This week we start with the bankruptcy of commercial DNA company 23andMe, and what it means for its users’ genetic data. Probably not good things! After the break, Joseph and Jason explain what ‘Dogequest’ is, and how people allegedly vandalizing Tesla locations have been caught. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us about some fake…
This article contains potentially disturbing graphics and descriptions that are nonetheless viral on Instagram and other major platforms. These are words I never thought I would type, and the people in my life who I have said them to have told me to immediately stop speaking. But here is how I would describe the type…
A newly introduced bill in Texas would require online sellers to show a photo ID before buying a dildo. SB 3003, introduced by Senator Angela Paxton (wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton), would criminally charge online retailers for selling “an obscene device” without verifying the buyers’ age. Sellers would have to require customers to…
Over the weekend, AI-generated audio of vice president JD Vance saying Elon Musk is “cosplaying as a great American leader” who is making the administration “look bad” circulated widely on social media. On Sunday, Vance’s communications director William Martin said on X that “This audio is 100% fake and most certainly not the Vice President.”…
23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday, leaving the fate of millions of people’s genetic information up in the air as the company deals with the legal and financial fallout of not properly protecting that genetic information in the first place. The filing shows how dangerous it is to provide your DNA directly to a…
‘Dogequest,’ the recently launched website which is doxing some Tesla owners and members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and putting their personal information on a searchable map along with the location of Tesla charging stations, has published a version of its site on the dark web, potentially making it harder to shut down…
The Mozilla Foundation is calling upon 30 technology companies, social networks, and websites to block web scraping by an ICE surveillance contractor called ShadowDragon after 404 Media published a list of sites that the contractor pulls data from. “The thorniest concern here is the meticulous targeting such data enables—putting the lives of protesters, researchers, immigrants,…
Welcome back to the Abstract! You are all in for a treat this week. Scientists have opened up a new book of genomes and discovered a swashbuckling saga for the ages written inside. I don’t even want to say anything more to spoil it. I’m excited for you! Then, microplastics are in the air you…
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss doxed Teslas, the concept of “amplification,” and how we’d much rather be looking at cooking videos than all this mess. EMANUEL: This week I published one of…
Federal law enforcement agencies have turned to a variety of techniques and surveillance capabilities to identify people who have allegedly set fire to Tesla vehicles and property, including automatic license plate readers and social media crawling, according to newly unsealed court records obtained by 404 Media. The documents come from cases that Attorney General Pamela…
