Here’s the story of how the Big Bang’s fifth and final great prediction was confirmed.
…As time went forward ((from the instant of the Big Bang)), the Universe would cool, expand, and gravitate all together. First atomic nuclei would form from protons and neutrons, then neutral atoms would form, and then gravitation would lead to stars, galaxies, and the grand structures of the cosmic web. These leftover relics — the light elements formed in the Big Bang, the relic photons from the primordial plasma, and the large-scale structure of the Universe — would, along with the cosmic expansion of the Universe, form the four modern cornerstones of the Big Bang.
But remaining from an even earlier epoch, a fifth cornerstone should exist as well. There would be an early signal left over from when the Universe was just one second old: a bath of neutrinos and antineutrinos. Known as the cosmic neutrino background (CNB), it was theorized generations ago but was dismissed throughout the 20th century as being fundamentally undetectable.
River otters have staged a remarkable comeback across North America’s Great Lakes after disappearing from many waterways by the 1970s. Reintroductions beginning in the 1980s, combined with wetland restoration and pollution controls under the 1972 US–Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, have allowed breeding populations to recover across Ohio, New York, Ontario and beyond. As apex predators, their return signals cleaner water and healthier ecosystems. Rewilding Magazine
Sweden cuts shootings by 63% after policing overhaul. Gun violence in Sweden has dropped sharply since peaking in 2022, with shooting incidents falling to 147 in 2025, down from the 390 recorded three years earlier. Authorities attribute the shift to expanded surveillance powers, tougher sentencing and new police tactics targeting criminal networks, which have also improved asset seizures and disruption of gang operations. Reuters
If it’s possible in Sweden (in just three years), maybe it’s possible here…
And an image from my collection. People’s profile pictures on dating sites often include other people; for privacy, many people will “scratch out” the faces of the others:
Tips on safely using your Constitutional rights to free speech in the face of authoritarian tactics. Summarized:
After Alex Pretti was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis, eyewitness cellphone videos became a powerful tool to contradict the Trump administration’s version of what had happened.
The Trump administration called Pretti “an assassin,” but videos show Pretti helping a protester who got pepper sprayed before he is pinned to the ground and shot. The Department of Homeland Security initially alleged in a statement that Pretti approached officers with a handgun, which is not supported by publicly available videos that show him clearly holding a cellphone when officers approached him.
People have the right to record law enforcement in public spaces under the First Amendment, but federal government officials have denounced people who do so. Last year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that videotaping agents when they are out on operations is “violence.”
“There’s no guaranteed safe way to record ICE right now,” explained David Huerta, senior digital security trainer at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “There are ways to at least do so with as many safety measures as one could put in place.”
1. Before Filming, Prepare Yourself And Your Phone.
Burner phone, strong password, updated OS, and “Do this kind of activity with neighbors on your block or in pairs.”
2. While Filming, Narrate What You See For Verification Later.
“Make sure to mention the time, the date and an approximate location…” ((many details under the acronym “SALUTE”))
3. While Filming, Remember You’re There To Document.
Nathan-Pineau said she doesn’t encourage people to follow ICE officers back to their house.
4. While Filming, Ask The Person Being Arrested If They Want To Share Contact Info.
5. Focus Camera On Agents, Not People Being Detained.
If you do capture a person’s face, Nathan-Pineau advises against immediately sharing that video without obscuring the detained person’s face in some way.
6. Preserve Footage If Your Phone Gets Taken.
If you believe your phone is about to be seized by an officer, hit the stop button on the recording and turn the phone completely off. This “is probably the best protection, because then it’s in a fully encrypted state at that point,” Huerta said.
7. After Filming, Don’t Edit Your File.
(…)
After a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good in her car in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz asked residents to “carry your phone with you at all times” and “hit record” when they see ICE agents in neighborhoods.
“Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution,” he said.
Good news from Fix the News (info on dengue, AKA “breakbone disease” because of the great pain that some victims suffer):
Singapore demonstrates that specially-bred mosquitos can keep dengue suppressed at city-scale. Wolbachia is a bacterium that lives in many insects; when scientists breed male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with it, those males don’t bite, and when they mate with wild females the eggs don’t hatch.In a 24 month trial across 15 residential areas in Singapore, this approach slashed wild female mosquitoes by around three‑quarters and reduced symptomatic dengue risk by roughly 70%.Medical Xpress
Many economists insist that this will all be fine. Capitalism is resilient. The arrival of the ATM famously led to the employment of more bank tellers, just as the introduction of Excel swelled the ranks of accountants and Photoshop spiked demand for graphic designers. In each case, new tech automated old tasks, increased productivity, and created jobs with higher wages than anyone could have conceived of before. The BLS projects that employment will grow 3.1 percent over the next 10 years. That’s down from 13 percent in the previous decade, but 5 million new jobs in a country with a stable population is hardly catastrophic.
And yet: There are things that economists struggle to measure. Americans tend to derive meaning and identity from what they do. Most don’t want to do something else, even if they had any confidence—which they don’t—that they could find something else to do. Seventy-one percent of respondents to an August Reuters/Ipsos poll said they’re worried that artificial intelligence will “put too many people out of work permanently.”
A detailed account of what’s happened in the past, whether it will apply to this very different new technology, and what the numbers show (briefly, it’s too soon to tell)…
Acemoglu, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024, studies inequality; Autor focuses on labor. But both insist that the story of AI and its consequences will depend mostly on speed—not because they assume lost jobs will automatically be replaced, but because a slower rate of change leaves societies time to adapt, even if some of those jobs never come back.
AI reads brain MRIs in seconds and flags emergencies. Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed an AI system that can analyse scans in seconds, identifying neurological conditions with up to 97.5% accuracy while also triaging urgency. Tested on over 30,000 MRI scans, the model flags strokes and haemorrhages for immediate attention, offering a potential fix for radiology backlogs and delayed diagnoses as MRI demand outpaces specialist capacity. Science Daily
In the past several years, CPAPs have become all the rage. (I use one myself.) It’s important to get sleep apnea treated, because it can lead to health problems:
Within a few years of starting CPAP, about 50% of patients use it too infrequently or stop completely. Left untreated, sleep apnea contributes to serious health issues including heart disease, strokes, and diabetes.
Some people have sleep apnea for different reasons:
Sometimes airways are obstructed at least partly due to certain facial and oral structures, like a recessed jaw or large tongue, that make it harder for CPAP alone to open the airway enough, even if the mask fits well, Motz says. Less common than obstructive sleep apnea is another form called central sleep apnea, in which breathing muscles aren’t active enough. For these patients, CPAP may not help as much.
Ways to improve your CPAP usage? Often it’s getting a mask that fits properly:
Nose-only masks are generally most effective, but masks that extend over the mouth can benefit those who struggle with nasal breathing… Accessories can make CPAPs more usable, such as snug cushion covers and stands that hold the CPAP hose above the head and out of the way. A chin strap to keep the mouth closed is another strategy shown to improve tolerance for CPAP.
Another approach is working with a cognitive behavioral therapist to address insomnia symptoms, claustrophobia, or anxiety posed by CPAP.
Lifestyle behaviors can help right now. For many people, reducing weight through exercise and healthy nutrition is a powerful strategy to counter sleep apnea. “If your weight goes up, you’re fighting an uphill battle,” Motz says. Dropping 10-15% can reduce sleep apnea severity by about 50%.
India has expanded rural tap water access from 16.7% of the population in 2019 to 81% in 2026 ((that’s seven years!)), connecting 125 million rural households to clean, running water. In sheer numbers, this is the biggest, fastest, and most important sanitation drive in human history. Why has it not been more widely reported? PIB Delhi
The website NotAlwaysRight.com has listed its 25 highest-rated inspirational stories of 2025: small interactions with people that turned out really nice. Some of the titles:
Bogotá’s care blocks are buying women their time back. Colombia’s capital is home to eight million people, and 1.2 million women who do more than ten hours a day of unpaid care. Since 2020 though, the city has opened 25 neighbourhood hubs where caregivers can drop off children or elderly relatives, do the laundry, then use free legal aid, training or mental-health support – or just sit down and read a book. The model is now spreading to Sierra Leone, Mexico and (soon) the United States. Vox
“A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” (the open letter to the World Economic Forum in Davos) reads. “What we treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing the gulf between their vast power and everyone else.
“We all know this. When even millionaires, like us, recognise that extreme wealth has cost everyone else everything else, there can be no doubt that society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice.”
Poland moves to recognise same-sex couples. Poland’s government has approved a bill introducing “cohabitation contracts” for couples living together regardless of gender – its first nationwide legal recognition of queer relationships. The bill, which covers health, housing and tax rights, stops short of marriage, but activists say it’s the only one with a real shot of passing in the current parliament. Reuter
We all lose things occasionally. Here are some techniques for finding them again (the entire article with some slight cuts):
What to do if you’ve lost a wallet
Look up your last credit card transaction, and then go to the place where you last spent the money and look around there.
Watch things fall as you drop them
I have trained myself to watch things fall when I drop them. If you watch a small screw fall and see where it lands and bounces, you will have no trouble finding it. If you just look at the place where the screw was supposed to go and growl and curse, expect to have trouble finding it.
Don’t ever put it in a “special place”
The worst possible thing to do is to place something of value in a “special place” that is “easy to remember” for “safekeeping.” Ha! Definitely not recommended.
Use a flashlight
I find a flashlight to be a useful search aid, day or night. The beam forces me to focus on a limited area. It helps me see, instead of just looking. Held near the floor, it makes things shine.
A girlfriend once lost her contact outdoors, in a driveway, with snow on the ground. I waited until after dark and then quickly found the contact in a snow pile at the edge of the street.
Start cleaning
My mother taught me this tip: When you cannot find something, clean up and you will find it. I often find the item when I’m picking up something to put it back in its proper place.
Check favorite hangout spots
Go to the places you hang out most and look there first. Do you have a favorite place you sit on the sofa? Look through the cushions and under and behind the sofa. Do you hang out on the patio? Look in between seats and chairs or on tables outdoors.
Make a mental note of something you’re likely to lose
I make a mental note when I put something down — like my keys, glasses or phone — in a place I do not usually put it. It is akin to underlining or highlighting something in writing to help make it easier to remember.
Come back to it
Take a break from looking for your missing object and relax or do something else. Without worrying and fussing, your brain will quietly surprise you with a stored memory that will suddenly pop into your consciousness and lead you to the missing object.
Look carefully in the most obvious place
Look in the most likely place it should be. Most of the time, it’s there. You just overlooked it.
Make sure you know what it looks like
Numerous times, my wife has sent me to get something in the basement, and I can’t find it at first because she told me the wrong color, container or location. Make sure you know the correct characteristics, or you may easily overlook what you are looking for.
Good news from Fix the News: Murder and shooting rates are dropping:
London recorded 97 homicides in 2025, pushing the city’s homicide rate to 1.1 per 100,000 – the lowest level since current records began. Metropolitan Police.
New York City just recorded the lowest number of shootings in its history. There were 688 shooting incidents in 2025, the lowest total ever, while murders dropped 20.2% year-on-year and major crime declined 3% overall. CBS News
Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again.
Mattel (Barbie’s owner) responded by suing in 1997 for trademark and copyright violations; Aqua and MCA denied the charges, and countersued for defamation after Mattel compared MCA to bank robbers.
Ultimately all the cases were dismissed in 2002; the song was ruled to be a legal parody. (The judgment does thoroughly cover the applicable law and precedents.) Apparently, though, the judge had some opinions about the case:
OPINION
KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge:
If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong. … With fame often comes unwanted attention. Aqua is a Danish band that has, as yet, only dreamed of attaining Barbie-like status. In 1997, Aqua produced the song Barbie Girl on the album Aquarium.
And in particular (bolding is mine):
An MCA spokeswoman noted that each album included a disclaimer saying that Barbie Girl was a “social commentary [that was] not created or approved by the makers of the doll,” a Mattel representative responded by saying, “That’s unacceptable…. It’s akin to a bank robber handing a note of apology to a teller during a heist. [It n]either diminishes the severity of the crime, nor does it make it legal.” He later characterized the song as a “theft” of “another company’s property.”
MCA filed a counterclaim for defamation based on the Mattel representative’s use of the words “bank robber,” “heist,” “crime” and “theft.” But all of these are variants of the invective most often hurled at accused infringers, namely “piracy.” No one hearing this accusation understands intellectual property owners to be saying that infringers are nautical cutthroats with eyepatches and peg legs who board galleons to plunder cargo. In context, all these terms are nonactionable “rhetorical hyperbole,” Gilbrook v. City of Westminster, 177 F.3d 839, 863 (9th Cir.1999). The parties are advised to chill.
Excerpts (it’s worth reading the entire 4,500 words):
The biggest story of 2025, to judge from the number of people who sent it to me, was this raccoon:
In case you somehow missed this story: In late November, this raccoon got into a state liquor store in Ashland, Va., by falling though the ceiling. Once inside, the raccoon ransacked the store, leaving a trail of broken bottles…
FEBRUARY
…President Trump threatens to slap tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, all of which were originally built by Americans. Tariffs are taxes, so this would mean that the American consumer would pay more for these goods. To understand why this is a shrewd business tactic, consider an analogy: You’re in a dispute with your neighbor, Bob. So you go to Bob’s house and ring his doorbell. When he opens the door, you turn around and punch the American consumer in the face. Take that, Bob!
MARCH
On a happier note, two astronauts finally return to Earth after being stranded aboard the International Space Station for nine months. They say they’re “happy to be home,” but add “that’s the last time we’re booking on Spirit.”
MAY
On Memorial Day, a somber occasion when America honors its war dead, Trump posts a social-media message strongly reminiscent of the Gettysburg Address in its dignity and thoughtful eloquence. It begins (really): “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS…”
…and so on for 109 thoughtful capitalized words, not one of which mentions our nation’s war dead, but you only have so much space on social media.
In 2025 the world produced record harvests of wheat, rice and soybeans for the third consecutive year, pushing grain prices down 8 percent and rice prices to their lowest in 18 years…
In September, The Lancet released a report with one of the most extraordinary statistics I’ve ever seen: since 2010, humanity’s total burden of illness and early death has dropped by 12.6 percent, driven by declining deaths from the world’s deadliest infectious diseases: tuberculosis, lower respiratory infections, diarrhoea, HIV/AIDS, all down by between 25 and 49 percent. This progress has been so dramatic that for the first time in our species’ history, lifestyle diseases (heart disease, cancer, diabetes) have displaced infectious illness as the dominant global threat. And here, mortality is falling too.
In 2025 the United States will almost certainly record its lowest murder rate in history. Not since the pandemic, not since the 1990s crime wave, but lower than any year since the FBI began tracking in 1960. Violent crime is at its lowest level since 1968. Property crime is at the lowest rate ever measured.
In August, the WHO and UNICEF released data showing that over the last decade 961 million people gained access to safe drinking water, 1.2 billion gained safe sanitation, and 1.5 billion gained basic hygiene services. Over the same period the number of people without electricity fell by 292 million, even as the global population grew by 760 million. According to the International Energy Agency, this represents the fastest expansion of electricity access in history.
Divide these numbers by ten to get the annual improvements. (For “access to safe drinking water,” that works out to 263,000 people per day.) Read the entire thing to feel better!
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