Links for you. Science:

Researcher steps on deadly vipers 40,000 times to better predict snakebites (paper here)
2023 temperatures were warmest we’ve seen for at least 2,000 years
Tiger beetles may weaponize ultrasound against bats. The insects mimic the noises of toxic moths. It may be a defense against hungry bats
Oldest Known Human Viruses Discovered In 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones (preprint here)
Secrets from the rainforest’s past uncovered in Amazonian backyards
Flu season is over, but there is a viral surge in California wastewater. Is it avian flu?

Other:

The House Wants to Make It Even Harder for D.C. to Change Local Sentencing Laws
Beverly Hills 90210 Mansions Lose Fire Coverage as Insurers Flee
Chuck Rocha Used His National Connections to Upend the Ward 7 Council Race for His Fiancee, Ebony Payne. It’s Seriously Pissed Off D.C. Politicos.
Beware the Pettiness of the Powerful (gift link)
Inside the effort by two Beverly Hills billionaires to kill a state law protecting farmworkers
A New, Big Crack in Netanyahu’s Governing Coalition
Clarence Thomas Won’t Divulge If He Repaid Rich Pal’s Loan, Dems Say. In a new letter, Democratic senators press the associate justice on whether he’s paid off the loan for that famous RV—and whether he may have ducked federal tax obligations.
The inside story of Elon Musk’s mass firings of Tesla Supercharger staff (supergenius tho)
House Democrats Fume Over Unprecedented Israeli Rebuke Of Lawmakers. Congressional aides told HuffPost a May 8 letter from Israel’s ambassador was “stunning,” “embarrassing” and “verging on offensive.”
Israel war cabinet split looms as defence minister demands post-war Gaza plan
Gina Rinehart demands National Gallery of Australia remove her portrait
Sony Music slams tech giants for unauthorised use of stars’ songs
The Antisemitism Awareness Act bars the teaching of modern Jewish history
AI eats the web
Flood insurance premiums on Long Island could double over next 10 years as sea levels rise
I found a paper that denies one of my two obvious thoughts about originalism, so stating the obvious turns out to be useful!
Winning isn’t enough for Thomas and Alito. They want praise for their destruction.
Skewering Leftist Excess With Mockery and Sneers. In “Morning After the Revolution,” an attack on progressive activism, the journalist Nellie Bowles relies more on sarcasm than argument or ideas.
When AI helps you code, who owns the finished product? It’s not settled law. And it’s going to mean trouble
My rendezvous with the raw milk black market: quick, easy, and unchecked by the FDA
Changes from Visa mean Americans will carry fewer physical credit, debit cards in their wallets
Does One Line Fix Google? Forget AI. Google just created a version of its search engine free of all the extra junk it has added over the past decade-plus. All you have to do is add “udm=14” to the search URL.
Riders give Metro high marks in poll but still worry about crime. Metro riders give the system its highest ratings in the past decade, including for reliability and value, though many remain wary of crime on the rail service. (the constant crime-related paranoia is absurd–the guy they quote isn’t going anywhere that’s dangerous)
Wokeness Is Dying. We Might Miss It.
California university president put on leave for ‘insubordination’ after meeting Gaza protesters’ demands. Mike Lee had agreed to move toward divesting from Israel and giving a pro-Palestinian group more sway over campus decisions.
D.C. clears major homeless encampment, but critical housing problems linger