- The top 25 stories curated by editors and fellow readers!
From the Editor's Desk Last month, the White House confirmed that North Korea—a country with few allies and little money—had sent thousands of soldiers to join Russia in its war against Ukraine. Pyongyang was already supplying Moscow with weapons: according to The Times of London, half of Russia’s shells used in the war have come from North Korea. But sending personnel marks a new level of coordination. There are other signs of warming ties, too. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to North Korea in over two decades. |
| Work Wildfire Grows in New Jersey and New York, Despite Modest Rainfall  Hundreds of firefighters from dozens of fire departments in both states are battling the blaze in a rugged patch of Passaic County in New Jersey and Orange County in New York near the Appalachian Trail. |
| Work Here Are the People Trump Has Picked for Key Positions So Far Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the campaign. |
| Work The Death and Life of Prediction Markets at Google Over the past two decades, Google has hosted two different internal platforms for predictions. Why did the first one fail -- and will the other endure? It's July 2005. Google is the darling of Silicon Valley. It has just unveiled Google Maps; Gmail is still in beta. |
| Work Europe Wants You to Travel by Train. But Why Is It So Complex and Expensive? Across the continent, flights are priced at a fraction of the cost of train tickets, hampering the growing number of people who want to travel sustainably. The big question is: why? |
| Work 'That Was the Greatest Day of All Our Lives': The Migrants Who Passed Through Ellis Island Isabel Belarsky was one of the millions of people who were processed on Ellis Island before its immigration facility closed in 1954. In 2014, she told the BBC about reaching the gateway to the US from the Soviet Union in 1930. |
| Work The US Has a Cloned Sheep Contraband Problem After a Montana man illegally cloned and bred an endangered giant sheep species, government agencies must now contend with the illicit offspring. |
| Work Which Decongestants Are Effective? Why the FDA Wants to Pull a Popular Medicine Ingredient The US Food and Drug Administration is officially taking action to remove phenylephrine, a popular decongesting ingredient, from medications taken orally, including some popular cold and flu over-the-counter drugs. |
| Work 'Brain stars' store our memories like a microscopic filing cabinet Fascinating new findings into how clusters of 'brain stars' retain memories has changed what we know about how they're held in our minds. |
| Work Dogs and Their Owners Really Do Look Alike--Here's Why New research reveals that people aren't just imagining it--dogs and their owners share striking similarities, from matching hairstyles to mirrored temperaments. |
| Work What's Really Behind Big Tech's Return-to-Office Mandates? Companies want workers back at their desks. Is it about productivity, 'backdoor layoffs,' or something else? |
| Work The Long Road to End Tuberculosis This essay by concludes Issue 04 of Asimov Press. In the 1924 novel, The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann describes a sanatorium patient named Anton Ferge as he undergoes a painful tuberculosis (TB) treatment. "I lie there with my face covered, so I can't see anything," Anton says. |
| Work Marine pilot loses command after ejecting from F-35B that kept flying Col. Charles "Tre" Del Pizzo, 49, confirmed to Defense News he was the pilot who ejected from the F-35B over Charleston, South Carolina, on Sept. 17, 2023, and parachuted into a resident's backyard. And in a written statement to Defense News, Del Pizzo said Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. |
| Work Inside the Company Helping America's Biggest Health Insurers Deny Coverage for Care When companies want to rein in costs, they turn to EviCore, whose business model depends on turning down payments for care recommended by doctors for their patients. |
| Work Leonard Cohen on the Antidote to Anger and the Meaning of Resistance One of the commonest and most corrosive human reflexes is to react to helplessness with anger. We do it in our personal lives and we do it in our political lives. |
| Work Knuckle-Cracking Is Fine: Nine Myths About Your Joints Busted Research shows how to avoid joint pain through healthier living and eating, so stop worrying about rain and take vitamin D. |
| Work How to Deal With a Narcissist When You Can't Avoid Them, According to a Psychologist While it's always advisable to give narcissists a wide berth, it's not always possible. Stylist asked the experts how to manage narcissistic behaviour when you can't avoid it. |
| Work Just Like Your Brain, ChatGPT Solves Problems Better When It Slows Down When presented with a problem, your brain has two ways to proceed: quickly and intuitively or slowly and methodically. |
| Work How "A Wrinkle in Time" Changed Sci-Fi Forever Meg Murry--the time-hopping heroine at the center of Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time"--transported sci-fi into a new dimension. |
| Work Why Parents Panic Way Too Much Over Kids Who Learn to Walk Late Author and economist Emily Oster dives into the data to see how common expectations and conventions around childbirth hold up. |
| Work The Heist that Made the Mona Lisa Famous The theft of the Mona Lisa has been called the "art heist of the century," but the caper itself was fairly rudimentary. |
| Work 6 Small, Everyday Things Physical Therapists Wish You'd Stop Doing Keep it up and you could see pain, decreased mobility, and even injury in the future. |
| Work Why Food Recalls Are Everywhere Right Now Contaminated food from McDonald's, Boar's Head, and more is making Americans sick. |
| Work A Simple Exercise to Help You Check Your Biases Combat bias, foster understanding, and ultimately improve business outcomes, |
| Work I'm a Death Expert. I Designed Eight Questions to Help You Think About Dying. For the vast majority of those in the industrialized, affluent west, death was - until the recent Covid pandemic - something exotic, foreign and outside of everyday experience. |
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| Work Do Men and Women Process Pain Differently? According to a new study, your sex may determine how well you respond to pain relief medication. |
| Work You Should Be Doing Hamstring Stretches Every Day--Here's Why (and 7 to Try) Trainers share their favorite ways to loosen up. |
| Work The Legacy of Red Vienna Jenny Uglow's latest book is Sybil and Cyril: Cutting Through Time, about the linocutters Sybil Andrews and Cyril Power. (November 2024) |
| Work Security Is A Useless Controls Problem In this blog, I cover: A somewhat popular StackOverflow answer to introduce a metaphor about useless security posts How to tell if a control is probably useless Why useless bad for the industry, advising where to go from here, and tease a future series of blogs diving into specific common, useless c |
| Work Google Rolls Out November 2024 Core Algorithm Update Google has released its latest broad core algorithm update for November 2024. This update continues Google's refinement of search systems to enhance the quality of results. Today we released the November 2024 core update. |
| Work 14 Dramatic Moments From the 2024 Nature's Best Photo Awards A mother tiger, feisty foxes, and wildflower fireworks. |
| Work Diver finds gold ring in ocean in Barbados, reunites it with owner who lost it 47 years ago In 1977, Morgan Perigo's gold college graduation ring was lost to the ocean while on a trip to Barbados with his wife and two young sons. Perigo, who graduated from McMaster University in Canada in 1965, searched for the ring in vain. "One day I took my younger son and waded into the ocean. |
| Work Bluesky adds 700,000 new members as users flee X after the US election Social media platform Bluesky has picked up more than 700,000 new users in the week since the US election, as users seek to escape misinformation and offensive posts on X. The influx, largely from North America and the UK, has helped Bluesky reach 14. |
| Work Only one in 10 sexual assault survivors in England and Wales would report crime again, survey shows Rape victims in England and Wales have echoed the message of Gisele Pelicot in France that "shame belongs to perpetrators, not them", in the largest ever survey of rape and sexual assault survivors, according to the government's key adviser on the crime. |
| Work A 'Crazy' Idea for Treating Autoimmune Diseases Might Actually Work Lupus has long been considered incurable--but a series of breakthroughs are fueling hope. |
| Work Mastercard chair: 'tremendous volatility' in U.S. relations with China has some considering 'purposeful decoupling' The re-elected incoming president Donald Trump campaigned on imposing high tariffs on China and all foreign entities--which economists have argued will have devastating consequences on domestic prices and trade relations. |
| Work Anthropic caught up in a potential turf war: What could it mean for competition, complexity and lock-in? Then there's the pure antitrust question -- such a lock-in could bring scrutiny from regulators, who are already eyeing potential monopolies in the AI space. |
| Work Shootouts erupt in Haiti capital as US passenger plane is struck by bullets - video A fresh wave of violence between Haitian police and gangs has gripped the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, with a Spirt Airlines flight bound for the capital's main airport from Florida forced to divert after it was struck by gang-related gunfire. |
| Work Democrat Ruben Gallego defeats Kari Lake to become Arizona's first Latino senator Lake, who once referred to herself as “Trump in heels,” branded Gallego with a collection of unflattering nicknames, including “swamp rat.” She also went after him personally, bringing up details of his divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and trying to pin him to his progressive past. |
| Work Scientists warn that a key Atlantic current could collapse, among other climate tipping points That warning and the new report both come amid fears the U.S. will backslide on its climate commitments and pull out of the Paris Agreement after Donald Trump takes office in January. Trump wants to remove the U.S. from the international treaty, and he began that process during his first presidential administration. President Joe Biden reversed the move in 2021. |
| Work Tram in Amsterdam set on fire as tensions remain high after violence targeting Israeli fans Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rushed to the Netherlands on Friday and offered Israel’s help in the police investigation. He met on Saturday with the Dutch prime minister and said in a statement that the attacks and demands to show passports “were reminiscent of dark periods in history.” |
| Work Aid groups say Israel misses US deadline to boost humanitarian help for Gaza Former U.S. State Department official Charles Blaha, who ran the office in charge of ensuring that U.S. military support complies with U.S. and international law, predicted the Biden administration would find that Israel violated U.S. law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza. |
| Work Avenel: Where Refined Living Meets Natural Beauty - Washingtonian Recent thoughtful upgrades include a new roof, fresh paint throughout, new carpets, refinished hardwood floors, new light fixtures, new faucets, resurfaced driveway, and more to ensure the home is move-in ready. |
| Work Elon Musk's PAC spent an estimated $200 million to help elect Trump, AP source says Musk, meanwhile, indicated in an election night conversation on X that his PAC will stay involved in politics, “preparing for the midterms and any intermediate elections, as well as looking at elections at the District Attorney and sort of judicial levels.” |
| Work CU football notes: Shilo Sanders' heads-up play at Texas Tech big for Buffs, himself As of Monday, CU is a 10.5-point favorite against Utah. It’s just the third time in the last 61 conference games (dating back to 2017) that CU is a double-digit favorite. … CU’s defense regained the Big 12 lead for sacks, with 29, after having seven against Texas Tech. The Buffs have had seven sacks twice in the last three games. In the previous 297 games, dating back to 2000, they had at least seven sacks just four times. |
| Work Women's basketball: CU Buffs aim to fix shooting woes ahead of matchup vs. Nevada Although Colorado women's basketball coach JR Payne knew she was going to have an almost completely new roster this year, she was encouraged by several qualities the group possessed. |
| Work Keeler: Broncos Super Bowl kicker's tip to Alex Forsyth? Follow Taylor Swift's advice after Chiefs debacle: Shake it off. “I’m sure for Forsyth, it’ll be better next time,” Treadwell said. “That’s all I would say (to him as a kicker is), ‘Hey, I got you, you got me, we’ll be better next time.’ |
| Work Samuel Girard scores in overtime to help Avalanche fend off Predators “I feel like the guys who are playing in the spots of the guys who are out are doing a heck of a job,” Rantanen said. “They’re working really hard, making plays. But obviously every team wants to have their best lineup out there. Every team wants to have their guys healthy. Can’t deny that, but the replacements have been doing their best.” |
| Work Today in History: November 12, Venice hit by worst flooding in 50 years In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. |
| Work Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz, China hawk, to be his national security adviser The nod came despite simmering concerns on Capitol Hill about Trump tapping members of the House, where the final tally is still uncertain and there are worries about pulling any GOP members from t... |
| Work New vote totals show countywide, citywide sales tax hikes both still falling short The labor- and business-backed committee that supported the measure raised nearly $2.6 million this year, while the campaign opposing it, Stop the SANDAG Tax, raised only $148,000 in the same time period. |
| Work Lead narrows for Keim over Sanchez for Oceanside mayor Almost 70 percent of Oceanside voters supported approval of an additional 10 years for Measure X, the temporary half-cent sales tax increase approved in 2018 and otherwise set to expire in 2026. |
| Work Animal sanctuary gains two new critters following zoo closure Brink wasn’t happy with the final wording because it lacked enforcement and does not cover bears, wolves and primates. Last weekend, she was back at work on the subject, meeting with supporters in Los Angeles to advocate for additional legislation. |
| Work Santa Monica mother urges officials to provide more security amid racist texts The Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Antonio Shelton issued a statement Friday saying in part, “Targeting our students with racist messages is unfathomable. Whoever or whatever group started this campaign needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If we learn that a SMMUSD student is involved at the local level, they will face disciplinary action to the full extent of Education Code and school board policy.” |
| Work She heard knocking beneath the floor of her home for weeks. Police make a disturbing discovery Clara Harter is a breaking news reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered politics and education for the L.A. Daily News. While at the Daily News, she published a series on fentanyl addiction that won a first-place investigative journalism award from the L.A. Press Club. Harter majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies at Columbia University. She loves surfing and, when not reporting, can most likely be found in the ocean. |
| Work LAUSD abruptly ends new admissions rules for gifted students amid parent fury over standards Rebecca Plevin reports on equity for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times, she was an editor at the Fresno Bee, where she oversaw the bilingual Central Valley News Collaborative. She previously reported on immigration for the Desert Sun in Palm Springs and covered healthcare for public radio station KPCC-FM (89.3) in Pasadena. She grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and earned her journalism degree from Northwestern University. |
| Work 'Five little queens' will be nine, as Measure G backers claim victory Rebecca Ellis covers Los Angeles County government for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she covered Portland city government for Oregon Public Broadcasting. Before OPB, Ellis wrote for the Miami Herald, freelanced for the Providence Journal and reported as a Kroc fellow at NPR in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Brown University in 2018. Ellis was a finalist for the Livingston Awards in 2022 for her investigation into abuses within Portland’s private security industry and in 2024 for an investigation into sexual abuse inside L.A. County’s juvenile halls. |
| Work Whitesides captures L.A. County congressional seat in a major victory for Democrats Hailey Branson-Potts is an enterprise reporter on the State Team who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2011. She reports on a wide range of issues and people, with a special focus on Northern California and the Central Coast. She grew up in the small town of Perry, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. |
| Work Why 'Affordable Housing' in New York City Can Still Cost $3,500 a Month  In the 1970s, as an economic crisis gripped the city, hundreds of thousands of residents moved away. Scores of buildings were abandoned and in states of disrepair. Today, the city has a different problem, as demand to live in New York City is overwhelming its housing stock, leading to soaring rents and gentrification. How did we get here? |
| Work New York City Democrats Grapple With Trump's Victory  There is a lot of grief, soul-searching and anger. Many of the Democrats had worked hard to try to elect Kamala Harris, and they understand her defeat was a huge setback for their priorities. They’re now trying to grapple with why Trump won and what message Democrats can embrace to get voters back. |
| Work The end of 23andMe's drug discovery dream “We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships,” said Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s CEO, co-founder, and chair of the board. “I want to thank our team for their hard work and dedication to our mission. We are fully committed to supporting the employees impacted by this transition.” |