Links for you. Science:

Do You Have the Flu, RSV, COVID, or a Cold?
Study describes clinical features that may lead to long COVID
The population genetics of prokaryotic pangenomes: Inferring the evolutionary history of prokaryotic pangenomes is complicated by the lack of a reference for neutral genetic variation. A study that uses pseudogenes as a neutral reference provides support for selection as a force that shapes pangenomes. (article here; blog post by author here)
Deaths induced by compassionate use of hydroxychloroquine during the first COVID-19 wave: an estimate (for the U.S., 12,739 deaths with a range of 3,244− 15,570; Trump infamously said, “What do you have to lose?”)
ChatGPT bombs test on diagnosing kids’ medical cases with 83% error rate
No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won’t Damage Your DNA: You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines

Other:

‘Impossible’ to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material, OpenAI says (good data are expensive)
Avian flu surges in Northern California, threatening national poultry, egg supplies
What We Lost When Twitter Became X
The New Jan. 6 Testimony Against Trump Will Be Devastating at Trial
From Beirut to Jerusalem: After a strategic assassination, is Bibi’s government finally heeding Biden’s warnings to wrap up the most intense phase of fighting and pursue a more targeted approach? (gift link)
Want More Transit (and Federal Funding)? Build Housing That Supports It
By 2035, All New Cars In D.C. Have To Be Zero-Emission
Haley and Trump wave the flag for the Lost Cause: It’s not an accident that Republicans have such a hard time denouncing slavery.
The (Il)Logic of Elise Stefanik’s Hostage Video
The Biden Administration Has Reached Conservation Records in 2023
Pressure builds on newsletter company Substack to stop revenue sharing with Nazi writers
What Is JewBelong’s Deal? Those hot-pink antisemitism billboards think they’re bringing Jews together. About that.
John Roberts Is Still Way More Popular Than He Should Be
Mississippi doesn’t see births spike from abortion ban, but unwanted pregnancies increase
The Disturbing Impact of the Cyberattack at the British Library
The housing solution ‘hidden in plain sight’ that Maryland and Mississippi are embracing
Plagiarism Feeding Frenzy
High school girls’ basketball game aborted in New York amid antisemitic slurs: Team from private Jewish Leffell School calls an end to game after third quarter as opposing team members shout ‘I support Hamas, you f-king Jew,’ among other taunts
That’s Not Censorship: Artists are free to say what they want, and free to face the consequences.
Untangling the Government Funding Mess: Some technical errors in previous continuing resolutions now threaten a big cut to nondefense spending.
Three years later, beware dangerous revisionism of Jan. 6
Generative AI Has a Visual Plagiarism Problem: Experiments with Midjourney and DALL-E 3 show a copyright minefield
Republicans vote to oust Karamo as state party chair; she does not recognize their authority (Republicans in disarray!)
An African gulag so ghastly that inmates risk death to escape
The Curious Rise of Settler Colonialism and Turtle Island: The problem with shoehorning a Middle Eastern war—or American history—into a trendy academic theory
Why people don’t have to pay anything for electricity in this Florida community