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China is said to be planning a US-focused surveillance center in Cuba. The US government denied a Wall Street Journal scoop detailing the potential outpost for electronic eavesdropping, but the report highlights the failures of successive US presidents to win Cuba over.
Google is doubling down on enforcing commutes. Big Tech is leaning into the perception that in-office work is better work, though many of those companies produce the tools that make remote work possible.
ChatGPT got its first libel lawsuit. Legal experts say it won’t be the last lawsuit prompted by AI hallucinations, and it will all hinge on whether AI companies are protected by Section 230.
Lucid is setting up shop in China. The US-based luxury EV manufacturer will start by selling imported cars while weighing local production options.
The UK and US made a trade deal. UK PM Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden made some transatlantic promises, though details are scanty.
Messi, Miami, and money
$585 million: Value of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami team before Lionel Messi signed on
$1 billion: Potential value with the contract
Read more about why it took a soccer star as big as David Beckham—who is an Inter Miami owner—to beat out Saudi Arabia’s massive offer for Messi.
Dyson Zone finally has its market
When Dyson launched headphones that doubled as an air purifier last year, the accessories that look like they should be a prop on a sci-fi film were roundly mocked.
But with the air quality along much of the US East Coast currently the worst in the world, the jokes have gone flat. In a way, the headwear have become walking symbols of how wealthy Westerners can afford to retreat into their own, clean bubbles, away from the toxic changes in climate that they’ve precipitated.
What an honest ad from Shell would look like
Shell’s new ad campaign touting its renewable energies—and skirting the fact that its main business contributes to climate change—was banned by British authorities this week.
We wrote some modest proposals for truthful ads that fully inform consumers:
🛢️ We make the majority of our profits from fossil fuels, not renewable energy.
💰 We invest far more in oil and gas than renewables.
🏭 Our annual CO2 emissions are higher than those of entire countries.
We’ve got three other suggestions on how Shell could’ve more accurately addressed shareholder influence and environmental damage.
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Surprising discoveries
London has a new giant tunnel. It’ll all go to poo, but before it does, a cellist had to test out the acoustics.
A 6,000-year-old piece of wood was found. The discoverer almost turned it into bowls.
Long-lasting brain changes are linked to space travel. The shifts are affected by length and frequencies of missions.
The idea that global morality is on the decline isn’t accurate. But the social and political repercussions of that illusion are stark.
Reducing geographical distance also reduces psychological distance. “Construal level theory” should mean that the air quality crisis in the northeastern US will make the region as climate conscious as the West Coast, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
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