‘The godmother of the “conspiracy mom”’
Jessica Winter at The New Yorker
After JFK’s assassination, Oklahoma housewife Shirley Martin “flung herself into investigating the crime and getting to know some of those closest to it,” says Jessica Winter. It is “generally understood today, as it was not understood 60-plus years ago, that those who subscribe to conspiracy theories tend to do so in order to make sense of an unstable reality,” and “in some ways, Martin was a preview of today’s post-Covid, stay-at-home ‘conspiracy mom’ or of the MAHA moms.”
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‘The ethical perils of gene therapy’
Anjana Ahuja at the Financial Times
In China, a “risky experimental treatment was undertaken for a nonfatal condition; oversight by external authorities, regulators and ethical review boards in China was insufficient to avert tragedy,” says Anjana Ahuja. The “episode is another blow to a country vying to become a global leader in biotech,” as “truly advancing science means being open, honest and transparent about mistakes, as well as successes.” Parents “crave better lives for their children and ambitious researchers covet world firsts.”
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‘I used to mock gym bros. Here’s why I became one.’
Emily Hoeven at the San Francisco Chronicle
It “may seem absurd to say that deadlifts and squats and bench presses changed my life,” but “then again, it wasn’t long ago that I couldn’t lift a coffee cup without excruciating pain,” says Emily Hoeven. It is “almost impossible to name an area of life that weightlifting doesn’t improve.” Studies “show that it boosts confidence and mood, strengthens bones, reduces joint pain and chronic inflammation, and improves cognition,” and it “can be especially beneficial for older women.”
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‘How to fight a cloud’
Nitish Pahwa at Slate
It “feels like an inflection point” for the construction of AI data centers, as “more community leaders and elected officials are listening to their concerned constituents and hitting the pause button,” says Nitish Pahwa. But an “even bigger fight is at hand: whether these halts on buildouts will eventually lead to permanent bans, or whether elected officials are just kicking the clankers down the road.” It’s “one thing to impose a pause for a period of time” but “another to actually make use of that time.”
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