NOT LONG AGO, A CONSTELLATION THIS SIZE WOULD HAVE BEEN INCONCEIVABLE: SpaceX Seeks Approval for 15,000 Satellites to Use MSS Spectrum.

HMM: Why Warm Countries Are Poorer. “Societies that live closer to the equator are warmer. Why are they also poorer?” Temperate climates are more invigorating.

HMM: Brain imaging method reveals hidden vascular changes with aging.

GOOD: IWI US, Inc. Selects East Tennessee for Headquarters Relocation. “Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter and IWI US, Inc. officials announced today the company is relocating its headquarters and all major operations from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. IWI US, Inc. will create 72 new jobs and invest $15.7 million in Andersonville, Tennessee. The additional investment and increased headcount will allow IWI US to increase its manufacturing capacity and ability to design and develop new technology for firearms.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Large-scale syllabi study finds professors only teach left-wing side of controversial issues.

CHANGE: YAF president pushes nationwide contract requiring colleges to protect conservative speech.

PROFILES OF INSANITY: Ben Affleck’s Daughter Masks Up For UN Speech About COVID.

#GREENFAIL: The sun sets on solar.

ARE THERE PEOPLE IN IT WHO WONDER IF THEY’RE LIVING IN A SIMULATION? The largest-ever simulation of the universe has just been released.

IT CERTAINLY IS: Public Health Policy As Public Choice Failure. “Examining three key policy areas—vaccine rollout, mask mandates, and ventilation standards—the Article demonstrates how misaligned political incentives led officials to prioritize short-term appeasement of a pandemic-weary public over science-based strategies that would maximize long-term welfare. In each domain, political actors faced strong incentives to downplay risks, overpromise solutions, and delay difficult decisions, resulting in a pandemic response that was often too little, too late, and too beholden to partisan interests. The Article concludes that reckoning honestly with these failures is a crucial first step toward reforming our public health institutions and ensure a more effective response to the next crisis. It offers recommendations for rebuilding public trust, depoliticizing public health communication, and institutionalizing science-based policymaking. More broadly, the Article underscores the urgent need to realign political incentives with the public interest in the prevention of and response to public health emergencies.”

CHANGE:

🚨#BREAKING: The NC House of Representatives has just passed “Iryna’s Law” which ends cashless bail for violent criminals.

You have not been forgotten, Iryna ❤️ pic.twitter.com/HnTSepkJ0w

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) September 23, 2025

OPEN THREAD: Make it special.

THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT US TO THINK: No near neighbors: Closest technologically advanced aliens may be 33,000 light-years from Earth.

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: Scientists Blast Dinosaur Eggs With Lasers to Check Their Ancient ‘Atomic Clocks.’

NEUROLOGICAL PROCESSING POWER AT WORK: IQ Linked to How Well You Hear in a Crowd.

WELL, GOOD: Older adults can bounce back to thriving health, study finds.

THERE ARE NO GOOD ONES: 5 Bad Proposals Currently Being Pushed By Anti-Gun Pennsylvania Lawmakers.

I’M A FAN: The Case for Pocket Carry. As with cameras, the gun you have with you is better than the one in a drawer at home.

GOOD: LSU Announces Lecture Series Honoring Charlie Kirk to Promote Free Speech.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Qatar and Reverse Causation: A clear-cut case of GDP causing education, rather than the other way around.

I tend to agree with Nassim Taleb that higher ed is a luxury good that rich countries buy, rather than an investment that makes countries rich.

FASTER, PLEASE: U.K. gene therapy trial effectively treats Huntington’s disease.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: You Practice How You Play: How Over Relying on AI in Law School Can Lead to Diminished Critical Thinking Skills. I like the Neil Postman reference. Was he prophetic, or what?

ACCOUNTABILITY: Judge sentences ‘scholar-activist’ to 20 years in prison for firebombing UC Berkeley cop car.

GO LONG ON AXE HANDLES: Protester allegedly brandishes brass knuckles toward Charlie Kirk memorial attendees: A Susquehanna University memorial for assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was vandalized by protesters. One protester reportedly brandished a set of brass knuckles and waved a sign that read “Susquehanna does not mourn Nazi scum.”

“Nazi” just means “political opponents the left has marked for death.” We all know that now. But the left won’t enjoy the results of normalizing violence.

ABOUT TIME: Former FBI Director Comey Facing Possible Indictment for Lying to Congress.