OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: ‘This goes beyond showcasing technological soft power’: China’s new moon map signals bold space ambitions.

IT’S NOT JUST CHOLESTEROL: US Cardiologists Issue New Guidelines For How to Manage Cholesterol. I question the benefit of screening 9 year olds for cholesterol, though. Starting a 9 year old on statins, for a disease that won’t affect them for probably 50 years?

IT’S A WONDER DRUG: “People who drank more coffee had less total body fat and visceral fat, along with greater skeletal muscle mass, even though their body mass index (BMI) was similar to that of participants who drank less coffee.”

WELL, THAT’S NOT HARD SINCE BMI IS A LOUSY MEASURE: New Obesity Definitions Reveal Ill Health More Accurately Than Body Mass Index.

YES: Donald Trump Already Won the Iran War. Ending It Is Tehran’s Problem Now.

CHANGE:

Things that are now rightwing:

Investigative journalism
Academic rigour
Scientific dissent
Nature
Facts
Biology
Politeness
Punctuality
Normality
Free speech
Individual rights
Rationality
Objectivity
Self-reliance
Emotional restraint
Delayed gratification

— Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith) August 15, 2026

UPDATE (From Ed): Did conservatives win the culture war?

And don’t forget physical fitness:

And eating healthy and reading epic poetry:

BRING BACK DDT: Bedbugs can cause people to lose sleep — and blood. Here’s what to do about them.

THINK OF IT AS EVOLUTION IN ACTION: The influencers getting bitten while chasing the perfect shark shot.

IT MAKES YOU STRONGER: Strength training is replacing weight loss as the top gym goal — here’s why.

I DON’T THINK THIS IS SUFFICIENT TO “DEBUNK” ANYTHING: “There is a massive caveat in this study that we need to address before moving forward: the volume was not equated between groups.”

IT’S NOT BY ACCIDENT:

How a civilization ends.

There’s the uncontrolled mass migration of third-world peasants and violent religious ideologues bent on domination.

There is the subversion and destruction of once protective, nurturing, instructing and enlightening institutions.

There is the gradual… https://t.co/ztKoBY1rak

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) August 16, 2026

OF COURSE IT IS: That UChicago professor arrested for alleged battery on a cop? It’s Abdul El-Sayed’s sister.

STANDING UP AGAINST RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION: Trump DOJ intensifies push to stop tuition discounts for illegal aliens, keep Harvard accountable for campus anti-Semitism.

NASHVILLE ISN’T DOING WELL:

🚨WHAT ON EARTH?!!

The TEACHER OF THE YEAR in Nashville TM just walked away from her career B says the district ORDERED HER TO FABRICATE GRADES.

She refused. So they went into the system and CHANGED IT THEMSELVES.

According to the teacher, a student didn’t finish a project.… pic.twitter.com/OSFF0FzYpj

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) August 16, 2026

NO, HE WASN’T: No, Jason Arday Was Not Hounded to Death.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: New record! SpaceX launches 2 Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THAT TO AGONY ASAP: The Ecstasy of the Young Communists.

RIGHT?

if academia is silly and standards don't matter there's no rationale for why the public should be funding such trivialities

do you ppl bother to think beyond the latest controversy before your face? https://t.co/ouc9Vf6MSq

— Razib Khan 🧬 ✍️ (@razibkhan) August 15, 2026

COMMIES ARE EVIL. AND STUPID.

This is astonishingly blunt. https://t.co/q7uE4la7xO

— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) August 15, 2026

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Training on a Budget: Low Round Count Drills to Keep Your Skills Current.

OPEN THREAD: Party on.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Virgin Galactic delays next commercial spaceflight to 2027.

HMM: 1,000 AI Agents Started Agreeing Without Anyone Telling Them To.

I WANT REACTIONLESS THRUSTERS: Empty Space May Not Be Empty After All: Magnetar Reveals a Bizarre Quantum Effect.