OPEN THREAD: Because I love you and want you to be happy.

IT’S NOT JUST SPACEX: Rocket Lab launches 5 satellites on mystery mission (video): “Live, Laugh, Launch” was the 70th mission of Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle to date.

I BLAME BLUE HADES: Giant Chunks of The Seafloor Are Mysteriously Upside Down, Scientists Find. “Deep beneath the waves of the North Sea, the seafloor is behaving in an unexpected way. There, scientists have discovered hundreds of vast sand mounds, some on the scale of several kilometers across, that, according to a release from the University of Manchester in the UK, ‘defy fundamental geological principles’.”

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: Surprising Study Finds Meat May Protect Against Cancer Risk.

OF COURSE, THE DEPRESSION WAS CAUSED BY GOVERNMENT POLICIES: Access to green spaces helped guard against depression during pandemic.

YA THINK?

That mugshot was a huge backfire🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/iQ11txThDO

— Marie Isabella (@MarieIsabellaB) August 24, 2025

CHANGE: EVs Are Completely Upending Vehicle Design—for Better and Worse.

RISE OF THE MACHINES: Tesla’s Robo-Trucks: $80 Trillion Game-Changer – Partial Automation Still Revolutionizes 2026.

TECH FEATURES DRIVERS LOVE, AND HATE.

SO WILL PEOPLE WHO EAT THEM GET SUPER POWERS? OR DO WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SUPER-POWERED SHRIMP? Possible radioactive contamination prompts 2nd frozen shrimp recall.

WELL, GOOD: FDA clears Papzimeos to treat adult respiratory papillomatosis.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Survey shows teachers despise ‘equitable’ grading policies. That’s because, like all woke policies, they’re produced by and for crazy people.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Syllabus data reveals rise of leftist authors in college, decline of classical authors.

#WINNING:

I don't want to tell you this because you seem a bit hysterical, but when you compare Trump and Obama's approval at the same point in their second term… Trump is actually more popular. https://t.co/2iqlLrHMz3 pic.twitter.com/vOe52JrIFH

— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) August 24, 2025

ROGER KIMBALL: Trump’s Whirlwind Week: Peace Talks, D.C. Cleanup, and a CBO Win.

WHY THEY HATE HIM: RFK Jr Makes Another Major Change To Boost ‘Radical Transparency.’

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED ALREADY: George Mason President Implemented Illegal Race-Based Hiring Schemes, Education Department Finds.

GOOD CHANCE THE STARMER GOVERNMENT WON’T BE AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO COLLECT IT ANYWAY: 4chan Will Refuse to Pay Daily UK Online Safety Fines.

A UNIFIED THEORY OF NETWORKED NARCISSISM: How and why social media makes us all into the worst versions of ourselves. “In this essay, I’m going to offer my hypothesis, which lies at the nexus of anonymity, algorithmic reinforcement, and psychological fragmentation—in both the normal understanding of that term and in a way I’m going to define shortly, emotional whiplash.”

INVASIVE PLANTS BAD. INVASIVE PEOPLE GOOD? Surprising Pushback as Community Fights to Undo Damage from Invasive Plants.

OPEN THREAD: Make it special.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX launches Space Force spaceplane X-37B.

THIS SEEMS TRUE:

In any moral debate, the people using the most euphemisms are probably wrong.

— Hans Fiene 🦬 (@HansFiene) August 20, 2025

ONE OF THE 21ST CENTURY’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS:

The average AWFL would rather be carjacked and have her arm broken than not be able to virtue signal.

It’s mental illness. https://t.co/xQuur44iZB

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 23, 2025

HIGHLY PLAUSIBLE: Study links poor sleep to self-harm in teenagers.

I suspect an awful lot of teenage pathologies are linked to poor sleep. I, on the other hand, sleep like a baby because my conscience is clean. From this morning’s Oura Ring output: