Procrastination study suggests a link to shoulder pain, bad sleep, and more

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Procrastination study suggests a link to shoulder pain, bad sleep, and more University students have a lot of freedom but not much structure. This can be bad for habitual procrastinators. Studies have shown that at least half of university students procrastinate to a level that is potentially harmful to their education. But this may not be the only negative result of putting things off until a later date. Studies have found a link between procrastination and poor health. It is associated with higher levels of stress, unhealthier lifestyles, and delays in seeing a doctor about health problems. Continued here

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4 Things High Achievers Do Differently We’ve all heard the saying, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Yet a recent Gallup study shows that many people are, in fact, not loving their work and are miserable in their jobs, with only 21% of employees engaged at work and 33% thriving in their overall well-being globally. Individually and as a society, we seem to have lost our hope for the future. People want to succeed, but the path to achievement is murky. No one wakes up aiming to be average, but all the messages we receive, consciously and unconsciously, appear to push us to that undistinguishable level. Continued here

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5 ways pressuring young athletes to perform well does them harm When Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed during a Jan. 3, 2022, NFL football game, much of the public attention was on the pressures athletes face to perform despite the perils they face on the field. However, as a scholar who specializes in youth sports, I have found that this pressure often begins well before a player enters the pros – often very early in a young athlete’s life. And sometimes the biggest forces behind this pressure are coaches, peers and parents. Continued here

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Roe Was Never Roe After All Tomorrow will mark 50 years since Roe v. Wade was decided, but the landmark ruling did not make it to its semicentennial, having been overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last summer. Many people viewed this as the end of abortion rights in America. But that’s not what it was. Both practically and theoretically, Roe was never the guarantor of those rights that people believed it to be. The “Roe” that has occupied the center of the abortion debate for decades bears only a passing resemblance to anything the Supreme Court said in 1973. Roe has become much more than a legal text; it’s a cultural symbol created not only by judges but by voters, politicians, and grassroots movements. And the history of America’s fixation on Roe is a story not just about the power of the Supreme Court, but about how the Court alone does not—and should not—dictate what the Constitution says. Continued here

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The Risks of Empowering "Citizen Data Scientists" New tools are enabling organizations to invite and leverage non-data scientists — say, domain data experts, team members very familiar with the business processes, or heads of various business units — to propel their AI efforts. There are advantages to empowering these internal “citizen data scientists,” but also risks. Organizations considering implementing these tools should take five steps: 1) provide ongoing education, 2) provide visibility into similar use cases throughout the organization, 3) create an expert mentor program, 4) have all projects verified by AI experts, and 5) provide resources for inspiration outside your organization. Continued here

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What to Do After Being Laid Off If you’re laid off, the last thing you want to do is send your resume to dozens of companies and pray a recruiter will call you. That’s not a strategy for success. What will make you successful is taking a minimum of 24 hours to process this shocking change to your employment status. Then, do these five things before you update your resume or start looking for a job: 1) Reconfigure your mindset; 2) Write down your accomplishments; 3) Know what you want; 4) Create a job-hunting schedule; 5) Find jobs that look interesting — but don’t apply yet. Continued here

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House Speaker McCarthy's powers are still strong - but he'll be fighting against new rules that could prevent anything from getting done Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is already facing the limits of his power. A single member of the House – from the far-right Freedom Caucus to a progressive on the far left, or any member in between – can threaten his speakership. And at least one Democrat already is promising to do just that. The threat is to use a procedure – the motion to vacate the chair – which is a way of firing the speaker. Its power, though, is not necessarily that a member can successfully use it to oust McCarthy, but that it can be repeatedly used to stall his agenda. Continued here

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Democracies don't just bounce back after dictatorships - Argentina's Oscar contender shows what justice afterward looks like When the director and the star of “Argentina, 1985” stepped on stage to accept a 2023 Golden Globe Award, the title of the film may not have meant much to many Americans in the audience. But for Argentines, 1985 is pivotal: the year leaders of its most recent dictatorship went on trial. Santiago Mitre’s film details the complex judicial process against members of the military junta, which helped secure Argentina’s democratic future after years of repression that killed tens of thousands of people. The story illustrates how justice is built by both top-down and bottom-up forces, as ordinary people’s work for human rights turns them into heroes. Continued here

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What Makes an Effective Executive An effective executive does not need to be a leader in the typical sense of the word. Peter Drucker, the author of more than two dozen HBR articles, says some of the best business and nonprofit CEOs he has worked with over his 65-year consulting career were not stereotypical leaders. They ranged from extroverted to nearly reclusive, from easygoing to controlling, from generous to parsimonious. Continued here

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Power cuts in South Africa: trend to get off the grid is gathering pace, but total independence is still a way off University of Johannesburg provides support as an endorsing partner of The Conversation AFRICA. South Africans have been battered by power shortages for several years. These have worsened to the point that towards the end of 2022 the country’s electricity utility, Eskom, had only half of its power generation capacity operational. Continued here

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Jacinda Ardern's resignation shows that women still face an uphill battle in politics - an expert on female leaders answers 5 key questions New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Jan. 19, 2023, that she will soon resign from office. “I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,” Ardern said. Ardern was 37 when she was elected prime minister in 2017, and is the youngest female head of government to have served in any country. During her tenure, Ardern oversaw the country’s strict COVID-19 response and also dealt with other crises like the Christchurch mosque shooting in 2019. Continued here

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The 15 Best Portable Chargers for All of Your Devices If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED Portable devices have a Murphy’s law–like ability to run out of power at the least convenient moment: as you step on the bus, right in the middle of an important meeting, or just as you get comfortable on the couch and press Play. If you keep a battery-powered portable charger handy, all those situations are a thing of the past. Continued here

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The best Fitbits for swim & fitness tracking, according to Amazon reviewers Most Fitbits are designed to be swim-proof, so they can safely join you while doing laps at the pool or in the ocean. However, when you’re searching for the best Fitbits for swimming, you’ll first want to decide if you want just a fitness tracker or if you’d like smartwatch capabilities as well. Features such as built-in GPS, heart rhythm tracking, and the ability to make and receive Bluetooth calls are what sets the models apart. They also come in a variety of styles and price points, so it’s easy to find the perfect one. Most Fitbits on the market are water-resistant up to 50 meters (164 feet), and they’ll automatically track your swim lengths, distance, duration, and pace. Additionally, many Fitbits have the ability to connect to your phone’s GPS to provide lap and distance readings. However, certain models on this list, including the Versa 3, Sense 2, and Charge 5, have built-in GPS systems that can track these stats without having your phone with you — making them ideal for open-water swimming. Continued here

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What Elon Musk Can Learn from Steve Jobs's Return to Apple Changing the strategic direction of an existing company is among the hardest management challenges out there. Most attempts fail. In trying to remake Twitter, Elon Musk has a daunting task ahead of him. There’s precedent, however, for dramatically reimagining a major tech company: Steve Jobs’ transformation of Apple after he returned to the company in 1997. And it may have important lessons for how Musk — and other leaders — can navigate the period of painful misalignment that comes with strategic change. Namely, how this period requires managers to commit to tough decisions in three areas: product, organization, and stakeholders. Continued here

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It Took Richard Branson a Few Words to Teach the Best Leadership Lesson You Will Hear Today What should be a company's top priority to grow a business? Billionaire Richard Branson has a simple answer. Continued here

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It Took Just 2 Words for Jane Fonda to Give the Best Advice About Making Friends You'll Hear This Year Use it to improve both your business and your personal life. Continued here

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Jacinda Ardern: the 'politics of kindness' is a lasting legacy Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand in 2017, the same year Donald Trump took power in the US. They could not have been more different: in age and sex, in politics, and in style. Where Trump’s brash, shoot-from-the-hip tweets sparked outrage, Ardern’s human and empathetic approach sought to strike a conciliatory tone. Nowhere was this more evident than with her response to the Christchurch terrorist attacks when she said, “they are us”, embracing the immigrant and refugee communities targeted. Ardern showed the power of a different kind of leadership, but what will her legacy be? When we talk about leadership in my gender politics classes at the University of Bath one name above all others comes up in discussions: Jacinda Ardern. Ask my students which inspirational political leaders they see in the world today, and Ardern always tops the polls. Ask if they can remember any of New Zealand’s former prime ministers before her and there’s silence. Continued here

S16

The Bitter Truth Behind Russia’s Looting of Ukrainian Art Kherson’s museums became a microcosm of the grim drama of collaboration and resistance that takes place under occupation. After occupying Kherson for eight months and pledging to keep it forever, Russia’s army abandoned the city in southern Ukraine in November and retreated south and east across the Dnipro River. With them, Russian soldiers took truckloads of cultural treasures looted from the region’s museums. Continued here

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Executive Women and the Myth of Having It All Clearly, women don’t have it all—while men apparently do. And it’s not because successful executive women don’t want kids; most yearn for them. But the brutal demands of ambitious careers, the asymmetries of male-female relationships, and late-in-life child-bearing difficulties conspire against them. Continued here

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Startups, Don't Pin Your Hopes on VC Dry Powder The startup world is currently debating when venture capital investing will return to its pre-2022 heights. The bullish case is that VCs have lots of “dry powder” — capital that’s already been committed. That money will get invested one way or another, the thinking goes. But that’s not the whole story. In fact, VCs may slow their pace of investing and may focus on helping the companies they’ve already backed, making fundraising harder for newer startups. For that reason, startups should reconsider their fundraising strategy and some should consider aiming for profitability sooner than they’d planned. Continued here

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Archaeologists discovered a new papyrus of Egyptian Book of the Dead Archaeologists have confirmed that a papyrus scroll discovered at the Saqquara necropolis site near Cairo last year does indeed contain texts from the Egyptian Book of the Dead—the first time a complete papyrus has been found in a century, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt. The scroll has been dubbed the "Waziri papyrus." It is currently being translated into Arabic. Continued here

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People With High Emotional Intelligence Ask Themselves These 6 Questions to Be Calm, Balanced, and Centered It's all about what they think about emotions and how they handle them. Continued here

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Keep Forgetting Things? Neuroscience Says This Simple Phone Habit Actually Improves Memory "Aapproaching events in our lives with more attention is going to be good for memory." Continued here

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A Grim New Low for Internet Sleuthing In the Idaho murders, the real crime has become a “true crime”—an ominous form of interactive entertainment. On November 13, 2022, four students from the University of Idaho—Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen—were found dead in the house that the latter three rented near campus. Each had been stabbed, seemingly in bed. Two other students lived in the house, and were apparently in their rooms that night; they were unharmed. Continued here

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7 great economists and how their ideas still affect us today Economics has a reputation as “the dismal science” — but at its most elegant and foundational, the discipline can be invaluable, revelatory even. Here, we look at some of the all-time great economists and how their genius uncovered the societal mechanisms that connect all of us. Adam Smith was an 18th century Scottish economist and philosopher. Widely considered “The Father of Economics,” his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is arguably the most influential book in the field’s history. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was rumored to have kept a copy in her handbag. Continued here

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Apple is taking the wraps off the HomePod mini’s secret sensor Apple's smaller smart speaker is gaining the ability to sense temperature, humidity, and more via a software update. The HomePod mini is gaining the features of Apple’s new second-generation HomePod thanks to a software update that should arrive alongside iOS 16.3 later this month. The smaller smart speaker will soon be able to sense temperature and humidity, let you set up smart home automations with just your voice, and detect and identify other sounds in your home. Continued here

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With 'Mandalorian' Season 3, Star Wars is repeating Marvel’s worst sin There’s a sensation that’s totally unique to the 21st century. That feeling of confusion after watching a new Marvel movie because you missed the previous, interconnected movie or show that explains a pivotal plot point. If the Germans had a word for it, it might be: whoiskangsyndrome. But as Marvel’s influence continues to bleed into the rest of pop culture, we need to come up with an actual term for the confusion some people felt after watching the new trailer for The Mandalorian Season 3. Continued here

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Why eating at work is important - even the odd slice of cake When England’s Food Standards Agency boss Susan Jebb recently compared eating cake at work to passive smoking, office cubicle walls across the land quivered. She told The Times: If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them. Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub. Continued here

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'Genshin Impact' Yaoyao build: Best weapons, artifacts, and team comps Want to play with Yaoyao? The Adepti disciple, who leaked as a playable character two years ago, finally debuts in the annual Lantern Rite festival featured in Genshin Impact 3.4. She’s also one of the few Dendro characters to release since the element arrived with Sumeru in Genshin Impact 3.0. Numerous players are likely to have Yaoyao, considering she’s one of the 4-stars featured in the latest banners. Those who decide to build her will need to know how to optimize her for Dendro teams that need support. Continued here

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'The Last of Us' is the exception to the video game curse, not the cure One of the most striking things about the first episode of The Last of Us is how faithful it is to the game it’s based on. The series, which is set primarily 20 years after a human-borne fungal infection has decimated the human population, follows the plot of the game with the kind of faith typically reserved for the deeply religious. Although the show starts with a wholly invented scene, it then shifts very quickly into a prologue ripped right from the start of the game. And, perhaps more to the point, the prologue is dramatically compelling in a way that most video game adaptations are not. As many have already noted, The Last of Us seems like it could finally break the curse of terrible video game adaptations. In fact, it could prove to be one of the year’s great shows. That’s in large part because this show has an advantage that most video game adaptations don’t: The Last of Us was already a lot like a TV show. Continued here

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How to Promote Yourself Without Looking Like a Jerk Self-promotion can be uncomfortable for many people. That’s certainly true for foreign professionals in America, who have to navigate different cultural mores in the most bullish nation on earth when it comes to personal branding. But even for many Americans, it’s a tricky prospect: how can you ensure that your talent is recognized without alienating your colleagues and looking like a jerk? Continued here

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The Biggest US Surveillance Program You Didn't Know About Do you know where tonight's pork chop dinner came from? You might not like the answer.  This week, we 22revealed the first-ever footage recorded in a US meatpacking plant of a CO2 "stunning chamber" used in the butchering of pigs. The footage was captured at a facility in California by an activist with the group Direct Action Everywhere using infrared pinhole spy cameras that are smaller than a coin. The goal of the covert surveillance mission was to prove that this supposedly "painless" form of killing is illegal and inhumane.  Continued here

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How do you vaccinate a honeybee? 6 questions answered about a new tool for protecting pollinators Honeybees, which pollinate one-third of the crops Americans eat, face many threats, including infectious diseases. On Jan. 4, 2023, a Georgia biotechnology company called Dalan Animal Health announced that it had received a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a vaccine designed to protect honeybees against American foulbrood, a highly destructive infection. The new bee vaccine, Paenibacillus Larvae Bacterin, aims to protect honeybees from American foulbrood. This highly destructive bacterial disease gets its name from the foul scent honeybee larvae exude when infected. Continued here

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Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy a Laptop Buying a laptop is an exercise in confusion. Even if you know what everything means and know exactly what you want, finding it can be difficult. Heck, just navigating the manufacturers' websites to locate the model you want is frustrating. We hope this guide will help you navigate the morass of modern laptops. Below is a section on every major component you'll want to know about when you browse for your next PC. We break down the jargon and try to explain things on a practical level. Continued here

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Pompeii's House of the Vettii reopens: a reminder that Roman sexuality was far more complex than simply gay or straight As Pompeii’s House of the Vettii finally reopens after a long process of restoration, news outlets appear to be struggling with how to report on the Roman sex cultures so well recorded in the ruins of the city. The Metro opened with the headline “Lavish Pompeii home that doubled as a brothel has some interesting wall art”, while the Guardian highlighted the fresco of Priapus, the god of fertility (depicted weighing his oversized penis on a scale with bags of coins) as well as the erotic frescoes found next to the kitchen. Continued here

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'Persona 5's best party member comes from a surprising spinoff The main narrative conceit of the Persona series has always been a group of teenagers against the world, using an adolescent protagonist to explore weighty topics like society’s power structures and inequality. While teenage heroes are absolutely an overdone trope in JRPGs, Persona always finds a way to elevate its teenage heroes. The main party of Persona 5 is all incredibly well-written, but the most thematically interesting party member actually comes from the action-focused spinoff, Persona 5 Strikers. Zenkichi Hasegawa is a police inspector turned Phantom Thief, and he might be the most interesting character the series has ever created. If you’re unfamiliar with Strikers, it takes place four months after the events of Persona 5, with the protagonist traveling back to Tokyo to spend his summer vacation with the Phantom Thieves. While planning a trip across the country, the group ends up smack dab in the Metaverse yet again, and has to put their vacation on hold to save society. Continued here

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Public Programs Are Only as Good as Their Data Data scientists will have a bumper year in 2023 as governments invest heavily in applying AI and algorithms to public policy. The European Commission has committed €1.3 billion ($1.38 billion) to research and innovation under the Digital Europe Programme. The UK government is funding £117 million ($143.6 million) for PhDs in AI, and it’s already on the second year of its 10-year plan to “make Britain a global AI superpower.” Examples of ongoing initiatives include the National Health Service’s use of AI to identify abnormalities in CT scans and the Department for Work and Pensions’ efforts to detect fraud in universal credit applications.  This story is from the WIRED World in 2023, our annual trends briefing. Read more stories from the series here—or download or order a copy of the magazine. Continued here

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7 Reasons Salespeople Don't Close the Deal When you ask B2B buyers about the skills of the salespeople who call on them, they rate two-thirds of reps as either average or poor performers. New research highlights seven reasons these salespeople garner low ratings, including inability to communicate with top management, appearing self-centered, inability to explain how the client benefits from the sale, and trouble building personal rapport with the buyer. Understanding these weaknesses can help sales reps improve. Continued here

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Is Jason Momoa playing Lobo? The Aquaman actor drops a huge DC clue In an Instagram story posted on his official account, actor Jason Momoa teased good news following a meeting at Warner Bros. and DC Studios, the latter overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran. In a selfie video with two building security guards, Jason Momoa exits the Warner offices in jubilation, telling his fans he has “some really good news” that he’s not yet at liberty to share. Continued here

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'Persona 4 Golden' true ending guide: All requirements and choices to unlock Persona 4 Golden is finally escaping its PlayStation Vita prison with a release on all modern consoles, and as is customary for the stylish RPG series, there’s a variety of endings to get based on the choices you make. The original Persona 4 already had a “True” ending, but Persona 4 Golden adds even more content and another ending known as the “Golden” ending. As you might expect, this ending reveals everything about the events in Inaba, and has plenty of new moments and content for the Investigation Team. With that in mind, we’ll walk you through each step necessary to get the True and Golden endings. Warning: Late game spoilers ahead for Persona 4 Golden. If you’re playing for the first time and haven’t discovered the villain’s identity, come back later! Continued here

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South Carolina's execution by firing squad: The last reenactment of the Civil War? Mark M. Smith is affiliated with Justice 360. I served as an expert witness for the organization and submitted an affidavit in a case heard by the SC Supreme Court. Americans have an appetite for reenacting the past, especially the battles of the U.S. Civil War, which took place from 1861 to 1865. Every year, in an effort to relive something of the nation’s bloodiest war, thousands don blue and gray uniforms and gather on fields where the distant echoes of war have since faded. Continued here

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The weekend's best deals: The newest MacBook Pros, Kindle Kids, iPad Air, and more. It's the weekend, and that means another Dealmaster. In this week's roundup of the best tech deals on the web, we have Fire HD and Kindle tablets from Amazon, some solidly-discounted computer peripherals, and even Apple's just-announced MacBook Pros have a price cut. Continued here

S29

All politicians must lie from time to time, so why is there so much outrage about George Santos? A political philosopher explains The idea that politicians are dishonest is, at this point, something of a cliché – although few have taken their dishonesty as far as George Santos, U.S. representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, who seems to have lied about his education, work history, charitable activity, athletic prowess and even his place of residence. Santos may be exceptional in how many lies he has told, but politicians seeking election have incentives to tell voters what they want to hear – and there is some empirical evidence that a willingness to lie may be helpful in the process of getting elected. Continued here

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You need to watch the most underappreciated sci-fi remake on HBO Max ASAP Thoughtful, moody, and almost impossible to advertise, this overlooked remake deserves reappraisal. It’s easier than ever to watch foreign films — which has made it easier than ever to raise the question of why these films are being remade for a supposed subset of the North American market that loves critically acclaimed fare but refuses to strain their precious eyes on subtitles. The 2020 announcement of a Parasite remake prompted a wave of haranguing opinion pieces, like Esquire’s argument that the proposal “panders to audiences that are too lazy to do a bit of reading.” (The project has since been reframed as an original series set in, apparently, the Parasite Cinematic Universe.) Continued here

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How to Manage Your Time: Our Favorite Reads I was recently asked by a friend (let’s call her Alex) if I’d rather have more money or time. “What am I going to do with all the money if I don’t have time to spend it on things that bring me joy, like doing this pottery class with you?” I said. My answer didn’t seem to surprise her. Continued here

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Before He Died, David Crosby Left Behind a Valuable Lesson About Choosing Who You Work With With Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young "We were trying to beat each other the whole time." Continued here

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Where is everybody? A new hope for solving the Fermi Paradox After decades of planning, construction has finally begun on the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be the world’s largest radio astronomy observatory when it is completed in 2028. The final version of the SKA will use thousands of dishes and up to one million low-frequency antennas located in South Africa and Australia to study the sky at radio wavelengths. It also will be a valuable new tool for SETI, because it will have enough sensitivity to intercept potential alien transmissions at large distances. Its search space will include many exoplanetary systems, some of which will be habitable. A subset of those may contain life, possibly even intelligent life. For that reason, the SKA raises our hopes of finding an explanation for what’s often called the Great Silence. Also known as the Fermi Paradox, this refers to the puzzling observation that we have as yet seen no clear evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life, despite the vast number of stars out there and the expectation that most of them have planets and moons. (And no, even though the number of UAP sightings has increased, the U.S. government still hasn’t found proof for alien spacecraft on Earth.) Continued here

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5 Questions to Ask When Starting a New Job The actions you take during your first few months in a new job have a major impact on your success or failure. The biggest challenge leaders face during these periods is staying focused on the right things. So it helps to have a set of questions to guide you. Here are the five most important ones to ask…and to keep on asking on a regular basis: How will I create value? How am I expected to behave? Whose support is critical? How will I get some early wins? What skills do I need to develop to excel in this role? Set aside 30 minutes at the end of each week to reflect on these questions and whether the answers are still clear or have changed in any way. Continued here

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In A Leaked Email to Tesla Employees, Elon Musk Taught a Masterclass In Productivity   Musk may not be the poster boy for positive employee communication, but he occasionally delivers good advice. Continued here

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How the 'tripledemic' is restricting cold and flu medicine supplies - and what to do if you're affected This winter has been one of the worst on record for the NHS. Ambulance and A&E waiting times are at all-time highs, and many are struggling to access emergency treatment. Patients are now reporting difficulties accessing certain over-the-counter medicines used to treat colds and flu from pharmacies and high-street outlets. While medicine shortages have been a common phenomenon in previous years, they have often been the result of supply chain issues due to global events, such as the pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But these aren’t the same reasons people are reporting when experiencing shortages of non-prescription, over-the-counter products. Continued here

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Football club collapses in lower leagues: how to avoid them for the good of the community The future of Southend United Football Club hangs in the balance. A petition by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to have the club wound up over unpaid tax liabilities has just been adjourned by the high court until March. The court had previously granted one stay of execution from November to January, but agreed another after being persuaded by lawyers for the fifth-tier club that it may yet clear its debts. It comes shortly after Scunthorpe United, another club from the same division, received a similar winding-up petition earlier this month. Both clubs are around 120 years old and were in recent times playing football in the Championship, English football’s second tier: Southend in 2007 and Scunthorpe in 2013. Continued here

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New killer CRISPR system is unlike any scientists have seen A unique CRISPR system that destroys infected cells is unlike anything scientists have ever seen before — and it could revolutionize how we use the powerful gene editing technology in the future. CRISPR 101: While bacteria can infect humans, they can also be infected — a virus can inject its DNA in a bacterial cell and then use the cell like a virus factory, creating more and more copies of itself inside the cell until it bursts. Continued here

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The Immortal David Crosby “We’re going to do kind of a science-fiction story, if you’ll bear with us,” David Crosby said on August 18, 1969, as his band Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young began playing their song “Wooden Ships” at Woodstock. Crosby, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist who died on Wednesday at the age of 81, was never a typical hippie, despite being one of the movement’s founders and figureheads. Yet the band’s Woodstock performance of “Wooden Ships” is a perfect example of his sweeping, singular, sci-fi-driven vision. To him, the counterculture of the ’60s was more than a protest movement or a bohemian aesthetic; it was a vehicle for probing the reaches of being human. While many anthems of the hippie era painted pictures of folksy peace—including CSNY’s own “Teach Your Children” and “Our House,” both written by Graham Nash—“Wooden Ships” is an outright downer, a dark account of the apocalypse. Still, it soars with cautious hope, its titular ship sailing either the sea or outer space. Continued here

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Volvo is bringing minivans into the EV equation The Volvo minivan may only be coming to China for the time being, but it would likely do very well in the U.S. There’s a distinct lack of fully electric minivan options out there right now, but Volvo may be changing that. Volvo announced at a media briefing that it’s planning to launch its first electric minivan in the Chinese market. Continued here

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How artificial intelligence is helping us decode animal languages For years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning has been used to analyze and translate human languages. This field of research has helped expand human communication channels as well as led to new language-based technologies like advanced chatbots and voice command smart devices.  Today, AI is being used to study animal communication, with researchers aiming to decipher animal languages in support of conservation and sustainability efforts. Continued here

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Watching Films While Face-Blind © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

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'Last of Us' co-creator calls out a shameful games industry trend HBO’s prestige adaptation of the medium-defining game The Last of Us is as good as its source material. With the game’s original writer Neil Druckmann co-creating the project, it had a deference to the game while meaningfully building upon the world the story of Joel and Ellie takes place. However, one name that is conspicuously absent in the new show is Bruce Straley, co-director of the original game. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Straley speaks on the absence and how it speaks to a larger problem facing the games industry: giving due credit to the people who make games. Credit where credit is due — Those who watch the credits of The Last of Us may be surprised that one of the co-creators of the source material is nowhere to be found. Bruce Straley, that very co-creator, is amongst those people. Continued here

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Examining Biden’s Second Year, and Tax Avoidance for the Rich President Biden has faced remarkable challenges in his first two years in office, from the overturning of the national right to abortion and the management of the U.S.'s COVID response to the invasion of Ukraine. The staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos gather for their weekly conversation to look at what the Biden White House has accomplished in the past two years, and what the forty-sixth President can hope to achieve before 2024. Plus, the roundtable talks about the political implications of "The Getty Family's Trust Issues," Osnos's latest article, which explores how the ultra-wealthy avoid paying taxes. © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

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Entrepreneurs, Is a Venture Studio Right for You? Startup founders often look to incubators and accelerators to help them find product/market fit and raise initial capital. But there’s another option for entrepreneurial founders who want to go out on their own but maybe lack the right idea or team. Venture studios don’t fund an existing idea — they incubate their own ideas, build a minimum viable product, find product/market fit and early customers, and then recruit entrepreneurial founders to run and scale the business. Examples of companies that have emerged from venture studios include Overture, Twilio, Taboola, Bitly, Aircall, and the most famous alum, Moderna. However, in exchange for de-risking much of the early-stage startup process, venture studios take anywhere from 30% to 80% of a startup’s equity. The author explains how venture studios work, why they might be an attractive option for some entrepreneurs, and what questions to ask if you’re considering joining one. Continued here

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Surprise 'Invincible' Season 2 trailer reveals late 2023 premiere Season 2 is coming later this year, and Mark apparently has another huge fight in front of him. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible comic book series, the Amazon adaptation chose the comic’s birthday — January 22 — to announce the premiere window of Season 2. The “trailer” makes a case for just how complicated animation can be, which explains why it’s taken so long for more Invincible to arrive. But in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, it shows a script page containing an epic showdown between Mark and the Immortal (Ross Marquand). Continued here

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Cornwall space launch: why the environmental cost of rocket launches is large even when they fail A recent UK mission to launch satellites into space from Spaceport Cornwall in the west of England failed to deliver the satellites to orbit. But the rocket, LauncherOne, succeeded in releasing hazardous pollutants to the middle and upper layers of the atmosphere where many will remain for years. The mission kickstarted a new era of UK-based rocket launches and is part of the space sector’s global growth. The number of launches increased steeply from 102 in 2019 to a record 178 in 2022. This growth is expected to continue. For example, US stock exchange Nasdaq has forecast the sector will be worth US$1.4 trillion (£1.1 trillion) by 2030. Continued here

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You need to watch Jeff Goldblum's most underrated sci-fi movie on HBO Max ASAP The Jurassic World movies are so bad they’ve retroactively tanked the reputation of the one good follow-up. You can’t beat Jurassic Park. The 1993 sci-fi blockbuster about cloned dinosaurs running amok in a failed island amusement park is brilliant. Spielberg’s film changed the direction of visual effects in movies, and the perfect cast created an instant classic. But the franchise is often thought of as a case of diminishing returns, with no other film in the six-movie series holding a candle to the original. Continued here

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Tigers in South Africa: a farming industry exists - often for their body parts A tiger escaped from a residence and roamed the countryside outside Johannesburg, South Africa, for four days this month. It attacked a man and killed several animals, and was eventually shot by the authorities. Tigers aren’t native to South Africa and are considered an alien species. Its escape highlights the country’s controversial commercial captive breeding industry and the key role South Africa plays in the international big cat trade. Tigers are being intensively farmed for tourism, hunting, and commercial trade in live individuals and in their body parts. Moina Spooner, assistant editor at The Conversation Africa, asked Neil D'Cruze and Angie Elwin to share their insights into the industry. Continued here

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Peru protests: What to know about Indigenous-led movement shaking the crisis-hit country Peru is in the midst of a political and civil crisis. Weeks of protest have culminated in thousands descending on the capital amid violent clashes and running battles with police. Triggered by the recent removal from power of former leader Pedro Castillo, the protests have exposed deep divisions within the country and are being encouraged by a confluence of internal factors and external agitators. Continued here

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A Local Paper Sounded the Alarm on George Santos. Nobody Listened Most Americans learned about Representative George Santos’s pattern of extraordinary fabrications in a New York Times report after he won election to Congress, but a local newspaper called the North Shore Leader had sounded the alarm months earlier. The New Yorker staff writer Clare Malone took a trip to Long Island to find out how the story began. “We heard story after story after story about him doing bizarre things,” the Leader’s publisher, Grant Lally, says. “Santos would tell one lie to one person, another lie to another person, and we would hear from both of those people, [and] compare notes.” Plus, the staff writer Michael Schulman discusses why the Academy Awards remain relevant; and we visit the ninety-four-year-old Broadway composer Charles Strouse, who is preparing his archive for the Library of Congress. Strouse’s music for “Annie” made it the gateway drug into musical theatre for generations of kids. Clare Malone speaks with the publisher and the managing editor of the North Shore Leader, the local newspaper that first exposed George Santos’s lies. Why was he elected anyway? Continued here

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Speaker Kevin McCarthy: how backroom deals have put controversial Republicans into key roles When California Representative Kevin McCarthy finally earned the speaker’s gavel earlier this month after an unprecedented 15 rounds of votes on the House floor, it required a slew of backdoor deals. McCarthy was tight-lipped about all the concessions he had to make to win. But now with his doling out of all-important committee assignments, the details of that horse-trading are rapidly coming into view. The hotly contested assignments involve two of the most radioactive Republicans on Capitol Hill. New York Representative George Santos has been tapped for the House small business and science committees, and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for the House homeland security committee. Both backed McCarthy’s speaker bid from the outset. But there’s plenty of speculation that their support hinged on receiving choice appointments. Continued here

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Could Ultrasound Replace the Stethoscope? The patient, a man in his early twenties, hobbled into the E.R. on a Wednesday morning, anxious and gasping, his shirt covered in blood. Minneapolis in the nineteen-eighties was experiencing an increase in violent crime that would later earn it the nickname Murderapolis; at Hennepin County Medical Center, the city’s safety-net hospital, stabbings and gunshot wounds had become commonplace. Doctors there had treated dozens of patients with wounds to the chest, and the outcomes had been dismal: roughly half had died, and many survivors suffered brain damage. The chest contains the heart, the lungs, and the body’s largest blood vessels. The challenge for a doctor is figuring out which, if any, organs have been injured, since each must be treated differently. For decades, medical texts had advocated using a stethoscope for this task: in theory, doctors could use a patient’s breath pattern to detect a collapsed lung, or hear the muffled sounds of a heart filling with blood. But in reality the stethoscope performed poorly in the emergency room. It was dangerous to just treat and hope for the best: by acting without a clear diagnosis, a doctor could harm or even kill a patient, who might turn out to have only a superficial injury. Continued here

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Samuel Fosso’s Century in Selfies It often takes a few moments to recognize Samuel Fosso in his self-portraits. He's a picture of otherworldly piety as the first Black Pope, stepping on a space rock as though ready to catechize the cosmos. (It's a cheeky allusion to Maurizio Cattelan's controversial sculpture of a meteorite striking John Paul II.) Then, suddenly, he's late-sixties Angela Davis, throwing dialectical side-eye from beneath her world-historical fro. The makeup and costumes are immaculate—in the first image, Fosso wears genuine vestments from the papacy's official tailor—but the real force of his photos lies in their author's remarkable absorption, as much a giveaway as his hypnotic stare and pronounced Cupid's-bow lips. "When I work, it's always a performance that I choose to undertake," he once said in an interview. "It's not a subject or an object; it's one more human being." In "Affirmative Acts," his first museum survey in the United States, Fosso reënacts the modern history of Africa and its diaspora in the form of a one-man masquerade. The exhibition—insightfully curated by the Princeton art historian Chika Okeke-Agulu and his students at the university art museum's interim space Art on Hulfish—is an overdue introduction to one of photography's most versatile performers. Fosso is best known for stylized caricatures like "The Chief Who Sold Africa to the Colonists" (1997), a sendup of dictator chic in which he appears draped in leopard skins and gold jewelry, clutching a scepter of sunflowers that grows from a purse. (A nearby pair of crimson loafers matches his bloody fingernails.) More recently, he's lampooned China's ambitions on the continent, puckishly adapting official portraits of Chairman Mao for a series called "Emperor of Africa." Satire, though, is only an aspect of his endlessly self-regarding yet surprisingly selfless practice, whose pageantry is counterbalanced by more visceral reflections on the body's vulnerability amid war and exile. Continued here

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Highlights from the Under the Radar Theatre Festival Trying to see every play in January is a fool’s errand. The various experimental-theatre festivals all happen at once. Even if you run from pillar to post, you’ll miss something—some dreamy chamber opera, or thoughtful monologue, or naughty drag cabaret that mashes up Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” with the Smiths’ album “The Queen Is Dead.” (Salty Brine’s punchy little sparkler at Joe’s Pub, “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” plays through January 20th.) Under the Radar alone contains more than two dozen offerings, from pieces that are still in development to robust touring productions. All you can really do is fling yourself into the maelstrom and hope that when the waves wash you to shore you’re still clinging to some shred of meaning. The New Yorker’s co-theatre critic, Vinson Cunningham, and I chatted recently about four shows that we both saw. All were projects that explored forms of instability: the shakiness of history, of human endeavors, and of time itself. We talked, and sometimes disagreed, about the artists’ tactics, but the four pieces each led us back to similar preoccupations with language, with intelligibility, with the performer’s voice, and with what lies beyond our comprehension. —Helen Shaw Continued here