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Trump’s birthday spectacle contrasts wildly with Biden’s understated 80th

Their birthday plans reflect their personalities — and the shifting politics of the moment, as brash self-promotion has become a political asset.

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Jun 8 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump says U.S. open to unfreezing Iranian funds, easing sanctions ‘if they behave’

The president, appearing on “Meet the Press,” said the U.S. will help Iran eliminate its enriched uranium if a peace deal is reached — and warned of harsh military action if talks fail.

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Jun 7 • 1:05 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Animals have personalities. Here’s what shapes them.

From shelter dogs to stickleback fish, the forces that shape animal personality are surprisingly familiar.

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Jun 7 • 7:53 AM EDT • Science • popsci.com
Political dynasties carry new baggage as voters vilify the elite

Family names have long given candidates a boost. In the era of No Kings, they can also make for an easy attack.

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Jun 7 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The data center backlash coming to key midterm battlegrounds

Voters are furious about the energy-guzzling behemoths that drive artificial intelligence, but politicians in both parties are cautious about backing all-out bans.

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Jun 7 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Collins’s vote, Platner’s service inject Iraq War politics into key Senate race

Veteran Graham Platner is attacking Republican Sen. Susan Collins's vote to authorize the war in his campaign to unseat her.

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Jun 7 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Rob Sand to rally in Iowa governor bid with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats eye a flip

Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday

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Jun 7 • 12:12 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Koi fish stolen from pond at Mishawaka business are recovered

The business says it received an overnight call about who took the fish.

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Jun 6 • 7:44 PM EDT • Business • wndu.com
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Toxic pollutant from car tires reaching San Francisco Bay, scientists say

A scientific research group here in the Bay Area is generating new evidence about another type of pollution caused not just by cars, but by their tires. It's a chemical known as 6PPD-Q, which is so toxic to some species of fish that it's believed that a single drop in a swimming pool could be fatal.

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Jun 6 • 7:15 PM EDT • Science • abc7news.com
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Top Trump artificial intelligence adviser to leave the White House

Sriram Krishnan, who has been central to the administration’s AI efforts, will probably continue to play an active role in its approach to the technology.

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Jun 6 • 12:27 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Fisherman's Wharf launches entertainment zone today

The Bay Area's Local News Station

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Jun 6 • 10:59 AM EDT • Entertainment • kron4.com
After decades of pelvic pain and 100-plus doctor visits, one question changed it all

Jabbing pangs and constant headaches followed him for years, but the blood tests always came back normal — until one day a specialist thought to ask something new.

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Jun 6 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Why California is taking so long to count votes in key primary races

The state is an outlier in taking days to count most votes, but supporters of the system say it is designed to enfranchise more people while protecting against fraud.

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Jun 6 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Kosovo to hold third election in 18 months as frustration grows over political impasse

Voters in Kosovo are heading to the polls this weekend for the third time in 18 months

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Jun 6 • 1:33 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Mock political party for India's young 'cockroaches' set to hold first protest in New Delhi

The Cockroach Janata Party, a social media movement in India, faces a major test as its founder leads a demonstration in New Delhi

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Jun 6 • 12:09 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Democrat Xavier Becerra advances in California governor’s race

Steve Hilton, a Republican, still leads Tom Steyer, a Democrat, for the second spot in the general election.

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Jun 5 • 8:16 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Matsui advances to November ballot in reelection bid for California congressional seat

California Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui has advanced to the November ballot after facing a reelection challenge from a younger Democrat

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Jun 5 • 7:45 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Koi fish stolen from pond at Mishawaka business

Burns Special Events is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the safe return of the fish.

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Jun 5 • 6:57 PM EDT • Business • wndu.com
Vanderbilt Health Pets of the Day: Freddy and Cooper

Today’s first Dog of the Day is Freddy, submitted by Beth Piazza of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. “Freddy was adopted on Valentine’s Day of 2024 from the Nashville Humane Association. He is the cuddliest 90-pound lap dog.“ Today’s second Dog of the Day is Cooper, submitted by Brandie Taylor of Medicine. “Cooper is a 14 year old chocolate lab. He loves eating and going to get pup cups!” Freddy and Cooper were featured in the June 9, 2026, edition of MyVUMC News. To see the archived collection of Vanderbilt Health Pets of the Day, go to: https://news.vumc.org/section/voice/pets-vumc/. Pet photos wanted! The Vanderbilt Health Pets of the Day are posted to the Voice section of Vanderbilt Health News and included in regular editions of the MyVUMC News newsletter, which is published twice a week by Vanderbilt Health News and Communications. Now through July 6, we especially want to see photos of your pets enjoying spring and summer. That might be having fun at the lake or beach, hanging out in the backyard, lying on the couch, or in the case of a pet fish, just living the life aquatic (we’re not too strict about what constitutes enjoying spring and summer). If you have a pet picture you would like to send in for consideration, go to the submission form here and follow the guidelines.

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Jun 5 • 11:08 AM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org
The Latest: Senate passes $70B immigration enforcement bill

The Senate has passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill

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Jun 5 • 8:24 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
How Nuclear Science Enhances Seafood Safety in Namibia

Namibia's 1,500 km coastline powers a fishing industry worth over 15% of the country's foreign income. But meeting export demand means meeting strict international standards.

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Jun 5 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • iaea.org
This no-phones theater chain now asks visitors to order food by phone. The reviews aren’t good.

Alamo Drafthouse, which built its brand on a strict ‘no phones’ policy, is now asking patrons to use their devices to order from the menu.

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Jun 5 • 5:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • washingtonpost.com
Trump unfazed by GOP revolt as lawmakers seek political distance

The president has reacted to recent setbacks, notably the resistance of congressional Republicans, with angry defiance, saying he’ll nominate the unpopular Todd Blanche as attorney general and refusing to admit his payout fund is dead.

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Jun 5 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Graham Platner to hold Maine rally with Rep. Ro Khanna as scandals shake up campaign

Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner is hosting his first major campaign event since media reports surfaced that he previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while he was married

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Jun 5 • 12:06 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Democrats spar over big tech during debate for coveted congressional district in Manhattan

Democrats competing over a coveted congressional district in Manhattan have slugged it out during a heated debate

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Jun 4 • 10:39 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump took a hair-loss drug for years. It’s no longer on his medical records.

The president's past doctors said he used Propecia, a drug to stem hair loss. The White House has been pointedly silent on whether he is still taking it — a reflection of the gaps in Trump's recent health reports.

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Jun 4 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
President Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

President Donald Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, tapping his former personal attorney who has aggressively pursued the Republican president’s agenda while leading the Justice Department in an acting role

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Jun 3 • 11:18 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump strips job protections from 8,000 senior federal workers

The move reclassifies thousands of employees, making it easier to fire them for any reason. Critics say it could politicize the civil service.

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Jun 3 • 8:04 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Steve Hilton, top Republican hopeful for California governor, says the state has lost its way

Republican Steve Hilton is running for California governor on a message that the state is bursting with potential but has lost its way

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Jun 3 • 6:21 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle open up about 'sad' rift with 'Boy Meets World' costar Ben Savage

Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle are opening up about their falling out with 'Boy Meets World' costar Ben Savage, whom they say declined to cohost their rewatch podcast in 2022, and has since gone silent.

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Jun 3 • 5:31 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Scientists warn Oregon could lose critical ocean data under federal cuts

A federal decision to dismantle ocean monitoring systems off Oregon's coast could impact forecasting, fisheries, and climate science.

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Jun 3 • 4:11 PM EDT • Science • kpic.com
Scientists warn Oregon could lose critical ocean data under federal cuts

A federal decision to dismantle ocean monitoring systems off Oregon's coast could impact forecasting, fisheries, and climate science.

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Jun 3 • 4:11 PM EDT • Science • katu.com
Rep. Ogles deletes homophobic tweet, blames staff amid rare GOP pushback

A post on Ogles’s official X account Tuesday stated: “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month.”

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Jun 3 • 12:09 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Lahn's win in GOP primary for Iowa governor is a setback for Trump that could signal MAHA strength

Businessman Zach Lahn’s win in Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary over President Donald Trump’s pick is a rare electoral setback for Trump

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Jun 3 • 9:09 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The Latest: Trump keeps immunity from tax probes while scrapping $1.8 billion compensation fund

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration has definitively scrapped a $1.8 billion fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies, but the White House is sticking with the part of the deal that permanently drops tax claims against him

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Jun 3 • 8:45 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The cult of objectivity has broken consciousness science

With 22 competing theories and no consensus in sight, the science of consciousness is lost. In this exclusive IAI interview, Berkeley psychedelics researcher and bestselling author of a new book on consciousness Michael Pollan insists that even though consciousness lies beyond traditional forms of scientific investigation, we should resist becoming dualists who see it as something radically different from ordinary stuff in the world. Instead, he makes the case for reimagining science itself: it must stop reaching for objective descriptions of physical reality, and instead embrace subjectivity as the indispensable core of all inquiry. Alasdair Craig: How did your experiences with psychedelics get you interested in consciousness?Michael Pollan: One of the things that happens on psychedelics is that they foreground consciousness. What formerly seemed perfectly transparent and ever present—and yet, non-existent, as water is to fish—suddenly you see it. The metaphor I use in the book is that psychedelics sponge the windscreen. Suddenly you realize: wow, there’s a windscreen, there is this phenomenon that’s mediating my relationship to reality. This is not an unusual realization on psychedelics. I think a lot of people are called to think about consciousness after psychedelic experiences. So that was the proximate inspiration for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (2026).And then there was a more specific way in which psychedelics influence the book. That was a particular experience I had on psilocybin. I had the sensation that the plants in my garden were conscious and returning my gaze, with their own point of view and agency, and I got curious as to how to evaluate an insight like that. I mean, what’s the truth quotient of insights you have on psychedelics? And I was reading William James—who, of course, wrote beautifully about mystical experience—and he said, we can’t judge the metaphysics here, but we should pay attention to two criteria: (1) How useful is it to think this is true? He was a pragmatist, of course. And (2) can we subject it to other ways of knowing to validate it? Because maybe we should treat these insights as hypotheses. And that’s kind of how I approach psychedelics, as a great generator of hypotheses, but they need to be tested against other ways of knowing. And so that led me down this long path exploring the science of plant intelligence and plant sentience.AC: I love your phrase, “smudging the windowpane of conscious experience.” So do you now start to think, actually, even when I’m not on psychedelics, I’m just seeing a screen all the time, which is not reality, but rather is my conscious experience, behind which reality is hidden?MP: Well, you know, not when I’m brushing my teeth and making breakfast! But yes, in meditation, certainly. I mean, one of the things you realize is that my experience happens to be this way now, but it could be another way. And many things can affect it. My morning coffee changes the screen in various ways, sharpens certain things.___The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness.___There’s this wonderful metaphor in Aldous Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, where he thinks we channel consciousness, and that what the brain does is edit it, and there’s a reducing valve. And psychedelics open the reducing valve wider. I don’t know that I’m ready to buy into the idea that consciousness exists outside brains, but I do love that metaphor because there are times when you are more conscious than others. I know I’ve switched from window pane to valve, but you know, a camera aperture can open wider or narrower. And I do have a sense of that. I have a sense of when I’m being less conscious, and when I’m being more conscious, by which I mean, you know, more present, taking in more sensory information. So when you start thinking about consciousness as a matter of degree, that changes things also.I think when we scroll on social media, obviously, we’re conscious. But minimally so, because we don’t have to generate our own thoughts. We’re basically taking these little hits from other people and thinking their thoughts.The process of writing this book made me kind of relativize everyday consciousness as just one type, which is exactly what William James said. Normal consciousness is one type, separated by the flimsiest of screens from the other types.AC: If we stick with the metaphor of the smudge on the window that you get when you take psychedelics, it seems like we’re saying that consciousness has become like an object that you’re looking at, right? You’re looking at the smudge and that just is consciousness. But sometimes we’ll talk about consciousness as a state that you’re in, rather than an object you can perceive. You’re either conscious or you’re not conscious. So it’s difficult to really know what sort of thing we’re talking about when we talk about consciousness, right?MP: Yeah. When you say that consciousness is an object, what’s the subject? Consciousness also? The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness. So we’re in a closed loop and when we get a perspective on consciousness, we’re not achieving any distance from it. That’s one of the problems with studying consciousness. Science is predicated on an objective, God’s eye view of things, and you never get that. There’s no such thing. SUGGESTED VIEWING The brain filters consciousness With Àlex Gómez-Marín But, yeah, there is this sense, I think, that consciousness is something you can approach. Certainly, when you’re writing and trying to recreate a conscious experience, it’s a fiction, but you’re standing back from it, and looking at it. But there’s no real subject-object distinction.AC: That’s so interesting, because when philosophers start talking about consciousness, they often talk about what they call “qualia”, which is their word for the felt experience of, say, the color red. And I think that way of speaking often makes us think of the qualia as an object, which you can see out there: the redness of red. But, as you say, we also want to collapse the subject-object distinction when we talk about consciousness. So there’s something strange going on here…MP: Oh, yeah, there are many strange things going on! *AC: Let’s talk about the varieties of consciousness. Apart from perceptions, there are, pains, emotions, thoughts, and so on. What is it that holds all this diversity together so that they all count as instances of consciousness? What is it that they all have in common?MP: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, there is sensory information, right? Which we perceive coming from the world outside ourselves. And then there’s internal information, which is what’s called interoception. And this is very important too. This is where feelings come from—what are sometimes called homeostatic feelings—that are intended to get the brain to keep us in these narrow ranges of temperature and glucose and so on. That’s a very important part of consciousness. And according to some researchers, who I think are probably right, this is where consciousness begins, with these very primal feelings, like hunger and thirst and warmth and itch, and things like that. And then there’s this third thing, which is our thinking about thinking.And what holds all this together is, I think, the sense of self. Consciousness generates a self: it is probably an organizing principle. All this stuff is happening to the self. It’s a construct, I think, but it is very useful. It can connect all these different streams of consciousness to a single being or a place, metaphorically speaking.* AC: The first half of your book is about the science of consciousness. Is consciousness just another thing, like black holes or the origin of life, which we don’t yet understand, but which we should have every hope that science will one day get to the bottom of, or is there something special about consciousness that makes this unlikely?MP: It depends how you define science. As we define science now, it’s going be very difficult. Science since Galileo has had a set of rules or assumptions, which is that the proper remit of science is to deal with the objective, quantifiable, third-person world. And the physical sciences have done amazing work under that set of limitations. Galileo—for tactical reasons, not for philosophical reasons—said science should not deal with the soul, which at the time was what consciousness was considered to be. So what is subjective, what is qualitative, what is first person, we’re going to leave to the church, he said. And this was a good agreement, and it probably kept many scientists from getting burned at the stake. But it leaves science in an awkward spot, now that it wants to venture into that territory of qualities, of first-person experience. And I don’t think it has the proper tools. I think it will have to add to its toolkit in some way, and find a way to bring in phenomenology, or lived experience and introspection, which science is usually dismissive of.The challenge—we alluded to it earlier—is that the only tool you have to study consciousness with is consciousness. And what I mean by that is, the whole scientific enterprise is a manifestation of consciousness. As much as scientists like to flatter themselves with this idea that they attain a godlike perspective on what they study, when it comes to consciousness, there’s no such thing. And it’s fine for all the things you can step outside of and study from that perspective. But two areas it won’t work are consciousness and cosmology.___It could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.___With cosmology, too, you have to study the universe from inside the universe. It’s not that cosmologists haven’t made progress. We know a lot about the age of the universe and expansion and things like that. But we can’t penetrate what happened before the Big Bang. We just don’t have the tools because we can’t stand outside.The fact that there are 22 full-scale theories of consciousness tells you all you need to know: we’re kind of lost. And I was surprised to find that we are more lost than I thought we were when I started this. I thought that there’d be leading theories, or that we had experiments that we could conduct that would nail some of this down. And the fact is, we don’t.So, I don’t know if science can solve it. But, of course, we can change the rules of science. A really influential book for me was a book called The Blind Spot, by two physicists, Marcello Gleiser and Adam Frank, and a philosopher, Evan Thompson. It’s a reminder that science is a social practice. It’s organized in a certain way and it can be organized in a different way. But it has this huge blind spot at the center of it, which is its failure to recognize that it is a form of consciousness itself, and it doesn’t have a good way of taking account of lived experience.AC: On the one hand, I think you want to resist traditional dualism, which would say that consciousness is something magical, something supernatural, right? But on the other hand, you’re accepting that there is this division in reality between the stuff that you can investigate objectively and measure, and so on—the stuff that science has been good at finding out about—and consciousness, which, for some reason, you can’t objectively measure. Some would take this to suggest that the dualism is actually right. Is there a way of reconciling these two strands of your thinking?MP: To call it magical is full of value judgement. I mean, you could just say immaterial. The interesting thing is, I think, that intuitively we’re all dualists. And I don’t know whether that’s because we’re children of Descartes and other cultures are less dualist than we are. Or it may be because that’s how consciousness feels. It feels different than the body. It feels separate from the body. But I don’t think we should trust that intuition.AC: So let’s think about ways that science might be changed to get at consciousness. I suppose the starting point would be the way that you begin the second half of your book. You have this nice line from William James, where he says, “We now begin our study of the mind from within.” Could you give us some sense of the ways of studying the mind from within? What does this involve?MP: I don’t know what that science looks like. But one of the points I’m making is that it depends on the humanities. I found that I learned as much, if not more, about consciousness, from reading novels and poetry. There is a sense of the fullness and complexity of consciousness that you don’t get in any scientific account. I interviewed this stream-of-consciousness writer and I approached her as an expert on consciousness, and she is. So I think that dialogue is really important.I’m reading Ben Lerner’s new novel, Transcription. Just read the first page of this novel: it’s a man falling asleep on a train, going to conduct an interview, and there is the experience of being in the train, facing backwards, there’s the view outside, but there’s a reflection of himself through which he’s seeing outside. There’s the memory of dropping his kids off at school. All this is going on in one moment of consciousness. Scientists aren’t going anywhere near that. But I think it’s useful for them to think about. That’s where we’re trying to go: like, how does such a layered experience happen? You know, it also makes you wonder, could a computer ever do this? And it gives you some doubt.*AC: Before we get to computers, perhaps we could talk briefly about plants. How did you come to feel that they are sentient?MP: Well, it was a psychedelic experience, and it’s not unusual on psychedelics. In fact, there’ve been studies about how people become animists during psychedelic experience. Their belief in animism arises after a single psychedelic experience.You know, most scientists would say this is all a myth. But we have only 400 years of the age of enlightenment and science. Before that, we were animists, and if you go around the world, most indigenous cultures are still animists, and children are animists, by and large, until they go to school. So it could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.As I said, I wanted to test this idea, and see whether there was conventional scientific evidence for it. And there’s fascinating work going on in a field that calls itself—in a rather cheeky way—plant neurobiology. These are people who fully realize there are no neurons in plants, but they’re trolling conventional botanists! And they’re doing experiments that are demonstrating that plants can learn and remember, which is kind of amazing: how do you store a memory without neurons? They’re finding plants that can solve problems, that can hear and see. In fact, they have 20 senses to our five or six. For example, a bean plant looking for something to twine, and given a pole within eight inches or so of it, knows where that pole is and will aim its spiraling reach at that pole. What is that about? Is it bouncing signals off of it?One of the spookiest things is the fact that the same anesthetics that put us out put plants out. You might think that plants are already out, but they’re not. They’re just slow. If you take a plant with a fast behavior, like a Venus flytrap, and give it an anesthetic, it will stop reacting. So you have to ask yourself, what is lost when the plant is anaesthetized? Some state of alertness, of awareness, of its environment, of reactivity. I’m not prepared to call that consciousness, but maybe it’s sentience—which is a simpler form of consciousness, and involves the ability to sense what’s going on in your environment and assess what’s good and bad for you and act appropriately. That may be a universal quality of life.AC: Let’s turn from plants to AI. You point out that LLMs are trained on the internet rather than direct interactions with reality. You put this really nicely when you say the internet is not the world so much as a shadow cast by the world. So LLMs are living in this kind of shadow world, or in Plato’s cave, as you put it. What’s the significance of this for AI consciousness and moral consideration? And, to recall the beginning of our conversation, if we’re stuck behind a veil or screen of consciousness, are we also stuck in a kind of shadow world?MP: I don’t think they’re the same shadow worlds because our world includes nature and other people. And even if it’s mediated in some ways... There is a reality out there, and we are in relation to it, through consciousness. There’s friction with it. What’s missing from the LLMs is that friction with the real world. There’s more to the world than human representation, which is what they’re dealing with. And that means that so far, AI is a cultural technology for combining thoughts we’ve already had. SUGGESTED VIEWING Cracking the code for thought With Roger Penrose, Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, Max Tegmark, Güneş Taylor Genuine creativity is more than collage. A lot of what AI does now is tantamount to collage, putting this with that and you know, that’s part of art, certainly. But there are also genuinely new ideas that come into the world that don’t come in through manipulating the representations we already have. So it remains to be seen whether AIs can be truly creative in that more radical sense.But my arguments against AI becoming conscious have to do with the fact that the idea of AI consciousness is based on this faulty metaphor that the brain is a computer. There are dimensions in which the brain is like a computer—it certainly does its share of computation. But computers have this sharp distinction between hardware and software, and brains don’t. In a brain, hardware and software are identical. Every memory is a physical change to the brain. Brains are not interchangeable in the way computers are. So this idea that you could take the consciousness out and somehow run it on another substrate, a silicon substrate, seems foolhardy.Anyway, it’s a more extended argument, and I may be wrong. And when we move to computers that aren’t based on silicon—neuromorphic computers and things like that—all bets may be off.AC: Regarding your point about LLMs being stuck in the world of our representations—the internet or whatever—and not being able to interact with reality, are these representations, the world of the internet, themselves part of reality? We’ve created the internet, but it’s still a real thing that exists. And so while the LLMs may be trapped within that part of reality, they’re nevertheless within reality and interacting with it and so on. So it’s not obvious that there’s a barrier there to them becoming conscious and being creative.MP: Yeah, I mean, if our consciousness is built out of human culture, which is what we’re talking about with all those representations. But I tend to think consciousness comes a bit more out of nature and friction with the natural world, but...AC: So there’s a fundamental divide between the natural world and human artefacts?MP: And we lose track of that, and especially people in this computer world. You know, the people who are creating these AI systems, my guess is they’ve been into video games since the age of three, and they didn’t go outside a lot. And their own contact with nature is somewhat limited. I could be wrong, it’d be a very interesting thing to ask, all the wizards of AI, whether they like to go fishing and hiking and do things like that. Or were they on computers from a very early age? I interviewed Blake Lemoine, the Google engineer who came to believe that LaMDA, the Google LLM out at the time, was conscious and deserved personhood. It was very clear that he didn’t see a distinction between this bubble in which he lived and the real world. And I think we’ve all been distanced from the natural world, and this is taking us even further away. But it’s still there, you know, and we still have bodies, and we’re still mortal, and we don’t live in a simulation.AC: I think that’s a great place to finish. Michael Pollan, thank you very much!

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Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • iai.tv
Centrist Democrats launch new pledge: ‘We are capitalist, not socialist’

A pair of Democratic House members who won Republican-held seats want others to sign a vow for moderate policies.

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Jun 3 • 7:53 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
A welcome break from today’s repulsive, glue-factory politics

Lamar Alexander’s new memoir of life in the Senate reveals a craftsman of politics and conservatism.

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Jun 3 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The U.S. is still a member of the WHO. That’s a good thing.

The World Health Organization has deftly handled attempts by countries to leave.

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Jun 3 • 6:45 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
America’s 250th birthday celebration increasingly centers on Trump

The White House has built a set of highly visible, centrally controlled events — many created by presidential directive — that emphasize spectacle, branding, and new traditions.

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Jun 3 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump’s pick for Iowa governor concedes GOP primary in upset

Rep. Randy Feenstra’s apparent loss to farmer Zach Lahn is a blow to Trump’s dominance in Republican nominating contests.

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Jun 3 • 12:19 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Supreme Court allows Alabama to use congressional map favoring Republicans in this year's elections

The Supreme Court is allowing Alabama to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, blocking a lower court ruling that the map intentionally discriminates against Black people

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Jun 2 • 9:33 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Five people have left hantavirus quarantine facility in Nebraska

Some passengers from a hantavirus-striken cruise ship have returned to their home states, where they are under the watch of public health authorities for the remainder of their monitoring period.

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Jun 2 • 1:02 PM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Trump retreated on his payout fund, but some Republicans want proof it’s dead

The Justice Department backed off a court fight over the nearly $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of unfair prosecution. GOP senators say a pause isn’t a promise.

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Jun 2 • 11:18 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The Latest: Rubio testifies before Congress for the first time since the start of the Iran war

Secretary of State Marco Rubio faces a litany of questions Tuesday about the Trump administration’s fragile or stalling diplomatic efforts around the world

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Jun 2 • 8:21 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Your brain starts making social decisions before you do

Researchers found that social behavior begins in the brain before it becomes visible as movement. In zebrafish, a coordinated pattern of activity spread across the brain several seconds before the animals approached another fish. A higher brain region called the pallium played a key role, and fish with stronger neural signals were generally more social.

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Jun 2 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
As restaurants struggle with costs, a major food supplier deal raises new fears

Restaurant Depot is a lifeline for small businesses. Many hope its sale to industry giant Sysco falls through.

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Jun 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • washingtonpost.com
Republican senators want more answers on $1.8 billion settlement fund as Trump considers its future

Senate Republicans are meeting to discuss next steps in a standoff with the White House

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Jun 2 • 12:12 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
One fat helped pancreatic cancer grow while another cut disease in half

A surprising new study suggests that when it comes to pancreatic cancer, the kind of fat you eat may matter more than how much. Researchers found that oleic acid—the main fat in olive oil and several other common foods—sped up tumor growth in mice predisposed to pancreatic cancer, while omega-3-rich fats from fish oil dramatically slowed disease development.

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Jun 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Trump’s payout fund on shaky ground as Republicans push for retreat

The Justice Department said it would obey a court order pausing the nearly $1.8 billion fund, potentially signaling a broader pullback.

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Jun 1 • 5:10 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump administration says it will comply with court order to pause $1.8 billion compensation fund

The Trump administration says it will comply with a court ruling temporarily blocking a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of President Donald Trump

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Jun 1 • 4:18 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Why the Arctic’s rivers are rusting

Scientists have identified the two biggest reasons that once-pristine rivers across the Arctic are growing cloudy with toxic orange iron particles that smother insects and suffocate fish.

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Jun 1 • 3:52 PM EDT • Science • news.ucr.edu
High diesel prices may dampen summer lobster fishing season

The spike could mean higher prices for lobster in Maine this summer.

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Jun 1 • 2:37 PM EDT • Business • spectrumlocalnews.com
'Frying these fish': Ron DeSantis not willing to serve up endorsements yet. Will he ever be ready?

Time is running short if DeSantis wants to speak out for a potential successor.

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Jun 1 • 1:10 PM EDT • Politics • floridapolitics.com
50 million pounds of invasive fish removed from Illinois River

Carp can grow over four feet-long and gobble up resources.

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Jun 1 • 12:02 PM EDT • Science • popsci.com
Colorado elections clerk set to be released from prison Monday based on her sentence commutation

Former Colorado elections clerk and conspiracy theorist Tina Peters is set to be released from prison

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Jun 1 • 12:40 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
California contests for governor, LA mayor head toward primary election with no clear leaders

California heads toward an election Tuesday with its two marquee races defined by uncertainty, while a pair of outsider candidates looked to crack open the state’s durable Democratic hierarchy

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Jun 1 • 12:40 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The right seafood choices can help diets meet health and climate goals

Fish can support healthy and sustainable diets, especially when it replaces red and processed meat rather than adding to overall animal-food intake. However, its environmental value depends on species, production system, supply chain, local dietary patterns, and the scale of greenhouse gas reductions required.

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Jun 1 • 12:24 AM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
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Trump is facing a new inflation warning from the bond market, adding to his midterm challenges

The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government

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Jun 1 • 12:10 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
‘Landmark’ pancreatic cancer drug keeps patients alive for twice as long

The highly anticipated results of a clinical trial for the pill, daraxonrasib, have been released, giving doctors hope for treating the stubbornly lethal disease.

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May 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
The president’s health is the people’s business

Health transparency, affordability for seniors and more, in readers' eyes.

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May 31 • 7:30 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Local Business Spotlight: Loon Lake Lodge

When guests arrive at Loon Lake Lodge, they are welcomed by Andrea and Derek Hofeldt and their three boys into an atmosphere filled with outdoor adventure, family connection, and relaxation along the Gunflint Trail. From donut fishing and watermelon-eating contests to hydro bikes and quiet time by the lake, the Hofeldt family—who own and operate...

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May 31 • 6:10 AM EDT • Business • wtip.org
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Why a Chinese-owned company is bringing factory jobs back to the U.S.

GE Appliances is a poster child for the president’s promised manufacturing revival. But tariffs are making it harder to onshore jobs.

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May 31 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • washingtonpost.com
Here are the top candidates for California governor in Tuesday's primary

California voters face a crowded ballot with 61 names during Tuesday’s primary to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom

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May 31 • 12:11 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
The ocean's health may depend on a tiny microbe inside fish

A surprising new discovery suggests that tiny microbes living inside fish may be helping shape the chemistry of the world’s oceans. Scientists found evidence that bacteria in the guts of marine fish work alongside their hosts to produce calcium carbonate, a mineral that plays an important role in ocean health and carbon storage. For years, researchers believed fish handled this process on their own, but the new findings point to a hidden partnership between fish and microbes.

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May 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
The ocean's health may depend on a tiny microbe inside fish

A surprising new discovery suggests that tiny microbes living inside fish may be helping shape the chemistry of the world’s oceans. Scientists found evidence that bacteria in the guts of marine fish work alongside their hosts to produce calcium carbonate, a mineral that plays an important role in ocean health and carbon storage. For years, researchers believed fish handled this process on their own, but the new findings point to a hidden partnership between fish and microbes.

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May 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • sciencedaily.com
Omega-3 fish oil shows promise against type 2 diabetes

A new study suggests fish oil may help reduce insulin resistance even in people who aren't obese. In diabetic rats, omega-3 supplementation improved blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and inflammation by shifting immune cells into a more anti-inflammatory mode.

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May 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Ospreys appear to be signaling Lake Tahoe’s ecological health, officials say

They're iconic summer raptors known for diving into the water to hunt fish.

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May 30 • 5:44 PM EDT • Health • kolotv.com
Most new moms get the baby blues. But it could be something more serious: postpartum depression

Postpartum depression is a potentially dangerous condition that can fill a typically joyous time with despair

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May 30 • 8:18 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Questions surround shellfish workforce appropriation tucked into budget

The small appropriation would direct as much as $75K to the FSAA's Executive Director.

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May 29 • 1:06 PM EDT • Politics • floridapolitics.com
Science Museum Oklahoma brings Barbie experience to kids

KOKH Fox 25 provides, news, sports, weather and local event coverage in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, including McLoud, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Seminole, Wewoka, Maud, Asher, Wanetted, Goldsby, Norman, Blanchard, Chickasha, Pauls Valley, Purcell, Andarko, Bridgeport, Lawton, Duncan, Okarche, Kingfisher, Guthrie Stillwater and Cushing, Oklahoma.

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May 29 • 12:24 PM EDT • Science • okcfox.com
Over half of Great American State Fair performers drop out over politics, threats

Bret Michaels and Martina McBride are the latest artists to pull out of the Great American State Fair concert series organized by Freedom 250 on the National Mall this summer.

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May 29 • 11:55 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
This newly discovered raptor may have hunted like a giant heron

A newly discovered raptor-like dinosaur from Patagonia is changing how scientists think about ancient predators. Named Kank australis, the 70-million-year-old dinosaur appears to have hunted fish much like modern herons, using a long, flexible neck and specialized vertebrae adapted for swift, precise movements.

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May 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Protein traffic jams may explain aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s

Scientists at Stanford may have uncovered a hidden reason our brains decline with age. Studying the ultra-short-lived turquoise killifish, researchers discovered that the cellular machinery responsible for building proteins begins to jam and malfunction over time. Tiny structures called ribosomes start colliding and stalling while reading genetic instructions, triggering a chain reaction that leads to faulty proteins and harmful clumps linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s.

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May 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Jordan Fisher Rated Nation’s 8th Best Returning Running Back By Hero Sports

Hero Sports has placed UC Davis football senior running back Jordan Fisher among the country's best backs, rating the Aggie tailback as the eighth-best returning running back in the Football Championship Subdivision as part of their 2026 FCS previews.

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May 29 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • ucdavisaggies.com
An experimental GLP-1 pushes the limits of weight loss. There are risks.

Eli Lilly is developing the the most powerful GLP-1 drug yet. But how much weight loss is too much?

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May 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
D.C. doesn’t don’t need more marble. It needs more sports fields.

Readers on Francis Scott Key Bridge construction, plant-based food, climate change and more.

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May 28 • 4:17 PM EDT • Sports • washingtonpost.com
Arctic Ocean passed a tipping point and scientists say it may never recover

The Arctic Ocean may have crossed a dangerous tipping point. Scientists say the rapid disappearance of sea ice is triggering a hidden chemical shift that is stripping the ocean of nitrate — a nutrient essential for the tiny plankton that support Arctic life. As nitrate levels plunge, the entire food web could feel the impact, from fish and seabirds to whales and polar ecosystems.

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
This Indian youth party started as satire. Then it got serious.

The movement's growth reflects the depth of frustration of a generation that feels unseen and unheard.

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May 28 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Trump won big with the White working-class. Now they’re souring on him.

In a striking shift, White voters without college degrees that voted to reelect Trump by a huge margin are now net-negative on his job approval.

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May 28 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
AP Exclusive: Stop AAPI Hate launches a nonprofit to mobilize voters before midterms

Stop AAPI Hate is an organization that rose to national prominence for its meticulous report on anti-Asian hate incidents at the height of the pandemic

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May 28 • 12:06 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Red snapper fish fight highlights Florida governor’s disdain for science

One of the great joys of living in Florida is our access to fresh seafood — shrimp, scallops, grouper, you name it. I grilled some on Memorial Day and it was delicious! The source of all this bounty, the sea, may look like a limitless expanse, but it’s not. We have to be careful about […]

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May 28 • 12:05 AM EDT • Science • floridaphoenix.com
Talarico targets Paxton's scandals in Texas Senate race, pivoting from his sunny primary message

Texas Democrat James Talarico has launched his general election campaign for the U.S. Senate

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May 27 • 11:15 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Massie Visits Greene in Costa Rica for Fishing and ‘Spicy’ Political Talks

The two Republican critics of President Trump – Thomas Massie, who lost his House primary last week, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress – met up in the tropics.

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May 27 • 9:29 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
U.S. to send Americans exposed to Ebola to makeshift hospital in Kenya

Trump officials have instructed the U.S. military to stand up a quarantine facility within a week, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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May 27 • 11:42 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Analysis | Trump is liberating his Republican critics in Congress

President Donald Trump, by endorsing challengers of Republican incumbents, is creating lame-duck senators who owe him nothing.

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May 27 • 10:20 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Analysis | Why Texas suddenly has such a competitive Senate race

Ken Paxton makes a win possible for Democrats.

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May 27 • 10:02 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Many people skip colonoscopies. Experts just added a blood test to the options.

Blood tests miss early cancers and should be limited to people who decline other methods, new guidelines say.

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May 27 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Americans don’t like either political party. We asked them why.

The wide-ranging criticisms — that the parties are corrupt, subservient, "wishy washy" or unable to handle the president — signal major challenges for both sides.

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May 27 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Why some Republicans are worried about Ken Paxton as a Senate nominee

Few politicians have garnered as much scandal in Texas as Paxton, but he has ignited the MAGA base, who see him as a fighter.

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May 27 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Contagion of conspiracy theories makes Ebola epidemic harder to contain

Distrust and violence flare in the central African nation as false claims spread that the outbreak — and the disease itself — is a hoax.

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May 27 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Former Greek anti-austerity leader Alexis Tsipras steps back into politics

Alexis Tsipras, the combative anti‑austerity leader who railed against Brussels during Greece’s debt crisis, has returned to politics ahead of elections next year

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May 26 • 3:50 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro leans into Trump connection as scandal shakes his presidential bid

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro is in Washington, leaning on his family’s connection with former U.S. President Donald Trump

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May 26 • 1:19 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Federal court blocks redistricting map created to help GOP in Alabama

A federal court put a hold on a congressional map that Alabama Republicans want to use this fall to give themselves an edge in every district in the state.

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May 26 • 10:17 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Gift expands undergrad research opportunities in wildlife and fisheries science

Paul and Jane Miller, through a six-figure pledge, have created the Paul and Jane Miller Undergraduate Research Fund in the College of Agricultural Sciences' Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. With the goal of seeing their philanthropy in action, the Millers have also committed to a five-year, $25,000 pledge to early activate their research endowment.

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May 26 • 9:37 AM EDT • Science • psu.edu
Kingfisher Sales Drop 0.9% Despite Screwfix Growth

Screwfix tools posted 4.1% like-for-like sales growth, but the home-improvement retailer said results overall were hurt by the late start to spring hitting footfall.

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May 26 • 3:27 AM EDT • Business • wsj.com
Inside BoF and Shopify’s Knowledge Breakfast on the Future of AI Commerce

BoF and Shopify convened commerce and marketing leaders from Coach, Revolve, Jennifer Fisher, Giorgio Armani, Estée Lauder, Lacoste, COS, FullBeauty Brands and more in New York City to discuss how AI is rewriting the rules of product discovery and online shopping.

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May 26 • 12:00 AM EDT • Business • businessoffashion.com
Veteran-owned business gifting custom fishing rods to Gold Star families

Matt Moore, a veteran and owner of Hellbender Outfitters in Elizabethton is giving back to families with lost U.S. service members.

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May 25 • 3:33 PM EDT • Business • wcyb.com
Democrats feud over stock trading as they sharpen anti-corruption case against Trump

Democrats are increasingly critiquing each other over their personal stock trades as the party looks to hone its anti-corruption message against President Donald Trump in the midterm elections

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May 25 • 8:04 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
This prehistoric fish may explain how animals first walked on Earth

Scientists have peered inside the skull of a 380-million-year-old Antarctic fish that was closely related to the first animals to walk on land, revealing surprising clues about how life began its move out of the water. Using advanced neutron imaging, researchers discovered that Koharalepis jarviki had features suited for living near the water’s surface, including openings in its skull that may have helped it gulp air and a light-sensitive organ linked to day-night rhythms.

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May 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com