THE WORLD IN AN HOURGLASS: THE SINGING PHYSICS OF SAND Atmos
Why Humans Are Obsessed With Numbers Too Big to Understand Gizmodo
The End Of Elsewhere Fugitive Margins
Climate/Environment
New May spark plumes show El Niño rapidly intensifying, with 8 of 10 models pointing to a super event and four projecting the strongest on record.
Across all 693 ensemble members, the mean reaches +2.8˚C, consistent with the strongest El Niño on record. pic.twitter.com/9pDxNxAkXz
— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) May 10, 2026
Coal shipments jump as countries seek alternatives to disrupted gas supplies FT
Exxon Climate Uncensored
Seafloor video-acoustic monitoring in a Greenlandic glacial fjord records hyperbenthos, backward-swimming fish, and narwhals PLOS One
Hantavirus
The WHO gets it right??
…and ALL high-risk contacts will now be required to ISOLATE in a designated facility or at home (depending on each country’s capabilities) for 42 days from last known exposure…
…and for the MV Hondius passengers & crew, the last day of exposure is the date of disembarkation. pic.twitter.com/in6TNzCq5M
— Cat in the Hat 🐈⬛ 🎩 🇬🇧 (@_CatintheHat) May 10, 2026
The CDC, on the other hand…
No mandatory quarantine for US passengers: CDC official ABC News
American passengers from hantavirus-hit cruise ship to stop at Nebraska facility before heading home. Here’s what we know CNN
Earlier today I spoke with the doctor on the ship and he confirmed something. CDC messaging continues to say “prolonged, close contact” but that contradicts: 1) what’s in the literature, and 2) what’s happening on this ship.
–> the doc told me a few who got infected/died DID… https://t.co/noQOKi76lL
— Joseph Allen (@j_g_allen) May 9, 2026
Dr. Gustavo Palacios led the 2018 Andes HV outbreak study in Argentina
He says transmission primarily occurred 2 days prior & 2 days after onset of symptoms
He was interviewed by CBC this week – see ~9 min markhttps://t.co/mMtUD6QjGT
— Barry Hunt (@BarryHunt008) May 10, 2026
French evacuee from hantavirus-hit ship has ‘symptoms’: French PM AFP
Pandemics
Historically, the left at least claimed to care about collective welfare, worker protection and safeguarding the vulnerable.
Then faced with a mass disabling pathogen, huge sections abandoned even the most basic infection ethics the moment they became socially inconvenient.
— James Throt MBBS, MD, PhD, FRCPath (@JamesThrot) May 10, 2026
Water
This summer, the American water crisis becomes real Grist
US-Israel Joint Venture Unveils $1B Desalination Plant Plan in South Texas Engineering News-Record
China?
China confirms Xi-Trump summit that was delayed by Iran war Business Times
ChatGPT as a security threat: US–China security dilemma in the generative AI race The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Bernie Sanders invited two Chinese AI researchers to talk safety cooperation. Here is what they said. Pekingnology
How Silicon Valley sold Washington an AI race Transformer
The Lessons of the Long Confucian Peace Foreign Affairs
Southeast Asia
Iran war is crushing Asia’s farmers, threatening global food supply WaPo
India
PM Modi pushes work-from-home revival, lower foreign travel & less gold purchases as West Asia conflict heightens concerns Economic Times
Syraqistan
Medics among 51 killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon Al Jazeera
Inside Israel’s AI targeting system: How data from a phone become a death sentence Los Angeles Times
Agriculture sabotage: The Israeli war on food security in Lebanon Al Mayadeen
Israel Built and Defended a Secret Iran War Base in Iraq WSJ
Big Tech is moving data out of the Gulf through Iraqi oil pipelines Rest of World
Old Blighty
Starmer faces fight to survive as Streeting and Rayner eye leadership bids The Guardian
European Disunion
“Are we really such idiots already?”
Slovak PM Fico concerning EU’s decision to cut off direct Russian energy to EU in 2027, only to then buy this same Russian energy, from America, with an American surcharge.
Full statement10 May 2026Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico:… pic.twitter.com/ulamZnjdMY
— the Lemniscat (@theLemniscat) May 10, 2026
Europe’s rearmament programme is falling apart from the inside just when Ukraine needs it most Intellinews
Marrying for power: Gendered alliances in mafias PLOS One
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelensky Again Steps Down From Ledge as Russian V-Day Parade Predictably Proceeds as Planned Simplicius
From Trump’s attempts at total warfare against Russian oil to the Balts establishing air corridors for Ukrainian drones to Starlink increasing its military involvement to Azerbaijan providing its territory for Ukrainian drone bases, the war has only expanded in the last year. https://t.co/8AuwODBthX
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) May 10, 2026
Ukraine’s 1st Azov Corps is conducting AI-assisted drone strikes deep inside Mariupol, up to 160 km behind the front lines. This marks what they call Azov’s symbolic “return” to the city from the air.
The strikes use Hornet fixed-wing loitering munitions developed by U.S. firm… pic.twitter.com/HAbMn9qr6t
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 10, 2026
Latvia’s defense minister steps down after Ukrainian drones hit oil tanks TVP World
Masha and the ‘Old Man’ Events in Ukraine
Ukraine and ‘White Supremacy 3.0’ Azov Lobby Blog
Absurd stuff in Berlin as a German government spokesman appeared unwilling to explicitly say who liberated Germany from Nazism in 1945.
After Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked the anniversary of Germany’s liberation without mentioning the Red Army or the Soviet Union, a… pic.twitter.com/7mzMM8UQTa
— Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE) May 9, 2026
South of the Border
US intelligence-gathering flights are surging off Cuba CNN. Similar to ahead of Maduro kidnapping operation.
Trump 2.0
Trump administration launches Moms.gov on Mother’s Day The Hill
Trump’s federal layoffs are disproportionately impacting women and people of color Fast Company
Democrats Suck
Democrats Don’t Have to Campaign on Climate Change Anymore New York Times
Buttigieg, Slotkin join Canada’s Carney at liberal strategy session Semafor
Nostalgic Summons New Left Review
Imperial Collapse Watch
China soars in democratic perception ranking as US, Israel plummet: Poll The Cradle
“Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to the world?”
According to the new Democracy Perceptions Index report, the US is named as the top threat by people in 65 out of 84 of surveyed countries. In fact, the US is the top named threat even within the US itself. pic.twitter.com/wBXZfaBLKv
— Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) May 9, 2026
Last but not least, the most interesting insight from the report is the absolute collapse of global public perception of the U.S.
According to the report’s ranking on this, the U.S. is now in the top 5 worst perceived countries in the world alongside Israel (the worst), North… pic.twitter.com/B0VvjXhKTo
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 10, 2026
Police State Watch
White House 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy Makes Millions of Americans Potential Targets Free Thought Project
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
A Phoenix neighborhood just got a dust storm courtesy of Amazon’s drone. Remember: Amazon drones aren’t just delivering packages, they’re mapping your neighborhood and syncing it to the same AWS cloud contracted by the NSA & CIA. pic.twitter.com/jsPXdbIVPc
— Jason Bassler (@JasonBassler1) May 10, 2026
Sports Desk
What We Can Learn from New Jersey’s Fight Over the World Cup Boondoggle
AI
Misplaced panic over AI progress Gary Marcus
A data center drained 30M gallons of water unnoticed — until residents complained about low water pressure Politico
Maryland citizens slapped with $2 billion power grid upgrade bill for out-of-state AI data centers — state complains to federal energy regulators, says additional cost breaks ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ promises Tom’s Hardware
The AI-inflected crisis artists are facing, in 4 charts Blood in the Machine
Was AI called by Cthulhu? UnHerd
Economy
Chartbook 447: The US economy in May 2026 – How much cognitive dissonance can you handle? Adam Tooze
Trump Could Tap Oil under U.S. Military Bases to Top Strategic Reserve OilPrice
JPMorgan just published the scariest oil chart I’ve ever seen.World inventories are in freefall.And when this line hits 6.8 — the global energy system doesn’t slow down.It breaks. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/w4ha2t3URe
— Qasem Al-Ali (@AlaliQasem) May 9, 2026
The Bezzle
The AI Mythos: If We Can Destroy the World, Imagine What We Can Do for Your Hedge Fund FAIR
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
