The state officials defending American democracy against relentless attacks by Trump

The state officials defending American democracy against relentless attacks by Trump

Barton Gellman writes: Now and then, not often, Deidre Henderson will still work up the nerve to drive herself to the market for milk or bread. She will sit in the parking lot in her big S.U.V., engine running, doors locked, ruminating on risk. Generally, she heads home without getting out of the car. Henderson, who is fifty-two years old, is the lieutenant governor of Utah, a Republican midway through her second term. That makes her the state’s chief election…

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The war in Iran enters a dangerous phase ahead of elections in the United States and Israel

The war in Iran enters a dangerous phase ahead of elections in the United States and Israel

The New York Times reports: Inside the Trump administration, officials are expressing fears that Iran is in the “advanced stages” of planning attacks against U.S. officials. More than 6,000 miles away, the Iranians appear convinced that Israel and the United States are preparing to unleash their third major attack in 16 months, a final push to force Iran to surrender to U.S. demands. The conflict in the Middle East has entered a new phase in which a maelstrom of factors,…

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A Texas cop signed on to help ICE deport his neighbors. It tore the town apart

A Texas cop signed on to help ICE deport his neighbors. It tore the town apart

ProPublica reports: The new patrol officer parked his black Dodge Charger outside a house off Main Street and approached on foot. A Mexican ballad was playing. Someone had called in a noise complaint, claiming it sounded as if people were fighting. But as the officer, Jaron Alexander, got closer, he found nothing of the sort. A middle-aged woman greeted him as her daughter, Joanna Martinez, petite and visibly pregnant, looked on. “What kind of party are you all having?” she…

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Bill Gates: Prepare for 20 years of tumultuous AI disruption

Bill Gates: Prepare for 20 years of tumultuous AI disruption

  Nilay Patel: My guest today is Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft and chairman of the Gates Foundation. You may have noticed Bill in the news more lately — he’s been on something of a tour for the past few months talking about AI risk, and how crucial it is that we start taking this seriously. So I was excited to sit down with him and really dig into this subject. I came with many questions, about…

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Apollo economist: AI has delivered zero payoff to corporate America outside Big Tech

Apollo economist: AI has delivered zero payoff to corporate America outside Big Tech

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, writes: Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech. Revenue per worker is rising for the Mag 7 [Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla] but is flat for the S&P 493, see the first chart below. Profit margins are rising for the Mag 7 but are flat for the S&P 493, see the second chart…

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Mathematics is as much an expression of the human spirit as music and literature

Mathematics is as much an expression of the human spirit as music and literature

Steven Strogatz writes: It’s 4:26 a.m., and I’m walking around the house while my wife sleeps upstairs. I’m feeling disoriented and discombobulated, just as I have for months, since May, when AI came for math. The leaves are ablaze here in Ithaca, fiery reds and oranges, and I saw them swirling around in my backyard yesterday, following the streamlines of an eddy described by the Navier-Stokes equations. You’ve heard of Navier-Stokes, right? By now you must have—in early September, OpenAI…

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Study identifies world’s first corporate psychopath

Study identifies world’s first corporate psychopath

Anglia Ruskin University: New research suggests the same personality traits associated with toxic corporate leaders today may have been present at the very birth of global capitalism 400 years ago. The study, published in the Asian Journal of Business Ethics identifies Jeronimus Cornelisz, who was a merchant manager with the Dutch East India Company, as likely being the earliest documented example of a corporate psychopath. The research, by Dr Clive Boddy of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), is believed to be…

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Facing an electoral wipeout, Trump goes after the democratic system

Facing an electoral wipeout, Trump goes after the democratic system

Politico reports: President Donald Trump is escalating his crusade to exert control of America’s elections as his party barrels towards a potentially bruising midterm. The Justice Department has already filed lawsuits in nearly every state to try and gain access to voter files. Trump revisited his longstanding bid to restrict mail voting, sparking a legal battle that reached the Supreme Court. He sought to make anti-terrorism funds for state and local governments contingent on how they administer elections. He has…

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White House weighs granting mass pardons for junior staff

White House weighs granting mass pardons for junior staff

The Washington Sun reports: White House attorneys are evaluating whether to issue mass pardons to junior staffers, as Trump allies press the administration to protect lower-ranked officials from prosecution and other legal challenges, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. While President Donald Trump has publicly discussed issuing pardons for top aides and issued pardons for billionaires and major donors, questions have mounted about the potential legal jeopardy facing thousands of employees who have implemented the White House’s agenda….

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U.S. executives resign from $25 billion Alaska gas project over alleged secret Russian control

U.S. executives resign from $25 billion Alaska gas project over alleged secret Russian control

Sri Lanka Guardian reports: Senior executives have resigned from a $25 billion US liquefied natural gas venture after its former chief executive alleged that Russian energy group Novatek was secretly financing the project and controlling its strategic direction without the necessary US authorisation, according to a report by the Financial Times (FT). Polar Train LNG is developing a gas export terminal on Alaska’s North Slope as part of efforts to expand US energy exports to Asia. The project has also…

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Iran has ramped up efforts to target U.S. personnel, intelligence memo warns

Iran has ramped up efforts to target U.S. personnel, intelligence memo warns

Reuters reports: Iran has ramped up efforts to target US personnel, and lethal plots by Tehran against American citizens have reached “advanced ​stages”, a senior intelligence official in the Trump administration warned in a memo seen ‌by Reuters. The alert from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton came after Washington scaled back staffing at its mission in Saudi Arabia earlier this week in response to intensified attacks by Iran-allied Houthi forces. Those attacks on one ​front of the nearly eight-month-old…

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The data center next door: On the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle

The data center next door: On the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle

The Guardian reports: Dale Johnston opens the gate to his neat suburban garden on the western fringes of Newport in South Wales. There’s a trampoline and a slide on the lawn for his grandchildren, and chairs for him and his wife. He should be enjoying the light draining from the perfect autumnal sky – but almost his entire view is blotted out by a vast expanse of prefabricated panels. The 23 metre-high grey hulk looming over him and his neighbours…

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Bird flu is raging on a mink farm. It could spark a human pandemic, experts say, but officials won’t act

Bird flu is raging on a mink farm. It could spark a human pandemic, experts say, but officials won’t act

ProPublica reports: The strain of bird flu that’s ripped through American barns for the last four years has killed two people who caught it from sick animals. But as far as anyone can tell, humans can’t spread it. The virus has remained a true “bird” flu, tailored to attach to avian cells, not invade human throats and noses, where coughing and sneezing reliably spew droplets. Under the right conditions, however, that could change. A single mutation could give the bird…

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Why did humans’ brains surpass chimps’? An ancient virus might help explain it

Why did humans’ brains surpass chimps’? An ancient virus might help explain it

Science News reports: Viruses may be minuscule, but one could have influenced major differences between human and chimpanzee brains. Millions of years ago, a virus left DNA behind in an African ape’s genome, and the genetic material stuck around in modern day chimps. Those ghosts of infections past appear to influence genes involved in neuron development, which may help explain how human and chimp brains ended up so different, researchers report October 23 in Science Advances. Compared with the brains…

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