Listen To This Story

Portuguese Man O’ War Turn Out To Be Four Separate Species (Maria) 

The author writes, “Long believed to be a single, globally distributed species drifting freely across the open ocean, the bluebottle — also known as the Portuguese man o’ war — has been revealed to be a group of at least four distinct species, each with its own unique morphology, genetics and distribution. Uncovered by an international research team led by scientists at Yale University, the University of New South Wales, and Griffith University, the genetic discovery is being heralded as something of a revelation to the marine biology community. It was made when researchers began sequencing the genomes of 151 Physalia specimens from around the world.”

DeSantis Is Building ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ With Little Oversight — And This Big Campaign Donor Is Set To Reap Millions From It (Dana) 

From the Florida Trident: “DeSantis used his emergency powers to seize the remote Everglades airstrip, which is owned by Miami-Dade County, and begin building the detention camp without heeding environmental laws and regulations (the state now faces a lawsuit from environmental groups claiming the governor has overstepped his power). The site has become a money pit for taxpayers, who are footing the bill not only for the untold millions being used to construct the facility but also an estimated $450 million a year to operate. The latter is expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump has said he intends to eliminate as soon as the end of this year.”

Student Loan Cancellation Program Could Become Trump Retribution Tool, Some Advocates Fear (Reader Steve) 

The author writes, “The Education Department is preparing an overhaul that would strip the benefit from organizations involved in ‘illegal activities,’ with the final determination left up to the US education secretary. A draft proposal released by the department includes definitions of illegal activity that center on immigration, terrorism and transgender issues. Several advocates invited to weigh in on the draft proposal raised concerns it would give the department subjective authority to decide if an organization is engaged in anything illegal — a power that could be used to remove entire hospital systems or state governments from the program.”

The Astonishing Racism in NYC’s Mayoral Race (Laryn) 

From Vox: “New York City’s mayoral race has drawn attention from across the country, and politicians and pundits have been fearmongering about Mamdani from afar…Anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bigotry is, of course, not a new feature of American politics. But how emboldened public figures clearly feel to make such brazen and openly racist statements seems to have reached a fever pitch. Since when, for example, is it acceptable to call on deporting American citizens? Here are three reasons why the racism against Mamdani in particular has been so extreme.”

Texas Lawmakers Failed To Pass a Bill To Improve Local Disaster Warning Systems This Year (Dana) 

The author writes, “‘I can tell you in hindsight, watching what it takes to deal with a disaster like this, my vote would probably be different now,’ said Virdell, a freshman GOP lawmaker from Brady. The measure, House Bill 13, would have created a new government council to establish the emergency response plan and administer the grant program, both of which would have been aimed at facilitating better communication between first responders. The bill also called for the plan to include ‘the use of outdoor warning sirens,’ like those used in tornado-prone Texas counties, and develop new ‘emergency alert systems.’”

Light Has Been Transformed Into a ‘Supersolid’ for the First Time (Sean) 

From New Scientist: “Supersolids simultaneously have zero viscosity and a crystal-like structure akin to the arrangement of atoms in salt crystals. These strange materials have no counterpart outside of the quantum realm. Because of this, they have previously only been created in experiments with atoms cooled to extremely low temperatures, where otherwise negligible quantum effects become dominant.”