The suburbs helped elect Biden. Can they give Democrats the Senate, too?

The suburbs helped elect Biden. Can they give Democrats the Senate, too?

The New York Times reports: President Trump bet his re-election on a very specific vision of the American suburb: a 2020 edition of Mayfield from “Leave It to Beaver” in which residents are white, resent minorities, and prioritize their economic well-being over all other concerns. The bet fell far short. Mr. Trump lost ground with suburban voters across the country. And particularly in Georgia, where rapidly changing demographics have made it the most racially diverse political battleground in the country,…

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Whatever it gets called, Trump really is attempting a coup

Whatever it gets called, Trump really is attempting a coup

Zeynep Tufekci writes: Much debate has ensued about what exactly to call whatever Trump is attempting right now, and about how worried we should be. It’s true, the whole thing seems ludicrous—the incoherent lawsuits, the late-night champagne given to official election canvassers in Trump hotels, the tweets riddled with grammatical errors and weird capitalization. Trump has been broadly acknowledged as “norm shattering” and some have argued that this is just more of his usual bluster, while others have pointed out…

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Is anyone on Earth not an immigrant?

Is anyone on Earth not an immigrant?

Kelly Slivka writes: Human beings tend to be fascinated with their beginnings. Origin stories are found across cultures, religions, ethnicities and nationalities — and they are all deeply important. These stories tell people where they come from, how they fit in and how everyone fits together. One of these stories, of course, is the story of human genes, and it’s a story anyone with human DNA shares. As scientists find more ancient human DNA, sample more modern DNA and develop…

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In 2020, disinformation disseminated by social media, broke America

In 2020, disinformation disseminated by social media, broke America

BuzzFeed reports: Disinformation and its fallout have defined 2020, the year of the infodemic. Month after month, self-serving social media companies have let corrosive manipulators out for dollars, votes, and clicks vie for attention, no matter the damage. After an initial showing of unity as the coronavirus pandemic hit North American shores, people in the US became divided over basic scientific facts about COVID-19. Then, after a horrified country watched George Floyd take his last breaths as a police officer…

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‘Existential peril’: Mass transit faces huge service cuts across U.S.

‘Existential peril’: Mass transit faces huge service cuts across U.S.

The New York Times reports: In Boston, transit officials warned of ending weekend service on the commuter rail and shutting down the city’s ferries. In Washington, weekend and late-night metro service would be eliminated and 19 of the system’s 91 stations would close. In Atlanta, 70 of the city’s 110 bus routes have already been suspended, a move that could become permanent. And in New York City, home to the largest mass transportation system in North America, transit officials have…

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Trump’s Operation Warp Speed promised a flood of covid vaccines. Instead, states are expecting a trickle

Trump’s Operation Warp Speed promised a flood of covid vaccines. Instead, states are expecting a trickle

The Washington Post reports: Federal officials have slashed the amount of coronavirus vaccine they plan to ship to states in December because of constraints on supply, sending local officials into a scramble to adjust vaccination plans and highlighting how early promises of a vast stockpile before the end of 2020 have fallen short. Instead of the delivery of 300 million or so doses of vaccine immediately after emergency-use approval and before the end of 2020 as the Trump administration had…

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How Joe Biden’s digital team tried to tame the MAGA internet

How Joe Biden’s digital team tried to tame the MAGA internet

Kevin Roose writes: Last April, when Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told me that the former vice president’s team planned to use feel-good videos and inspirational memes to beat President Trump in a “battle for the soul of the internet,” my first thought was: Good luck with that. After all, we were talking about the internet, which doesn’t seem to reward anything uplifting or nuanced these days. In addition, Mr. Trump is a digital powerhouse,…

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Sweden ends its deadly libertarian pandemic experiment

Sweden ends its deadly libertarian pandemic experiment

The Wall Street Journal reports: Sweden’s Covid-19 experiment is over. After a late autumn surge in infections led to rising hospitalizations and deaths, the government has abandoned its attempt—unique among Western nations—to combat the pandemic through voluntary measures. Like other Europeans, Swedes are now heading into the winter facing restrictions ranging from a ban on large gatherings to curbs on alcohol sales and school closures—all aimed at preventing the country’s health system from being swamped by patients and capping what…

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Drug reverses age-related mental decline in mice within days

Drug reverses age-related mental decline in mice within days

University of California, San Francisco: Just a few doses of an experimental drug can reverse age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists. The drug, called ISRIB, has already been shown in laboratory studies to restore memory function months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), reverse cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome, prevent noise-related hearing loss, fight certain types of prostate cancer, and even enhance cognition in healthy animals. In the…

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Is the Earth an evolving organism?

Is the Earth an evolving organism?

W Ford Doolittle writes: Many of us, scientists included, harbour contradictory intuitions about Mother Nature. We can see that ecosystems often have an inherent ability to self-stabilise, and we know we wouldn’t be here if the planet hadn’t maintained conditions suitable for life for almost 4 billion years. One reaction is to claim that some Earth-wide equilibrium, though fragile, does exist, and reflects the fact that species have evolved to cooperate with one another. Another is to say that the…

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Arizona Legislature ‘cannot and will not’ overturn election, Republican House speaker says

Arizona Legislature ‘cannot and will not’ overturn election, Republican House speaker says

USA Today reports: Republican Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Rusty Bowers said Friday that pleas from some GOP lawmakers to overturn the results of the state’s presidential election are illegal and “cannot and will not” happen. Republican state Reps. Mark Finchem and Kelly Townsend spent much of the day imploring their fellow legislators on social media to overturn the election results in favor of President Donald Trump. Bowers said such action would be both illegal and inappropriate. “As…

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Trump calls Georgia governor to pressure him for help overturning Biden’s win in the state

Trump calls Georgia governor to pressure him for help overturning Biden’s win in the state

The Washington Post reports: President Trump called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Saturday morning to urge him to persuade the state legislature to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state and asked the governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures, the latest brazen effort by the president to interfere in the 2020 election. Hours before he was scheduled to hold a rally in Georgia on behalf of the state’s two GOP senators, Trump pressed Kemp to…

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‘We’ve lost our moral authority’: Kinzinger unwilling to back off Trump

‘We’ve lost our moral authority’: Kinzinger unwilling to back off Trump

Politico reports: Rep. Adam Kinzinger is sticking around next Congress — and the Illinois Republican isn’t done sticking it to Donald Trump. Kinzinger, fresh off a re-election victory in his conservative district nestled between Chicago and Peoria, has been dialing up his criticism of the president since Nov. 3. The 42-year-old lawmaker has long pushed back on Trump’s foreign policy moves. But with most of the Republican party still paralyzed by Trump’s brazen attempts to overturn the election, Kinzinger is…

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Is ‘natural immunity’ from Covid-19 better than a vaccine?

Is ‘natural immunity’ from Covid-19 better than a vaccine?

The New York Times reports: On the heels of last month’s news of stunning results from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s experimental Covid-19 vaccines, Senator Rand Paul tweeted a provocative comparison. The new vaccines were 90 percent and 94.5 percent effective, Mr. Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said. But “naturally acquired” Covid-19 was even better, at 99.9982 percent effective, he claimed. Mr. Paul is one of many people who, weary of lockdowns and economic losses, have extolled the benefits of contracting the coronavirus….

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