SPACE: NASA Power Hack Extends 45-Year Voyager 2 Mission Even Longer.

At 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from Earth, Voyager 2 is so far that it takes more than 22 minutes for NASA’s signals to reach the probe. With its power gradually diminishing, mission planners thought they might have to shut down one of its five scientific instruments next year, but a newly implemented plan has resulted in a welcomed delay.

A recent adjustment, in which the probe redirects a tiny amount of power meant for an onboard safety system, means all five scientific instruments aboard Voyager 2 can stay active until 2026, according to a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab press release. There’s a modicum of risk involved, as the affected system protects Voyager 2 from voltage irregularities, but NASA says the probe can now keep its science instruments turned on for a while longer.

Plus: “Although the spacecraft’s voltage will not be tightly regulated as a result, even after more than 45 years in flight, the electrical systems on both probes remain relatively stable, minimizing the need for a safety net.”

That’s one well-built probe.

AND THEY GOT THAT RICH BY CARRYING WATER FOR PEOPLE MUCH WEALTHIER THAN THEM:

socialism for thee but not for me pic.twitter.com/SSjO9fvYfB

— Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) April 26, 2023

OH: Canadian Officials Reportedly Knew COVID Vaccine Wasn’t Effective Pre-Mandates.

I WONDER HOW A GROOMER GOT THE IDEA THEY COULD BE SO BRAZEN AND GET AWAY WITH IT: A 13-year-old boy was groomed publicly on Twitter and kidnapped, despite numerous chances to stop it.

WELL, TO THE EXTENT ROBERT REICH IS A “SCHOLAR.” UC Berkeley scholar wants Trump barred from 2024 election.

SEEMS LEGIT: Ex-Producer Suing Tucker Carlson Never Actually Met Him.

COMMUNIST TOOLS: Leftist students call North Korean defector Yeonmi Park a ‘liar,’ destroy fliers for her event at Syracuse.

FASTER, PLEASE: A sedan-sized microreactor could change billions of lives on Earth.

Earth’s only natural satellite, the moon, is 4.5 billion years old and roughly 240,000 miles away. The practical application for a microreactor on the moon may seem distant and the need hard to grasp, but Alaska presents an easier vision of pragmatic deployment of this technology.

“When we turn on the light switch in our homes, it turns on right away, right? So it is not the same for the remainder of the world,” said Yasir Arafat, a nuclear scientist who is project lead over MARVEL. “The demand for electricity and water is growing and it is very large compared to what we see in the United States. So how do we solve this? And everybody has different answers, but the answer I would like to provide is that it can be 24/7 reliable carbon-free electricity on demand, regardless of geographic location.”

That includes the United States’ own Alaska, where tiny hamlets have their own challenges.

I’d gladly host one in my backyard. Please, I’m begging you.

DO TELL: Climate Activism Has A Cult Problem. Plus, why are people who are supposed to care about cleaning up the planet so personally filthy? “At the XR office in London, there was a sign that told you to keep your shoes on. Initially, I thought this was funny—a wink to our reputation as barefoot hippies—until I had to sit by people who were in fact barefoot. We had constant problems with people not cleaning up after themselves, and walking around without shoes. I remember collecting all the mugs and other dishes in the office and washing them myself so that we could have a clean environment to work in. The building’s management was always threatening to kick us out. Eventually, they did.”

MORE ON TUCKER CARLSON’S DEPARTURE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT THEREFOR: Past Their Prime (Time): Fox News and CNN enter the last stage of their parallel history. “Of course, former cable news producers can switch to digital delivery of their TV production, but they will never have the monopoly in supplying the news or any content to people on the internet that they used to have on the air. The most critical digital shift related to the freedom of watching: Digital viewers want to watch whatever content they want when they want and not when some TV programmer wants them to. The paradox is that objective, middle-ground, adult-conversation journalism can be produced but cannot be consumed at the scale sufficient to support TV production. It is technically possible to restore objective TV journalism of very high quality. This could even secure some recognizable spot in the news menu. But it will always rely on life support, not on the market.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Tucker Carlson’s Haters Are Going to Be Disappointed. “Carlson’s star has risen so much in recent years that he can’t be canceled, not even by the once-mighty Fox News. I’ve been reassuring people since Monday that I don’t even think this is a hiccup for him.”

HEINLEIN’S CRAZY YEARS (CONT’D): Vermont school district removes ‘male,’ ‘female’ from reproductive system lessons. “Terms like ‘male’ and ‘boy’ would be replaced with ‘person who produces sperm.’ Likewise, ‘female’ and ‘girl’ would be replaced with a ‘person who produces eggs.'”

I’m so old, I remember when it was considered crass to reduce a woman to her reproductive organs.

COUNTDOWN TO THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN THE HARVARD/UNC CASES:  IT’S NOT REALLY ABOUT DIVERSITY:  The Supreme Court has held that a college or university may engage in race discrimination in admissions so long as it is motivated by the desire to capture the pedagogical benefits of diversity for all its students. But as Carissa Mulder and I have written in The Sausage Factory, that is seldom the actual motivation behind these policies.  Here’s hoping the Supreme Court has figured that out.

OUR COLLUSIVE PRESS: Biden Cheat Sheet Shows He Knew What Topic Reporter Would Ask Him About.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Face masks and testicular dysfunction.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A majority of colleges have dropped SAT requirements, Matt Yglesias has an interesting theory why. “Over at his Substack site, Matt Yglesias says this argument, that the SATs test for wealth is not completely wrong but it is a kind of convenient fiction that is meant to distract from the actual goal of dropping standardized tests. That goal, he argues, is hiding the ball on race-based preferences.”

Yes, exactly. Quoth Yglesias: “This is so obvious that it’s not worth beating around the bush: the schools leading the push toward de-testing are not making some kind of blunder, they are trying to get away with something. I’m fond of Talleyrand’s old quip ‘it’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake,’ but in this case, it’s a crime. SAT scores make it inconveniently easy to demonstrate anti-Asian discrimination in college admissions, so the industry is moving to burn the evidence.”

YES: DeSantis’ Battle With Disney Could Win Him GOP Primary Support.

Democrats overwhelmingly see the state’s actions as a punishment for TWDC making unequivocal statements against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, with 87% of Democrats saying that DeSantis is targeting Florida as a result. Two-thirds of independents agree.

But GOP voters see the issue differently, with 64% of those surveyed agreeing that DeSantis is right in undoing the special treatment Disney has received for over five decades and only 36% insisting that the state is punishing Disney.

And that’s where things get interesting. While roughly half of voters say that their opinion of Walt Disney World hasn’t changed after the fight and 42% say their view of TWDC isn’t any different (this author is one person who still loves Walt Disney World even as the company disappoints), there’s a change in the perception of DeSantis.

Related: Nikki Haley’s Disney invitation lambasted by conservatives as 2024 hopeful takes veiled shot at DeSantis.

CHINESE TOOLS: Biden Administration Paves Way for Confucius Institute Affiliate Schools to Receive Federal Funding: Waiver program lets colleges who host Confucius Institute chapters circumvent a ban on receiving federal funds.

DEAL OF THE DAY: TEEHO TE001 Keyless Entry Door Lock with Keypad. #CommissionEarned

THANKS FOR NOTHING, JOE: World powers pull their citizens as violence roils Sudan.

The White House said Monday the U.S. is helping from afar as thousands of Americans left behind in Sudan seek to escape fighting in the east African nation, after the U.S. Embassy evacuated all of its diplomatic personnel over the weekend and shut down.

The Biden administration is considering several options for assisting private American citizens in getting out of Sudan.

Two U.S. officials said one option being considered would be to send U.S. Navy vessels in, or en route to, the Red Sea to dock at Port Sudan and take Americans to Jeddah or another location. The officials said this would depend on the security situation and whether it was deemed safe for the ships to dock.

A U.S. official said the military has developed other options for getting Americans, including using an airfield that some European countries have used to fly out citizens. To date, it has not been told to do that, the official said.

What’s the White House waiting for?

I REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE MADE FUN OF DAN QUAYLE: Is Kamala Harris the dumbest person ever elected VP? “So I think it’s very important, as you have heard from so many incredible leaders for us at every moment in time and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past but the future.”

Related: VP Harris credits nonexistent federal agency with approving mifepristone.

DON SURBER: Die, DEI, Die.

MEGAN FOX: Transgenderism Is Less Palatable to Americans Than Abortion, According to Beer Marketing Experts.

THEIR CREDIBILITY WENT DOWN THE DRAIN IN ATLANTA:  Mediaite Still in Denial About 2020 Election.

MARK JUDGE: Career Advice From the Canceled for Tucker Carlson.