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Deep-Sea Earthquakes Fuel Huge Plankton Blooms in Antarctica: Study (Maria)

The author writes, “Nearly 6,000 feet below Antarctica’s Southern Ocean, a volcanic ridge lined by hydrothermal vents burbles in the dark. As these vents belch out scalding water rich with iron and other compounds, they nourish the microscopic plankton that krill and other crustaceans eat, sustaining a food web that culminates in larger predators such as penguins, seals and whales. Now, new research reveals these vents can be supercharged by a surprising source: earthquakes.” 

Affordability? Abundance? Aspiration? Which Message Will Democrats Run With? (Reader Steve)

From the San Francisco Chronicle: “Democrats have spent the past 13 months in a state of introspection, reinvention and occasionally, supine inaction. Now, as the nation’s political attention turns toward the 2026 midterm elections that will determine whether President Donald Trump’s agenda will continue, there’s still no definitive sense of what the party should do next. Many Democrats are still wrestling with which kinds of candidates to recruit and how to focus their message.” 

‘Construction Can’t Continue’: South Texas Builders Say ICE Arrests Have Upended Industry (Sean)

From The Texas Tribune: “The raids and the specter of more to come have struck fear in construction workers, causing many to stay home. ICE agents have arrested more than 9,100 people in South Texas — nearly one-fifth of all such arrests in the entire state since Trump took office, according to government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request to the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Texas Tribune. Without enough workers, construction has slowed, sending a ripple effect throughout the economy.”

Here’s Everything Elon Musk Promised in 2025 — And Failed To Deliver (DonkeyHotey)

From Mashable: “By now, everyone knows that Elon Musk is very much an optimist when it comes to making predictions. That’s the nice way to put it. To be blunt, Musk is a ‘bullshit artist.’ He makes promises he can’t keep. … Mashable decided to revisit his predictions related to [2025]. Time has run out. What did Musk promise … that didn’t come to fruition?”

ADHD Can Be a Superpower — And Science Just Revealed Exactly Why (Russ)

The author writes, “When you have a condition like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, it can be easy to focus on the downsides. But new research suggests that having ADHD comes with some upsides too. The study, which was published in Psychological Medicine, discovered that people with ADHD were more likely to highlight certain character traits than those without the condition — and they were equally as likely to apply those strengths in their lives. The findings offer a more balanced way to think about an ADHD diagnosis. Here’s what the study found, and the key takeaways.”

The Best Space Photos of 2025 (Dana)

The author writes, “There may be no enterprise that lends itself so well to the camera as space travel. The universe is a riot of color and light — of galaxies and planets and brightly hued moons. The people who explore space and the astronomers who study it with orbiting telescopes and ground-based observatories make their own contributions to the cosmic palette. [2025] produced no shortage of striking space images. Here are just a few of the best.”