Rare Family of Barn Owls Moves In, Captivates NYC

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Rare Family of Barn Owls Moves In, Captivates NYC (Maria)

The author writes, “Manhattan’s Upper West Side has been reveling in the company of its latest celebrities: A family of barn owls nesting in a water tower atop a building near Central Park. This is the first documented instance of barn owls nesting in Manhattan in modern history, according to one expert, and the owls have attracted nightly crowds eager to get a glimpse of the elusive birds.”

Big Tech’s Enabling of the Ballroom Is the Worst Symbol of Our Times (Reader Steve)

The author writes, “The real scandal in government, as they say, is often what’s legal and condoned. The news that three of the Pacific Northwest’s top companies — Microsoft, Amazon and T-Mobile — are prime financiers of President Donald Trump’s unapproved and garish White House ballroom, to the tune of a combined $20 million, sums up the new Gilded Age. We have some of the wealthiest and most powerful companies since the robber baron days, greasing the skids for an authoritarian vanity project that the public doesn’t want, and no one approved of or consented to.”

New Lawsuits Argue That Pregnant People Also Have a Right to Life (Dana)

From Autonomy News: “The Texas Supreme Court ruled in May 2024 that the state’s abortion ban permits doctors to perform medically necessary abortions. Seven months later, Tierra Walker died from preeclampsia at 20 weeks pregnant. Walker’s preventable death came after dozens of doctors refused to offer her an abortion during multiple trips to the ER, even though two physicians wrote in her chart that pregnancy complications put her life at risk. Last week, her family sued the state and her doctors for violating her right to life enshrined in the state constitution — and arguing that Texas’ abortion bans should be struck down. It is the first lawsuit over a death from an abortion ban, and it’s one of several lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions under state constitutional rights to life and liberty. ‘People should not lose their fundamental constitutional rights just because they are pregnant,’ said Molly Duane, the litigation director of Amplify Legal, which represents Walker’s family.” 

As Heat Becomes More Extreme, Inmates Are Increasingly Threatened by Rising Temperatures (Laura)

From the Associated Press: “Steve Brooks’ cell has no windows or air conditioning, so he relies on two eight-inch fans when it’s stifling inside California’s oldest prison. There’s no access to ice or cold water, and during periodic power outages, there’s no electricity. ‘“It’s kind of like you’re hyperventilating. The room’s closing in,’ said Brooks, who’s incarcerated in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and has published articles about extreme heat behind bars. During an eight-hour outage in 2024, the heat rose to between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit (32 and 38 degrees Celsius). ‘It was just really scary.’ It felt, he said, like he was running out of oxygen.”

Scientists Discover a Brain ‘Brake’ That Can Shut Down Chronic Pain (Mili)

The author writes, “Researchers discovered a brain-based ‘brake’ that can shut down chronic nerve pain in mice by calming an overactive pain circuit. Targeting this system more precisely could one day lead to powerful pain relief without affecting opioid receptors throughout the entire body.” 

Why No One Wants to Date Tech Bros (Sean)

From Wired: “Long gone is the cliché of the optimistic tech guy in flip-flops and a ratty old hoodie. The tech industry is now seen as the locus of unchecked power. Meta created an environment where Russian bots could influence elections and designed features that foster social media addiction among teens. Amazon, which has been widely accused of unfair labor practices and of generating a staggering amount of waste, has aided in the collapse of small, independent businesses, while a glowed-up Jeff Bezos has become a poster child for extreme wealth inequality. More recently, the AI industry is being widely maligned over claims that it’s exacerbating job loss, pollution, and a critical-thinking crisis.”