"They believe large language models, powered by neural networks, may be five to 10 years away from “takeoff”. Zhu insists that these ideas are built on sand."

"The Ellisons have also made no secret of their intention to move CBS News to the right. They are negotiating to acquire The Free Press, a heterodox publication co-founded by Bari Weiss that prioritizes criticism of “woke” culture, and put Ms. Weiss in a senior position at CBS News."

“As the United States revives production capabilities that haven’t been exercised in decades, it seems likely that the scope and cost of its ambitions will prove unwieldy. ...clumsy execution and failure to complete overly ambitious plans may actually undermine perceptions of US deterrence."

"A reflexive defense of the status quo is better than nothing. But that should not be confused with a political strategy….Do the Democrats have a vision beyond reaffirming the 1990s’ best practices?”

"Even when researchers control for big urban centers, the red-state murder problem persists. Remove the largest city from every red state, and their homicide rate still far exceeds that of blue states.”

"In at least 15 coups and coup attempts with links to the military since Brazil overthrew its monarchy in 1889, Thursday marked the first time the leaders of one of those plots have been convicted.”

"For Koreans, this incident was more than a moment of indignity; it raised a fundamental question: Is the U.S. a safe and welcoming place for the very investments its leaders once championed? “

Excellent @sciam.bsky.social Golden Dome article details the lack of information about the proposed system, the enormous amount of taxpayer $$$s it will consume (even as it fails), & the negative ramifications for US security overall: www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

@tayloraloy.bsky.social Apologies for lack of context. I agree that given public concern, venting into another container would seem logical and I voiced that to NMED. LANL rejected that option because it results in additional waste. Given the obvious public concern, another FTWC seems better to me.

"Rushed Approval of Tritium Venting for Los Alamos National Laboratory Ignores Public Input, Alternatives" - statement by my colleague @dkspaulding.bsky.social www.ucs.org/about/news/r...

"That middle class has so eroded in size and in purchasing power, and the wealth of our top earners has so exploded, that America’s most important market today is its affluent. "

You should budget more for #coffee in the coming months (and possibly years) and expect lower quality as US buyers look for alternative supplies.

US “defense” contractors are more interested in making money than in making weapons that work. Trump’s “Golden Dome” is aptly named and their dream come true.

Nations don’t rise or fall. There are no laws of history. Individuals make decisions. Nations are abstractions with no will or agency. That said, it seems impossible to deny the “West” is failing. The individuals who own and run it are some combination of incompetent, irresponsible and corrupt.

But wait! Like pit production, that new missile is also vastly over budget and behind schedule. Its costs went up 81% and the production schedule so far behind that the Air Force announced they may need to keep the existing Minuteman missiles until 2050!  news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...

Here's the good news. My colleague @dkspaulding.bsky.social has already done a deep dive on plutonium pit production and concluded that there is no need for the US to produce new pits. They are not required to maintain US security. Here's the report summary: www.ucs.org/sites/defaul...

The Department of Energy, correctly concerned about the NNSA's efforts to produce new plutonium pits, has mandated a review of the deeply troubled - and unnecessary - effort. Here's the DOE letter announcing the study, courtesy of the Los Alamos Study Group: lasg.org/MPF2/documen...

Friendly reminder that DOE also manages the nations nuclear stockpile.

"In policy dialogues in Beijing this summer, Chinese scholars and decisionmakers repeated a simple phrase that captured their newfound sense of empowerment: “So what?” “There is a trade war. So what?” “Trump might dial up the pressure on China. So what?” More resignation than “enjoyment” IMHO.

My 80th anniversary act of reflection was to watch what the translators titled "Dead to Rights.” The Chinese title is 南京照相馆 (Nanjing Photograghy Studio). It tells a story many Americans don't know, and Japanese government officials minimize or deny. Ilived in Nanjing for 5 years and know it well.

"The ability to tell the truth, especially when it does not suit any particularly partisan aims, is an essential prerequisite for a free society. Scientists can leverage their substantial social standing and trustworthiness to preserve this vital ingredient. "

They are "training" A.I. using every bit of garbage they can scrape from the web, so it should not be surprising that "...the payoff for businesses ... is lagging behind (and) plagued by ... an irritating tendency by chatbots to make stuff up." Garbage in, garbage out.

Share your Day 13 action on socials! You can tag me, @standupforscience.bsky.social, use our hashtags #31days #standupforscience and #summerfightforscience ✊🏼❤️ We don’t want to spam email inboxes, so if you want the daily email, make sure to sign up here: www.standupforscience.net/31-days-of-a...

South Korea’s National Assembly passed a bill on Monday stripping artificial intelligence-powered digital textbooks of their legal status as official teaching materials, dealing a heavy blow to the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s flagship education reform project.

China’s claims to "the South China Sea, the Taiwan Straits, Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands, and huge pieces of India” existed long before Trump - long before the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949, in fact. It’s hard to resolve territorial disputes if you misperceive their origins.

Had fun participating in this.

During Trump’s first term, Ivanka famously had 41 trademark applications fast-tracked and approved by the Chinese government 18 of them also involved the president If the CEO of Intel must resign because he is connected to Chinese companies Shouldn’t Trump do the same

"In April 2025, China announced direct flights between Shanghai and Nadi, Fiji... In May, Beijing hosted Pacific foreign ministers in China...and... unveiled plans for more than a hundred climate-related projects for the region..."

"Meta, Google and OpenAI, which once had language in their corporate policies banning the use of artificial intelligence in weapons, have removed such wording...Competition with China over technological superiority led many techies to lean more toward the U.S. government..."

Decades ago, when I was running study abroad programs in China, these are the moments I tried to create for my students. "I am not saying that one can escape “white guy goggles”. That would be silly. But what does happen is that your interests and self-identification and self-location shift."

"Among millennials and Gen Z, there is a growing belief that philosophy should replace religion. Kang, author of Reading Schopenhauer at Forty, relates in an interview: “Schopenhauer’s philosophy gives them wisdom and enlightenment instead of false comfort.”

Chapter 4 of my report on plutonium pit production details some of the sordid environmental history at both LANL and Savannah River, where these radioactive nests were found.

"...ChatGPT has often responded, with patently insincere flattery: “That’s a great question.” It has never responded: “That’s the wrong question.” It has never challenged my moral convictions or asked me to justify myself. And why should it? It is, after all, a commercial internet product.

"New START limits the number of nuclear warheads on operationally deployed strategic delivery systems in the United States and Russia to 1,550...the US currently possesses 1,770 operationally deployed nuclear warheads, while Russia has 1,718. In contrast, China currently possesses only 24..."

"Apple has reported declining sales in China for six quarters...Chinese rivals like Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo have eroded Apple’s share of the world’s largest smartphone market."

"In 2023, ... Central Intelligence Agency William Burns said PRC leader Xi Jinping had instructed the PLA “to be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion” of Taiwan; Burns noted this was a goal related to military capabilities, not necessarily an indication of Xi’s intent to start a war."

@nytimes.com semi-deep dive on reports the Trump team has taken hundreds of millions of $$$ from the deeply troubled, wildly over-budget, & hugely delayed Sentinel ICBM program to fund Trump' gold-plated Qatari jet that _might_ become Air Force One. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/u...

"“In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.”

Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura...wrote...that the $550 billion figure lacks foundation and is “little more than a verbal commitment.”“Investment in the United States is ultimately a decision for Japanese companies to make, and the $550 billion figure is merely a government target,”

"Veronique de Rugy, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, called the promises “vague” and said they were “the kind of fantastical claims better suited for a campaign rally than a serious trade announcement.”

"The U.S. has lost three quarters of its local journalists, and more than 1,000 counties have no one covering their local news." www.macfound.org/press/grante...

Clearest indication yet these talks are not serious.