her free online course called “The Science of Well-Being,” Santos’s reach has extended far beyond the classroom.

I wanted to understand what history and science say happiness really is, how that connects to loneliness and American ideas about productivity and why, with so many happiness tips flooding our feeds, it has still been so hard for me, and many others, to do the things that will actually make us truly, deeply happy.…’ (Lulu Garcia-Navarro via The New York Times)

‘A Canadian man who ran online businesses that shipped toxic salt to people in 40 countries pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicides in Ontario, prosecutors said.

British prosecutors said that the man, Kenneth Law, 60, of Mississauga, a city just west of Toronto, had also formally admitted to causing the deaths of 79 people in Britain as part of the proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario.

The deaths in Britain were recognized in the Canadian court, which will sentence Mr. Law in September “on the basis that he distributed lethal products internationally, knowing they were likely to be used to end lives,” Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.…’ (Michael Levenson via The New York Times)

‘The first sign that the tree was in trouble was the scent — a musty odor that cut through the warm forest air.

“It smelled like mushrooms but worse, like decomposition,” said Cyrille Cornu, a French researcher who visited the tree, an ancient baobab that locals call Tsitakakantsa, last October in southwest Madagascar. Approaching the massive trunk in the island nation’s Andombiry Forest, Mr. Cornu’s heart sank. A dark, foul-smelling liquid was seeping from the base of the tree.

“I was surprised because I never saw this before,” said Mr. Cornu, who specializes in baobabs and has visited the tree several times over the last 15 years. He thought to himself: “Something is wrong.”…’ (Jonathan Wolfe via The New York Times)

‘In a bid to remake the country’s top-rated news program, Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of “60 Minutes,” replacing the show’s executive producer with a tech journalist and firing two of its on-air correspondents.

Ms. Weiss named Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist and a filmmaker who has directed and produced documentaries for HBO and Netflix, as her pick to lead the 58-year-old Sunday show. Mr. Bilton, who has never worked in traditional broadcast news, will replace Tanya Simon, who had been at the show for more than three decades.

CBS News also fired Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, and Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly last year by Ms. Weiss, who requested more reporting. It aired in full at a later date. Draggan Mihailovich, the executive editor of “60 Minutes,” was also fired, as was Matthew Polevoy, a senior producer.

Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist with no prior experience in television, has made major changes at CBS since being appointed last year by the tech scion David Ellison. She has named Tony Dokoupil to helm “CBS Evening News,” hired new on-air contributors and personally booked some guests for interviews, a departure from the industry norm…’ (Benjamin Mullin via The New York Times)

‘A new book looks into the long history of people who have opposed vaccines…

Facts and figures can demonstrate how many lives have been saved by vaccines. But they will never be an effective counterargument to “the government can’t tell me what to inject into my kid.” The only potential argument to sway someone who fervently believes that is appealing to their sense of solidarity—to the obligations that every member of society has to every other, to the sacrifices that everyone must make to ensure that society is safe for all. Alas, that sense of solidarity… does not seem to be at its peak in the US right now.

As Levenson makes clear, these three arguments have been plied for as long as vaccines have. But there are a couple of key differences now. The first is that 300 years ago, people who claimed that vaccines were either ineffective or harmful could be forgiven for thinking they had a point. But we now have germ theory to explain exactly how vaccines work and centuries of data showing how infection and death rates from every disease have plummeted once a vaccine was introduced to counter it. We know better.

The second is that now, arguments against vaccines tend to be touted by only one particular subgroup of people: Republicans. And that has come with predictable consequences. “In the US from 2021 onward,” Levenson writes, “being a Republican has become a measurable risk factor for illness and death.”

Levenson teaches in and has directed the Graduate Program in Science Writing at MIT, so you might expect his writing to be clear, concise, engaging, and informative, with an effective mix of statistics and anecdotes. You’d be right. And despite the incendiary nature of his topic, his tone remains measured throughout; he never descends into anger or ranting. A new book looks into the long history of people who have opposed vaccines.What does come through is his anguish that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lies and policies will cause kids to needlessly be sickened by and die from diseases we have the tools to prevent….’ (Diana Gitig via Ars Technica)