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New Tool to Search Sky for Secrets of Our Universe (Maria)
The author writes, “As soon as the end of February, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will launch a new telescope into orbit around the Earth called SPHEREx. Its goal is to examine nothing less than the essential ingredients of life in our galaxy and the origin of the universe itself. SPHEREx will join the ranks of other space telescopes, filling in a crucial gap by detecting infrared light with wavelengths too long to see with the naked eye. It’s an important addition because no single instrument can fully perceive the universe and its contents.”
Project 2025 Is Here (Dana)
From Vanity Fair: “It turns out that the bogeyman of the last presidential election cycle, Project 2025, was no figment of our imagination, but an all-too-real plan for governing. We all remember Donald Trump’s attempts to distance himself from the right-wing blueprint on the campaign trail and on the debate stage. ‘I have nothing to do with Project 2025 — I haven’t read it,’ he said during his one and only face-off with Kamala Harris. ‘I don’t want to read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.’ And yet CNN found that out of the 53 Trump executive actions and orders it analyzed, 36 ‘evoke proposals outlined’ in Project 2025, on issues such as immigration, energy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.”
Panama’s President Hits Back at US ‘Lies’ About Free Canal Access (Sean)
The author writes, “Panama on Thursday rejected the United States’ claim that it had secured free passage for government vessels through the Panama Canal while bowing to US pressure to quit a key Chinese project. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino told reporters the US assertion about the waterway was ‘intolerable, simply and plainly intolerable,’ adding that he rejected ‘bilateral relations based on lies and falsehoods.’ … Around 40 percent of US container traffic passes through the narrow body of water linking the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.”
13 States to Sue Over DOGE Access To Government Payment Systems Containing Personal Data (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Democratic attorneys general in several states vowed Thursday to file a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing federal payment systems containing Americans’ sensitive personal information. Thirteen attorneys general, including New York’s Letitia James, said in a statement that they were taking action ‘in defense of our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on.’”
The Race-Blind College-Admissions Era Is Off to a Weird Start (Gerry)
From The Atlantic: “When colleges began announcing the makeup of their incoming freshman classes last year — the first admissions cycle since the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action — there seemed to have been some kind of mistake. … Elite universities warned of a return to diversity levels not seen since the early 1960s, when their college classes had only a handful of Black students. And yet, when the numbers came in, several of the most selective colleges in the country reported the opposite results. Yale, Dartmouth, Northwestern, the University of Virginia, Wesleyan, Williams, and Bowdoin all ended up enrolling more Black or Latino students, or both. Princeton and Duke appear to have kept their demographics basically stable.”
Saguaro Struggles: A Desert Icon Feels the Heat (Laura)
From The Revelator: “Climate change, drought, and fires — all caused or worsened by human activity — are rewriting the future of ancient Sonoran saguaros.”
Bakery in Denmark Starts Selling Bright Orange Donald Trump ‘Moron’ Cakes (Dana)
The author writes, “A bakery in Denmark has started selling bright orange Donald Trump ‘moron’ cakes. At the start of his second term as president of the USA, Trump hasn’t exactly enamored himself to the Danes by openly discussing his desire to take control of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark. … The Danes have made their anger towards Trump known … in the form of baked goods.”
