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Air Canada to debut luxe new cabins and business class seats
Air Canada previewed a stunning new business class seat for its Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787-10, along with refreshed coach and premium economy cabins.
Boone Health, Missouri Heart Center progress toward split
Boone Health withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order against its contracted private cardiology provider.
Mets-Dodgers Preview
Baseball's best team will encounter one of the game's hottest young pitchers when the Los Angeles Dodgers face a test from New York Mets right-hander Nolan McLean on Tuesday.
Mercer Health Recognizes Volunteers at Annual Appreciation Banquet
The Volunteer Association of Mercer Health held its annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet to celebrate the dedication and impact of its members on April 13, 2026, at Romer’s Catering in St. Henry. The evening opened with an invocation from Volunteer Chaplain Steve Broering, followed by a year‑in‑review from Volunteer Association Vice‑Chairperson Terry Liette. Mercer Health CEO […]
Google previews I/O 2026 sessions: What’s new in Android, AI, more
With I/O 2026 a month away, Google has posted the initial sessions list. The developer conference runs from May 19-20.
The Idaho Business Review Interviews of Highly Effective People: Andrea Cantor
Andrea Cantor, raised in Boise, is the new director of the city's Economic Development department, focusing on business growth and community partnerships.
Downtown Las Vegas music venue faces lawsuit over ‘excessive noise’
The landlord’s attorney Evan Thalgott said the lawsuit comes after “numerous good-faith efforts to resolve the issue without court intervention proved unsuccessful.”
Inside Gaming: Strip room rates gradually increasing, analyst says
Plus, a temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of Arizona gaming laws against prediction markets has been ordered in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
Ultimate science trip
Thirteen juniors and seniors, led by three Westminster Christian Academy science teachers, spent their spring break exploring Quito, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. The trip was an unforgettable hands-on journey
Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ St. Louis Blues, 4/14/2026
Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (41-24-16, 98 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ St. Louis Blues (36-33-12, 82 points, 7th place Central Division) When: 9:30 p.m. ET How to Watch: Local on TVAS and SN-PIT, national on ESPN Pens’ Path Ahead: The Philadelphia Flyers officially clinched a first-round matchup with the Pens with a shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on […]
Final tour for Alabama stops in Cedar Rapids
Alabama, a band that marries country with Southern rock, was among the most successful acts of the '80s. Known for hits like "Tennessee River," they will perform on Sunday at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
‘The Outsiders,’ ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘SIX’ on Overture’s new season
Madison’s downtown arts center announces the 2026-27 Broadway lineup, also featuring “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Jersey Boys” and “The Wiz.”
Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona – Match preview and team news
Atletico Madrid is gearing up for their Champions League quarter-final second leg as they welcome Barcelona to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday.Diego Simeone’s men head into this match with a...
Quarterback John Mateer, OU offense experiencing 'super productive' offseason
The OU offense has had sharp development throughout the offseason, according to redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer, between his individual throwing mechanics, the team’s communication and rushing improvement.
Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona, Champions League: Preview
Barça travel to the capital looking to overturn a two-goal deficit and book a spot in the semis
Mark your calendars: Weekly sports schedule for April 14-19
Take a look through the weekly sports schedule for the Central Coast. Read our coverage online or in print.
Towards better vision: WHO South-East Asia regional meeting on eye health
The WHO South-East Asia Regional Meeting on Eye Health was convened to address the substantial and persistent burden of avoidable vision impairment in the Region. South-East Asia accountsfor nearly one third of the world’s blind and visually impaired population, with cataract, uncorrected refractive error, and diabetic retinopathy contributing to more than 90 percent of cases. The meeting responded to the need for coordinated action to achieve the 2030 global targets for effective cataract surgical coverage and effective refractive error coverage, and to advance implementation of the Regional Action Plan for Integrated People Centred Eye Care. It provided a platform for reviewing progress, identifying system gaps, and strengthening country pathways to accelerate universal access to quality eye care.
New Missouri health care hub aims to better integrate primary, behavioral care
Two Missouri healthcare organizations have collaborated to create a new healthcare center in Jefferson City.
Former Bills great @StevieJohnson13 mentoring WR Keon Coleman
Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson has taken Keon Coleman under his wing entering the young receiver’s third NFL season.
Alice Cooper returns to Eastern Iowa
The Godfather of Shock Rock performs April 18 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids.
Microsoft is testing OpenClaw-like AI bots for 365 Copilot
The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.
Intel May Have an Answer to AMD's Most Powerful Gaming CPUs
The Intel and AMD CPU rivalry is getting exciting again.
Review: Pragmata (Switch 2) - A Dazzling Puzzle-Shooter Driven By A Heartfelt Friendship
Hack the Moon!
PREVIEW: Liverpool hoping for special display to overturn PSG
Liverpool will welcome Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield tomorrow night as they look to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg in the French capital last week.Should the Reds fail to advance to the ne...
The Strokes line up band's first area headlining show in 20 years
Tickets for the band's June concert go on sale Friday.
The Ultimate Secrets of Strixhaven Limited Set Review
Ready for a second semester at Strixhaven? We'll give you a crash course on everything you can expect from this Limited format.
‘Lady Disdain’ world premiere rides sparkling into Overture
Madison company Forward Theater presents Lauren Gunderson’s bawdy enemies-to-lovers adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing” through April 26.
Manchester United vs Leeds – Match preview and team news
Manchester United host Leeds United on Monday night to conclude the Premier League action of the matchweek.The Red Devils have enjoyed a remarkable transformation under Michael Carrick since January. ...
Nish Kumar on racism, technology, and politics in comedy show at McCarter Theatre
Staff writer for The Prospect Annika Plunkett reviews Nish Kumar's politically-focused comedy show at McCarter Theatre.
Ska Brewing sale breathes new life into 30-year-old business
Ska Brewing Co. in Durango has survived more than 30 years of shifting economic landscapes, a pandemic, a multiyear decline for craft breweries on the whole and a recent change of ownership after deca...
Zohran Mamdani touted socialist philosophy of 'pothole politics' while reviewing first 100 days as mayor
"I was elected as a Democratic socialist," he said in a speech on his first 100 days as mayor. "And I will govern as a Democratic socialist."
Masters hole of the day: The Eisenhower tree is long gone, but No. 17 plays toughest of all
The hole of the day Sunday during the final round of the Masters tournament:
Minnesota politics: Previewing governor's race, Iran war impact | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Political analyst Blois Olson takes a look ahead to what could be the most expensive legislative race in Minnesota history. He also examines how the war in Iran could impact voting choices in rural areas.
Lakers vs. Jazz Preview: Final Contest of the Regular Season
Here's your Lakers preview for Game 82
Arc Raiders Launches Map Conditions tracker - here's what the tracker tells us
Embark Studios has released a new tracker to help players monitor map conditions across Arc Raiders.
Previewing the 2026 season for Penn State TE Brian Kortovich
Brian Kortovich is a young, talented tight end looking to carve out a role in Penn State’s new-look tight end room.
Minnesota politics: Previewing governor's race and Iran war impact | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Political analyst Blois Olson takes a look ahead to what could be the most expensive legislative race in Minnesota history. He also examines how the war in Iran could impact voting choices in rural areas.
Anthropic brings Claude into Microsoft Word, and legal contract review leads its use cases
Anthropic's Claude for Word beta is live in Microsoft Word for Team and Enterprise users, with legal contract review as the tool's first listed use case
This Is The Best Tablet You Can Buy In 2026, According To Amazon User Reviews
Apple's 11th-generation 11-inch iPad on Amazon has a 4.7-star rating with over 21,322 reviews, making it one of the best-rated tablets on the site.
“I stopped digging through folders”: How OmniSearch changed the way I find files on Windows 11
OmniSearch blends instant results, previews, and cleanup tools into one powerful search experience.
The Hisense UR9 is a great first shot against OLED’s bow
The first affordable RGB LED TV still doesn’t outmatch OLED.
Anker's EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages
This ultraviolet printer prints on literally anything—canvas, wood, metal, plastic, you name it. Like all things that are the first of their kind, it also costs a heavy premium.
Tips on how to handle politics in the workplace in Iowa
The bottom line: Iowa’s private employers have wide latitude to regulate political activity at work.
Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur – Match preview and team news
Roberto De Zerbi makes his Premier League return as Tottenham Hotspur visit Sunderland at the Stadium of Light today.The Italian manager replaces Igor Tudor after a dismal run left Spurs one point abo...
Sports Highlights
Chris Hayashi: Chris Hayashi, a senior on the Lake Oswego boys track team, put in one of the best efforts of the season during his team’s meet against Oregon City […]
New clinic brings at-home health care to La Plata, San Juan counties
HERMOSA – The practice of a doctor traveling to a patient’s home to deliver care – as opposed to the patient traveling to a medical campus or visiting a doctor in an office – is largely bygone. Accord...
Business Bulletin: Hearthstone wins; Jackie Joyner-Kersee benefits; Capes Sokol celebrates
Catch up on local business awards, certifications, and expansions.
2026 NFL draft preview: Linebacker prospects and the Arizona Cardinals
Jess Root and Seth Cox talk about linebacker prospects to know for the Arizona Cardinals in the 2026 NFL draft.
Green Bay Packers 2025 run defense review: What went wrong
Part 1 of 2 reviewing the Packers 2025 defense.
Mid-Missouri event offers free health services, brake light repairs and meals
Tallgrass Collective hosted a free clinic offering health services, vehicle brake light repairs, food and clothes Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Android has a Secret Update Menu You Likely Didn’t Know About
Keeping your Android phone up-to-date should be a straight-forward task. You have updates for apps in the Google Play store and system updates that show up at some point in most... #Apps #Google
“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.
US negotiators leaving without a peace deal with Iran
A U.S. official said several U.S. Navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz; three supertankers passed through, shipping data showed.
A Rare Landscape Close to Home: Exploring the Rome Sand Plains
ROME — The Rome Sand Plains offer one of the rarest natural landscapes in New York — a pine barrens ecosystem shaped by glacial winds and open to the public
Engadget review recap: ASUS ZenBook A16, AirPods Max 2, Sonos Play and LG Sound Suite
A roundup of the latest reviews from Engadget.
Business notes: Providence St. Mary Medical Center welcomes new surgeon
A new surgeon joined St. Mary Medical Center, and the United Way's popular mini golf tournament returns to Walla Walla.
Sports betting gets mixed reviews from CT lawmakers five years later
One former top proponent of legalized sports betting now has serious concerns around the issue.
Game Preview: Washington Capitals @ Pittsburgh Penguins, 4/11/2026
Who: Washington Capitals (40-30-9, 89 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (41-22-16, 98 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) When: 3:00 p.m. ET How to Watch: National broadcast on ABC and TBS Pens’ Path Ahead: Today is the final home game of the regular season (but not the last home game of the season, now that […]
Mission Creek’s latest music festival is all in a day’s work
After 20 years, one of Iowa City’s most quintessential arts and music festivals is revamping with a single-day format and new elements.
Bielema, Gies, associate athletic director share insights on world of college sports
Alumnus and donor Larry Gies, who first “fell in love” with UI by attending a football game with his father, said that athletics often serve as a university’s “front door”
People in Business for April 11, 2026
People in Business for April 11, 2026
AC Milan vs Udinese – Match preview and team news
AC Milan and Udinese meet in a matchday 32 clash of Serie A at the San Siro on Saturday.AC Milan sits in third position at the Serie A table with 63 points from 31 matches, while Udinese are currently...
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
No refund top customer complaint BBB helps with process of complaints and reviews
For many shoppers in Washington, getting a refund is becoming a bigger headache than the original problem.New data from the Better Business Bureau shows complai
America’s Car-Mart in Kirksville abruptly closes after 13 years in business
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — A car dealership in northeast Missouri abruptly closed this week.
BAFTA apologizes again for racial slur scandal amid review results
BAFTA Board of Trustees says it is 'determined to learn from what happened' in the racial slur scandal that overshadowed its annual awards celebration in February.
MSI MPG 322UR QD-OLED X24 Review - Less Expensive and Even Better
MSI MPG 322UR QD-OLED X24 brings fifth generation V-Stripe QD-OLED technology to a 32-inch 4K panel, pairing a 3840×2160 resolution with a 240 Hz refresh rate, a 80 Gbps bandwidth DisplayPort 2.1a UHBR20 interface, and a price tag that undercuts its predecessor by $200. Improved text clarity, higher SDR brightness, and an AI Care Sensor make for a strong all-around package.
Stayed in balcony cabin on Norwegian Cruise Line Luna ship: Review
I tried a balcony cabin on Norwegian Cruise Line's newest ship, Norwegian Luna. It has pros and cons, and could be a good value for some travelers.
Jury starts deliberating states' claim that Live Nation has monopoly on concerts
Soon after starting deliberations the jury in Manhattan federal court told the judge it wanted to review certain testimony given at the five-week trial
PC Industry In Dire Straits, 'Asking You to Own Nothing and Be Happy,’ Says Framework CEO
At least one laptop maker is saying what PC owners have all been thinking.
NMSU political science students present at national research conference
New Mexico State University undergraduate students in the Department of Political Science, Public Law and Administration presented their research at this year’s Pi Sigma Alpha National Student...
NMSU political science students present at national research conference
New Mexico State University undergraduate students in the Department of Political Science, Public Law and Administration presented their research at this year’s Pi Sigma Alpha National Student...
Pokemon Champions Review
Pokemon Champions brings competitive battling to the masses but fails to adequately explain all of its intricacies.
Galaxy Z Flip 8 renders leak for the first time, revealing its design
The renders of the Galaxy Z Flip 8 have been leaked for the first time, giving us our first look at its design.
New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Series Preview
The Yankees head down to the Trop for a clash with the Rays.
SALARY GUIDE: Purdue’s top paid sports faculty
Here are the top five paid sports faculty members of 2025.
Government Comes After Costco, Walmart, and Sam’s Club’s Business Model
Congress should think long and hard before moving S. 4147 forward.
Science with Stevie: Spring Allergies
Meteorologist Stevie Daniels gives us some tips on how to manage the pesky seasonal spring allergies in this Science with Stevie segment!
Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs Dallas Mavericks
The 2025-2026 season (almost) comes to a close where it began for these Texas franchises
2026 K League 2 Round 7 Preview
Round 7 in K League 2 brings together two sides tipped for an immediate return to the top flight, as Suwon FC and Daegu FC renew their rivalry in unfamiliar surroundings. With both teams still finding...
'Death of a Salesman' review: The timely Broadway revival feels as urgent as ever
Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, and Christopher Abbott lead a stellar cast in a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' that feels as timely and urgent as ever. Read EW's review.
UNFPA Cameroon Situation Report: Politics, Conflict, Climate Disaster, and Displacement (1 - 28 February 2026)
Situation Report in English on Cameroon about Gender, Health, Fire and more; published on 31 Mar 2026 by UNFPA
Cult-Hit Doki Doki Literature Club Fights Sudden Android Removal
The acclaimed visual novel had amassed thousands of positive user reviews
Pixel 11 Series to See Big Display Upgrade
Industry sources have confirmed that Google’s upcoming Pixel 11 series will utilize Samsung’s new M16 OLED panels. These are the same panels expected to be used by Apple for its... #Google #Pixel11
Starting a Business
Marco Island has strong household income, steady tourism, and a customer base that values quality. On paper, it looks like an ideal market. But the longer you spend here, the more you realize something familiar: The opportunity is real. So are the constraints.
Gov. Landry wants Hondo Rodeo to be annual visitor to New Orleans
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wants the rodeo to come back to Louisiana on a yearly basis after it makes its debut at the Superdome this weekend.
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.
‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’ review: A lifeless revival
Save for Bryan Cranston, the "Malcolm in the Middle" revival is less an engaging revival than it is a tiresome dragging out of a television corpse.
Google Pixel 11 reportedly gets Samsung’s new flagship display ahead of iPhone
According to a new report, Google’s upcoming Pixel 11 series will be among the first – perhaps even the first...
UC Berkeley students express transparency concerns in computer science comprehensive review process
UC Berkeley students attempting to add the computer science major have been navigating an uncertain comprehensive review process this year.
JBL Live 780NC and 680NC review: Great leaps, greater missteps
JBL's latest Live series headphones are a solid duo that don't quite achieve greatness.
Better Business Bureau: FTC warns companies about fake reviews
Randy Hutchinson provides information to help consumers protect assets and avoid scams.
No Charges for Wisconsin Mayor Who Removed Ballot Drop Box in 2024
A special prosecutor said a review of the incident found there was not sufficient evidence to charge Doug Diny, the mayor of Wausau.
Golden Entertainment takes next step toward going private
If the Gaming Commission approves later this month, the owner of the Strat, Arizona Charlies and the PT’s Pub chain will transition from being a publicly traded company.