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 in Japan Develop Plastic That Dissolves in Seawater in Hours (Maria)
The author writes, “Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife. While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.”
Musk Could Lose Billions of Dollars Depending on How Spat With Trump Unfolds (Reader Steve)
From the AP: “The world’s richest man could lose billions in his fight with the world’s most powerful politician. The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump could mean Tesla’s plans for self-driving cars hit a roadblock, SpaceX flies fewer missions for NASA, Starlink gets fewer overseas satellite contracts, and the social media platform X loses advertisers. Maybe, that is. It all depends on Trump’s appetite for revenge and how the dispute unfolds.”
A New COVID Variant Is Here, And It’s More Transmissible — Here Are The Signs And Symptoms (Sean)
The author writes, “A new COVID variant known as NB.1.8.1 has made landfall in the United States. The variant, which was first detected in China this past January, currently accounts for 10% of the SARS-CoV-2 sequences tested from around the world, recent surveillance data found. That’s a significant jump from 2.5% four weeks ago. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson told HuffPost that the agency is in regular contact with international partners about the activity of NB.1.8.1. To date, only 20 NB.1.8.1 sequences have been identified in the US — that’s below the threshold needed for a variant to appear on the agency’s COVID dashboard.”
US Veterans Agency Orders Scientists Not To Publish in Journals Without Clearance (Dana)
From The Guardian: “Senior officials at the US Department of Veterans Affairs have ordered that VA physicians and scientists not publish in medical journals or speak with the public without first seeking clearance from political appointees of Donald Trump, the Guardian has learned. The edict, laid down in emails [last month] by Curt Cashour, the VA’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, and John Bartrum, a senior adviser to VA secretary Doug Collins, came hours after the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective co-authored by two pulmonologists who work for the VA in Texas. ‘We have guidance for this,’ wrote Cashour, a former Republican congressional aide and campaign consultant, attaching the journal article. ‘These people did not follow it.’”
Months After Hurricane Helene, Some North Carolinians Still Struggle To Find Housing (Laura)
From NPR: “Before the remnants of Hurricane Helene swamped this town, the Super 8 Motel, wedged between a highway and the Swannanoa River, provided affordable short and long-term housing for dozens of people who couldn’t find affordable housing elsewhere. Now, it’s like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, frozen in time. A thick layer of mud covers the area. Kim Maisch points to a section of the motel that shifted and landed in the river. ‘We are actually standing in the middle of where a foundation was for one of the hotel sections,’ she says. ‘We are looking at rooms shifted off, cars open, mud, debris everywhere, insulation hanging from the ceilings. Room 222 was my dad’s room.’”
Diabolus Ex Machina (Bethany)
The author writes, “Presented to you in the form of unedited screenshots, the following is a ‘conversation’ I had with ChatGPT upon asking whether it could help me choose several of my own essays to link in a query letter I intended to send to an agent. What ultimately transpired is the closest thing to a personal episode of Black Mirror I hope to experience in this lifetime.”
