'Fossil-fired grids have provided a cautionary tale'

'Bitcoin devours the electricity meant for the world's poor'

David Fickling at Bloomberg

For "decades, poor countries wanting to get rich have turned again and again to dams," says David Fickling. That "may be changing," as the "rise of data centers mining cryptocurrencies and training AI models is providing a new market for the vast volumes of electricity produced by hydro." This "risks destroying the math that for decades has made dams an essential tool of development." The "funders of hydro projects in poor countries need to take this into account."

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'Donor organs are too rare. We need a new definition of death.'

Sandeep Jauhar, Snehal Patel and Deane Smith at The New York Times

A "person may serve as an organ donor only after being declared dead," and this "common-sensical rule underpins organ donation in the United States and many other countries," say Sandeep Jauhar, Snehal Patel and Deane Smith. We "need to figure out how to obtain more healthy organs from donors while maintaining strict ethical standards." The "solution, we believe, is to broaden the definition of brain death to include irreversibly comatose patients on life support."

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'How antisemitism is impacting synagogues like mine'

Brian Strauss at Time

Whenever "conflict flares in the Middle East, Jewish communities worldwide become targets," says Brian Strauss. The "escalation from aggressive anti-Israel protest to outright violence is a nationwide phenomenon." Each "incident represents a dangerous point along a continuum — from rhetoric, to intimidation, to violence — and in every case, perpetrators justified their actions by claiming solidarity with Palestinians." These "acts of antisemitism do nothing to help Palestinians," and "further distance us from the idea of two nations for two peoples."

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'Can Democrats solve their party's giant reputational problem by all running for president at once?'

Ben Mathis-Lilley at Slate

All "those Democratic voters who view their party unfavorably are still going to cast ballots for its candidates next year, it seems," says Ben Mathis-Lilley. But the "national-brand albatross gives individual Democratic candidates in tight races the perverse incentive to run against their own party." There is "always a critical mass of marginal Democrats incentivized to throw a wrench in things." The "only way to control a hollow modern party is through sheer force of personality and platform."

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