4chan Is Dead. Its Toxic Legacy Is Everywhere | WIRED

Death couldn’t come for it soon enough, but sadly it’s way too late.

Wealthy Americans have death rates on par with poor Europeans - Ars Technica

When your dumb friends tell you how much better we have it here, just wait. They’ll probably be dead soon.

DHS’s airport panopticon is getting people deported and detained | The Verge

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

How to Protect Your Cats (and Backyard Chickens) From Bird Flu | WIRED

Who cares about the chickens, but the cats!!!! The cats! 😿

Peter Thiel’s Radioactive Childhood - by Jim Stewartson

Most of life can apparently be explained by whether or not your parents were monsters. All of the terrible people ruining the US today are case studies for this hypothesis. If only their daddies had loved them more, the rest of the world could be spared their lifelong attempts at compensation.

Brewing tea removes lead from water - Northwestern Now

More tea, less lead!!

The Worst 7 Years in Boeing’s History—and the Man Who Won’t Stop Fighting for Answers | WIRED

One thing about capitalism, it can be relied upon to churn out corporations who desperately ignore and try to hide the fact that their products are death traps. You have to admire the consistency.

The Renault 5 Turbo 3E, the World’s First Electric Mini-Supercar, Looks as Bonkers as We Hoped | WIRED

How about some retro in your Renault, or some Renault in your retro? This is wildly cool, honestly.

The Yale Review | Chris Ware on Richard Scarry and the Art of…

But still, there is no retro cooler than Richard Scarry. These may be the best books ever imagined and written.

How to Buy the Best Keycaps for Your Mechanical Keyboard (2025) | WIRED

Everyone should have a mechanical keyboard, and everyone should be buying keycaps.

When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron

The threat model to our current administration is that it’s full of morons.

Bill Gates Gives Up on Climate Change

Um… is anyone actually working on climate change anymore? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact | WIRED

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I don’t even know if leaving or entering the country is super safe for anyone anymore, but certainly the people who are most at risk for having their humanity violated are those who are not white and not US citizens.

AI coding assistant refuses to write code, tells user to learn programming instead - Ars Technica

I hear you, AI. Constantly answering questions from people who don’t actually want to learn is exhausting.

Simon Laveuve’s 1/35-Scale Dwellings Hint at a Post-Apocalyptic Way of Life — Colossal

Somehow apocalyptic renderings always seem less apocalyptic than you know they would be. If the worst I wind up in the end days is hiding out in a weird shack like one of these, I’m probably ok with it.

20 jaw-dropping places on Earth that look like an alien planet | Space

It’s easy to hate this place (earth) in recent times, but take a look around it a little more. Maybe you’ll feel a tiny bit better about the planet we’re burning. I particularly love Lake Hillier and The Giant’s Causeway. The latter looks like the cover of Houses of the Holy.

New matcha crepes in Nara serve up good luck with traditional Japanese patterns | SoraNews24 -Japan News-

I’ve read quite a few things recently that make me slightly pessimistic about the future of Japan, but this isn’t one of them. MATCHA CREPES! Even better, the shop that makes them, Mikuriya, is stuffed at the bottom of a staircase in Higashimuki Shopping Street that appears to be completely inaccessible. It’s very Japanese.

What do Egyptian mummies smell like? Surprisingly pleasant. | Popular Science

Stopping sniffing those matcha crepes and get a whiff of these! I’m a little undecided as to whether mummies really smell as good as advertised or researchers just spend too much time in ancient university buildings. Either way, I think we’ve finally discovered something that has never been dusted with matcha powder.

How Airlines Deal With Bodies When Deaths Occur During A Flight

I would very much rather sit next to a dead person than some of the live ones I’ve shared a row with.

Fungus-infected zombie spiders discovered in Northern Ireland | Popular Science

I wonder if these fungus zombies voted in November?

How Phished Data Turns into Apple & Google Wallets – Krebs on Security

I didn’t even know this was possible, but my daughter tipped me off to it because they deal with people trying to pay with stolen card wallets where she works.

The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians | WIRED

So, about those fungus zombie spiders…

Matt Roussel’s Textured Woodcuts Metamorphose into Paintings — Colossal

These are wild. Carving blocks which are then painted – the results are fantastic.

DOGE’s Cyberattack Against America

This country is sleepwalking through the takeover of the US. We are letting this happen.

The Red Pill Was Hijacked | Techdirt

The right’s Red Pill obsession is not only idiotic, it’s also a freaking lie. Their red pill is blue, and they’re super happy to be in the Matrix of their own creation.

The ‘World’s Smallest Record Player’ Is a VW Bus That Plays Vinyls by Driving on Them

This was a Sony idea and I’d never heard of it. If it was created in 1976, they must have been known and talked about while I was still there. I LIKE IT!

This 1969 Ford GT40 Race Car Has a Secret Slot Car Track Inside

And now for something completely different… but also not. MOAR CARZ!!??

Bonobos recognize when humans are ignorant, try to help - Ars Technica

I think we’re gonna need a lot more Bonobos to get through 2025.

Life on Earth Depends on Networks of Ocean Bacteria | WIRED

It’s almost like boiling the ocean might be a bad idea!

Massive Pedestrian Crushers Don’t Actually Keep Occupants Safe Either, New Research Shows

Giant vehicles aren’t safe for the people outside them, but they’re also not safe for the people in them either, it turns out. But that’s not why people buy them anyway, they buy them to compensate for their tiny genitals.

“Just give me the f***ing links!”—Cursing disables Google’s AI overviews - Ars Technica

I don’t use Google, but if all tech starts behaving differently to people who swear, I’m in luck because most of my conversations with Siri are just a torrent of expletives.

Rats beat AI at recognizing obscured objects | Popular Science

“Living creatures that have evolved for billions of years better than computers with no eyes at identifying things!” You don’t say? 😄