Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 27, 2024

Volume 630 Issue 8018

Nature Magazine – June 26, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Popcorn Planet’ – Tidal heating puffs up exoplanet’s atmosphere…

‘Smart’ fabric protects against heat of city streets

Textile keeps its cool even when surrounded by urban surfaces that absorb and release heat.

How huge black holes sprouted just after the Big Bang

Hubble observations of faint galaxies suggest that such objects could have been the seeds of very early supermassive black holes.

Autoimmune antibodies tied to lower malaria risk in kids

Findings support one idea about why self-directed immune responses are more common in some populations.

A mighty river’s radical shift changed the face of ancient Egypt

Samples taken near a capital of the pharaohs reveal an overhaul of the Nile 4,000 years ago.

News: Von Der Leyen To Lead EU For Second Term, Peru-China Relations

The Globalist Podcast (June 27, 2024): Ursula von der Leyen set to be approved for a second-term in Brussels, Peru’s president visits China and Dubai invests in infrastructure to help protect against extreme weather. Also in the programme: the latest news from across Africa and the city in the top spot of Monocle’s Quality of Life survey.

The New York Times — Thursday, June 27, 2024

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Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Biden Administration’s Contacts With Social Media Companies

The case, one of several this term on how the First Amendment applies to technology platforms, was dismissed on the ground that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

Joe Biden: The Old-School Politician in a New-School Era

After more than half a century in Washington, President Biden has learned to make deals and work across the aisle. But that instinct is rarely rewarded in today’s political climate.

When the Terms of Service Change to Make Way for A.I. Training

Tech companies have been making subtle and not-so-subtle changes to their rules for better access to data for building A.I. We took a look at some of them.

What Jamaal Bowman’s Loss Means for the Left

Mr. Bowman’s win in 2020 seemed to herald an ascendant progressive movement. In 2024, the center is regaining power.

Preview: MIT Technology Review – July/August 2024

MIT Technology Review (June 26, 2024): The new issue features The Play issue – Did you know you could surf in the desert? New pools make it possible–but at what cost? Learn how AI is bringing an unprecedented expansiveness to computer and video games and how high-tech supershoes are helping athletes run faster and more safely. Plus: Gamification was always a dubious concept–so how did it take over the world?

How gamification took over the world

Gamification was always just behaviorism dressed up in pixels and point systems. Why did we fall for it?

Supershoes are reshaping distance running

Kenyan runners, like many others, are grappling with the impact of expensive, high-performance shoes.

How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play

AI-powered NPCs that don’t need a script could make games—and other worlds—deeply immersive.

Scientific American Magazine – July/Aug 2024

Scientific American Volume 331, Issue 1 | Scientific American

Scientific American (June 26, 2024)The July/August 2024 issue features The New Science of Health and Appetite – What humans really evolved to eat and how food affects our health today…

To Follow the Real Early Human Diet, Eat Everything

Nutrition influencers claim we should eat meat-heavy diets like our ancestors did. But our ancestors didn’t actually eat that way

People Who Are Fat and Healthy May Hold Keys to Understanding Obesity

“Heavy and healthy” can be a rare or common condition. But either way it may signal that some excess weight is just fine

Ozempic Quiets Food Noise in the Brain—But How?

Blockbuster weight-loss drugs are revealing how appetite, pleasure and addiction work in the brain

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – June 28, 2024

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Times Literary Supplement (June 26, 2024): The latest issue features ‘More is More’ – Claire Lowdon on excess; Flaubert’s moral vision; Twenty years of British Politics; Quantum Mechanics and Medieval women….

News: Macron Warns Of ‘Civil War’ In France, Mass Protests Surge In Kenya

The Globalist Podcast (June 26, 2024): A look back at the leaders debate in France and Macron’s stark words over immigration policies. Plus: protests in Kenya intensify, our Quality of Life series casts an eye on Vienna and Japan unearths rare metals.

The New York Times — Wednesday, June 26, 2024

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Israeli Military Must Draft Ultra-Orthodox Jews, Supreme Court Rules

The court ruled there was no legal justification for the ultra-Orthodox exemption from service, a decision that threatened to split Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime government.

Anti-Tax Riots Rock Kenya, as President Vows Crackdown on ‘Treasonous’ Protesters

At least five people were killed in clashes with the police that erupted after lawmakers approved tax increases that critics said would drive up the cost of living for millions.

The Pro-Israel Donor With a $100 Million Plan to Elect Trump

Miriam Adelson long operated in the shadow of her powerful husband, Sheldon Adelson. Now, after his death, she is playing in politics as a solo practitioner for the first time.

Heat Is Killing Thousands, and Big Events Have Not Adjusted

The deaths of at least 1,300 pilgrims during the hajj point to the growing threat that climate change poses to beloved gatherings.

Politics: Foreign Affairs Magazine – July/Aug 2024

July/August 2024

Foreign Affairs (June 25, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Does America Need a New Foreign Policy?…

A Foreign Policy for the World as It Is

Biden and the Search for a New American Strategy

“America is back.” In the early days of his presidency, Joe Biden repeated those words as a starting point for his foreign policy. The phrase offered a bumper-sticker slogan to pivot away from Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership. It also suggested that the United States could reclaim its self-conception as a virtuous hegemon, that it could make the rules-based international order great again. Yet even though a return to competent normalcy was in order, the Biden administration’s mindset of restoration has occasionally struggled against the currents of our disordered times. An updated conception of U.S. leadership—one tailored

The Return of Peace Through Strength

Making the Case for Trump’s Foreign Policy

Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin phrase that emerged in the fourth century that means “If you want peace, prepare for war.” The concept’s origin dates back even further, to the second-century Roman emperor Hadrian, to whom is attributed the axiom, “Peace through strength—or, failing that, peace through threat.”

America Is Losing the Arab World

And China Is Reaping the Benefits

News: Javier Milei Visits Europe, Criminal Charges For Boeing Safety Issues

The Globalist Podcast (June 25, 2024): As Javier Milei’s Europe visit wraps up, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera assesses the international reaction.

Plus: why US prosecutors are recommending that Boeing should face criminal charges and we reveal which city has won the bronze medal in Monocle’s Quality of Life Survey.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious