NEWS YOU CAN USE: SpaceX Has Picked a Date for Its IPO. Here’s Everything Investors Need to Know Before What Could be the Biggest IPO Ever.

GOOD FOR THEM: Lost Parchment Reveals People Who Survived The Black Death.

MY EXPERIENCE IS THAT IT DOES: New Study Reveals How Vitamin D Could Calm Gut Inflammation.

FASTER, PLEASE: Early IV treatment cuts spinal cord damage, restores up to 80% movement in animal models.

SOUNDS LIKE A WINNER: Ford Wants Bumpers That Start Soft And Get Stronger On Impact.

HMM: Pakistan deploys jet squadron, thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia. “Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defence pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even ‌as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war. The deployment, the full scale of which is reported here for ‌the first time, was confirmed by three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support Saudi Arabia’s military if ​the kingdom comes under further attack.”

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Circuit Court Strikes Down New York’s Post-Bruen Vampire Rule Carry Ban.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Why airplane toilets are tiny engineering marvels.

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: Could A Simple Lab Mistake Lead Scientists to Over-Estimate Microplastics?

VICTIMS OF GOVERNMENT ABUSE SHOULD BE MADE WHOLE: Trump admin creates $1.776 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. How it might work and who could get a payout.

AND THAT’S JUST FOR THE HUSBANDS: Living with PMDD is like having the Grim Reaper visit every month.

FLASHBACK: Journalists drink too much, are bad at managing emotions, and operate at a lower level than average, according to a new study.

HASN’T THERE BEEN ENOUGH TERRORISM AIMED AT TPUSA? Students for a Democratic Society releases detailed blueprint on how to ‘smash’ TPUSA.

CHANGE: UNC Charlotte ends ‘gender-affirming housing’ program to comply with federal mandate.

WTF HAPPENED TO THE HARDY, PRACTICAL SCOTS? Transgender Indian migrant without work visa who got elected to Scottish Parliament wants locals to pay reparations to Palestinians.

MARK PULLIAM: Supreme Court ‘Has to’ Take John Eastman Case to Stop ‘Tyrannical Oppression.’

DON’T FORGIVE, DON’T FORGET: ‘Some Things Are Just Not Forgivable’: Hamawy Is Denounced by 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Survivors Who Are Appalled a Friend of the Blind Sheikh May Soon Be in Congress.

YOU MEAN NICHOLAS “DOG RAPE” KRISTOF? ‘Some Things Are Just Not Forgivable’: Hamawy Is Denounced by 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Survivors Who Are Appalled a Friend of the Blind Sheikh May Soon Be in Congress.

I encourage everyone to refer to him as “the dog rape guy” for the rest of his career.

IF YOU CAN’T GET JUSTICE FROM THE STATE, SOME WILL SEEK JUSTICE OUTSIDE THE STATE, AND SOME WILL SEEK JUSTICE AGAINST THE STATE.

You will start to see more and more of stuff like this if these kind of rulings continue. You will also see a rise in vigilantism because if the state refuses to do its job, others will step in to do it. https://t.co/wLFzDRHKtJ

— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) May 18, 2026

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Given that the seal on the wall is in English, is this really from The Netherlands? Even if so, the cautionary point holds. The Dutch are just a bit further down that road than we are.

THE CLAIM THAT “THE PARTIES SWITCHED” IS ALSO BULLSHIT:

There isn’t a single deep southern state that’s been controlled by Republicans for generations.

GOP control is a recent thing:

Louisiana: 2011-2015, 2024-present
Mississippi: 2012-present
Alabama: 2011-present
Georgia: 2005-present https://t.co/cSN0B7Zv5F

— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) May 17, 2026

Flashback: “In their book “The End of Southern Exceptionalism,” Richard Johnston of the University of Pennsylvania and Byron Shafer of the University of Wisconsin argue that the shift in the South from Democratic to Republican was overwhelmingly a question not of race but of economic growth. In the postwar era, they note, the South transformed itself from a backward region to an engine of the national economy, giving rise to a sizable new wealthy suburban class. This class, not surprisingly, began to vote for the party that best represented its economic interests: the G.O.P. Working-class whites, however — and here’s the surprise — even those in areas with large black populations, stayed loyal to the Democrats.”

This from the New York Times, even.

Related:

What actually killed the Solid South wasn't Nixon, it was long running economic stagnation and lack of industry relative to GOP states.

"Vote Blue No Matter Who," left region economically backwards, no matter how much whining about technocracy the elites did https://t.co/BbXdMIcbFZ pic.twitter.com/JX1QksjrLU

— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) April 18, 2026

The whole thread is worth reading.

OPEN THREAD: Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

ACTIVATING THE BRAIN’S DORMANT FLIGHT CENTER: Scientists Gave People Wings in VR, And It Triggered Changes in The Brain.

MAYBE WE KNEW LESS THAN WE THOUGHT: New Study Challenges What We Know About Consciousness and the Brain.

WHEN NARRATIVES FAIL:

Trump is literally older than the People's Republic of China. https://t.co/atU1CHCkuR

— Project Liberal (@ProjectLiberal) May 18, 2026

A REVOLUTION IN HUMAN AFFAIRS: Wealth and health divide: Obesity rates plateau in rich nations but surge in developing world.

Future archaeologists will be stunned at the rapid discontinuity in human remains between malnutrition and obesity.