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A couple transformed a $45,000 van into a tiny home in one month
Zoe and Kelby Jecker bought a cargo van for $45,000. They turned it into a living space complete with a bed, toilet, and kitchen.
Turbo-charging battery research with AI: An ambitious vision
Argonne battery researchers and data scientists have come together to review emerging large language model applications in the battery field, outlining an ambitious technical roadmap to accelerate battery breakthroughs.
New AI Inference Service Now Ready for Science at Argonne
AI can help accelerate scientific discovery, but setting up and running a foundation model is not a simple task. Thanks to the work of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, scientists affiliated with DOE National Labs and the Genesis Mission can now tap into a new AI inference service running on ALCF supercomputers. Dubbed the ALCF […]
Happy Harry's RibFest brings heat to summer entertainment lineup
“It’s probably our strongest four nights of entertainment," said Fargodome Director of Marketing & Sales Sarah Dykema.
Kelly Sturner helps build pathways to STEM for thousands of students
STEM Education Program Lead Kelly Sturner oversees hands-on educational outreach programs at Argonne National Laboratory to inspire future leaders.
Dozens of Oakland sports events to catch in June
With World Cup watch parties, the Roots and the Soul on a roll, and the Falcons and Spiders chasing ultimate frisbee championships, it's a packed month .
Argonne to lead $2.8M project to accelerate catalyst discovery
Argonne National Laboratory has been awarded $2.77 million by ARPA-E to speed the discovery of industrial catalysts using AI, automation and rapid testing through the CATALCHEM-E program.
Sanford Health shows how it trains tomorrow’s care team
At an event in Fargo, leaders from Sanford and the community gathered to talk about investing in the future of the healthcare workforce.
See science in action at Argonne’s June 27 Open House
Argonne’s Open House returns June 27 with free registration, interactive exhibits, facility tours and opportunities to explore research in AI, energy, scientific tools and the universe.
Robotics, Science Underway as Cosmonauts Prep for Wednesday Spacewalk
Robotics controllers wrapped up a weekend of swapping scientific hardware packed inside the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft’s trunk for installation on the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the Expedition 74 crew is continuing its biotechnology and botany research while getting ready for a spacewalk scheduled for Wednesday, May 27.
Argonne launches first large-scale AI inference service for open science
The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility Inference Service provides researchers with access to a range of AI models on Argonne computing systems, enabling faster insights, data analysis, and scientific discovery.
These Are 11 Of The Most Powerful Semi-Truck Engines Ever Built
Hauling heavy cargo requires serious power, and these semi-truck engines deliver.
Ebola epidemic spreading rapidly and outpacing containment efforts
There are more than 900 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 220 suspected deaths, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, said on Monday.
Illinois lawmakers consider grants or loans for Chicago businesses devastated by Operation Midway Blitz
SPRINGFIELD — When federal immigration officers flooded Chicago neighborhoods last fall, walk-ins at Erick Camargo’s hair salon in Chicago plunged from about 40 customers per day to as few as five. At...
Cancer, Blood Research Tops Science Schedule as Spacewalk Preps Continue
The Expedition 74 crew continued exploring ways to advance cancer treatments and prevent excessive bleeding aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The orbital residents are also unpacking a U.S. cargo spacecraft while preparing spacesuits for an upcoming spacewalk.
Fargo Theatre field trips are more than just entertainment for kids
Each year, Fargo's iconic theater brings history of the venue, the city and the entertainment industry to life for students.
SpaceX Dragon capsule delivers science and supplies to space station
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft delivered 6,500 pounds of science and supplies to the International Space Station on Sunday, May 17, 2026.
SpaceX Dragon capsule delivers science and supplies to space station
The cargo spacecraft docked at 6:37 a.m. EDT on Sunday (May 17).
Greeley bar owner looks back on 20 years in business
After 20 years, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for your customers to become your friends and your friends to be your family. I didn’t know 99% of them before they came in. And now 100% of them are family.”
NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 34th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station
The 34th SpaceX commercial resupply mission under contract with NASA is headed to the International Space Station with new scientific experiments after
With Possible Raúl Castro Indictment, U.S. Eyes Venezuela Playbook
Amid stepped-up surveillance flights, a visit of the C.I.A. director and an energy embargo, the White House is trying to increase pressure on Cuba.
Dragon Nears Launch as Crew Works Biomedical Science and Spacewalk Preps
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a cargo-packed Dragon spacecraft atop, stands ready to launch to the International Space Station at 6:05 p.m. EDT today, weather permitting, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Live Coverage: SpaceX makes another attempt to launch space station cargo mission
Liftoff of the resupply mission, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 UTC). The Cargo Dragon is loaded with 6,500 pounds of science and supplies for the space station.
Three ways Argonne celebrated science to save the world through “Project Hail Mary” and pop culture
Argonne marks the release of "Project Hail Mary" with three public events linking the film's science to real research — reaching fans at a theater, online and at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo.
Crew Relaxes Before Busy Week of Science, Dragon Arrival, and Spacewalk Preps
The next cargo mission to resupply the International Space Station, SpaceX CRS-34, is slated for launch at 7:16 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, weather pending.
Scientists: Forgo the jargon and focus on the people, experts say
Nearly half of Americans say scientists are not good communicators, but there are ways experts can better connect, researchers said at Technical.ly’s 2026 Builders Conference.
Crew Works Health, Spacesuits, and Cargo Mission Preps on Tuesday
Health monitoring, spacesuit checks, and preparations for an upcoming cargo mission kept the Expedition 74 crew busy on Tuesday. The International Space Station residents rounded out the day with a variety of maintenance on science hardware and life support equipment.
Crew Works Advanced Radio Frequency, Quantum Physics, and Health Tech
The Expedition 74 crew kicked off the week setting up advanced radio frequency technology, configuring quantum physics hardware, and conducting ultrasound vein scans aboard the International Space Station. The crewmates also prepared for the arrival of the next U.S. cargo mission, unpacked the latest Roscosmos resupply ship, and checked out a spacesuit.
From Taylor Swift to Bad Bunny, the Science Behind How Music Transports Us (Exclusive)
Author and Director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University Elizabeth Margulis breaks down how music can take us somewhere else entirely in an exclusive piece for PEOPLE in advance of her new book 'Transported.'
Superconductors by design: Argonne scientists rewrite the rules of discovery
Scientists at Argonne and Northwestern developed a new method to design and predict entire families of materials with the same chemical formula but different structures, enabling more efficient, targeted materials innovation and research.
Fargo physicist says Bluetooth headphones pose no health risk
Whether hitting the gym, walking the dog, or hopping on a bike, many people are wearing headphones. But with Bluetooth technology more popular than ever, some are asking if wireless headphones are actually safe.
New movies to watch this weekend: See 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' in theaters, rent 'Hoppers,' stream 'Wuthering Heights' on HBO Max
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's steamy take on Brontë is streaming now — or you can watch "Hoppers" with the kids.
Life Science, Space Gardening Top Thursday’s Research Schedule
A new exercise device, artery scans, and space gardening topped the research schedule for the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents also worked on a spacesuit and continued unpacking the Progress 95 cargo craft.
Phillies' J.T. Realmuto and Jesus Luzardo face brutal reception at Flyers playoff game
Phillies stars booed at Wells Fargo.
Health care costs reach a breaking point
Embargoed until 5:00a.m. ET / 4:00am CT / 30, April 2026 Statement Highlights: New American Heart Association Presidential Advisory warns that U.S. health care affordability has reached a crisis point. Rising health care costs, driven largely by...
Wells Fargo raises Caesars Entertainment stock price target on solid results
Wells Fargo raises Caesars Entertainment stock price target on solid results
Afghanistan risks losing 25,000 women teachers and health workers
Restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan could leave the country with a deficit of over 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
Crew Awaits Space Cargo Delivery and Works Advanced Life Science
A Progress 95 cargo craft is orbiting Earth on its way to resupply the Expedition 74 with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies. Two cosmonauts will be on duty monitoring the Progress 95 when it automatically docks to the International Space Station rear port on the Zvezda service module at 8 p.m. EDT on Monday.
The Moth Mainstage returns to The Fargo Theatre
The popular storytelling show was last here in 2024.
Ladies of London's Margo Stilley Says Her Panic Attack on the Show Led to Unexpected Health Discovery (Exclusive)
Ladies of London's Margo Stilley suffered a panic attack in the April 23 episode after insulting costar Mark-Francis Vandelli. In a new interview with PEOPLE, she explains that the panic attack led her to a health discovery she wasn't expecting.
'The Neighbourhood': Graham Norton Praised By Team Behind ITV Show
Graham Norton has been praised for his hosting of 'The Neighbourhood, ITV's Saturday night show, after he appeared in a Taylor Swift video.
Essentia Health receives American Cancer Society transportation, lodging grant to support cancer patients
The Essentia Health Cancer Center in Fargo is honored to receive a $35,000 grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to help alleviate some of the financial burden for patients undergoing cancer treatment through transportation and lodging assistance.
'Everyone's nervous': Wells Fargo CEO on how businesses and consumers feel about the economy
Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf said on Monday that the US economy right now is “extremely strong,” but he also acknowledged how bad sentiment is among Americans consumers and businesses.
Space Health Research Fills Day Before Cargo Craft Departs
The trash-packed Progress 93 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos will depart the International Space Station later today completing a seven-month mission docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port.
Essentia Health registered nurse logs over 900 volunteer hours
On most evenings, after a full day as a registered nurse in the ICU at the Essentia Health-Fargo, Darian Slama's second shift begins caring for her four-legged patients.
Stars and science align at annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony with Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr., Margot Robbie and more A-listers
The Breakthrough Prize celebrates research achievements of the world’s top scientists, and the gala awards more than $15 million in prizes annually.
Stars and science align at annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony with Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr., Margot Robbie and more A-listers
'Margo's Got Money Troubles' Has Almost Everything Going For It — But There's 1 Big Problem
Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer star in Apple TV's adaptation of Rufi Thorpe's novel. It's a delight but also falls into a common trap in this streaming era.
Station Orbits Higher as Crew Runs New Science Experiments
The International Space Station is orbiting higher today after the Progress 93 resupply ship, docked to the Zvezda service module, fired its engines for just over five minutes Wednesday night. The orbital reboost places the space station at the correct altitude for the upcoming Progress 95 cargo mission scheduled to resupply the Expedition 74 crew at the end of April.
Crew Begins New Space Research and Installs New Science Gear
New science experiments are getting underway and new research hardware is being activated aboard the International Space Station after being delivered aboard the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft on Monday. The Expedition 74 crew spent Wednesday unpacking Cygnus XL and stowing the new gear and supplies throughout the orbital outpost.
Microsoft counters the MacBook Neo with freebies for students
PC makers are discounting laptops and bundling Microsoft 365 and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.
My Brother Found Himself a Gold Digger. She Has the Wrong Idea About Me.
She can consider this a permanent embargo.
Expedition 74 Opens Cygnus XL and Unpacks Advanced Science Gear
The hatches are open between Northrop Grumman’s second Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft and the International Space Station following its robotic capture and installation on Monday. The Expedition 74 crew is now beginning to unload some of the new science and crew supplies delivered on Monday.
Two Pitt Materials Science Students Receive Ellwood Scholarships
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering students Margo Levenson and Koh Bauman have received Ellwood Metallurgy Scholarships, which include a paid summer internship. Ellwood, a family-owned metals manufacturer, offers the scholarship to high-caliber, third-year college students studying metallurgy.Levenson, a Pittsburgh native who...
JAXA's 22-Year Bet on Frozen Comet Samples: What a Multi-Decade Mission Timeline Means for Planetary Science Funding
In the world of planetary science, a decade-long mission is considered ambitious. JAXA, Japan’s space agency, is now weighing something far more audacious: a sample return mission that wouldn’t deliver its cargo until the late 2040s, more than 22 years from the earliest planning stages. The proposed Next Generation Small-Body Return (NGSR) mission to comet […]
Why reopening the Strait of Hormuz won’t be enough to solve shipping woes and high oil prices
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is proving to be difficult. But even if the vital waterway fully opens and oil and other necessary cargo sail out, it won’t be enough to return things to normal.
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
NASA Science, Cargo Launch Aboard Northrop Grumman CRS-24
NASA is sending more science, technology demonstrations, and crew supplies to the International Space Station following the successful launch of the agency’s
In praise of popular science
As a kid, I was enthusiastically and unreservedly in favor of a manned space program. Our destiny lay in the stars, I figured. Get people out there. We need Star Trek here and now. As I got older, I became rather disenchanted with the idea. Humans are expensive, fragile, and inefficient as space cargo. We could flood the solar system with 100 robotic probes for the price of any single manned mission and get back just as useful data. Besides, it turns out space travel is dangerous. Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe When it came to the recent Artemis II mission, my cynical side didn’t really see the point. Flying around the Moon and back is literally something we did before I was born, and I once owned a Members Only jacket. Apollo 8 circled the Moon ten times and returned to Earth safely the same month that “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was released. What was the point of repeating a feat that far braver people once did with tin foil and slide rules? Yet I’ve surprised myself with how moving I’ve found the Artemis II mission to be. The photos have been stunning. The crew has been professional and engaging. There have been modest but important milestones — the farthest humans have travelled from Earth; the first woman, person of color, and non-American to leave low-Earth orbit; innovations in communication, and more. One thing that really stood out is that this is really NASA at its finest. Not that this is the most important mission they ever pulled off, but they did this in a competent way that celebrated the achievements and kept the crew and the science at the forefront of the project. This wasn’t some billionaire throwing celebrities or cars into orbit as a vanity project — this was a collective effort to send experts in to do a job and come home safely. We don’t see that sort of thing much these days. I’m guessing few people would describe many government agencies as inspiring, but this one counts for me. We’re living through a profoundly anti-science era, in which pathbreaking, lifesaving discoveries like mRNA vaccines are routinely downplayed or even vilified. As I’ve noted previously, this era is something like that of the Red Scare in the 1940s and 50s, in which “egghead” professors were portrayed as out of touch or even hostile to regular Americans. One of the things that helped break that spell was Sputnik — the Soviet communications satellite that demonstrated that the United States was falling behind in crucial scientific research and applications. Its launch triggered a new appreciation for American science and goaded the federal government into supporting research universities and labs. I’m not saying that Artemis is the equivalent of Sputnik, but it potentially reminds people that there’s some value to scientific endeavors and the human faces attached to them. Despite my love for the show “For All Mankind,” I’m far from convinced that there’s any real value to putting colonies on the Moon or Mars that would justify the capital investment and the massive health risks to the astronauts. But sending scientific good will ambassadors on a trip into space once in a while? Bring it. Share
Argonne Open House 2026
Argonne Open House 2026Saturday, June 27, 20269:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.Lemont, Illinois Argonne National Laboratory, located just 15 miles west of Chicago, is one of the world’s leading scientific research laboratories. And for one day only, it’s open to the public. At Argonne’s Open House you can spend the day thinking and acting like a scientist and discover how science can answer the biggest questions facing humanity.
Busy Day of Space Science and Lab Maintenance Greets Station Crew
A packed schedule filled with numerous science objectives and critical lab maintenance tasks greeted the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. Meanwhile, the orbital residents await the next U.S. cargo mission.
How Argonne scientists are paving the way for faster, smarter electronics
In breakthrough research, Argonne scientists lay the groundwork for spintronic technologies that pave the way for next-generation electronics.
Venture Global cashing in as gas markets tighten
Venture Global is poised to reap significant profits from the latest global energy shock, as disruptions in the Middle East tighten liquefied natural gas supplies, The Wall Street Journal writes. The exporter, which has several Louisiana-based projects, has built a lucrative strategy around selling a sizable portion of its cargo on the volatile spot market, […]
Argonne National Laboratory kicks off 80th anniversary celebrations with first OutLoud Public Lecture of 2026
Argonne hosted its first OutLoud Public Lecture event of the year, kicking off 80th anniversary celebrations for the lab. The event featured presentations by researchers who work at the lab’s busiest user facilities, a quiz game involving audience members and giveaways.
New Study Reveals Hidden Ocean Chemistry
Science team led by Mariana Bif (right) prepare to launch a Biogeochemical-Argo (BCG Argo) float.
Assistant Beamline Scientist Grace Luo is facilitating next-generation science at the Advanced Photon Source
At Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), Grace Luo helps scientists understand atomic‑scale dynamics in functional devices to discover ways of creating more robust and efficient technologies.
PS5 Price Increases Start, Live Now at Some Retailers
GAME and Argos already up their costs
Classic Conversations: Entertainment journalist raps with the stars
Luther Vandross once told Barry Krutchik the meaning behind his middle name: Ronzoni (yes, like the pasta). Vanilla Ice was the first cover story he ever wrote, and he was
Argo Project brings breathtaking views, entertainment to Colorado foothills community
Mighty Argo gondola project brings breathtaking views, entertainment to Colorado foothills community
Argo Project brings breathtaking views, entertainment to Colorado foothills community
National Science Foundation awards an additional $45M to water-focused initiative for Great Lakes region
Argonne is part of Great Lakes RENEW, a regional initiative awarded $45 million by the National Science Foundation to recover clean water, nutrients and critical materials from wastewater to drive water-focused innovations.
Roundup: LNG milestone / Final investment decision / TSA funding
Production begins: A major LNG project on the Texas-Louisiana border has begun production, marking a key milestone for U.S. energy exports as global supplies tighten. The QatarEnergy–ExxonMobil joint venture is preparing to ship its first cargo in the coming months, positioning the facility as a critical new supply source amid geopolitical disruptions impacting global gas […]
As Trump Squeezes Cuba, U.S. Military Exists in a Bubble
The Navy base at Guantánamo Bay sparkles at night while neighbors across a Cuban minefield struggle in darkness driven by a Trump fuel embargo.
Silencer Central acquires vacant Wells Fargo building for future growth
A former Wells Fargo call center is off the market -- bought by its neighboring business for future growth.
Lawsuit Accuses Americans of Political Killings for Hire Overseas
Three men working for an American security contractor say the United Arab Emirates paid them to carry out targeted killings in Yemen. One of their targets is suing them in U.S. federal court.
Multiple Chinese vessels retreat at Strait of Hormuz after Iran warnings in rare ally move
At least three Chinese-linked vessels reportedly turned back at the Strait of Hormuz after IRGC warnings, signaling an unusual development in China-Iran relations.
Senate approves funding deal for most of DHS, ending shutdown
The deal would mean TSA staff, who screen airport passengers, baggage and cargo, would start being paid for the first time since mid-February
Marina and bar owner remains hopeful after Key Bridge collapse impacted business
It was two years ago that the Key Bridge collapsed in seconds after being slammed into by the Dali cargo ship.It was one of those moments those in Maryland reme
Expedition 74 Works Health Research and Cargo Operations on Thursday
Expedition 74 Works Health Research and Cargo Operations on Thursday
Two Argonne scientists elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Argonne National Laboratory scientists Brian Toby and Carlos Wagner have been elected AAAS Fellows for advances in crystallography and particle physics, recognizing their influential research, software and instrumentation development, and mentorship.
How to watch ‘Wuthering Heights’ on Prime Video
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star in this tumultuous love story set against the Yorkshire moors.
Science and Operational Prep Work Top Wednesday’s Schedule
Science preparation and procedure reviews topped the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The seven Expedition 74 crew members conducted a variety of tasks to ready for upcoming experiments and to conduct cargo operations.
Scion of historic Fargo business dies at 98
Robert B. Herbst, who ran Fargo's Herbst department store for decades, is being remembered for his humor, passion for the outdoors, and devotion to family.
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Judy Davis, left, Elijah Tamati, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver star in director Nat Boltt's "Holy Days."
Entertainment lineup announced for Red River Valley Fair
WEST FARGO (KFGO) - The Red River Valley Fair just announced the 2026 grandstand entertainment lineup, bringin...
Scientists take antimatter on first road trip as they study how to transport ultra-sensitive cargo
Scientists at CERN are taking some antiprotons out for a spin in a never-tried-before test drive.
The Monday Outlook: Project Hail Mary and the Science Behind Blockbuster Sci-Fi
Project Hail Mary is the latest sci-fi blockbuster to stretch the bounds of audience imagination and stir the curiosity of real scientists. But the science driving films like Project Hail Mary, Interstellar and The Martian isn’t all fictional: at UChicago, researchers exploring the cosmos and decoding the origins of life are making discoveries that would feel right at home on the big screen. This week's Monday Outlook features scientists from UChicago and Argonne National Laborat
Cargo Headed to Station, Week Begins with Science Prep and Maintenance
A cargo spacecraft is in orbit catching up to the International Space Station for a docking tomorrow to deliver food and supplies to the Expedition 74 crew. Aboard the orbital lab, the seven residents kicked off the week with science operations prep, routine maintenance, and getting systems ready for a future spacewalk.
WHO verifies deadly hospital attack in war-torn Sudan
The World Health Organization (WHO) verified on Saturday a hospital attack in war-torn Sudan that killed 64 people.
Health insurance jargon can be frustrating and confusing – here’s how to navigate it
What plan you pick has a huge impact on what you will end up paying.
Science stars at special UChicago, Argonne screening of ‘Project Hail Mary’
Researchers and students marked the new film with a panel discussion, hands-on science demos and a shared love of discovery
A clarinetist, a high school student, and four climate deniers write a science paper, with a little help from AI…
Papers like this are like kindling for anyone 'just asking questions' about climate change, or 'doing their own research,' stoking the flames of climate denial.
Science the star at special UChicago, Argonne screening of “Project Hail Mary”
Argonne and UChicago hosted an advanced screening of "Project Hail Mary." The event featured an expert panel on how the film's science resonates with real-world research. UChicago students also hosted hands-on science demos in the theater lobby.
Black women lead fastest-growing segment of US entrepreneurs
Black women are launching businesses at a faster rate than any other demographic in the U.S., driven in part by layoffs, stalled promotions and a corporate environment many say feels increasingly inhospitable, The Wall Street Journal writes. The number of Black women-owned businesses rose about 13% last year, according to research from Wells Fargo and […]
Middle East crisis: UN health agency releases emergency funds for Lebanon, Iraq, Syria
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing another $2 million in emergency funds to support health systems in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as strikes against Iran by the US and Israeli continue amid counterstrikes across the Gulf and wider region by Tehran.
Amazon Deepens Digital Health Push As Logistics Deal Supports Valuation
Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN) is rolling out its AI powered healthcare assistant to all customers, expanding access beyond existing One Medical members. Air Transport International's pilot union has reached a tentative labor agreement with management after five years of talks, affecting a key part of Amazon's air cargo network. These developments touch both Amazon's digital health ambitions and the operational reliability of its logistics operations. At a share price of $207.67, Amazon.com...
Corey Andeen Promoted to Business Development Manager at PCL Construction
PCL Construction is pleased to announce the promotion of Corey Andeen to Business Development Manager for its Fargo-area operations.
Argonne receives DOE funding to advance AI for science
Argonne receives funding from DOE’s Genesis Mission to conduct transformative AI research that will push the boundaries of energy, biology, materials science and more.
Spacewalk Preps and Health Checks Using Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence
Spacewalk preparations are underway aboard the International Space Station as two astronauts check their spacesuits and review procedures. The Expedition 74 crew also experimented with augmented reality and artificial intelligence to conduct health checks in space. Meanwhile, a U.S. cargo spacecraft nears it departure this week.