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How naturally-produced opioids help plumb the depths of animal minds
Amidst the ongoing debate over whether artificial intelligence is really sentient, scientists are still trying to figure out the same thing about non-human animals. Amazingly, naturally-produced painkillers have long been considered a key indicator of possible sentience in animals. America can ban all the opioids it wants, but still won’t stop your brain from making them or seeking the relief from suffering they provide, and so they have been seen as a kind of smoking gun for sentience in non-human animals as well. But a look at the evolutionary role of endorphins really highlights the complexity of conscious experience – especially our own.
Secret Service killed suspected shooter at Trump rally, according to law enforcement
As updates pour in following a violent attack against former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening — in which the side of his head was grazed, leaving him bloody but "fine," per those at the scene — several outlets have indicated that the suspected shooter has been killed by U.S. Secret Service agents.
Trump injured but "safe" after Pennsylvania shooting
Donald Trump was reportedly injured in a shooting incident and was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening. The Secret Service has said that Trump is "safe" and the ex-president's campaign says he is receiving medical treatment. Whether Trump was actually struck by a bullet remains unclear, with some reports suggesting he may have been struck by glass fragments from the teleprompter before him.
Celebrities mourn the loss of Richard Simmons, dead at 76
The latest in a string of celebrity deaths that have occurred this week — including Shelley Duvall and Dr. Ruth Westheimer — the sad news of the death of fitness guru Richard Simmons began to circulate on Saturday afternoon. With very little information available as of now, what...
Trump taps "fake elector" to present him with official nomination
At the Republican National Convention, the GOP plans to dig its heels into election fraud. Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, who participated in a scheme to send fake electors to Washington D.C. to subvert the will of Nevada voters, will present Donald Trump with his nomination at the convention in Milwaukee next week.
"I had no interest in trashing him": James Patterson on why he needed to tell Tiger Woods' story
"I just wanted to tell the story and let people figure out." When the "story" in question is recapping of the entire life and career of an athlete as illustrious — and scrutinized — as professional golfer Tiger Woods, the stakes are considerably high. If anyone's up to...
Elon Musk officially weighs in on race, tossing cash at Trump PAC
Elon Musk has donated to a Trump campaign-affiliated PAC, tossing cash behind a candidate for the first time in the race, per Bloomberg. People familiar with the donation didn’t disclose the amount, but according to Bloomberg, they described it as a “sizeable sum.”. Musk, with a net worth...
Abortion restrictions harm mental health, with low-income women hardest hit
This article was originally published on The Conversation. People living in states that enacted tighter abortion restrictions in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which returned regulation of abortion access to state legislatures, are more likely to report elevated levels of mental distress. This is particularly true for people of lower socioeconomic means.
Taxes on sugary beverages are working. Should they be placed on ultra-processed foods?
Back in January, researchers found that raising the prices of sugary sodas, coffees, teas and energy drinks and fruit drinks led to a decrease in the purchases of those drinks. Specifically, increasing the prices of said beverages by an average of 31% reduced consumer purchases by a third. The study,...
Dr. Ruth, sex therapist and ambassador to loneliness, dies at age 96
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the world-famous sex therapist most commonly known as simply Dr. Ruth, died Friday at her home in Manhattan, according to her publicist Pierre Lehu. Having lived 96 extremely full years devoting herself to fixing the sexual hangups of strangers, all while smiling and laughing in a way that infused a comfortable casualness into an otherwise awkward subject, the cause of her death has yet to be revealed, but she for sure had a nice, long run.
Trump's Facebook and Instagram safety guardrails are coming off
Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are no longer restricted, Meta told Axios on Friday. Less than four years after inciting a social media-fueled attack on American democracy that left five dead, Trump will be allowed to use as normal the social media platforms that once concluded that the “risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service” were “simply too great.”
"Our realities are being warped": Travis lead singer Fran Healy on tackling big themes on new album
Fresh on the heels of their 20th anniversary reissue of "The Invisible Band," Scottish indie rock group Travis is back for more. Their new album, titled "L.A. Times," marks one of the band’s finest efforts since "The Man Who," the multiplatinum mega-success that established their international fame. Listeners will...
Biden’s donor dilemma: Democrats brace for the big money dump
Folks, we’ve been here before. When Ronald Reagan bombed in his first debate against Walter Mondale in 1984, it prompted members of the press, some of the GOP stalwart supporters, members of the donor class and even some of Reagan’s Hollywood friends to question whether Reagan (seeking a second term) could handle the rigors of the presidency at the advanced age of 73.
Legal scholars: SCOTUS gave Trump a "big hammer" — and he may use it to undo NY conviction
The Manhattan justice weighing the fate of Donald Trump's guilty conviction in New York could potentially throw out the verdict if he decides jurors should never have heard certain evidence about the president's conduct as president — or the judge could uphold the verdict by deciding that evidence would have made little difference, according to legal experts.
Are the polls even reliable? Experts examine election polling predictions from 1980 to 2024
During the first debate of the 2024 election cycle, President Biden infamously flubbed his words, trailed off mid-sentence, stared off into space and otherwise acted every bit like a mentally incompetent 81-year-old man. With Biden's fellow Democrats determined to save democracy from an election-denying Republican — former President Trump — who was recently empowered by the Supreme Court to be a dictator, their experts are now turning to one place for information about the future: Polls.
National abortion ban "hidden in plain sight" in revised RNC agenda, legal experts say
Earlier this week, the Republican Party released its 16-page “Make America Great Again” policy platform ahead of its national convention. As many news outlets pointed out, it did not explicitly call for a national abortion ban. Instead, it said that the party supports states establishing fetal personhood through the constitution’s 14th Amendment.
"They’ve been hammering me": Biden goes on the offensive in an effort to strengthen his campaign
President Biden, who has increasingly framed a push for his ouster as one from elites and the ultra-rich, tried to throw a death blow to charges for him to exit the race during a Friday Detroit, Michigan campaign event. In an impassioned speech, championing a record on labor rights and...
Case dismissed against Alec Baldwin in "Rust" shooting
A judge dismissed a case against Alec Baldwin, ruling that prosecutors had made crucial missteps amid their prosecution of the actor for involuntary manslaughter after a 2021 accident left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead. A motion to dismiss claimed that prosecutors had withheld key evidence in the case against the "30...
Susan Collins won't vote for either guy, opting for Nikki Haley instead
Republican senator and long-time Donald Trump critic Susan Collins of Maine doesn’t plan to vote for her party’s nominee for president, and will instead write primary runner-up Nikki Haley’s name on her ballot. Collins, who voted to convict Trump on impeachment for his role in the January...
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