3 most frightening stories

• The U.S. electric grid is being systematically probed by hackers working for foreign governments.
• According to James Hansen, the world needs “negative” greenhouse gas emissions right away, meaning an end to fossil fuel burning and improvements to agriculture, forestry, and soil conservation practices to absorb carbon. Part of the current problem is unexpected and unexplained increases in methane concentrations in the atmosphere.
• The epidemics that devastated native Americans after European arrival were truly some of the most horrific events in history, and a cautionary tale for the future.

3 most hopeful stories

• New technology can read your heartbeat by bouncing a wireless signal off you. Mark Zuckerberg has decided to end disease.
• While he still has people’s attention, Obama has been talking about Mars and zoning. Elon Musk wants to be the one to take you and your stuff to Mars.
• Maine is taking a look at ranked choice voting. Ironically, the referendum will require approval by a simple majority of voters. Which makes you wonder if there are multiple voting options that could be considered and, I don’t know, perhaps ranked somehow? What is the fairest system of voting on what is the fairest system of voting?

3 most interesting stories

• Neil deGrasse Tyson says “we might expect to find as many as 100 alien civilizations in our galaxy communicating with radio waves right now.”
• Paul Romer did not win the Nobel Prize in economics. Some guys you never heard of won it for work on contract theory.
• John F. Kennedy was pumped up on methamphetamines during his famous debate with Richard Nixon. Which suggests to me that it is not implausible drugs are used by today’s politicians when the stakes are high.