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U.S. intel: Russia is trying to ‘denigrate’ Biden while China prefers ‘unpredictable’ Trump not be reelected

U.S. intel: Russia is trying to ‘denigrate’ Biden while China prefers ‘unpredictable’ Trump not be reelected

The Washington Post reports: The government of China prefers that President Trump not win reelection in November, seeing the incumbent as “unpredictable,” and Russia is using a range of measures to try to “denigrate” the president’s opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, including selective leaks of information and efforts on social media, a top U.S. intelligence official said in a statement Friday. The statement by William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, was notable for identifying three…

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Trump has launched a three-pronged attack on the election

Trump has launched a three-pronged attack on the election

Laurence H. Tribe, Jennifer Taub, and Joshua A. Geltzer write: As President Donald Trump reflects on his sinking approval ratings and grows more desperate by the day, he’s been floating a dictator’s dream: postponing the November election. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Trump loyalists, including the Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi, swiftly rejected this authoritarian fantasy. So Trump has retreated to a fallback position: casting doubt on the legitimacy of any election he doesn’t win. That starts…

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The next global depression is coming and optimism won’t slow it down

The next global depression is coming and optimism won’t slow it down

Ian Bremmer writes: The world is confused and frightened. COVID-19 infections are on the rise across the U.S. and around the world, even in countries that once thought they had contained the virus. The outlook for the next year is at best uncertain; countries are rushing to produce and distribute vaccines at breakneck speeds, some opting to bypass critical phase trials. Meanwhile, unemployment numbers remain dizzyingly high, even as the U.S. stock market continues to defy gravity. We’re headed into…

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Lebanon is no stranger to disaster – but this is like nothing we’ve ever seen

Lebanon is no stranger to disaster – but this is like nothing we’ve ever seen

Kim Ghattas writes: The seismic event felt like an earthquake and an air raid wrapped into one. None of us in Lebanon have ever experienced anything like it, none of us have ever seen this type of utter devastation or can yet truly grasp the extent of what has befallen us and our beloved city, although we have been through more than any life could hold. If you’re in your mid-40s in Lebanon, you’ve lived through 15 years of war,…

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Massive explosion of ammonium nitrate at Monsanto chemical plant in Texas killed hundreds in 1947

Massive explosion of ammonium nitrate at Monsanto chemical plant in Texas killed hundreds in 1947

The Washington Post reports: Seventy-three years ago, on an April morning at the port of Texas City near Galveston, crew members of the SS Grandcamp were busy loading thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate. “It was the beginning of a beautiful, cool day,” the Houston Chronicle reported, “a breeze was coming out of the north.” Around 8 a.m., someone noticed smoke coming from the cargo area. And then, boom. A massive explosion sent a mushroom cloud more than 2,000 feet…

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To uncover the habits of ancient humans, scientists are studying modern sports stars

To uncover the habits of ancient humans, scientists are studying modern sports stars

Bridget Alex writes: Archaeologist Annemieke Milks planned to test the ballistic properties of some of the world’s oldest spears. Crafted by Neanderthals 300,000 years ago, the wooden artifacts measure about 7 feet long and resemble oversized broomsticks with sharpened tips. When discovered in the 1990s at a site in Schöningen, Germany, they rested alongside the butchered remains of 35 horses. Apparently, Neanderthals, armed with the spears, had some very successful hunts. But just how fast and far could these ancient…

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Alaskan megaeruption may have helped end the Roman Republic

Alaskan megaeruption may have helped end the Roman Republic

Science reports: For ages, the shadow of a volcano has hung over the fall of the Roman Republic. Ancient historians told of the Sun’s mysterious disappearance after Julius Caesar’s murder in 44 B.C.E., which was followed by bouts of cold and crop failures. Now, a team of scientists and historians has discovered that one of the largest known eruptions in history struck in 43 B.C.E.—potentially contributing to 2 years of weird weather and famine as the republic dissolved and the…

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In the pandemic, the United States stands out as an exceptional failure

In the pandemic, the United States stands out as an exceptional failure

The New York Times reports: Nearly every country has struggled to contain the coronavirus and made mistakes along the way. China committed the first major failure, silencing doctors who tried to raise alarms about the virus and allowing it to escape from Wuhan. Much of Europe went next, failing to avoid enormous outbreaks. Today, many countries — Japan, Canada, France, Australia and more — are coping with new increases in cases after reopening parts of society. Yet even with all…

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We really need to understand how the immune system reacts to the coronavirus

We really need to understand how the immune system reacts to the coronavirus

Ed Yong writes: There’s a joke about immunology, which Jessica Metcalf of Princeton recently told me. An immunologist and a cardiologist are kidnapped. The kidnappers threaten to shoot one of them, but promise to spare whoever has made the greater contribution to humanity. The cardiologist says, “Well, I’ve identified drugs that have saved the lives of millions of people.” Impressed, the kidnappers turn to the immunologist. “What have you done?” they ask. The immunologist says, “The thing is, the immune…

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Children often carry more coronavirus than adults do, study shows

Children often carry more coronavirus than adults do, study shows

The Scientist reports: A new study is challenging the idea that younger children are somehow less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Children under the age of five have been found to carry just as much, if not more, coronavirus in their noses and throats than older kids or adults. The results, published Thursday (July 30) in JAMA Pediatrics, tested 145 people for evidence of the virus’s RNA. After breaking their participants down into three age categories—younger children, older children, and adults—researchers…

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A bleak tale of chronic negligence leading to Beirut’s giant explosion

A bleak tale of chronic negligence leading to Beirut’s giant explosion

The New York Times reports: The countdown to catastrophe in Beirut started more than six years ago when a troubled, Russian-leased cargo ship made an unscheduled stop at the city’s port. The ship was trailed by debts, crewed by disgruntled sailors and dogged by a small hole in its hull that meant water had to be constantly pumped out. And it carried a volatile cargo, more than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a combustible material used to make fertilizers —…

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What will happen if Trump uses Facebook to dispute election results, employees ask Zuckerberg

What will happen if Trump uses Facebook to dispute election results, employees ask Zuckerberg

BuzzFeed reports: After months of debate and disagreement over the handling of inflammatory or misleading posts from Donald Trump, Facebook employees want CEO Mark Zuckerberg to explain what the company would do if the leader of the free world uses the social network to undermine the results of the 2020 US presidential election. “I do think we’re headed for a problematic scenario where Facebook is going to be used to aggressively undermine the legitimacy of the US elections, in a…

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New York Attorney General files lawsuit to dissolve the NRA after fraud investigation

New York Attorney General files lawsuit to dissolve the NRA after fraud investigation

NPR reports: The Attorney General of New York took action today to dissolve the National Rifle Association, following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is “fraught with fraud and abuse.” Attorney General Letitia James claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she found financial misconduct in the millions of dollars, and that it contributed to a loss of more than $64 million over a three year period. The suit alleges that top NRA executives misused…

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Trader Joe’s knows that petitions aren’t commandments

Trader Joe’s knows that petitions aren’t commandments

John McWhorter writes: Trader Joe’s has long given playful foreign versions of its name to certain international product lines: Trader José, Trader Giotto, Trader Ming, and so on. One could have guessed that amidst our racial reckoning (“the Great Awokening,” as Vox’s Matthew Yglesias calls it), these names would come under attack. This happened: A 17-year-old woman spearheaded a petition that attracted more than 5,000 signatures, asking Trader Joe’s to eliminate names that reflect “a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates…

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