QUOTE OF THE DAY

'Know that you are vital members of our community. You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution.'

Harvard President Alan Garber addressing international students and teachers affected by the Department of Homeland Security's enrollment ban of foreign attendees under the F-1 visa program. The university filed a lawsuit today seeking to reverse the ban, which could affect students from over 140 countries that make up about a quarter of the student body.

TALKING POINTS

Can Ive change the world with OpenAI like he did with Apple?

Jony Ive created the look and feel of the iPhone, perhaps the most culture-changing device of the 21st century. And now, the "greatest designer in the world," as described by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is joining the artificial intelligence company, hoping to create another transformative piece of personal technology.

OpenAI's ChatGPT has led the "rapid advances" of AI in recent years, but "developing new hardware based around it has proved more of a challenge," said BBC News. Ive and Altman want to change that. The new partnership offers the opportunity to "completely reimagine what it means to use a computer," said Altman.

iPhone killer?
The partnership with Ive makes OpenAI's ambitions "crystal clear," said Matteo Wong at The Atlantic. Altman believes that computers and smartphones are "clunky" ways to use AI products. So the goal is to create new devices that seamlessly integrate AI into a user's life and go "beyond these legacy products," said Altman.

OpenAI is making a "long-shot bid to kill the iPhone," said Dave Lee at Bloomberg. Beating Apple is the real goal of the "formidable new Silicon Valley bromance" between the two men. (Indeed, Apple stock sank 2% after the announcement.) The challenge is that building a "breakthrough device" that has the same impact as the iPhone is a "tall order."

Ive has a "few regrets" about how the iPhone created a generation of screen addicts, said Kyle Barr at Gizmodo. Some of the products he designed have had some "unintended consequences that were far from pleasant," Ive recently said to an interviewer. But AI has numerous well-documented problems of its own, said Barr. So the designer probably "can't save us from the iPhone addiction he helped create."

Weaning users off screens
Altman and Ive have "offered a few hints" about their plans to OpenAI staff, said The Wall Street Journal. Their imagined device would be "fully aware of a user's surroundings and life" but also unobtrusively "rest in one's pocket or on one's desk." It will not be another phone or smart glasses. Instead, the ultimate aim is to "help wean users from screens."

Building hardware is "really hard," said Yoni Heisler at BGR. And smartphones are now so advanced that replacing them will be an "uphill battle from the outset."

Statistic of the day

$4.6 billion: The amount the U.K. will pay to transfer sovereignty of the Indian Ocean's Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal signed yesterday. The U.K. will also lease back the largest island of the Chagos, Diego Garcia, for the next 99 years, paying $136 million.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Experts are split on the findings in RFK Jr.'s 'MAHA' report

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has released the first major report for his "Make America Healthy Again" platform, and it has provided some insight into where he wants to focus the agency. RFK Jr. has pledged to make sweeping changes to the country's health care system, but not everyone agrees with the report's conclusions.

Targeting processed foods and vaccines
The report calls for an "increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule, a review of the pesticides sprayed on American crops, and a description of the nation's children as overmedicated and undernourished." It argues these factors cause chronic illnesses in American children.

President Donald Trump tasked the Department of Health and Human Services with "delivering an action plan to fight childhood diseases," said USA Today. The report blames "ultraprocessed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity, chronic stress and 'overmedicalization.'" It also claims this is "partly propelled by corporate influence and government lobbying."

The "proposition that nutrition, lifestyle and exposure to pollution and other harmful chemicals are conspiring to harm children's health is not controversial among longtime researchers," said NPR. But the report "doesn't resolve some of the central tensions that have characterized Kennedy's 'MAHA' platform." It also doesn't weigh socioeconomic factors like poverty levels, which are a "key predictor of chronic disease."

'New regimen of standards'
The "MAHA" report is "likely to face diverse pushback," especially from "agricultural and chemical lobbyists wary of how the report would criticize their products," said The Guardian. The findings could "set the stage for a new regimen of standards based on fringe theories" about "key crop protection tools," said Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in a statement.

Given that the report questions vaccine schedules and pharmaceuticals that have been "deemed safe by mainstream medicine," it also "stretched the limits of science," said The Washington Post. Gun violence, which the CDC cites as the leading cause of death for children in 2020 and 2021, was "not mentioned."

There's "little biological basis to argue" that vaccine regimens "could be harming children by overwhelming their immune systems," said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University associate professor of public health, to the Post. Now, doctors are "seeing a very familiar playbook" from the "highest levels of our government's health agencies rather than the margins of the anti-vaccine conversation."

Good day 🎵

… for ballads. An in-car playlist of slow-tempo tunes has a positive effect on driving, according to researchers at Brunel University of London. Conversely, upbeat songs, with more than 120 beats per minute, make drivers more unpredictable on the road. The findings indicate that drivers in "high-load urban environments should exercise caution in their use of fast-tempo music," said the researchers.

Bad day 🇰🇵

… for North Korea's new warship. The vessel has been damaged in a shipyard accident during its launch, an incident North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has described as a "criminal act," said the state-run KCNA. An official investigation has been launched, though there are no reports of any casualties or injuries.

Puzzles

Daily crossword

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The Week recommends

Wild out at these adult summer camps

Summer camps are not just for kids. Adults can enjoy similar overnight retreats, spending time in the fresh air, trying different sports, crafts and activities, and forging new friendships. Seize the summer and make memories at these fun getaways for grown-ups.

'Camp' Camp, Maine
Located in a serene stretch of Maine is this "safe space for LGBTGQ+ folks" looking to spend a week engaged in cultural, social and athletic activities, said Essence. Days are filled with learning how to make pottery and stained glass, singing with the choir, and playing capture the wig, a new spin on capture the flag.

Club Getaway, Kent, Connecticut
Campers here use every inch of the vast property, and the camp comes alive at night with themed dinners and parties. Extroverts love it here, but so do introverts, as campers "simply want to have a carefree time" at their "own pace," said Essence.

Endless Summer Surf Camp, San Clemente, California
After a few days, you will be hangin' 10 with the best of them. All skill levels are welcome, from newbies who have never gotten on a board to surfers looking to level up. Everyone leaves with "tan lines and an itch to catch your next wave," said Locale Magazine. The camp provides all surfing equipment, and in addition to technical instruction, coaches also teach the little things, like ding repair and the "etiquette of the surf lineup."

Poll watch

Nearly half of Americans (49%) think members of Congress have a right to conduct oversight of immigration facilities, according to a YouGov survey. The poll of 1,710 adults found this skews along party lines, with 62% of Democrats believing Congress members have this right compared to only 40% of Republicans.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'We can and should make it easier for everyone to become an organ donor'
David Fleming at USA Today
There's "something extraordinary we can all do to help: register our decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor," says David Fleming. Patient portals are "emerging as powerful tools for patients and the public good." By "adding organ donor registration directly into patient portals," it's "making it easier for people to turn generosity into action." It's an "invitation to make a meaningful, lifesaving choice at a time when people are already thinking about their health."

'This is the tragic consequence of conflating Jews and Israel'
Naftali Shavelson at The New York Times
The "horrific killing" of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim was "devastating, but to those of us who have worked in Israel's diplomatic missions, and to members of America's Jewish communities, it was not a surprise," says Naftali Shavelson. The killings "crossed a threshold that Israelis, Jews and concerned allies have been warning about for a long time." There's a "time and place for political protest," and it's "time we realize that 'anti-Zionist' rhetoric can inspire deadly consequences."

'The Gen Z right is Pat Buchanan's lasting legacy'
Gabe Guidarini at The American Conservative
Gen Z has a "generation of young conservatives who have not merely rejected progressive orthodoxy but who have turned their backs on the neutered market-centric consensus that long dominated Republican politics," says Gabe Guidarini. Their "affinities lie not with Reaganite optimism or Bush-era globalism but with the sobering culture-first realism of Pat Buchanan." They are "heirs to the original Buchanan Brigade, animated by a blend of cultural traditionalism, economic nationalism and a deep-seated skepticism toward America's post–Cold War trajectory."

WORD OF THE DAY

Nucala

An asthma drug created by British drugmaker GSK that has been approved by the U.S. FDA to treat patients with a chronic lung disease commonly known as smoker's lung. The approval expands its use as an "add-on treatment" for patients with a type of COPD, said Reuters.

Is Musk really finished with his political spending?