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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Underwater Data Center Proposal Surprises Regulators (Maria)
The authors write, “Data centers powering the generative AI boom are gulping water and exhausting electricity at what some researchers view as an unsustainable pace. Two entrepreneurs who met in high school a few years ago want to overcome that crunch with a fresh experiment: sinking the cloud into the sea. … But scientists who study the hundreds of square miles of brackish water say even the slightest heat or disturbance from [their company] NetworkOcean’s submersible could trigger toxic algae blooms and harm wildlife.”
Why the ‘One-Two Punch’ of Liz and Dick Cheney Backing Harris Matters (Sean)
From Politico: “Liz Cheney is hitting the campaign trail with millions of dollars at her disposal to defeat Donald Trump and down-ballot Republicans, aggressively taking on the MAGA movement that dominates a party where she, and her father, are no longer welcome. Cheney has pledged to do anything she can to help Kamala Harris, and has resources to back that up. … GOP strategists and elected officials who share her opposition to the former president say Cheney’s campaign — including her and her father’s endorsement of Harris — could pave the way for members of their party to join their cause. A critical mass could be enough to move the needle in a tight election.”
More Members of FDNY Have Died From 9/11-Related Illness Than Were Killed on Day of Attack (Laura)
The author writes, “Illnesses linked to the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center have now killed more members of the New York City Fire Department than were killed on the day of the attack itself. ‘Those insurmountable losses did not end at the World Trade Center site,’ Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said Monday. ‘Instead, we have seen our members become sick because of time they spent working in the rescue and recovery.’ There were 343 members of the FDNY that died on 9/11. In the 23 years since, more than 370 have died of World Trade Center-related illnesses, the department said. There were 28 deaths since last year’s anniversary of 9/11.”
Springfield Officials: ‘No Credible Reports’ of Crime by Haitian Migrants in Ohio (Dana)
From the Cincinnati Enquirer: “The industrial town of Springfield, Ohio, just northeast of Dayton, has found itself in the middle of the country’s immigration debate and a social media firestorm. Comments from Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, and other Republican influencers and officials have made the town’s growing Haitian population a major issue in the presidential race. … Since Vance’s statements, stories on social media have exploded, quickly evolving from tales of municipal growing pains that happen to involve immigrants into racist allegations that aren’t substantiated, per Springfield’s own police department.”
A Robot Begins Removal of Melted Fuel From the Fukushima Nuclear Plant. It Could Take a Century (Gerry)
The author writes, “A long robot entered a damaged reactor at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant on Tuesday, beginning a two-week, high-stakes mission to retrieve for the first time a tiny amount of melted fuel debris from the bottom. The robot’s trip into the Unit 2 reactor is a crucial initial step for what comes next — a daunting, decades-long process to decommission the plant and deal with large amounts of highly radioactive melted fuel inside three reactors that were damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Specialists hope the robot will help them learn more about the status of the cores and the fuel debris.”
US Veteran Makes ‘Incredible’ Progress After World’s First Eye Transplant (Mili)
From the BBC: “A US military veteran who received the world’s first whole-eye transplant has made significant progress a year later and has been able to resume his normal life, researchers say. Aaron James, 46, also received a rare partial-face transplant. He lost most of his face in an accident in 2021 while working as a high-voltage utility lineman. His donor eye has so far maintained normal pressure and blood flow and retained its size, unlike donor eyes in animals that often shrink after transplants, researchers at NYU Langone Health said in a new study. Mr James has not regained sight in that eye, but researchers are hopeful he might eventually be able to see out of it again.”
How Joe Biden Engineered Apple’s New AirPods (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Yesterday, Apple announced a set of new products, including an AirPod software update that allows these products to operate as hearing aids. But there’s something unusual about the innovation on display here, since it’s connected to regulation. … What’s happening here is that a set of elected leaders opened up a market closed off by a cartel that had secured a comfortable position, shielded by the Food and Drug Administration. And engineers, many of whom care deeply about hearing, acted in this new legal space to create tools to help people live better lives.”
From Our Archives
On 9/11, Trauma, and Guns
September 11, 2023: “If the adults who witnessed September 11, 2001, still experience PTSD from the events of that day, what are we doing to the hundreds of thousands of children who have lived through a school shooting in person, and the millions who have been in a lockdown because they thought they were about to?”
What Bush Said About 9/11 Behind Closed Doors (Parts One & Two)
December 5, 2022: “So, you may not remember this, but after 9/11, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney managed to avoid testifying publicly about the historic tragedy and massive government screw-up (to be kind). They very reluctantly agreed to meet in private with a blue ribbon panel — but only if they were not sworn in, i.e., so they could lie with impunity. You also may not know that the contents of that meeting have never come out — until now. Recently, an entity known as the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel released a summary of what was said — to almost total media silence.”
December 12, 2022: “One point that particularly struck me about the recently-released summary of that Oval Office meeting was that although Bush said his response strategy involved killing terrorists before they could kill us (a little late, to be sure), he also answered a question about whether the CIA might try to kill al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bush, according to the summary, said that CIA Director George Tenet told him that ‘killing bin Laden wouldn’t destroy al Qaeda.’ In other words, Bush thought that killing terrorists was a good idea, just not particularly their leader. That’s especially interesting given the long and close ties between the Bush family and the bin Laden clan, from which Osama was said to be estranged.”
9/11: The Tragedy of an Opportunity Wasted
September 11, 2021: “There are many ways in which 9/11 was a tragedy. Only some of them will be told in all of the events surrounding the 20th anniversary of the attack — like the tales of heroism Americans enjoy hearing. Others will largely be glossed over — for example how the United States played right into the hands of al-Qaeda with a predictable response that cost many more lives than the attack itself, and created many new terrorists. One, however, will likely be ignored altogether: It is the tragedy of an opportunity squandered.”
