Summary #4 for 2025-04-22

Alright Alex, it’s 6:12 PM!

First up, Training Peaks says today is a Rest Day! So no pressure to hit the pavement this evening or first thing tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, your calendar shows the Backend stand-up at 10:30 AM and the Frontend stand-up at 11:00 AM are back on after the holiday break, plus an Engineering team hiring discussion at 4 PM. Don’t forget it’s also Earth Day!

Trying to find the motivation for a rest day is sometimes harder than getting Tara to move from her favourite sunbeam spot.

Here’s a quick rundown of some news:

• More on the passing of Pope Francis:
  • Who is Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the Vatican?
  • Final days of Pope who joined Vatican crowds at Easter despite doctors’ advice
  • Watch: ‘Our father has died’ - World mourns for Pope Francis
  • Francis was a vocal critic of the powerful, his influence felt far beyond faith
  • Africa remembers Pope who spoke for the continent
• Other headlines:
  • I felt BBC wanted me to leave Match of the Day, says Gary Lineker
  • Ukraine reports many Russian drone attacks after truce ends
  • Show HN: Dia, an open-weights TTS model for generating realistic dialogue
  • FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices
  • Pipelining might be my favorite programming language feature
  • A new form of verification on Bluesky
  • Kremlin satisfied with US statements that Ukraine will not join NATO
  • Venezuela accuses El Salvador of human trafficking as prisoners caught in row between authoritarians
  • China to sanction US Congress members and others who ‘acted egregiously’ on Hong Kong
  • China vows retaliation against countries that follow U.S. calls to isolate Beijing
  • Algeria drops French, adopts English as university language
  • Carney urges Canadian doctors in the U.S. to come home
  • USA Unable to Make Drones Without Components From China
  • White House plagued by Signal controversy as Pentagon in “full-blown meltdown” | Trump insists defense secretary who shared secrets on Signal “doing a great job.”
  • Eight of the top 10 online shows are spreading climate misinformation
  • China Just Powered Up the World’s First Thorium Reactor — and Reloaded It Mid-Run | They used declassified US documents to develop the technology.
  • EU gives staff ‘burner phones, laptops’ for US visits | That would put America on the same level as China for espionage
  • Airbnb now shows the full price of your stay by default
  • This Is How Meta AI Staffers Deemed More Than 7 Million Books to Have No “Economic Value” | As more than a dozen lawsuits churn ahead, newly unsealed case files reveal the company’s stance: The pirated books Meta used to train its AI are individually worthless.
  • A research team from Yonsei University has developed an AI model that screens for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using retinal fundus photographs — images of the back of the eye — reporting a top diagnostic accuracy of 96.9 percent in internal testing
  • Sadness “leaks” into social behavior and physiology—and men may overcompensate. Sadness leads to greater withdrawal for women and engagement for men. Sadness is viewed as more socially acceptable for women than for men. Men may feel pressure to avoid appearing vulnerable, especially with other men.
  • Authoritarian minds may be primed for conspiracy beliefs. Rather than conspiracy beliefs leading to criticism of democracy or support for authoritarianism, it may be that people who already favor authoritarian governments are more likely to adopt conspiracy beliefs—especially during elections.
  • Use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic chemical found in what is known as “magic mushrooms,” has increased significantly nationwide since 2019, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety.
  • Physics Experiment Reveals ‘Quantum Rain’ For The First Time
  • High-fat, high-sugar diets impact cognitive function | The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ability, adding to their well-known physical effects.
  • 3 teens invented a salt-powered refrigerator that doesn’t need electricity. They’re building 200 of them for hospitals to use.
  • Scientists unveil ‘olo’: A colour never before seen by the human eye
  • Man gets trapped in Lake Michigan quicksand, emerges with a girlfriend
  • Women’s flag football is growing on college campuses with NFL’s help
  • Russian Economic Officials Brace for Lowest Oil Prices Since Pandemic