MATT MARGOLIS: Democrats Are Panicking and Scrambling to Hide Something Big.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

LEBENSRAUM: Astronomers discover 1st atmosphere around a rocky Earth-like planet in the habitable zone.

ALIVE OR DEAD? HE’S SCHRODINGER’S SENATOR:

BREAKING: Kentucky Politicians Want to Know If Mitch McConnell is 'Dead’

Multiple Kentucky politicians demand that Mitch McConnell’s office provide convincing proof that the senator is still alive.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says he received multiple calls suggesting McConnell… pic.twitter.com/3eoacIOwAI

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 18, 2026

I’M NOT PREPARED, BUT I’M RESIGNED:

No one is prepared for how stupid things are about to get. https://t.co/sV843FM1pA

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) July 17, 2026

MURDER WILL OUT: Ancient DNA Finally Solves a 16th-Century Murder Mystery.

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? Parasites Are Surging in The US. Here’s Exactly How to Wash Your Produce.

OH, PLEASE: Plane passenger invoked Sharia law to avoid sitting next to a woman —then attacked female flight attendant: cops.

LET THE SUNSHINE IN: Could Dark Matter Be Hiding in a Hidden Fifth Dimension?

THIS IS AN AGE OF MIRACLES AND WONDERS: Implant Helps Paralyzed Man to Feed Himself and Drink From a Cup.

I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING: Hypercar Electric Motor Tech Teams Up With a Quad-Turbo Diesel V-12 to Boost eVTOL Range.

WHY NOT BOTH? Personnel is Policy: Talarico Hires UT ‘Cocks Not Glocks’ Organizer to Craft His Anti-Gun Platform.

YEAH, HOW ABOUT THAT:

It’s wild how hard Schumer is trying to stop our elections from being secured. lol https://t.co/Umpi3uiMM6

— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) July 17, 2026

AI NEWS: Nobel Prize-winning physicist and team use Claude AI to solve decades-old math puzzle.

WE WILL LAUNCH NO ROCKET BEFORE ITS TIME: SpaceX abruptly scrubs Starship test flight.

COVID WAS A HUGE PUBLIC HEALTH FAILURE: Syphilis cases in expectant mothers have dramatically risen since the pandemic. A core complaint here, though, is . . . wait for it . . . “lack of funding.”

BURGERS AND FRIES — THE BEST THING FOR YOU: How to stay safe during the cyclosporiasis outbreak.

FREE SPEECH UPDATE: Court sides with U. Pittsburgh professor demoted for criticizing affirmative action: Third Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated medical professor’s case after judge threw out defamation claims.

GOOD: DHS to begin placing stricter time limits on student visas. “The change is meant to combat the rising number of visa holders, a trend that the department says ‘poses a challenge to DHS’s ability to monitor ​and oversee ⁠these nonimmigrants while they are in the United States.’”

I INTERVIEWED MARCO RUBIO WHEN HE WAS FIRST RUNNING FOR SENATE. HE’S COME A LONG WAY.

Cannot be overstated how good this is. https://t.co/88ioa9Jw2p

— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) July 17, 2026

HAHA: ‘The Doctor … Thinks of You as a Half Citizen’: Abdul El-Sayed Said Doctors Who Don’t Accept Medicaid ‘Discriminate’ Against Black People. His Psychiatrist Wife Doesn’t Participate in the Program.

RICHLY DESERVED: Former AG John Ashcroft Schools Adam Schiff in the Most Brutal Way.

SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: A Letter to The New Republic on Epistemic Closure.

THIS:

https://t.co/6LtQJn5DKG pic.twitter.com/efjWROKI04

— Inez Stepman ⚪️🔴⚪️ (@InezFeltscher) July 16, 2026

ICYMI:

Sen. Ruben Gallego had sexual relationships with two House staffers, sources reveal to The Post https://t.co/4TtGiZAnOR pic.twitter.com/Cdj7LEdXBx

— New York Post (@nypost) July 16, 2026