Trump’s attack on Milley fuels special counsel’s push for a gag order

Politico reports: Special counsel Jack Smith’s office argued Friday that Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Gen. Mark Milley and one of their own newly appointed prosecutors bolster their case to put a gag order on the former president ahead of his trial in Washington, D.C. In a 22-page filing, senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston… Read More »

Trump calls for summary execution of store robbers

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump called for shooting store robbers on Friday in a bleak speech to California Republicans –and warned “this country will die!” if Joe Biden remained president. During the address to GOP members, Trump also railed that wealthy Beverly Hills residents smell because of water denials, and repeated election fraud lies, according… Read More »

How to stop AI deepfakes from sinking society — and science

Nicola Jones writes: This June, in the political battle leading up to the 2024 US presidential primaries, a series of images were released showing Donald Trump embracing one of his former medical advisers, Anthony Fauci. In a few of the shots, Trump is captured awkwardly kissing the face of Fauci, a health official reviled by… Read More »

How NASA brought an asteroid to Earth

David W. Brown writes: On a brisk day in February, 2004, Dante Lauretta, an assistant professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, got a call from Michael Drake, the head of the school’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. “I have Lockheed Martin in my office,” Drake said. “They want to fly a spacecraft to… Read More »

When Nietzsche said ‘become who you are’, this is what he meant

Ryan A Bush writes: In 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche published The Gay Science, a work he referred to as ‘the most personal of all my books’. It came after a series of setbacks in his life, including the weak reception of his previous work, a soured friendship, and his declining health, which caused severe migraines and vomiting,… Read More »

Trump’s campaign machine is bleeding cash for legal expenses

Reuters reports: Donald Trump’s political operation has helped pay the legal expenses of more than a dozen people contacted by prosecutors investigating the former president, tying up millions of dollars that otherwise could be used for his 2024 White House bid. Reuters has identified 13 potential witnesses or co-defendants who were represented by law firms… Read More »

Twitter fires election integrity team ahead of 2024 elections

Rolling Stone reports: Next year will see dozens of elections around the globe, but X (formerly Twitter) has seemingly abdicated responsibility for protecting users from misinformation during these democratic processes. Several European staffers working on a threat disruption team for the social platform, including senior manager Aaron Rodericks, have been fired this week, according to… Read More »

Elon Musk attacks German support for migrants and promotes support for far-right extremist party

Insider reports: Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, attacked Germany’s center-left governing coalition for supporting migrants on Friday and boosted a call for the German people to support a far-right extremist party instead. Earlier this month, Germany’s foreign ministry announced it was dispersing funds to two nonprofit organizations that assist asylum-seekers, including… Read More »

The value of wild ideas

Anil Seth writes: Earlier this month, the consciousness science community erupted into chaos. An open letter, signed by 124 researchers—some specializing in consciousness and others not—made the provocative claim that one of the most widely discussed theories in the field, Integrated Information Theory (IIT), should be considered “pseudoscience.” The uproar that followed sent consciousness social… Read More »