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Talk to the Animals: Dolphin Whistle Decoders Win $100K Prize (Maria)
The author writes, “A $100,000 prize for communicating with animals has been scooped by researchers who have shed light on the meaning of dolphins’ whistles. The Coller-Dolittle Prize for Two-way Inter-species Communication was launched last year by the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. The winning team, led by Laela Sayigh from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in collaboration with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, has been studying bottle-nosed dolphins in waters near Sarasota, Florida, for more than four decades.”
The GOP’s Tax Bill Is Exactly Wrong for This Economic Moment (Dana)
From Bloomberg: “There are two distinct threats to the US economy of 2025. One is the president’s shoot-first-ask-questions-later trade war, which has rattled both consumers and the bond market, not to mention economists. The other is the government’s projected annual deficit of $1.9 trillion, despite more than three years of low unemployment and consistent growth.”
Senate Republicans Put House on Notice: We Won’t Accept Your Trump Agenda Bill Without Changes (Reader Jim)
From NBC News: “As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for President Donald Trump’s agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands.”
Elon Musk’s Grok AI Can’t Stop Talking About ‘White Genocide’ (Laura)
The author writes, “It’s unclear what caused Grok to experience the issue. X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from WIRED. Musk, who is originally from South Africa, has described internal factions within the South African government as ‘actively promoting white genocide.’ He continued to claim that his internet service company, Starlink, cannot operate within South Africa ‘simply because I’m not black.’”
The FCC Must Reject Efforts to Lock Up Public Airwaves (DonkeyHotey)
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation: “President Trump’s attack on public broadcasting has attracted plenty of deserved attention, but there’s a far more technical, far more insidious policy change in the offing — one that will take away Americans’ right to unencumbered access to our publicly owned airwaves.”
We Emit a Visible Light That Vanishes When We Die, Says Surprising New Study (Sean)
The author writes, “Life truly is radiant, according to an experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada. An extraordinary experiment on mice and leaves from two different plant species has uncovered direct physical evidence of an eerie ‘biophoton’ phenomenon ceasing on death, suggesting all living things — including humans — could literally glow with health, until we don’t.”