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
 |
Penguin Parents Sleep for Just a Few Seconds at a Time to Guard Newborns: Study (Maria)
The author writes, “Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica need to guard their eggs and chicks around-the-clock in crowded, noisy colonies. So they nod off thousands of times each day — but only for about four seconds at a time — to stay vigilant, the researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science. These short ‘microsleeps,’ totaling around 11 hours per day, appear to be enough to keep the parents going for weeks.”
Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago (Dana)
The authors write, “Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out. The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named ‘Jericho Wall,’ outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.”
Can the Anti-Trump Coalition Hold? (Al)
From The Bulwark: “While Trump grows stronger and more dangerous, the forces arrayed against him are fracturing and weakening.”
Trump Hints at Expanding Domestic Role for the Military Within the US (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country’s borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.”
Disquiet in the World’s Middle Class (Gerry)
The author writes, “Joining the middle class has been a ticket to the good life for two centuries now, a history I trace in a new book The Rise of the Global Middle Class. The American Dream, the glorious years of European reconstruction after World War II, miracle economic growth in Japan and other East Asian countries, Xi Jinping’s great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and India’s software revolution each brought hundreds of millions of people into the ranks of the global middle class. Today, thanks to this progress, most of the world, upwards of 4 billion people, enjoy a middle-class or better lifestyle for the first time ever. Yet, across the world there is a clear sense of disquiet in the middle class.”
Americans Love Avocados. It’s Killing Mexico’s Forests. (Reader Jim and Laura)
The authors write, “In western Mexico forests are being razed at a breakneck pace and … in this hot spot, it is fueled by the voracious appetite in the United States for avocados. A combination of interests, including criminal gangs, landowners, corrupt local officials and community leaders, are involved in clearing forests for avocado orchards, in some cases illegally seizing privately owned land. Virtually all the deforestation for avocados in the last two decades may have violated Mexican law, which prohibits ‘land-use change’ without government authorization.”
Solar Maximum: Why April’s Total Solar Eclipse Will Bring Unique Views of the Sun’s Corona (Sean)
From Space.com: “With the solar cycle set to peak earlier than predicted, the sun’s corona should look its spectacular spiky best for April 8’s total solar eclipse.”
