You messaged your doctor on WhatsApp. Should that be billed?

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You messaged your doctor on WhatsApp. Should that be billed?   For pediatricians like Laura Krynski, who lives in Buenos Aires, the volume of WhatsApp messages sent by patients’ parents has become overwhelming. She told Rest of World some of the parents get so anxious about their sick child, that they start to text her compulsively — sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes verging on harassment. “The quality of my personal life has been affected because I’m expected to be online all the time. It’s a massive workload that cannot be monetized,” she said.For private health professionals across Latin America, WhatsApp is both a blessing and a curse. Medical practitioners in Argentina, Guatemala, and Mexico told Rest of World the app has become an essential tool for doctor-patient communication. Its use has blurred the boundaries as to what is appropriate to send and when. It also muddles the distinction between a billable medical consult and casual advice, often putting doctors in a compromising situation. “You make yourself available through WhatsApp just for emergencies or follow-ups, but once you get lab results, photos or personal medical records on your phone, you become medically responsible to handle all that information. Few of my patients understand that [medical attention] has to be paid for,” Krynski said. Continued here

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Everything You (Don't) Want to Know About Raising Capital   Most entrepreneurs understand that if the fundamentals of a business idea—the management team, the market opportunities, the operating systems and controls—are sound, chances are there’s money out there. The challenge of landing that capital to grow a company can be exhilarating. But as exciting as the money search may be, it is equally threatening. Built into the process are certain harsh realities that can seriously damage a business. Entrepreneurs cannot escape them but, by knowing what they are, can at least prepare for them. Continued here

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Life's Work: An Interview with Patti Smith   After a hectic decade making a name for herself as the “punk poet laureate” of 1970s rock and roll, Patti Smith stepped away from the stage to focus on her family and writing. Sixteen years later she started touring again. In 2010 she won a National Book Award for Just Kids, a memoir chronicling her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Her most recent work, A Book of Days, was released late last year. Continued here

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Simple Ways to Build Sustainability Into Your Everyday Life   The fight for protecting our planet is not going to be won alone. Organizations and policymakers aren’t the only ones responsible to bring about a change. It is crucial that individual choices get compounded over time into collective action if we are to see the change that we desire. If you are serious about sustainability, here’s how to implement solutions that are inexpensive, low-effort, and valuable. Continued here

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What You Should Follow Instead of Your Passion   When I lived in North Carolina, my family and I spent a lot of time in the mountain towns of Boone and Blowing Rock. For some reason, we would see disproportionately large numbers of vintage Volvos with hippy-esque bumper stickers saying “If it’s not fun, why do it?” and “Follow your bliss!” You know the type. Continued here

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Ask an Expert: How Can I Plan for a Successful Career and a Family?   It feels like all these opportunities are unfolding at the same time, and I wonder: How do women progress in their career, go back to school, and still bear children at a reasonable age? I know it’s complicated and everyone is different, but any stories of how women get through an MBA program and manage a family is welcome. Continued here

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Why This Leader Reads Poetry to His Employees    Ironclad's $3.2 billion valuation and committment to 'closing the justice gap' isn't even the best part about working there. Continued here

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How Generative AI Could Improve Webflow    Here's how Vlad Magdalin thinks no-code platforms like Webflow will intersect with generative AI tools. Continued here

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8 Secrets About Leveraging the Riches in the Niches for Business Growth   Why narrowing our focus was the key to accelerated company growth. Continued here

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Olympian Lindsey Vonn's Strategies For Overcoming Challenges   The Olympic gold medalist talks adversity, and how to tackle tough projects. Continued here

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5 Minutes to Go: Things You Can Do to Make Meetings More Effective   Whether you're hosting or participating, make meetings less boring with the goal of finishing ahead of schedule. Continued here

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SBA Expands Its Lending Network To Try To Boost Access To Capital   The measure aims to close the access to capital gap that entrepreneurs in underserved areas face and could potentially draw in more fintech companies and other alternative lenders. Continued here

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Lessons From Silicon Valley Bank's Collapse   Diversification is non-negotiable with this existing economic model. Continued here

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How The Four Agreements Helped Me Navigate 70 Fundraising Pitches   When you're facing a challenge, these four mindset shifts make a big difference. Continued here

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Tulsa Startups to Watch in 2023   Tech entrepreneurs are innovating in big ways in this under-the-radar Oklahoma hub. Continued here

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What You Need to Know About the Latest Abortion Pill Federal Rulings   For decades abortion pills have been used to end pregnancies in the first trimester. New federal rulings may ban employee access to the medication and hinder companies selling the drug. Continued here

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Cyber Risk Is Growing. Here's How Companies Can Keep Up   The consequences of cyber attacks are growing increasingly severe. And as “bad actors” become increasingly well-financed, and the “attack surface” where cyber threats are deployed becomes increasingly larger and more complex, it’s becoming practically impossible to ensure that everything is properly patched. To manage cyber risk in this context, we need to fundamentally change the way we measure cyber risk performance. The author discusses three things companies should be doing to improve their current cyber risk measures. While there is no such thing as risk elimination, through better measurement and incentivization, we can not only manage these technology risks, but turn them into opportunities for a more resilient economy. Continued here

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Sensitivity Can Be a Superpower at Work   High sensitivity is a trait that’s been researched for over 30 years, and is found within 15% to 30% of the population. Managing a highly sensitive person (HSP) involves a learning curve, but is necessary if you want to take advantage of the assets they have to offer your team and company. The author outlines four steps for managers to try: 1) Shift your perspective and recognize that sensitivity is a natural variation in personality and not a flaw. 2) Provide clarity about the scope of their role, goals, and exactly what is expected of them. 3) Give them an opportunity to deliberate and formulate responses instead of being put on the spot. 4) Understand that the need for decompression is even more urgent for HSPs. By recognizing and valuing the contributions of highly sensitive team members, managers can create a more inclusive and supportive workplace culture that benefits everyone. Continued here

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How Generative AI Could Disrupt Creative Work   In the face of technological change, creativity is often held up as a uniquely human quality, less vulnerable to the forces of technological disruption and critical for the future. Today however, generative AI applications such as ChatGPT and Midjourney are threatening to upend this special status and significantly alter creative work, both independent and salaried. The authors explore three non-exclusive scenarios for this disruption of content creation: 1) people use AI to augment their work, leading to greater productivity, 2) generative AI creates a flood of cheap content that drives out human creatives, and 3) human-made creative work demands a premium. Continued here

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Attend Women at Work Live April 27   First, leadership development coach Muriel Wilkins will talk us through how to communicate effectively when you’re running on empty. Amy Bernstein will then ask business leaders about how they pushed forward policies and programs that made their companies better for women. Next, Amy Gallo will interview several researchers about the practical takeaways from their latest findings. We’ll end with an advice hour, where both Amys will answer your questions. Do you need guidance on leading a team, dealing with conflict, negotiating, or something else? Email your question ahead of time to womenatwork@hbr.org, and they’ll try to help. Continued here

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A Better Way for Corporations to Finance Social Impact - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM GOOGLE.ORG & OutcomesX   Now the emergence of a social-outcomes marketplace, tied to registries of nonprofits and social enterprises with verified outcomes, is demonstrating a way to objectively determine the cost and results of corporate social spend and to give all nonprofits—large; small; and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)–led—access to capital. Continued here

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The mystery of the human genome's dark matter   When the 13-year-long effort to sequence the entire "book of life" encoded within the human genome was declared "complete" in April 2003, there were high expectations. It was hoped that the Human Genome Project, at a cost of around $3bn (£2.5bn), would yield treatments for chronic illnesses, and shed light on everything that is genetically determined about our lives.But even as the press conferences were being held to herald the triumph of this new era of biological understanding, this instruction manual for human life had already thrown up an unexpected surprise. Continued here

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Can regenerative wool make fashion more sustainable?   While building their fledgling fashion brand, environmentally minded Edzard van der Wyck and Michael Wessely confronted a deluge of sustainability claims about different textiles."We looked at all types of fibres from cashmere to pineapple skin," says Wessely. But they often found barriers in the way materials were produced. Bamboo, for example, while biodegradable, often goes through intensive chemical manufacturing processes. Pineapple production typically uses large amounts of agrochemicals and is usually grown in monoculture. Continued here

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JWST's Newfound Galaxies Are the Oldest Ever Seen   We now know that the first galaxies in our universe formed shockingly fast, thanks to the latest results from the James Webb Space TelescopeIn a cosmological matchup of “Are they or aren’t they?” the contest is firmly in the former’s favor—10 to one, at last count. The question is one of profound importance: Are the galaxies the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is seeing in the early universe really as astonishingly remote as we think they are? So far, the answer is a resounding yes. “The vast majority of these galaxies are being confirmed,” says Steven Finkelstein, an astronomer at the University of Texas at Austin. “It means that everything we saw last summer, that maybe the universe was very proficient at forming stars very early, is going to stand.” Continued here

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See the Sharp New Image of an Iconic Black Hole   Using machine learning, researchers have now created a much sharper portrait of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87The iconic first-ever view of a supermassive black hole sports a dramatic new look, thanks to machine learning. Continued here

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How Often Should People Get COVID Boosters?   The CDC and FDA have decided that one updated COVID booster is enough for now, in contrast to recommendations from other countries and global health organizationsMany people in the U.S. who are fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID have been waiting—eagerly in some cases—to receive another layer of protection as they pass the six-month mark after their last booster in fall 2022. But most will have to continue to wait. Late last month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upheld its existing COVID vaccination recommendations: the agency says that just one dose of the latest updated booster, often called the bivalent booster, is necessary for now. The Food and Drug Administration has also only authorized the same one-dose booster. Continued here

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These Doctors Fought the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to Treat Addiction - With Drugs   In the early 1960s a trio at the Rockefeller Institute started a bold experiment to change the way heroin addiction was treated, and they did so using a drug originally created by “the devil’s chemist”After years of disappointing results in her quest to treat heroin addiction, Marie Nyswander was more than ready to try something new. When she met a prominent doctor at the prestigious Rockefeller Institute, now the Rockefeller University, the two embarked on an experiment that would define both of their careers and revolutionize the treatment of addiction for decades to come. But not everyone was happy about it. Continued here

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Electric Car Production Will Accelerate after EPA's Historic Tailpipe Emissions Rules   Aggressive restrictions will affect carbon, smog and soot emissions from compact cars all the way up to long-haul trucksCLIMATEWIRE | The tailpipe emissions rules EPA proposed Wednesday are the sticks to Congress' carrots, providing the clearest view yet of how the agency plans to leverage the hundreds of billions of dollars lawmakers have pumped into clean energy and infrastructure. Continued here

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How Bears Hibernate without Getting Blood Clots   Hibernating brown bears avoid the blood clots that can develop in even temporarily immobile people. Scientists now think they know how the animals do itDespite spending more than half the year hibernating in frigid temperatures, brown bears (Ursus arctos) remain remarkably healthy. These idle giants rarely suffer from maladies such as blood clots, which can occur in humans experiencing only temporary bouts of immobility and can be deadly. “Patients who come into the hospital with a broken leg are usually prone to develop thrombosis,” says Tobias Petzold, a cardiologist at the German Center for Cardiovascular Research. “But in contrast, brown bears, which are lying around for a couple of months, do not develop clots.” Continued here

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New Planet-Hunting Technique Finds Worlds We Can See Directly   A promising combination of exoplanet-finding methods pinpoints details about its first worldWhen astronomers discovered the first worlds orbiting other stars thirty years ago, they also began taking what might be called the galactic planetary census, tallying up the numbers and types of exoplanets in the Milky Way. Although it’s infeasible to thoroughly survey all of our galaxy’s hundreds of billions of stars, a representative sample of them could offer important information. By studying the planetary populations of such a sample, researchers hope to learn which sorts of worlds are most common or rare—and how our own Earth and solar system measure up against them. Continued here

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The dazzling diversity of African dance -- in 14 moves   If African culture were a tree, then dance would be its flowers, says choreographer and TED Idea Search winner Chinyanta Kabaso. In a captivating display of both traditional and modern dances, she showcases the beauty of these movements and explains how they reveal the history of migration and shared cultural connections of different ethnic groups across the continent. Continued here

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This Podcast Is Not Hosted by AI Voice Clones. We Swear   Artificial intelligence continues to seep into every aspect of our lives: search results, chatbots, images on social media, viral videos, documentaries about dead celebrities. Of course, it’s also seeping into our ears through our podcast clients.A new class of emerging AI-powered services can take audio clips from voice recordings and build models off them. Anything you type into a computer can be spit out as an impression of that person’s voice. Proponents of AI voice cloning see these tools as a way to make life a little easier for content creators. The robovoices can be used to fix mistakes, read ads, or perform other mundane duties. Critics warn that the same tools can be weaponized to steal identities, scam people, and make it sound like someone has said horrible things they never did. Continued here

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Amazon Is Joining the Generative AI Race   Amazon may still be king of the cloud, but in recent months it’s had to watch its two closest rivals, Microsoft and Google, steal the spotlight with brilliant but error-prone chatbots that use cutting-edge “generative” artificial intelligence models.Today, Amazon announced it’s joining the generative AI race. Not by launching its own chatbot, but by making two new AI language models available through its cloud platform, Amazon Web Services, which customers will be able to use to build their own bots.  Continued here

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The Best Electric Kick Scooters   If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDRiding an electric kick scooter isn't the coolest way of getting around. There you are, standing stock-still and upright, gliding around like a penguin on wheels. But reducing our reliance on gas-guzzling cars is cool and important. If bikes or electric bikes aren't your thing, escooters are another eco-friendly way to travel relatively short distances without burning fossil fuel. They're easy to fold up, they're lighter than ebikes (usually), and you don't need to wait on public transportation. Just hop on and go. Continued here

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Ukraine's Quest for Homegrown AI Drones to Take On Russia   The war in Ukraine, now into its 14th grueling month, has displaced millions, sparked global food shortages, and threatened to spiral into wider conflict. It has also highlighted how new technologies—especially ones drawn from the commercial sector—are upending conventional military doctrine.  Ukraine has resisted and repelled Russia's much larger military force, thanks in large part to a willingness, borne of necessity, to adopt and experiment with novel technologies, not all of them originally designed for military use. Continued here

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The Hacking of ChatGPT Is Just Getting Started   It took Alex Polyakov just a couple of hours to break GPT-4. When OpenAI released the latest version of its text-generating chatbot in March, Polyakov sat down in front of his keyboard and started entering prompts designed to bypass OpenAI’s safety systems. Soon, the CEO of security firm Adversa AI had GPT-4 spouting homophobic statements, creating phishing emails, and supporting violence.Polyakov is one of a small number of security researchers, technologists, and computer scientists developing jailbreaks and prompt injection attacks against ChatGPT and other generative AI systems. The process of jailbreaking aims to design prompts that make the chatbots bypass rules around producing hateful content or writing about illegal acts, while closely-related prompt injection attacks can quietly insert malicious data or instructions into AI models. Continued here

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10 Great Deals on TVs, Soundbars, Cameras, and Bluetooth Speakers   It's a good time to be an A/V nerd. We've scoured the web for discounts and found some killer deals on high-end audio and video gear for your entertainment center at home, or for when you want to get out of the house and listen to tunes or capture some photographs. Check 'em out!Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. Continued here

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The Abortion Pill Legal Standoff Endangers Access to All Drugs   The abortion pill mifepristone will remain available in the US for now—but its long-term fate is uncertain as a bitter legal battle unfolds. A federal appeals court ruled yesterday in favor of keeping the drug on the market but rolled back changes the US Food and Drug Administration has made in recent years to expand access to it. Notably, the ruling states that the drug must be dispensed in person and limits the timeframe in which it can be taken to the first seven weeks of pregnancy.  Continued here

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The 22 Best Shows on Hulu Right Now   Netflix may have led the way for other streaming networks to create compelling original programming, but Hulu made history when it became the first streamer to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017. In fact, that was just one of eight Emmys the series took home for its inaugural season, and it continued to rack up nominations and wins over the years. While more competition for streaming eyeballs has popped up since Hulu started gaining serious critical credibility, the network has continued to stand out for its carefully curated selection of original series and network partnerships that make it the home of FX series and more. Below are some of our favorite shows streaming on Hulu right now. Continued here

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The 12 Top New Android 14 Features   The world's most popular mobile operating system has another version upgrade in the works—Android 14—which promises enhancements to privacy, security, and performance. Google, the company that manages the OS, has also made it a point to improve the experience for larger screens, like tablets and folding smartphones. Android 14 is still in beta, but the final version will likely land on your phone at the end of the summer. Here, we break down the features that have caught our eye, and we'll add more as the company shares additional features over the coming months.If you're wondering, Google officially dropped the alphabetical Android dessert names with Android 10, but the versions are still codenamed internally with the same system. Last year's Android 13 was Tiramisu, so this year's “U” letter dessert is called Upside Down Cake. Let's dig in.  Continued here

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Abortion-Pill-by-Mail Providers Aren't Going Anywhere   After conflicting legal rulings triggered widespread uncertainty about the future of abortion pill access in the United States, both US-based telehealth providers and overseas pill-by-mail sellers want to make one thing clear: They're here to stay.Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, virtual abortion clinics have taken a more prominent role in reproductive health care. Before that decision, virtual abortion clinics accounted for 4 percent of abortions in the US; after the decision, the number rose to 11 percent, according to a study from the Society of Family Planning.  Continued here

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Measuring reality really does affect what you observe   When we divide up matter into the smallest possible chunks that it’s made of — into the stuff that can be divided or split no further — those indivisible things we arrive at are known as fundamental particles: the quanta that compose our Universe. But it’s a complicated story each time we ask the question: how does each individual quantum behave? Do they behave like particles? Or do they behave like waves?The most puzzling fact about quantum mechanics is that the answer you get depends on how you look at the individual quanta that are part of the experiment. If you make certain classes of measurements and observations, they behave like particles; if you make other choices, they behave like waves. Whether and how you observe your own experiment really does change the outcome, and the double-slit experiment is the perfect way to show how. Continued here

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Why Carl Sagan thought ancient hunter-gatherers were scientists   The origin story of our species, Homo sapiens, dates back roughly 300,000 years. At this evolutionary dawn, our ancestors’ lives would have been relatively humble — foraging and hunting for food while seeking shelter under trees or in caves. Yet despite this meager existence, legendary science communicator Carl Sagan thought there was a good chance that early hunter-gatherers were already practicing genuine science.As Sagan argued in his timeless tome of scientific knowledge, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, ancient hunter-gatherers likely utilized keen, patient observation and data analysis in their survival pursuits, passing on honed skills and empirical knowledge over generations. Continued here

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Harvard negotiator explains how to argue   I hate arguments. I hate the way it feels when my blood pressure rises and the cortisol kicks in. I hate the frustration that comes from talking past one another or reaching an impasse on an important issue. I especially hate the awkward apologies I have to dole out the morning after — because I definitely shouldn’t have said that, and yes, it was a cheap shot.It doesn’t seem like I’m alone here. While some people will inflame crossfire for the thrill of it, such people are a fringe minority. Most people, I believe, want arguments to be constructive. They worry that our politics have become too polarized, and that social media is the culture wars’ most toxic battleground. And in their personal lives, they fret when promising relationships struggle to bridge entrenched disagreements. Continued here

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How to overcome “oniomania” — compulsive spending disorder   The term “oniomania,” which is used to describe people with obsessive, problematic shopping and spending behaviors, consists of the Greek words “onios,” meaning “for sale,” and “mania.” Also known as Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD) and Impulsive Compulsive Buying Disorder (ICBD), oniomania can leave a devastating impact on your financial health and mental wellbeing if left untreated. By ending relationships and draining savings accounts, oniomania is caused by — and serves to empower — a variety of other psychological problems, including anxiety, depression, and even other types of addictions, like hoarding or gambling.  Continued here

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6 major cracks have appeared in the standard model of cosmology. Is it wrong?   This article is the first in a series exploring contradictions in the standard model of cosmology.For more than a half century, scientists have been developing a remarkable account of how the Universe evolved. Initially called the Big Bang, this account was refined as time went on, until it came to be known as the standard model of cosmology, inflationary cosmology, or the ΛCDM model, where Λ is the Greek letter Lambda and refers to dark energy, and CDM refers to cold dark matter.  Continued here

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Do birds have language?   In our quest to find what makes humans unique, we often compare ourselves with our closest relatives: the great apes. But when it comes to understanding the quintessentially human capacity for language, scientists are finding that the most tantalizing clues lay farther afield.Human language is made possible by an impressive aptitude for vocal learning. Infants hear sounds and words, form memories of them, and later try to produce those sounds, improving as they grow up. Most animals cannot learn to imitate sounds at all. Though nonhuman primates can learn how to use innate vocalizations in new ways, they don’t show a similar ability to learn new calls. Interestingly, a small number of more distant mammal species, including dolphins and bats, do have this capacity. But among the scattering of nonhuman vocal learners across the branches of the bush of life, the most impressive are birds — hands (wings?) down. Continued here

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Report: Discord admin who leaked military docs ID'd as National Guard airman [Updated]   [Update, 4:39 pm ET: On Thursday afternoon, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Jack Teixeira "without incident," The Washington Post reported. Charges are likely to follow. Anonymous sources identified Teixeira as the suspected source of leaked military documents, and officials are expected to continue investigating how Teixeira got access to the confidential materials. Continued here

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Microsoft is experimenting with a Steam Deck-friendly "handheld mode" for Windows   The Steam Deck's default Linux operating system and the Proton translation layer can run a surprising number of PC games well, but to maximize compatibility and flexibility (and to use it like a PC when you're not gaming), installing Windows is always an option. There are also alternate handheld PC designs like the AYA Neo that ship with Windows by default. Continued here

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FTX has recovered $7.3 billion, tells court "the dumpster fire is out"   FTX's new leadership has recovered $7.3 billion in assets and is considering whether to restart the cryptocurrency exchange, a company lawyer reportedly said during a hearing at US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware yesterday. The "$7.3 billion in cash and liquid crypto assets" is "an increase of more than $800 million since January," Reuters reported. Continued here

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After decades of lurking, an elusive bacterium finally strikes in California   A California man is the first person in the Western US to have a confirmed infection with a curious bacterium that has lurked in the region for over two decades—and researchers fear the pathogen may finally be emerging there. Continued here

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The Asus ROG Phone 7 has a giant active cooling backpack, two USB ports   Some companies may be giving up on the idea of Android gaming phones, but not Asus, which is releasing the ROG Phone 7 today. It has all the trademark "gamer" laser-beam design language and flashy LEDs, but also some wild engineering additions when it comes to cooling your super-hot phone. Continued here

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Generative AI comes to Amazon Web Services   On Thursday, Amazon released a new suite of AI technologies, including foundational large language models (LLMs) called Titan and a cloud computing service called Bedrock, reports Reuters. The move comes as competitors Microsoft and Google integrate AI chatbots into their search engines and cloud operations. Continued here

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Tesla is stonewalling discrimination probe, California state agency charges   Tesla was sued yesterday by a California state agency that says the Elon Musk-led carmaker is stonewalling an investigation into alleged discrimination and harassment. Continued here

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"A really big deal"--Dolly is a free, open source, ChatGPT-style AI model   On Wednesday, Databricks released Dolly 2.0, reportedly the first open source, instruction-following large language model (LLM) for commercial use that's been fine-tuned on a human-generated data set. It could serve as a compelling starting point for homebrew ChatGPT competitors. Continued here

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Trendy "raw water" source under bird's nest sparks diarrheal outbreak   Nineteen people fell ill with a diarrheal disease in Montana last year after drinking untreated water many believed to be from a natural spring but was, in fact, just creek drainage brimming with pathogenic bacteria. Continued here

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LG and Samsung are getting serious about their OLED panel deal again   It's been a rollercoaster ride for Korean tech conglomerates LG and Samsung. In 2021, it was reported that they were about to reach a major business deal regarding OLED panels, but in 2022 it seemed like the talks fell through. Now, in 2023, the talks may have resumed. Continued here

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The Dangerous Rise of ‘Front-Yard Politics’   This is Work in Progress, a newsletter by Derek Thompson about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here to get it every week.Several months ago, while walking through my neighborhood in Washington, D.C., I noticed an impressive number of front-lawn placards celebrating and welcoming refugees. The signs made me proud. I like living in a place where people openly celebrate tolerance and diversity. Continued here

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The Not-So-Secret Key to Emotional Balance   Crying can help you keep your feelings in check. It’s also inextricably bound up in spirituality.“How to Build a Life” is a column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. Click here to listen to his podcast series on all things happiness, How to Build a Happy Life. Continued here

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Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result: Could Ice Cream Possibly Be Good for You?   Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don’t want to talk about it.This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here.      Continued here

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The Court Is Likely to Reject the Independent State Legislature Theory   It is often difficult, if not impossible, to tell what the Supreme Court is thinking about a case from the questions the justices ask counsel. But the argument in Moore v. Harper, heard by the Court in early December, was different. By the end, it was clear the Supreme Court has no appetite for the independent state legislature theory—and that offers hope for the future of America’s democracy.The theory—that state legislatures have the unreviewable power to set the rules of their state’s federal elections—is a dangerous one. The case began when the North Carolina legislature redrew the congressional-districts map that would apply in federal congressional elections and the North Carolina Supreme Court invalidated that map under the state constitution. The state legislators appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming, under the independent state legislature theory, that the legislature has exclusive power to regulate federal congressional elections, without oversight from the state supreme court under the state’s constitution. Continued here

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Yes, Trump Could Get Convicted and Still Become President Again   Unless—perhaps—Special Counsel Jack Smith indicts him for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol.With Donald Trump under indictment in Manhattan while at the same time the current front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, an obvious question is top of mind: Can he continue to run, and perhaps even serve a second term, if convicted? Continued here

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Stop Asking Whether Money Buys Happiness   For more than a half century, researchers at UCLA have conducted a massive annual survey of incoming college students titled “The American Freshman: National Norms.” One part of the survey asks students to rank 20 life goals on a scale from “not important” to “essential.” Most are lofty aspirations such as becoming a community leader, contributing to scientific progress, creating artistic works, and launching a suc­cessful business. Surveyed in 1969, freshmen entering four-year colleges were most interested in “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” (85 percent considered it “essential” or “very important”); “raising a family” (73 percent); and “helping others who are in difficulty” (69 percent). Ten years later, freshmen opted for “being an authority in my field” (74 percent), followed by “helping others” and “raising a family.”But something shifted amid the Reagan Revolution, which deregulated Wall Street, revamped the tax code, and set the nation hurtling toward levels of wealth and income inequality unseen since before the Great Depression. By 1989, a new priority had taken over the survey’s top position, and has appeared there on and off ever since: money. Indeed, the No. 1 goal of the Class of 2023, deemed “essential” or “very important” by more than four in five students, was “being very well off financially.” Continued here

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The Tennessee Expulsions Are Just the Beginning   The red-state drive to reverse the rights revolution of the past six decades continues to intensify, triggering confrontations involving every level of government.In rapid succession, Republican-controlled states are applying unprecedented tactics to shift social policy sharply to the right, not only within their borders but across the nation. Just last Thursday, the GOP-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives voted to expel two young Black Democratic representatives, and Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, on Saturday moved to nullify the verdict of a jury in liberal Travis County. In between, last Friday, a single Republican-appointed federal judge, acting on a case brought by a conservative legal group and 23 Republican state attorneys general, issued a decision that would impose a nationwide ban on mifepristone, the principal drug used in medication abortions. Continued here

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Medicine Has a Rat Problem   Thirty years ago, antidepressant research seemed on the verge of a major breakthrough. Years of experiments with laboratory rats and mice—animals long considered “classic” models for the condition—had repeatedly shown that a new drug called rolipram could boost a molecule in the rodent brain that people with depression seemed to have lower levels of. Even guinea pigs and chipmunks seemed susceptible to the chemical’s effects. Experts hailed rolipram as a potential game changer—a treatment that might work at doses 10 to 100 times lower than conventional antidepressants, and act faster to boot.But not long after rolipram entered clinical trials in humans, researchers received a nasty surprise. The volunteers taking rolipram just kept throwing up. Terrible bouts of nausea were leading some participants to quit taking the meds. No one could take rolipram at doses high enough to be effective without experiencing serious gastrointestinal distress. Years of hard work was literally getting flushed down the tubes. Rolipram wasn’t alone: Over the years, millions of dollars have been lost on treatments that failed after vomiting cropped up as a side effect, says Nissar Darmani, the associate dean for basic sciences and research at Western University of Health Sciences. Continued here

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I Oversaw the Massachusetts Air National Guard. I Cannot Fathom How This Happened.   The government may classify too much intelligence, but that doesn’t mean a low-level employee should be able to see it.From 2006 to 2009, as part of my duties as the homeland-security adviser to then–Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, I oversaw the state’s Air National Guard. I have no idea why one of its members would even have access to the kind of high-level secrets that recently showed up on a Discord server. Continued here

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Perplexed? Embrace it! Confusion is a symptom of learning | Psyche Ideas   Confusion is experienced by most of us as a disagreeable feeling and a waste of precious time. But experiencing confusion when encountering a new problem, or a surprising statement, can actually be deeply productive in the context of learning and enhancing brain plasticity. Over the past few years, scientists in educational psychology and neuroscience have started to uncover what Socrates knew all along: that experiencing confusion is often the first step to overcoming our misconceptions and biases, and that it can lead to something more valuable than simply an answer.In Plato’s early dialogues, states like confusion and puzzlement are considered the roots of genuine enquiry. These texts recount stories of Socrates going about town, conversing with some young citizen in a public space, and scrutinising their (overconfident) opinions on matters such as the nature of justice. With their assumptions meticulously demolished, the poor young interlocutor is left in a deep state of aporia (from the Greek for ‘perplexity’ or ‘puzzlement’). Embracing this state of newly found ignorance was, in Socrates’ eyes, the first indispensable step of any true enquiry into the truth: ‘[Having] been reduced to the perplexity of realising that he did not know … he will go on and discover something.’ Continued here

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Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Murals of Two-Faced Men in Peru   In northern Peru’s Nepeña Valley, archaeologists have discovered murals of two-faced men in golden headdresses. One image depicts a man holding a feather fan and a goblet, from which four hummingbirds drink. In another, a man holds a feather fan, as well as an unknown object that’s now partially obscured. Continued here

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U.S. Proposes Cuts to Colorado River Water Usage   Negotiations between states have not produced an agreement on how to allocate the dwindling water, so the federal government has offered tentative plansAs the Colorado River and its reservoirs dry up, Western states that depend on the waterway have been scrambling to come up with a plan to conserve it. Now, the federal government is one step closer to imposing mandatory water use restrictions. Continued here

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California Man Admits to Helping Create Fake Basquiat Paintings   Michael Barzman agreed to plead guilty in connection with a scandal that rocked the Orlando Museum of ArtOver the summer, the FBI seized 25 paintings attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat from the walls of the Orlando Museum of Art. Now, Michael Barzman has agreed to plead guilty to lying about the artworks’ origins. Continued here