Links for you. Science:

Scientists Stunned After Finding Plant Thought Extinct for 60 Years
Restored Peatlands Could Become Carbon Sinks Within Decades
Trump Fired The Entire National Science Board. Here’s Why That Matters
‘There are so many bones everywhere’: The whale graveyards that transform the deep sea
Let Pluto Rest In Dwarf Planet Peace
Mexico City Is Sinking So Quickly, It Can Be Seen From Space
Bamboo-based plastic can be made to biodegrade quickly, but still holds up in tough conditions

Other:

A Federal Worker Was Fired for Filming DOGE. Now She’s Running for Congress. Alexis Goldstein, a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employee, was fired this year for recording DOGE’s incursion into the agency.
The Polarization Discourse Is Bad Faith Bullshit (very good)
Your Software Is Not Sentient. Software simulacrum is not true consciousness, the stripper at the strip club doesn’t actually love you, and nearly all of the biggest problems with “AI” have very ordinary human origins.
He Remade the Southern Baptist Convention in His Image. Then Came the Abuse Allegations.
What Sort of AI Bubble Are We In?
Florida voters sue over ‘extreme’ new House map
Trillions in Retirement Dollars Flow Into Opaque Trusts. A little-talked about investment product is taking over the 401(k) world, and offering asset managers a way to increase exposure to private markets. (WHEEEEE!!!!!!)
That’s The Way
The growing AI backlash
The National Mall Is Revamping Its Food Kiosks and Adding 25 Food Carts
Trump DOJ agrees to ‘return or destroy’ evidence seized from MAGA Congressman Andy Ogles
NYPD searching for suspects after string of antisemitic graffiti found across Queens
Media Matters secures complete and total victory against Federal Trade Commission
Maine Reasons Why Mills Faltered As Platner Surged
Taraji P. Henson Criticizes Celebs Attending Jeff Bezos-Backed Met Gala: ‘So Confused. WTF Are We Doing?’
The vanity presidency
Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane.
Drone Dominance Isn’t the Vital Lesson of Ukraine
Winning, Losing, And The Platner Problem
Trump’s Case Against Comey Is Imploding—and Handing Dems a New Weapon
Inside Palm Beach County’s newly signed Trump trademark deal for airport renaming
White House lawyers prep staff for dealing with a Democratic Congress
Plantiff in Case That Destroyed Voting Rights Act Exposed as Jan. 6er
The K-Shaped Economy Is Reshaping American Cities
The AI Hard Drive Shortage Is Making It More Expensive and Harder to Archive the Internet
What Trump’s Trade War Is Doing to America’s Farmers
Minneapolis grapples with the impact of Trump’s largest immigration crackdown yet
NPR went looking for Polymarket’s Panama headquarters. It’s elusive
Trump Administration Closes Watchdog Office For Immigration Detention Abuses
Check your storage: Chrome may be downloading a 4GB AI model — here’s what we know