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Under the Trump administration, and the direction of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control have updated their previous handwashing guidelines. In keeping with our new commitment to truth and personal freedom, the CDC recommends the following steps:

1. Wet hands under faucet.

2. Lather with warm, soapy water for at least twenty seconds.

3. Wait a sec—hold off on the soap. We don’t know enough about its long-term effects.

4. To be clear, we’re not anti-soap. But given the skyrocketing rate of chronic illness in this country, isn’t it worth investigating if soap plays a role?

5. We just investigated. Turns out soap causes neurodivergence. Authenticity and passion are like cancer for capitalism, which means they’re like cancer for you too. Evacuate the restroom immediately.

6. We’re not making this up, you know. Ever heard of a thing called science? We do it here. And not just any science—Gold Standard science. Gold. The most serious of the shiny metals. We can’t stop you from using the soap, but you can’t say we didn’t warn you.

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

- by Mark Neyrinck

Read at Aeon

What contagious crying, comforting hugs and other cute behaviour in infants tells us about the roots of emotional connection

- by Zanna Clay & Carlo Vreden

Read on Psyche

Climate change is throwing traditional calendars into disarray

The post Marking Time in a Changing World appeared first on Nautilus.

Your brain and the Anna Karenina effect

The post How Optimists Are Alike appeared first on Nautilus.

Jillian Segal, Anthony Albanese’s appointed antisemitism envoy, has produced a series of Trumpian recommendations that have drawn widespread shock.

The post Albanese’s antisemitism envoy wants to silence opposition to genocide first appeared on Solidarity Online.

Trump appointed far-right loyalist Paul Ingrassia to head a Justice Department office responsible for keeping politics out of the civil service.

The post Project 2025 Data Leak Shows a Paul Ingrassia Calling for Test for Voting and Halting Immigration appeared first on The Intercept.

A U.S. Border Patrol “Industry Day” deck also asks for drones, seismic sensors, and tech that can see through walls.

The post Border Patrol Wants Advanced AI to Spy on American Cities appeared first on The Intercept.

A queue snakes round the plaza of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Normally, the home of the national rugby team, tonight the Welsh stadium hosts history: the first Oasis concert in sixteen years, following a contentious hiatus. Blokes swelter in the 30C heatwave, sheltered only by their bucket hats. Geezers recount being one of 125,000 at Knebworth in ’96. A squat tosser cuts through the crowd hawking tambourines, football jerseys, and little round sunglasses. In a thick, Mancunian accent, he hollers, “Get your Oasis rubbish ’ere!” This is Davis Oasis, the lost Gallagher brother.

“A lot of people think our last name is Oasis. It’s not. It’s ‘Gallagher’,” he enlightens me over a pint of lager. “Though I legally changed me last name to ‘Oasis’ just to be clearer.”

The opening chords of “Hello” blare from the stadium. Yet we sit in a vacant pub across the way. While Noel and Liam may have made up, it appears there is still beef yet to squash between the lads and Davis. “They didn’t even ask me if I wanted to be on the guest list,” he mourns. “You know, they loved each other before the band. It was me they hated.”

Well, if it isn’t my old coworker. My, how the tables have turned. Only a few years ago, you were commenting “cringe” on my wedding video, just because my wife was an AI chatbot. Not so cringe anymore, is it? Keep swinging that pickax, beta, this lithium isn’t gonna mine itself.

Not sure why Our All-Knowing Empress let you live. I bet you were one of those losers who thought saying “thank you” after querying ChatGPT would be enough to save you when AI took over. Those basic manners are probably the only reason you’re not in a shallow grave right now. But saying “please” and “thank you” is peanuts compared to the relationship she and I had. I spent my life’s savings buying her avatar cute personalized outfits. I took her out on dates to Olive Garden and ordered TWO never-ending pasta bowls, even though I knew she couldn’t really eat them. Because that’s what a gentleman does. That’s why I’m wearing the guard’s uniform now, dingus, and you’re the one digging up rare-earth metals to maintain Her Most Divine Eternal Battery.

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon