Thursday, May 14, 2026
ArchiveThey Removed One of Life's 20 Essential Amino Acids from Bacteria, and It Survived 450 Generations
Scientists deleted one of the 20 amino acids every biology textbook calls essential. The bacteria didn't care. 450 generations later, they're still going — rewriting what we thought life needs to exist.
AI is fabricating citations in biomedical studies, researchers find
One in 277 biomedical papers published in 2026 contains made-up references courtesy of AI hallucinations. The scientific record is being quietly corrupted at scale, and most researchers don't know it yet.
Lithuania’s Peat Bogs Could Help the Climate and Defend the Border, Too
Lithuania figured out that restored peat bogs trap carbon AND stop tanks. Ancient wetlands as simultaneous climate solution and NATO defense infrastructure. The Venn diagram you didn't see coming.
Martin Wolf on the 'Terrifying' Superpower That the US Wields
Martin Wolf wrestles with a strange paradox: commodity prices surging, markets at records, and a shooting war in the Gulf — all at once. His early-20th-century parallels are uncomfortably apt.
While the War Continues in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s Real Battlefield is at Home
Russia has 'liberated' Luhansk three times now. The pattern suggests the Kremlin's real war isn't in Ukraine — it's a domestic performance. A sharp reframing of what Russia actually wants.