THE LATEST FASHIONABLE HOBGOBLIN: Forever chemicals (PFAS)? Feh, so last Tuesday. Want to be hip and trendy at your next proggie cocktail party? Breathlessly, yet confidently, warn your fellow cosmo-drinkers about the dangers of quaternary ammonium compounds, aka QACs (pronounced “quats”).

PUSHING BACK AGAINST THE CULTURE OF MEDIOCRITY: A nice read from Connor Boyack and Corey DeAngelis. Boyack is one of our favorite authors, and is well known for the wonderful Tuttle Twins books for children.

THOSE LITTLE HELLIONS: You know how for the past (at least) forty years practical fusion has always been twenty years away? Well, Microsoft just moved the window with an ambitious five-year plan to buy fusion-generated electricity from startup Helion by 2028. We know the linked gee-whiz article says “2023” in the body text, but the headline, and original source (WSJ, paywalled) say 2028.

WE’RE NOT GOING TO EVEN MENTION ALIENS: “For whatever reason, [human DNA] were suddenly ‘spiced up’ in a short period of evolution. Because we are the only species in which these regions have been rewritten so quickly, they are called ‘human accelerated regions’ (or HARs). Furthermore, scientists believe that at least some of the HAR may be the source of many qualities that distinguish humans from their close relatives, such as chimpanzees and bonobos.” Fluffy, breathless, ‘splainer here, their original source article here.

CHINA SEEKS PARTNERS FOR INTERNATIONAL MOON BASE: CCP founds International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO). That name, “ill risk co,” for the lulz. The CCP has long needed a major “first” in space exploration. A moon base is more attainable than a Mars landing, and offers more options for partnering with other nations and having those nations defer the cost.

Due to the paucity of news links, the comments are all yours, dear friends.