People Who Drink Bottled Water on a Daily Basis Ingest 90,000 More Microplastic Particles Each Year | WIRED

Please don’t drink out of plastic bottles. Please. Please, please, please.

Scientists Find 26 Whole New Bacteria Species In NASA’s Supposedly Sterile Cleanrooms Which Could Invade Mars

I know you’re sterile, but what am I?

Big Tech basically took Trump’s unpredictable trade war lying down - Ars Technica

This is a good article looking at big tech’s response to Dipshit McOrange and his subservience based approach to rule. Let’s say they didn’t do well, and let’s also say I don’t think a lot of them WANTED to do well. I think many to most of them were perfectly happy to kiss the swollen bifurcated orange known as Trump’s ass.

The First National Website Dedicated To Documenting ICE License Plates Is Here ~ L.A. TACO

I’m sure the idiots running our country will claim that tracking license plates of certain vehicles is illegal and classify it as the T word, but the fact is, it just makes sense to know when kidnappers are in the neighborhood.

Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man’s Meta Smart Glasses on Subway

Does she do Flock cameras too?

Fujifilm in 2025: the return of compact cameras and revisiting old family favorites | Digital Camera World

Fujifilm cameras are one of those things that just make me happy without reservation. I’m glad they continued to do and be fun in 2025.

Are We Ready to Be Governed by Artificial Intelligence? - Schneier on Security

Bruce brings up some good points about our AI-driven future, but could it be much worse than the current orange-guy-and-band-of-idiots timeline that we’re living in now? But seriously, there are a lot of issues that need to be resolved with how we plan to use AI in society, and I seriously doubt we’ll handle this with any thoughtfulness and foresight whatsoever.

Beautiful sightseeing boat is a floating tea ceremony venue in east Japan’s best hot spring town | SoraNews24 -Japan News-

Here’s something I am ready for: a floating tea ceremony. I’ll have the matcha cake and the matcha pudding with ice cream, please.

Travelers could face stricter screening including social media history

Everyone’s excited about the 5 years of social media, which isn’t great at all, but no one’s talking about the biometrics and DNA samples that CBP wants. I would not come here if I wasn’t a citizen. Not worth it.

Researchers Uncover 30+ Flaws in AI Coding Tools Enabling Data Theft and RCE Attacks

LLMs can be easily abused for data theft, it’s just a fact. Context hijacking, prompt injections, and other vulnerabilities mean a lot of people are going to unintentionally give up a lot of data without ever realizing how.

These damn consumers won’t update their phones fast enough

Am I the only one who views this as a positive trend?

Blast from the past: 15 movie gems of 1985 - Ars Technica

I don’t know if I’d recommend all of these, but it is a fun list to read if weren’t born in 2003 or something stupid like that.

Why Honda is suddenly launching reusable rockets | The Verge

I would love to see somebody, ANYBODY, take on SpaceX, and why not Honda? I don’t know if there’s a company that I (rightly or wrongly) associate less with evil.

Poems Can Trick AI Into Helping You Make a Nuclear Weapon | WIRED

And you said poetry had no practical applications.

Why college students prefer TikTok over newspapers | The Verge

I can think of a dozen reasons why college students would be dumb enough to use TikTok for any reason, let alone news.

Is Your Friend or Family Member Spiraling Into AI Psychosis? This Group May Be Able to Help

There are a lot of variations of psychosis and delusions these days. Some revolve around believing in the sentinence of chatbots. Some revolve around believing everything an orange leader says, despite actual evidence. Some just result in no beliefs at all.

Otherworldly Photos of Forests by Michelle Blancke Explore Mysticism and Transformation — Colossal

If delusion is what you’re after, here’s some harmless transformations of forests into mystic alternate realities for you.

Why Leftover Pizza Is Actually Healthier: The Science of “Resistant Starch” Explained | Scientific American

And now, for the “best news all year” category winner, here’s PIZZA!!

New Deep Sea Creatures ‘Challenge Current Models of Life,’ Scientists Say

It’s funny how the more we know about life in the sea, the less we know about life in the sea.

Locking down Signal

Signal used to be more secure by default, but it also didn’t feel like a modern messaging app as a result. With progress comes regression.

Why Modern Engines Still Measure Power Output In Horsepower?

I mean, two or three people in the world probably know anything about actual horse power, so it is interesting that horsepower as a metric has never gone away.

Software Failures and IT Management’s Repeated Mistakes - IEEE Spectrum

In case you’re worried that AI will make software worse, it’s hard to imagine how it could.

This Black Fungus Might Be Healing Chernobyl By Drinking Radiation—A Biologist Explains

The fundamental question Forbes is ignoring here is what does the fungus become AFTER it’s done drinking up all of Chernobyl’s radiation? I’m thinking this radiation diet is step one in a fungus master plan.

Palantir’s tools pose an invisible danger we are just beginning to comprehend | Juan Sebastian Pinto | The Guardian

The weirdness that is the semi-human form serving as Palantir’s CEO is a case study in religion as a motivator for evil. By religion I mean the ever too common operating mode wherein Silicon Valley types frame their mission as an imperative moral cause. And let’s not even get started on the Antichrist himself, Peter Thiel.

Know Your Rights in Encounters with Law Enforcement and Military Troops | American Civil Liberties Union

We’re living in a wild time where you can be accosted by military or paramilitary or just fat, unbadged and unidentified fuckers in neck gaiters on the streets of the united states. Know your rights.

The Privacy-Friendly Tech to Replace Your US-Based Email, Browser, and Search | WIRED

I’ve thought about trying to get involved with EuroStack efforts somehow. It seems like a necessary and worthy goal even apart from this current timeline.

The Book of Clear Shadows, Silhouette Portraits Of Living For The Dead, 1867 - Flashbak

In the postscript of Clear Shadows, the writer Kanagaki Robun (1829–1894) observed: “Appearance is a deceptive skin. Silhouette shows the real bones [core structure of the person].” This works for me, because I look a hell of a lot better in silhouette.

The Authoritarian Stack

An interesting look at how tech billionaires would love to change the world. Hint: it’s not for the better.

Ehon Mizu Ya Sora: A Forerunner of Modern Manga, 1780 - Flashbak

Long before Katsuhiro Otomo, there was Nichosai.

Kia Delays EV4 Sedan ‘Until Further Notice’ In The U.S., Which Sucks For Fans Of Cool, Affordable Cars

The US is going to look really stupid in a few years for hating the “woke” EV agenda. Although truthfully, if it kills Tesla in the process, I couldn’t be happier. The US has chosen the past, has chosen to be one of the “shithole” countries Trump talked about in his first term, and the US will pay the price for it. It’s inevitable.

California Couple Ticketed For Using Their Own Driveway Due To Antiquated Law

And just when you thought law enforcement in the US couldn’t get any dumber, it says “hold my beer”.

Chimps Are Capable of Human-Like Rational Thought, Breakthrough Study Finds

I don’t think this is surprising at all because I think it’s very self-evident that animals are able to approach and assess situations and revise their view of what’s going on. Humans constantly underestimate animals and constantly overestimate our own intellectual and biolgocial distance from them.

The 16th-Century Artist Who Created the First Compendium of Insect Drawings — Colossal

Another entry in the “people in the past were smarter than we’re going to be” department. I guess I won’t claim that EVERYONE in the past was interested in their surroundings, but I bet it was more people percentage-wise than today.