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PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Earth Is ‘Really Quite Sick Now’ and in Danger Zone: New Study (Maria)
The author writes, “Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into ‘the danger zone,’ not just for an overheating planet that’s losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study. … It’s not a terminal diagnosis. The planet can recover if it changes, including its use of coal, oil and natural gas and the way it treats the land and water, the scientists said.”
Hong Kong’s Prominent Pro-Democracy Civic Party Votes to Disband (Roshni)
From The Guardian: “The party was among the last few opposition groups, as political dissent has been outlawed under 2020’s national security law, and civil society in Hong Kong has been forced underground or driven into exile.”
Survey: Surprising to Some, Veterans Are Less Likely to Support Extremism (Al)
From NPR: “‘We had a story from a Vietnam veteran in New Jersey. At his polling location, a guy walked in with a Biden hat and another guy walked in with a red Make America Great Again hat. He told both of them, politely, to take them off and they did without incident,’ said Ellen Gustafson, who co-founded the group. Gustafson says the Vietnam vet who asked the men to take off their partisan hats was wearing a 101st Airborne hat — which is not political, and that’s the point.”
Amanda Gorman ‘Gutted’ After Florida School Bans Biden Inauguration Poem (Siobhan)
The author writes, “Amanda Gorman, the American poet who shot to international stardom when she recited ‘The Hill We Climb’ at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, has vowed to defeat book bans in Florida after the poem was removed for reading by elementary school children in an educational institution in Miami-Dade county.”
Why Scientists Have a Hard Time Getting Money to Study the Root Causes of Outbreaks (Al)
From ProPublica: “Government and nonprofit groups that award grants to scientists favor research that’s high tech and treatment-oriented rather than studies that seek to understand why contagions leap from animals to people in the first place.”
Yes, You’re Tired. But Are You Hungry Tired, Angry Tired, Resignation Tired, Stupid Tired …? (Michaela)
The author writes, “According to the market researchers Mintel, 2023 is the year of ‘hyperfatigue’ — which seems to describe a state of continual physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. It’s nice of them to enrich our weariness one-upmanship with this concept, even if it sounds like something a French teenager would have said in the 90s; my computer even keeps trying to add an accent.”
