3 most frightening stories

• The climate situation is not good. Concerns about food continue to surface, including from Bjorn Lomborg.
• The water resources situation is not good. Asia may be headed for serious water shortages. 100 million trees have died in California during the current drought there. Drought and fire in the U.S. Southeast are an increasing problem and the region is unprepared.
• The geopolitical situation is not good. If Russia did hack the U.S. election, it wouldn’t be the first election they have hacked. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not over, and the rest of the greater Middle East is increasingly a mess.

3 most hopeful stories

• A vaccine for the common cold may be coming.
• There’s no clear evidence that genetically modified crops are bad for you.
• If you can achieve a 60% overlap between your ideal life and your actual life, you might be happy.

3 most interesting stories

• Scientists can synthesize proteins that could be incorporated in silicon-based life.
• According to Bill Gates, “new genome technologies are at the cusp of affecting us all in profound ways”. But an article in Nature says we should not be too hopeful about living much past 100.
• Maybe fish are not as stupid as we thought.