Links for you. Science:

A new study reports 309 lab acquired infections and 16 pathogen lab escapes between 2000 and 2021
What Grok’s recent OpenAI snafu teaches us about LLM model collapse
How a thumb-sized climate migrant with a giant crab claw is disrupting the Northeast’s Great Marsh ecosystem
ChatGPT one year on: who is using it, how and why? In just a year, ChatGPT has permeated scientific research. Seven scientists reveal what they have learnt about how the chatbot should — and shouldn’t — be used.
Humans might have driven 1,500 bird species to extinction — twice previous estimates
Guy Who Urged Planting a Trillion Trees Begs People to Stop Planting So Many Trees

Other:

Big Money Group Opportunity DC is Seizing on Crime Fears in a New PR Blitz. Janeese Lewis George is a Primary Target. (‘crime’: “McDuffie didn’t face any attacks from pro-business groups like Opportunity DC in the 2022 race, despite a history of reform efforts, “because he was the explicitly pro-business candidate and was running against a ‘progressive’ incumbent.” A similar dynamic appears to be playing out in this race.”)
The Era of Billion Dollar Sports Boondoggles Is Here. Virginia is for lovers of very large sports subsidies.
Why Jonathan Chait says outrageous things: The political economy of ChaitGPT
The story behind the rise of Hamas
Tech Jobs Are Finally Spreading Out, Spurred by Private Investment and Federal Initiatives
The University of Phoenixification of Elite Education (“The cost of post-woke diversity and equity turns out to be the educational fortunes of their sons and daughters, and no self-respecting oligarch is willing to withstand that.”)
The Colorado Supreme Court Got It Right
60% of DC high schoolers are chronically absent
Bury the Tax Prep Industry for Good
Billionaire Gifts To Thomas: Generosity Or Taxable Income?
The Fix Is In on Rent Prices (yes, it is)
Ignored warnings about Court Social Services are having deadly consequences for DC kids
Cop Budgets
Solving more crimes deters crime
Wyoming weighs selling acreage inside Grand Teton National Park
Speaker Mike Johnson and daughter were profiled attending ‘purity ball’ in 2015 German TV news segment
The High Price of Empty Office Space: Billions in Tax Breaks, With More to Come. An analysis by THE CITY shows that long-ago luxury real estate deals from Hudson Yards to Times Square are costing dearly in reduced city tax collections. Now City Hall is rolling out still more tax relief, with little transparency. (instead of tax relief per se, just devalue the assessed cost of the property; if it is worth less, then make that explicit)
Ginni Thomas Is a Victim of Donald Trump’s Alleged Crimes: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas must recuse himself from the Trump cases.
The Judiciary Has Policed Itself for Decades. It Doesn’t Work. The secretive Judicial Conference is tasked with self-governance. The group, led by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, has spent decades preserving perks, defending judges and thwarting outside oversight.
The Actual Ubiquity of Gender Affirming Care
I’ll never stop blogging: it’s an itch I have to scratch – and I don’t care if it’s an outdated format
How the retail lobby sold a $45-billion whopper about organized shoplifting
Gen Xers should be thriving. Instead, they’re drowning in debt.
Embarrassed by Your Cough? ‘Sick Shaming’ Leads to Overuse of Cold Medicine. Pressured to return to work but cautious about seeming sick, US employees are loading up on over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine. (masking would like to enter the chat)
House Hoarders
Bluesky posts are finally open to the public: The platform also has a new logo — a butterfly.