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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Scientists Find Strongest Evidence Yet of Life on Alien Planet (Maria)
The author writes, “In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet’s atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes. The two gases involved in Webb’s observations of the planet named K2-18 b are generated on Earth by living organisms. … [Researchers] stressed that they are not announcing the discovery of actual living organisms but rather a possible biosignature — an indicator of a biological process.”
Bernie Sanders, AOC Draw Thousands To Red California District (Dana)
From the San Francisco Chronicle: “Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — two native New Yorkers and democratic socialists — did something Tuesday that no California Democrats likely could: turn out 26,000 people for a rally on a Tuesday night in a Republican House district and chart a way forward for an enfeebled and directionless Democratic Party. And they were rapturously greeted by an audience of working-class folks starved for someone who could speak for them.”
Man Who Says He Was Held Captive in Connecticut Home for 20 Years Makes His First Public Comments (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A man who told police that he was held captive in a Connecticut home by his father and stepmother and given limited food for 20 years before being rescued is thanking medical staff for holding what he called his first-ever birthday party as he turned 32. In his first public comments on Tuesday, he also said he wants people to be held responsible for what happened to him. … ‘Please call me “S,”’ the statement begins. ‘This is not the name given to me by my parents when I was born. I am choosing a new name for myself, and I will use that name as I reclaim control over my life and my future.’”
Lethal Injection, Electric Chair, or Firing Squad? An Inhumane Decision for Death Row Prisoners (Laura)
From The Intercept: “In July, the South Carolina Supreme Court resumed executions after a 13-year pause. Prior to the ruling, state lawmakers passed a law allowing people set to be executed to choose between lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad. The law was passed as a way to skirt shortages of lethal injection drugs and arguments that the death penalty was a cruel or unusual punishment because, in theory, people on death row were given options. … [But] the choice between being effectively cooked alive, drowning in your own blood and fluids as a result of a mystery cocktail of drugs that repeatedly fails, or being shot to death isn’t much of a choice.”
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Has Become Hyper Political. The Rise and Fall of Michael Gableman’s Career Shows How That Happened (Al)
From Wisconsin Watch: “Wisconsin’s recent Supreme Court election, with its $100 million in record spending and wall-to-wall attack ads, spotlighted how politicized the state’s ‘nonpartisan’ high court has become. To understand how we got here, consider the rise and fall of former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who has agreed to surrender his law license for behavior unbecoming of a lawyer, let alone a former top judge. Last November’s 10-count complaint filed by the Office of Lawyer Regulation, an arm of the very court he served on, is not the first time Gableman, 58, has been accused of an ethical lapse. But until now he has avoided public consequences. One example of Gableman’s actions, not previously reported, shows how closely intertwined an officially nonpartisan justice became with party politics.”
Telemundo’s Climate Commitment (Russ)
From Covering Climate Now: “Telemundo’s commitment to climate coverage is paying off. The network’s 6:30 pm news program registered 7% growth in 2024, according to Nielsen, making it the fastest-growing broadcast news source in the US in either Spanish or English. Telemundo has 31 affiliate stations in markets across the US that reach a total of 12.5 million people a month — a true powerhouse. Noticias Telemundo is also the fastest-growing Spanish language news source on Tik-Tok, Facebook, and X.”
Record-Breaking ‘Dead’ Galaxy Discovered by JWST Lived Fast and Died Young in the Early Universe (Sean)
The author writes, “Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found the most distant (and thus the earliest) massive ‘dead’ galaxy to date. The discovery suggests that galaxies were ‘dying’ much earlier in the universe than previously believed. ‘Death’ for a galaxy refers to the slowing down, or even halting, of intense star formation, which stops a galaxy from growing. … Light from this new record-breaking galaxy, designated RUBIES-UDS-QG-z7, has been traveling to us for 13 billion years, meaning the JWST saw it as it was just 700 million years after the Big Bang. That makes it the first so-called massive quiescent galaxy seen in the infancy of the 13.8 billion-year-old universe.”
