Devastating to hear about Daniel C. Dennett today. The world feels like a less interesting, less kind, and less enlightened place without him in it.

A wonderful piece on what we would say if we could talk to whales.
www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Enormous deposits of ice found on Mars.
www.space.com/mars-water-i...

Hannah Arendt would not qualify for the Hannah Arendt prize in Germany today | Samantha Hill The irony of Masha Gessen almost not being awarded the prize because of their writings on Gaza is almost too thick to cut

The irony of Gessen's award ceremony for the Hannah Arendt prize being cancelled.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Supreme Court Rules Anyone Who Had Abortion Under Roe Must Be Re-Impregnated WASHINGTON—In a controversial 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that any American who underwent a legal abortion under Roe v. Wade must now be re-impregnated. “Any U.S. citizen who term...

"My colleagues and I have pored over the precedent texts and ultimately determined that having an empty womb does not number among the rights detailed in the U.S. Constitution."

‘The Onion’ Stands With Israel Because It Seems Like You Get In Less Trouble For That The past week has shown humanity at its worst: A horrific terrorist attack left at least 1,300 Israelis dead, among them peace activists and even innocent children. The fates of many more kidnapped ...

Let us be clear: This is a fraught moment, and one that has polarized not only Americans but people all over the world. It demands incredible sensitivity and strict adherence to journalistic standards of objectivity, and simply put, that is something we aren’t willing to do.

1. Imagine we land a space probe on one of Jupiters’ moons, take up a sample of material, and find it is full of organic molecules. How can we tell whether those molecules are just randomly assembled goo or the outcome of some evolutionary process taking place there? 🧪

Advancements in the study of AI are occurring at an incredible rate.
www.anthropic.com/index/decomp...

Google's 'Promptbreeder' automates prompt generation for AI models.
arxiv.org/abs/2309.16797

Incredible JWST shot of a young star throwing an epic tantrum If I belched out gas half a light-year long I doubt it would be so pretty

Perhaps you, as I do, sometimes need a jaw-dropping JWST pic of a baby star throwing a *half-light-year-long* tantrum.

Oh, with explanations of what you're seeing too, because that's kinda my thing.

badastronomy.substack.com/p/incredible...

🔭 🧪

GREAT NEWS! From the latest JAXA briefing: Solar panels deployed, nominal voltage seen, sun acquired, initializing thrusters and reaction wheels.

XRISM LAUNCH SUCCESS!!! Congratulations JAXA

Dawkins on the warped language of dishonest activism.
www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/freedom-...