A Masterpiece of Cringe

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A Masterpiece of Cringe     This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer reveals what’s keeping them entertained. Today’s special guest is our associate editor Kate Cray. Kate edits for our Family section; she’s also reported on what semi-retirees know about work-life balance and made the case against the fun fact. Continued here

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The Gal     By the late 19th century, whalers, settlers, and pirates had changed the ecology of the Galápagos Islands by poaching some native species—like Galápagos giant tortoises—and introducing others, such as goats and rats. The latter species became pests and severely destabilized the island ecosystems. Goats overgrazed the plants the tortoises ate while rats preyed on their eggs. Over time, the tortoise population plummeted. On Española, an island in the southeast of the archipelago, the tortoise count fell from thousands to less than 20. Along the way, as goats ate all the plants they could, Española—once akin to a savanna—turned barren.In the following century, conservationists set out to restore the Galápagos giant tortoise on Española—and the island ecosystem. They began eradicating the introduced species, and capturing Española’s remaining tortoises and breeding them in captivity. With the goats wiped out and the tortoises in cages, the ecosystem transformed once again. This time, the overgrazed terrain became overgrown with densely packed trees and woody bushes. Española’s full recovery to its savanna-like state would have to wait for the tortoises’ return. Continued here

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Emotionally Intelligent People Use a Brilliant 2-Word Phrase to Build Mental Strength and Improve Themselves     To build tenacity, willpower, and mental strength, remind yourself of these two words. Continued here

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Taylor Swift Just Did Something     How you treat people--especially people you may never actually see--makes all the difference. Continued here

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Even Though I'm a Tech Writer, I Got Caught in an Internet Scam Called the 'Boss Scam'     Think you're too smart get scammed online? I did too. Continued here

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I'm Charging My Toothbrush With Wireless Power Over Distance--and It's a Trip     For the past month or so, my electric toothbrush has been charging wirelessly, but not the way you think. My toothbrush charger is not plugged into an outlet. There are no wires or cables. The charging cradle can sit anywhere on the bathroom counter and continue to charge my toothbrush. This is because I am beta testing a prototype from Wi-Charge, an Israeli company that employs infrared technology to deliver wireless power across distances of up to 30 feet.Several companies have demonstrated wireless power over distance in the past decade, but tangible products have failed to materialize. More than a century has passed since Nikola Tesla thought up the idea of transferring electrical energy through the air, so you could be forgiven for thinking it's simply not feasible (or at least not profitable) to implement. I've been watching this space for over five years and have grown increasingly skeptical.  Continued here

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The Billionaire Who Inspired Warren Buffett Just Died at Age 92. Here's Why Buffett Called Him 'My Hero'     "To those wondering about giving while living: Try it. You'll like it." Feeney said. Continued here

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Plant-based cheese may be getting more appetizing     There is no questioning our ongoing love affair with cheese. From pizza and pasta to that decadent slice of cheesecake, we can’t get enough. But the dairy industry that produces cheese has had a negative impact on our climate that is not exactly appetizing. Continued here

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Boost Results with Engaged and Empowered Employees     Teach workers to grow, value their contributions, and provide necessary tools for success. Continued here

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Air purifiers aren't enough to clean your home from wildfire smoke     When wildfire smoke turns the air brown and hazy, you might think about heading indoors with the windows closed, running an air purifier or even wearing a mask. These are all good strategies to reduce exposure to the particles in wildfire smoke, but smoky air is also filled with potentially harmful gases. Those gases can get into buildings and remain in the walls and floors for weeks. Continued here

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Deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust spurs a crisis of confidence in the idea of Israel - and its possible renewal     Living for 75 years within a hostile neighborhood has required the state of Israel to provide security against external threats to all its citizens. That responsibility is a social contract between citizens and the state: The state is obligated to provide security for its people, especially those who live near its borders, that makes living there safe. In return, young Israelis must serve in the army. Continued here

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My Great-Great-Granddaughter Appraises My Belongings on "Antiques Roadshow"     TV ANNOUNCER: Coming to you live from Globo-1 Broadcasting, this is "Antiques Roadshow." Today, we travel to the northeastern region of Sector 7, where young citizens are gathered in the Javits Center to have their ancestors' belongings appraised. Let's listen in on one of those conversations:MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER: So my great-great-grandmother was a writer in what used to be New York City, in the twenty-twenties. Continued here

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45 Insanely Clever Home Products on Amazon That Work So Well, Reviewers Say They Deserve 6 Stars     Ever come across a product so clever, you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” We all have. Turns out, Amazon is chock full of them — but they don’t all come highly recommended by the tough critics who are spending their hard-earned money on them. To separate the wheat from the chaff, we combed through some of the most genius home products on Amazon and found the ones with seriously impressive reviews. Here are some of our top finds that’ll seriously upgrade the convenience of your living space.A colander is a kitchen essential, but they are often clunky, heavy, and hard to store. Enter this genius little strainer that clips onto pots and pans of all sizes, and is made of flexible silicone to store away easily. It’s about a quarter of the size of your typical strainer, and lets you easily drain water with just one hand while your food stays in the pot. Fewer dishes, less mess, more space. Continued here

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Starts With A Bang Podcast #98 - The line between star and planet     Out there in the Universe, there’s a whole lot more than simply what we find in our own Solar System. Here at home, the largest, most massive object is the Sun: a bright, hot, luminous star, while the second most massive object is Jupiter: a mere gas giant planet, exhibiting a small amount of self-compression due to the force of gravity.But elsewhere in the Milky Way and beyond, numerous classes of objects exist in that murky “in-between” space. There are stars less luminous and lower in mass: the K-type stars as well as the most numerous star of all: the red dwarf. At even lower masses, there are brown dwarf stars, possessing various temperatures ranging from a little over ~1000 K all the way down to just ~250 K at the ultra-cool end. Continued here

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Build a Winning AI Strategy for Your Business     Artificial intelligence is a kind of catalyst; it’s the next wave of truly transformative technology with potential we cannot yet fully envision or appreciate. Companies will start by using this new technology to do “old things” before discovering the new opportunities it creates. So, how should they go about this process? They should: start by experimenting, deploy for productivity, transform experiences, and then try to build new things. Throughout this process, they should prioritize security and responsible use. Continued here

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Years Later, the Most Revolutionary Assassin's Creed Game Deserves More Credit     Before the Assassin’s Creed franchise reinvented itself as an RPG in 2017’s Origins and turned the clock back to Ptolemaic Egypt, it seemed each entry was barreling toward the modern day at high speed. As a franchise defined by its distant historical settings, the idea of a more industrialized Assassin’s Creed seemed antithetical to the point. This came to a head in 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which literally revolutionized the series by taking place in industrialized 19th-century London. But eight years later, the most modern Assassins’ Creed holds up thanks to the incredible design of London and the new tools with which to traverse it.The Assassin’s Creed series is all about movement. It is perhaps the most important action the player does, even more than stealth or stabbing. As sandboxes set within historical cities, each entry's implementation of parkour is the main way players will engage with the world around them. For Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, movement was pushed further than past entries, as parkour became the only option for traversing the industrialized London streets. Continued here

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Beyonc     Be generous to everyone. Continued here

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You're Not Powerless in the Face of Imposter Syndrome     Research shows that high achievers from underrepresented backgrounds often find themselves confronting imposter syndrome or feeling they don’t fit in, are not welcome, or don’t belong. But understanding imposter syndrome does little to end it. The author, who studied underrepresented board members for his PhD and who interacts with hundreds of aspiring and existing board directors in his role at an executive search firm, has found that attributes of moxie — strength of will, self-discipline, and the ability to persist despite challenges — were vital to underrepresented directors’ success. He recommends four tactics to help make moxie your own super power. Continued here

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11 Must-Play Games on Xbox Game Pass     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDXbox Game Pass is a solid deal for anyone who likes to try new games and bounce around between titles. A subscription to Game Pass Ultimate costs $17 a month for access to online multiplayer and a regularly refreshed library of over 100 games. Continued here

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ORA | Psyche Films     The experimental dance film ORA (2011) was inspired by the French painter Paul Gauguin’s post-impressionist masterpiece Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897-98), and it’s as entrancing and enigmatic as its muse. Eschewing traditional filmmaking methods in which light is exposed to film stock or a digital camera sensor, the Canadian filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq instead captured six dancers in motion using thermal imaging technology that’s sensitive to even minor heat fluctuations. Together with the Canadian choreographer José Navas and the Canadian musician Robert M Lepage, who provides the dreamy, propulsive score, Baylaucq deploys these innovative methods to create his own impressionistic dive into self-exploration and existential questions.The work’s ethereal beauty contains a clever artistic inversion: the infrared technology used to make the piece was first invented as a tool of warfare. This novel approach, combined with innovative staging that included shooting in a warehouse covered in heat-reflective aluminium panels, required Baylaucq to push the boundaries of cinema to create an otherworldly effect. These innovative techniques are evident in the final product, which is surely unlike anything anything you’ve seen before. As the dancers’ illuminated forms move in contrast with the dark yet reflective background, their bodies appear at once surreal and yet intensely human. Continued here

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This exoplanet might literally be the most metal planet out there     Metals are everywhere in the Universe, from hot gas giants where it rains molten iron to heavy elements formed as a star goes supernova. Exoplanet GJ 367b one-ups them all. This planet is made of metal. Continued here

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The Pumpkin Spice Latte Is Designed to Make You Feel Death     I drink the Pumpkin Spice Latte to commune with autumn. Not first for its taste, warmth or color, though also for those things. I order pumpkin spice to fuse my body with the leaves, the crisp air, the gentle reminders of death, and all the other trappings of fall. Twenty years ago this month, Starbucks brought this flavor to the world. In so doing, autumn was perfected.The Pumpkin Spice Latte—the PSL, to its devotees—was not, of course, the first mass-marketed seasonal coffee beverage. By 2003, Starbucks had already introduced a pair of Christmas drinks: the eggnog latte (born in 1986) and the peppermint mocha (2002). But these precedents were different in kind. Eggnog is a beverage of its own; peppermint is a normal flavoring. The PSL was something else entirely: a concoction of known elements recombined into a new seasonal essence that somehow came to seem as though it had always been around. Continued here

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Inside Gaza's Last Catholic Parish     It’s just past 1 a.m. on October 12, the fourth day of Israel’s assault on Gaza, and my friend Rami is awake, texting me from a pew in the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, where he and his family are sheltering from air strikes.He tells me their apartment building was hit last night, their home completely demolished. Now he, his wife, and their two kids are sleeping on mattresses in the church hall, alongside almost 200 other Gazans evacuated or displaced from their homes. Because Rami fears for his safety, I’m using only his first name here. Continued here

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Voice to Parliament referendum has been heavily defeated nationally and in all states     Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Voice to Parliament referendum has failed convincingly after the ABC projected large victories for the “no” side in the national vote and all states. Continued here

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65 Insanely Cool Products Under $30 on Amazon Prime     Finding cool products on Amazon is easy, but finding insanely cool ones? That takes a little more effort. Luckily, I’ve already done that work and put together this list. All you need to do is scroll down and start adding to your cart. From an electric s’more maker to a blender that can fit in the palm of your hand, there’s stuff for the home, car, grill, and more. Plus, everything is under $30 and comes with rave reviews. And, there’s no hyperbole, these items are just insanely cool.Balance both hot and cold drinks on your couch, bed, or in the back of your car with this insulated foam holder. Not only that, it can also fit cups, mugs, remotes, phones, and more. Plus, the soft cover is removable and machine washable if anything spills. Continued here

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Adding spider DNA to silkworms creates silk stronger than Kevlar     The study and copying of nature’s models, systems, or elements to address complex human challenges is known as “biomimetics.” Five hundred years ago, an elderly Italian polymath spent months looking at the soaring flight of birds. The result was Leonardo da Vinci’s biomimetic Codex on the Flight of Birds, one of the foundational texts in the science of aerodynamics. It’s the science that elevated the Wright Brothers and has yet to peak. Today, biomimetics is everywhere. Shark-inspired swimming trunks, gecko-inspired adhesives, and lotus-inspired water-repellents are all taken from observing the natural world. After millions of years of evolution, nature has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. They are tricks we can learn from. And now, thanks to some spider DNA and clever genetic engineering, we have another one to add to the list. Continued here

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Only Wes Anderson Could Have Adapted Roald Dahl This Way     The director’s renditions of the famed author’s short stories ask us to think actively—even skeptically—about what we’re seeing.Wes Anderson’s recent collection of Roald Dahl adaptations for Netflix are so specifically theatrical that you could replicate them on virtually any stage armed with just a small troupe of repertory actors and a meager budget. Characters narrate what’s happening while staring directly at us, the implied audience; obliging stagehands shift scenery and assist with costume changes and makeup right in front of our eyes. The action is so resolutely analog that it feels like a manifesto for good old-fashioned stagecraft in a cinematic era steamrolled by CGI—our imaginations are forced to fill in the gaps when, say, a train rushes right over a character, or a man appears to levitate several feet off the ground. This is storytelling that shows you all of its seams. The question is: Why? Continued here

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Xbox Game Pass Just Quietly Released the Most Delightful Co-Op Shooter of 2022     There is a type of game that’s gained prevalence in the past decade that acts as a digital third space. Traditionally, the third space is one separate from work or the home — it's just a place to hang out. As such, third space games are often multiplayer or co-op games that let you hang out with your friends and catch up while engaging with a mostly mindless gameplay loop. From Space, a new co-op horde shooter on Xbox Game Pass, fits that mold perfectly.The premise is as simple as they come: aliens are invading Earth, shoot the aliens. That’s it. The gameplay takes the form of a traditional top-down twin-stick shooter, with a story and horde mode available in which the player must defeat all enemies in a given level while attempting to complete objectives. Again, it's fairly simple. But simple isn’t always bad. Continued here

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New superbug vaccine turns the immune system into "the Hulk"     A “superbug” vaccine that temporarily puts the immune system on high alert could one day reduce the number of people who contract MRSA, pneumonia, and other infections while in the hospital.The challenge: One out of every 31 hospital patients in the U.S. is battling an infection they contracted while in the hospital for a different health issue. These healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can extend a patient’s stay, increase their hospital bill, or worse — every year, more than 90,000 Americans die of an HAI. Continued here

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Weird Starquakes Could Be Triggering Bursts of Radio Waves Screaming Into Space     A recent study suggests fast radio bursts and earthquakes may be different versions of a similar process.Mysterious bursts of radio waves from distant stars have a lot in common with earthquakes here on Earth, it turns out. Continued here

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Earth's newest 'baby volcano'     On the afternoon of 10 July, the Earth cracked open. Three fissures appeared north-east of the base of Litli-Hrútur – a small mountain on the Reykjanes Peninsula in south-western Iceland – and began to spew molten lava high into the air accompanied by plumes of gas.Iceland's latest eruption wasn't a total shock; Litli-Hrútur (which translates to "Little Ram") is part of the Fagradalsfjall volcanic area that erupted in March 2021 and August 2022 after a break of almost 800 years, and the surrounding area had been shaking for several days with more than 12,000 earthquakes recorded prior the start of the eruption. Continued here

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3 Ways Disney's Rumored Push Into Video Games Is a Lesson in What Not to Do     Bob Iger has enough problems. He doesn't need a gaming division to make things worse. Continued here

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Which Nanoleaf Smart Lights Should You Buy?     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDNothing changes a room like good lighting. What's even better? A wall of great lights. Nanoleaf has been making smart light panels since 2012, and the brand is synonymous with colorful, geometric lighting. The company's lineup has expanded into various lighting kits over the years, with different wall panel shapes, and even a soon-to-launch skylight. Continued here

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Why AI Is Forcing Startups To Chase a Mirage     AI is just the latest shiny object on the path to misguided strategy Continued here

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NZ Election 2023: polls understated the right, but National-ACT may struggle for a final majority     Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne While the tide well and truly went out on Labour on election night, there are still several factors complicating the formation of a National and ACT coalition government. Special votes are yet to be counted, with the official final result still three weeks away. Continued here

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20 Years Ago, Naughty Dog Made a Shocking Open-World Game -- And Set a New Precedent     I remember the day. It was an extremely early morning, at least by a young child's standards, and I hurriedly opened my Christmas presents. I was blessed with a new PlayStation 2 and a copy of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. I ran upstairs to my room with the crazed enthusiasm of a Philadelphia sports fan. My cousin was with me and he helped set the bad boy up (because I was, and still am, an idiot), and behold…the future! The graphics. The box art. Even the opening music. We were both hooked.Aside from Daxter’s screaming scaring the bejesus out of us, it was perfect. But little did I know that just a couple years later, it would actually be Jak II that completely vaporized every atom in my body with pure amazement and surprise. Continued here

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These Are the 15 Android Phones Worth Buying     If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDThe best Android phone means something different to everyone—it's hard to find one that caters to every need. But chances are there's a smartphone that comes close to what you're looking for. From the bottomless pit of phone choices, these are our favorite Android handsets, including the Google Pixel 7A, our top pick. All the phones we've selected have their own advantages, and we've laid them out as best we can based on our extensive testing. Continued here

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Why Does My Cat Sleep On Me? It's Not Only for Warmth     There’s a rule of thumb in many a cat home: If your cat is sleeping on you, you’re not allowed to move a muscle.This adorable, if sometimes inconvenient, experience has been the source of countless excuses for bailing on everything from social plans to work. Mikel Delgado, a cat behavior consultant in Sacramento, unravels why our cats are actually doing this. Continued here

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A Poet Reckons With Her Past     In a striking new memoir, the Jamaican writer Safiya Sinclair attempts to make peace with her Rastafari childhood and the island that shaped her.“Out here I spent my early childhood in a wild state of happiness,” the Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair writes of growing up by the water, “stretched out under the almond trees fed by brine, relishing every fish eye like precious candy, my toes dipped in the sea’s milky lapping.” Continued here

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McDonald's Just Made a Bittersweet Announcement, and 42 Million Americans Will Be Affected     There are a lot of statistics in this article. Did you know the average American spends 293 hours per day in a car? Continued here