DICKEY BETTS DEAD AT 80: The Ramblin’ Man has left the room. RIP.

THE PANTS-SHITTING CONTINUES APACE: Over at The Daily Beast, Michael Daly opines about how “Trump’s bodega visit should scare the heck out of Democrats.” Last week I covered desperate Democrat outreach to the QUILTBAG++ community. It seems that the Democrats are reluctantly realizing that not all minority votes are belong to them.

YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO RESTITUTION: “San Francisco DA tells ‘victims’ trapped by Gaza protesters on Golden Gate Bridge to contact police for ‘restitution.'” Looks like the institutional left have had enough of ‘mostly peaceful’ protests from the radical wing of their party, or at least realize how coddling the little commie punks isn’t going to do them any favors at the ballot box this November. A civil judgement against the bridge blockers might be uncollectable since LCPs tend not to own real property, and often eschew private vehicle ownership, but hopefully would make their lives more difficult forever.

THE MOST HILARIOUS THING I’VE READ TODAY: Columbia U prez grilled at congressional hearing, unfamiliar with woke terms in guidebook distributed by Columbia’s own School of Social work. Biggest Laff Line: “They don’t know how to spell,” in response to a question about the term “folx.” (h/t: Sensei)

SPACE GHOST GLOBAL LOGISTICS: Not just coast-to-coast, but anywhere on earth. The clever folks at Sierra Space are testing a prototype of their Ghost cargo craft which they envision staging in earth orbit pre-loaded with cargo and delivering it on demand. Ninety minute delivery time to anywhere on the surface of earth, up to 1750 pounds of cargo, landings accurate to within 300 feet. “Hello, Sierra? I need an infantry squad support package delivered to…” Imagine the possibilities for rescue, humanitarian relief, and, of course, military operations.

BUILDING A BETTER LAMPREY – FOR SCIENCE: Your long read for today. TLDR version: Myelin, the sheath surrounding nerve fibers in most vertebrates appears to have originated as RNA of a retroviral infection in an ancestral vertebrate. And not just myelin, “[a]stonishingly, 40 percent of the DNA in mammals consists of remnants of these retroviral infections.” Lampreys, the most primitive vertebrates, do not have myelin sheaths around their nerve fibers. “Final proof[…] would be to introduce the retroviral gene into lampreys and see if they form myelin.”

INFLATABLE SPACE HABITATS, THE SEQUEL: Florida-based startup Max Space is working on inflatable space habitats to achieve more volume to mass than is currently available with hard-shell habitats. This was tried before by the now-defunct Bigelow Aerospace whose inflatable BEAM module is still attached to the ISS.

MEA CULPA: My inbox is overflowing with manuscripts and author queries. I’ll tend to those tomorrow. Apologies to all.

This was originally going to be your tune for today, but in light of breaking news you get it as a bonus track.