Pollution from generators at data centers could cause respiratory symptoms and deaths in the region, an analysis for The Washington Post found. wapo.st/4v9G4N6

More than anything, Pope Leo's new encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," is an exhaustive account of what could happen if AI development goes awry—as for what happens if it goes right, Leo mostly leaves that to the reader’s imagination, Francis X. Rocca writes:

A man without diplomatic expertise is leading Putin’s negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and he is making a pitch to the U.S., Robert F. Worth reports: America “should sell out Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for glittering billion-dollar projects”:

The Alberta grassroots will resist the MAGA hate. This is my talk from the recent Alberta Public Interest gathering to train and build resistance. Donbas Danielle is trying to break up our country. Albertans understand the mission - to defy the gangsters. youtu.be/hn9abkk_pyA?...

Message from son who is an ED doctor in Australia: “What do you know about diphtheria?”. Sorry son, I qualified in 1983 and I’ve never seen a case. Looks like you might though. Another vaccine-preventable disease on the rise. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

Can we talk about Cuba?

Reviewers in two groups were given identical resumes for Emily Clarke and James Clarke and told they had used AI. Emily's was 2x as likely to raise doubts about competence. "She can't even write a CV herself." But James "just needed a bit of help." fortune.com/2026/05/10/i...

“Our tragic educational decline requires preaching as well as teaching,” David Ligare writes in a letter to The Times. “The teachers are the foot soldiers, but we have no generals inspiring the entire population, not just the students, to find the pleasure in deep and rational knowledge.”

🌊 The ocean absorbs >90% of Earth’s excess heat, and our ability to track it depends on a fragile global network of floats, ships and sensors. New research warns that cuts to the Global Ocean Observing System could make climate signals indistinguishable from noise. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

IMPORTANT: The Dutch invested €595 million annually on urban biking, resulting in €19 BILLION saved in public health care costs alone. That’s how smart governments do the math on investing in better mobility. Let’s be clear— it WASTES public money to NOT do it. #CityMakingMath HT @modacitylife.com

Why This Ebola Outbreak Could Be One of the Worst. @apoorvanyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

UK records hottest day of the year so far, with warnings of more extreme heat this weekend

tl;dr: monocultures/duocultures are bad. Don't reforest with just one or two species of tree. "...all the trees are the same height and there are few birds or insects. The ground is spongy with dry needles, and there's little light or sound." www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Lots of folks are worried about Hantavirus Here’s a helpful podcast. 27 minutes. Tl;dr: this is a serious situation, but risk to global population is low. Excellent and nuanced reporting by @apoorvanyt.bsky.social

The response to the new Ebola outbreak has been significantly hindered by the near-absence so far of the United States. Story by @stephanienolen.bsky.social & @apoorvanyt.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4wEzlfA

Chaotic, unplanned cuts to US programs eroded the infrastructure that was keeping the world safe. Now, An American father is fighting for his life. The whole article is just damning. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/h... @apoorvanyt.bsky.social

The Trump administration on Friday said that it would block entry into the country for some legal permanent residents who had been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan, citing a limited ability to monitor people who may have been exposed to Ebola. 🎁 🔗 : www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/u...

London mayor Sadiq Khan blocks £50m Met police deal with Palantir

Weird Britain: 10 glorious oddities to visit and marvel at

UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050. @fionaharvey.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Let me start by saying that this isn’t the Covid pandemic – only Covid was Covid. Previous hantavirus outbreaks have been contained (although none were on a cruise ship). @profdevisridhar.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The early trajectory of the Ebola outbreak in DRC is alarming. Spread of the disease likely went undetected for months. Fast detection and response are crucial to stop outbreaks.

why would anyone ever pay taxes again if they're immune from audits?

this is what some of you look like in short sleeve button-up shirts

terrible. 20 years ago, the internet was full of hobbyist blogs and forums. over time, these have been replaced by paywalled substacks and private discord channels, each a walled garden. google's decision to prioritize AI just makes it less likely people will create free, public info

‘It’s a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel’ We're delighted to announce the winner of the #InternationalBooker2026, supported by Bukhman Philanthropies, is Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King. Discover the book: thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

Major fires are threatening homes and ecologically sensitive areas following a hot, dry winter. www.wired.com/story/califo...

great read 👇

The Iran war reminds us: we’ll never be energy-independent with fossil fuels | Lloyd Doggett and Michael Shank

Trump sits more for events now and sometimes, while in that chair, his eyes … begin … to … close. Trump’s aides have strenuously denied this. One recent retort: “He was blinking, you absolute moron” If true, this blink lasted for at least 10 seconds www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

To all those saying this is the most corrupt thing a president has ever done — no quarrels, but am curious what was the previously most corrupt thing, Jan 6 itself, or what? Finding it hard to imagine that anyone else is contention for any of the top ten slots of most corrupt actions by a president.

It was a pleasure meeting @mellissafung.bsky.social and @louisepennyauthor.bsky.social at their event this evening in Toronto at TIFF Lightbox Great conversation! And, cake too!

@valeriefridland.bsky.social professor of linguistics at University of Nevada in Reno. Author of several books, including "Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good" and "Bad English, "and the upcoming book “Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...

Happy Birthday @lizadonnelly.bsky.social !

An open letter to the World Health Organization on 11th May 2026 by Don Milton, Trisha Greenhalgh, David Fisman, Amanda Kvalsvig, Lidia Morawska, Joe Vipond and Jonathan Samet @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social @dfisman.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/trishgre...

“Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada's ongoing work to secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian officials shows how Ottawa is trying to work with a range of countries to advance practical, humanitarian goals.”

Trump, Epstein and My Met Gala Rant. And a drawing, of course.

Is Epstein's "Suicide Note" Real?

Scores of CDC employees, including those undergoing cancer treatment, or who have severe mobility issues or serious bowel disorders have been told they cannot work from home. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/h...

The Trump administration has slashed funding for infectious disease research and has far fewer employees, including disease detectives, to respond to outbreaks. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/h...

My 8yo asked if I would post something to Bluesky for her, then grabbed a piece of paper and made this So here is your advice for the day:

The most significant news item I saw today is that apparently, Jeffrey Epstein left a suicide note. It’s not verified to be his handwriting, maybe that will happen soon. @lizadonnelly.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/lizadonn...

France announced a plan to phase out fossil fuels completely by 2050. While other legislatures have similarly ambitious aims — the EU and UK both plan to reach net zero by 2050, which functionally requires ending fossil fuels. www.semafor.com/article/04/2...

Hegseth, who texted war plans to a group chat (including a reporter!) on Signal: "No one has taken operational security more seriously than us"

Earth's Energy Imbalance has more than doubled! Based on basic physics, we should expect this to result in much faster global temperature increase, which we now start to see. The NASA CERES (climatology corrected) Earth's Energy Imbalance over the past 8 months was +2.0 W/m²!

An experimental cafe run by AI opens in Stockholm Stockholm (AFP) – The avocado toasts and baristas making foamy lattes make it look like any other cafe, except at this one, located in a Stockholm residential neighbourhood, artificial intelligence (AI) is running the place. f24.my/BtFv

A bathroom for every passenger! Welcome to future of air travel – if you’ve got £13,000 to spare

The Port of Churchill sits idle for most of the year, blanketed by snow and frozen by the bitter cold climate of Canada's sub-Arctic. It's only operational in the summer for four months, sometimes five. @nadineyousif.bsky.social bbc.com/news/article...

Elon Musk said rival Sam Altman wasn’t honest about OpenAI’s nonprofit mission and clashed with an attorney for Altman, as he testified in a case that has pitted the two AI titans against each other. on.wsj.com/3QQUtPl