PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
Dutch Scientists Build Robot That Runs on Air (Maria)
The author writes, “Most robots rely on complex control systems, AI-powered or otherwise, that govern their movement. These centralized electronic brains need time to react to changes in their environment and produce movements that are often awkwardly, well, robotic. It doesn’t have to be that way. A team of Dutch scientists at the FOM Institute for Molecular and Atomic Physics in Amsterdam built a new kind of robot that can run, go over obstacles, and even swim, driven only by the flow of air … [all with] no brain.”
How the US President and His Clan Ushered in a New Golden Age of Corruption (Dana)
The author writes, “Every president since Lyndon Johnson has chosen to sell his investments before taking office or seal them in a blind trust — except Trump. Forbes estimates that his personal wealth has more than doubled to $5.1bn in the past year. Trump profited from his businesses during his first term too, but sources say the majority of his net worth is in new schemes launched in the past year — deals, often facilitated by his sons, in crypto, real estate, media and the use of Trump’s existing assets including hotels and his Mar-a-Lago mansion. In every case, conflicts of interest lie in plain sight, experts say, as Trump’s sons and their friends and associates are seen as seeking private gain from their proximity to his public office. But in none of the cases has the US justice or financial regulatory system managed — so far — to hold them to account.”
The First Forever War (Laura)
From The Intercept: “When a tank crashed through the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon 50 years ago, the Potemkin state of South Vietnam collapsed, and the Vietnamese war of independence, fought in its final phase against the overwhelming military might of the United States, came to a close. America lost its war, but Vietnam was devastated. ‘Sideshow’ wars in Cambodia and Laos left those countries equally ravaged. The United States unleashed an estimated 30 billion pounds of munitions in Southeast Asia. At least 3.8 million Vietnamese died violent war deaths, an estimated 11.7 million South Vietnamese were forced from their homes, and up to 4.8 million were sprayed with toxic herbicides like Agent Orange. April 30, 1975, was also, the New Yorker’s Jonathan Schell observed at the time, ‘the first day since September 1, 1939, when the Second World War began, that something like peace reigned throughout the world.’ Peace on paper, perhaps, but the violence never really ended.”
Trump Team Mulls Suspending the Constitutional Right of Habeas Corpus To Speed Deportations. Can It? (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says President Donald Trump is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, he says the administration is ‘actively looking at’ suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government. Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the US-Mexico border.”
Episcopal Church Refuses To Resettle White Afrikaners, Citing Moral Opposition (Mili)
From NPR: “In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday that it is terminating its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by President Trump’s administration. … The request, [Most Rev. Sean W.] Rowe said, crossed a moral line for the Episcopal Church, which is part of the global Anglican Communion, which boasts among its leaders the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a celebrated and vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa.”
RFK Jr.’s Ex–Running Mate Warns Someone Is ‘Controlling’ Him (Sean)
From The New Republic: “RFK Jr.’s old running mate thinks someone is controlling him — and it isn’t Trump. Former vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan was both surprised and dismayed by the nomination of Casey Means, a pseudoscientific doctor with zero clinical experience, for U.S. surgeon general. ‘Yes, it’s very strange. Doesn’t make any sense. I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that neither of these siblings would be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be). I don’t know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on,’ Shanahan wrote on X.”
Americans Are Dying Younger. 5 Science-Based Tips Could Reverse the Trend (Reader Jim)
From Vox: “After more than a century of steady, upward climb, US life expectancy hit 78.9 years in 2015. Since then, it’s been mostly downhill. US life expectancy slid to 76.1 years in 2021 at the pandemic’s nadir before inching back up to 78.4 years in 2023 — still well below the 2014 peak and lagging most peer nations. … So where’s the good news? Science is figuring out ways to pump those numbers up again and pointing the way toward living more years — and more healthy years. And this doesn’t require sci-fi, Silicon Valley anti-aging technology like blood swapping, or cellular reprogramming.”
