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.
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More Than Jaws: One Photographer’s Quest to Redefine the Shark (Maria)
The author writes, “A sea without sharks is an unhealthy sea. Underwater photographer Gerardo del Villar knows this well and wants everyone else to understand it too. … Today, the Mexican photographer prefers to tell their stories, to change the perception that they are ruthless killers and show instead the threats they face in order to highlight the state of the seas.”
There Is No Magical Way Out of This — There Will Be Blood (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “It would be helpful if we stopped pretending this terrible chapter in American history won’t close without bloodshed… It would be helpful if Americans, and our feeble Democratic politicians in particular, stopped implying by their comatose actions that Democracy is some damn American right and has no end date. America very well might be arriving at hers, because, yes, it really is that bad right now.”
DOGE Makes Its Latest Errors Harder to Find (Mili)
From The New York Times: “Elon Musk’s group obscured the details of some new claims on its website, despite promises of transparency. But The Times was still able to detect another batch of mistakes.”
Canadian Woman Put in Chains, Detained by Ice After Entering San Diego Border (DonkeyHotey)
From News 10 San Diego: “A Canadian entrepreneur detained by ICE is speaking out after she got arrested while trying to enter the San Diego border to obtain a visa last Monday. ‘Every single guard that sees me is like “What are you doing here? I don’t understand — you’re Canadian.” How are you here?’” Jasmine Mooney said in an interview from the Arizona immigration detention center she is now fighting to get out of.”
When Jimmy Carter Tried to Deport Iranian Student Protesters (Al)
From History News Network: “The Trump administration is ratcheting up its campaign against the Palestinian solidarity movement on American campuses. Days after it announced the pulling of $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University because of what it deemed insufficient efforts to crack down on student protests there, ICE detained a recent Columbia graduate who has been active in campus protests. … It’s not the first time that foreigners studying in the U.S. have been met with threats of deportation for taking a political stand. A little over 45 years ago, in the wake of the embassy seizure in Tehran, President Jimmy Carter announced that the visa status of all Iranians studying in the U.S. would be reviewed.”
The Measles Vaccine Came From His Body. He Went Anti-Vax. Not Anymore. (Russ)
The author writes, “The most sickening part of the measles outbreak that has struck more than 200 people in 12 states this year is how absurdly unnecessary it is. Inevitable, too, in a country where, as recently as 2001, 94 percent of Americans believed it was very or extremely important for parents to get their children vaccinated, but now, according to Gallup, only 69 percent say so. If anyone in the country should be expected to sing the praises of the measles vaccine, it would be David Edmonston, 82, a retired home contractor in Bowling Green, Virginia. The vaccine literally is named for him.”
Scientists Harness Phantom Limb to Allow an Amputee to Feel Hot and Cold in New Prosthetic (Dana)
The author writes, “Phantom limb is one of those enduring medical mysteries: that someone could feel sensations in a hand which had long ago been lost to amputation. A little like harnessing the placebo effect, scientists have been able to stimulate nerve endings on the skin of an amputated arm which trigger thermal phantom limb sensations, including hot and cold.”
