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The Largest Digital Camera Ever Built Has Released Its First Shots of the Universe (Maria)

The author writes, “The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the US National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years. …The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe.”

As Trump Floats Regime Change in Iran, Past US Attempts to Remake the Middle East May Offer Warnings (Reader Steve)

From AP News: “Leavitt also suggested that a new government in Iran could come about after its people stage a revolt — not necessarily requiring direct US intervention. ‘If they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn’t the Iranian people rise up,’ she asked. That’s a perilous path that other US administrations have taken. And it’s a long way from Trump’s past dismissal of ‘stupid, endless wars,’ and his scoffing at the idea of nation-building championed by his Republican predecessors — including in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the US helped overthrow governments.”

Strait of Hormuz: What Happens if Iran Shuts Global Oil Corridor? (Dana)

The author writes, “There is considerable speculation that Iran might retaliate for the US’s strikes on its nuclear facilities by closing the world’s busiest oil shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of global oil and gas flows through this narrow shipping lane in the Gulf. Blocking it would have profound consequences for the global economy, disrupting international trade and ratcheting up oil prices. It could also inflate the cost of goods and services worldwide, and hit some of the world’s biggest economies, including China, India and Japan, which are among the top importers of crude oil passing through the strait.”

Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Set Off a Wave of Disinformation After Iran Bombing (Sean)

From Wired: “President Donald Trump and his most vocal supporters have been using disinformation, fake videos, and mental gymnastics to try to spin the US military’s bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites as a complete and total victory that signals the end of a war instead of the beginning. On Saturday night, with the B-2 stealth bombers that dropped a dozen GBU-57 ‘bunker buster’ bombs on the Fordow underground nuclear facility just beginning their flights back to the US, Trump declared the mission a complete success. But rather than relying on information from his own intelligence agencies, satellite imagery, or on-the-ground reporting, Trump instead posted on Truth Social a screenshot of an X post from an anonymous account that claims to conduct open source intelligence investigations.”

He’s The Godfather of AI. Now, He Has a Bold New Plan to Keep Us Safe From It (Laryn)

The author writes, “Even though he helped lay the foundation for today’s advanced AI, Bengio is increasingly worried about the technology over the past few years. In 2023, he signed an open letter urging AI companies to press pause on state-of-the-art AI development. Both because of AI’s present harms (like bias against marginalized groups) and AI’s future risks (like engineered bioweapons), there are very strong reasons to think that slowing down would have been a good thing.”

Scientists Create Living Building Material That Captures CO₂ From the Air (Mili)

From Science Daily: “Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an astonishing new material: a printable gel that’s alive. Infused with ancient cyanobacteria, this ‘photosynthetic living material’ not only grows but also removes CO₂ from the air, twice over. The bacteria use sunlight to produce biomass and simultaneously trigger mineral formation, which locks carbon away in a stable form. Engineered hydrogels provide an ideal habitat for these microbes, allowing them to thrive for over a year. Even more captivating, this material has already made its way into architecture, with living installations showcased in Venice and Milan that merge design, sustainability, and living science.”