Featured Links - April 28, 2025

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

North of the marina

Artificial Intelligence Solves One of Archaeology’s Greatest Puzzles. "AI is unlocking the secrets of the Nazca Lines, revealing 303 new geoglyphs in just six months and reshaping the future of archaeology."

I Study Measles. I’m Terrified We’re Headed for an Epidemic. "Fearing tens of thousands of measles cases in the United States is not an overreaction. It’s a scenario that recently played out elsewhere. Europe, where measles had also been largely eliminated, saw more than 80,000 cases in 2018, driving tens of thousands of hospitalizations and over 70 otherwise preventable deaths. Several countries lost their elimination status." While the outbreak in Texas has been getting news on US media, there are now over 1,000 cases in Ontario with more than 70 people hospitalized. Most are unvaccinated.

Beyond XX & XY—Human Sex And Gender Were Never A Simple Binary. "Humans are more complicated than most online experts think."

Trump is trashing electric vehicles. China is building cars the world wants. "China dominates global EV sales, while U.S. consumers risk getting stuck on an island of outdated technology."

Slate's Big Market Research Experiment. "A new automotive startup called Slate emerged from stealth mode this week and garnered a huge amount of attention for creating what many have been clamoring for — the sort of cheap, electric vehicle that is widespread in China. While Slate is getting lots of coverage and will probably rack up a huge number of $50 reservations in the coming days and weeks, whether that translates into actual sales will be a fascinating market research experiment."

Out of Service: How Wall Street Turned Fire Trucks, Fabric Stores, and Public Safety into Collateral. "Private equity rolls up America’s lifelines while BlackRock quietly funds the collapse with your retirement savings."

Hidden magma cap discovered at Yellowstone National Park. "The magma cap is critical for preventing eruptions at Yellowstone."

What’s the deal with seed oils? "The science and skepticism."

Bondi launches dubious ‘Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias’ in U.S. government. 'Trump administration officials could be focused on “anti-religion bias” within the government, but they’re instead focused only on “anti-Christian bias.”' Seems like Bondi missed the civics class lesson on separation of Church and State. 

'We learned so much that we didn't know': Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander mission was full of surprises. " Lessons learned and on-the-spot surprises from the first fully successful commercial lunar lander mission bolsters the chances of long-term robotic and human operations on the moon."