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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World’s Largest Known Coral Discovered in Solomon Islands (Maria)
The author writes, “The world’s largest known coral, visible from space, has been discovered in the waters of the Solomon Islands. With a circumference of 183 meters, the gigantic multicolored organism is an intricate network of individual coral polyps that have grown for between 300 and 500 years. The sprawling coral was discovered in the region of the western Pacific known as the ‘coral triangle’ by scientists belonging to the National Geographic Pristine Seas team during an expedition to the Solomon Islands. Mostly brown, with highlights of vivid yellows, blues and reds, the Pavona clavus coral is a haven for a panoply of marine species including fish, crabs and shrimps.”
America’s Political Discordance: The Trump Voters Who Want Progressivism (Dana)
From Salon: “Perhaps out of fear of insulting their audiences, the pundits, journalists, and political consultants engaged in the lengthy post-mortem about Donald Trump’s horrific victory [last] Tuesday are avoiding the most obvious cause: ignorance. Millions of people who desperately want more progressive policies cast their ballots for a man whose agenda is exactly the opposite of what they want. … In state after state, voters backed both Trump and ballot initiatives that advanced and protected progressive goals. Laws protecting abortion rights were backed by the majority of voters in most states, even deep-red ones.”
Guardian Quitting X, Citing ‘Disturbing Content’ (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “The Guardian announced Wednesday that it will no longer post its content under its official accounts on Elon Musk’s social media platform X. ‘We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,’ the Guardian said in a statement. The move comes just after Musk was named the co-head of President-elect Trump’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’ Musk has increasingly been involved in Trump’s campaign and concern is growing about what impact he will have on the administration. The London-based outlet said the move from X was something it has been considering for a while.”
The Orbanization of US Politics Began Years Ago (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Where Kamala Harris and down ballot Democrats engaged in traditional politics, it worked (as exhibited by Harris’ better performance in swing states and the retention of at least four of the swing state Senate seats, among other things). But propaganda worked far better across the board (exhibited, in part, by the large numbers of disaffected voters who supported Trump because they believed false claims about his policies or were mobilized by propaganda campaigns stoking fear). … If I’m right about that dynamic — that politics worked but propaganda worked far better — then it means much of the post-election soul-searching is misplaced (and, indeed, a dangerous misallocation of focus). That’s because Harris lost, in part, because of media disfunction.”
The Age of Broligarchy (Sean)
From Coda: “Musk was not the only bro excited by Trump’s victory: Trump’s win is a win for oligarchs, autocrats, and their patrons of all shapes and shades everywhere. There was palpable, genuine enthusiasm in tweets from fellow populist leaders in Hungary, India, and Israel. The Kremlin’s official response was tempered but there was no shortage of glee from those who speak on Vladimir Putin’s behalf. Few paid any heed to the FBI allegations that Russia was behind bomb threats at polling stations in battleground states.”
New Report Shows How Human-Caused Warming Intensified the 10 Deadliest Climate Disasters Since 2004 (Laura)
From Inside Climate News: “The 10 deadliest weather disasters since 2004, including three tropical cyclones, four heatwaves, two floods and a drought, killed at least 570,000 people, and a new study shows how all of them were intensified by global warming, ‘caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal and deforestation.’ In a press briefing on the new study, by World Weather Attribution, an international research group, the authors emphasized that the total death toll is a major underestimate. Many heat-related deaths, possibly running into the millions, are not reported officially … especially in poorer countries that are most vulnerable to high temperatures. The deadliest single climate event in the official global record was a 2011 drought in Somalia that killed at least 258,000 people.”
A Breakthrough in Timekeeping: Progress Toward a Nuclear Clock (Russ)
The author writes, “To most people, time is the flow of life. People read off a string of digits on their phones and act accordingly, waking up, going to work, turning on a sports game. Precision is measured on the level of minutes when meeting a friend for coffee or catching a bus. People rarely worry about seconds, much less a femtosecond (a quadrillionth of a second), or pause to consider what a ‘second’ even is. Physicists, on the other hand, see time a bit differently. The ability to measure it with ever more precision helps keep society on the same page, making sure that stock markets open on time and that GPS is accurate, even allowing for ways to reliably navigate the solar system. But measuring time more accurately also offers a way to explore some of the deepest mysteries of the universe.”
