Tuesday 4th June 2024

I watched Nvidia's Computex 2024 keynote and it made my blood run cold

Nvidia's pre-Computex keynote address was certainly something, and none of it felt good.

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Psychedelics Are Challenging the Scientific Gold Standard

How do you study mind-altering drugs when every clinical-trial participant knows they're tripping?Tomorrow, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet to discuss whether the United States should approve its first psychedelic drug. The fate of the treatment—MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder—will turn on how the FDA interprets data from two clinical trials that, on their face, are promising. Long-suffering patients who took the drug while undergoing intensive talk therapy were about twice as likely to recover from PTSD as patients who got the placebo with therapy.


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The GOP's Single-Message Machine

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.After the 2016 release of the Access Hollywood tape in which Donald Trump boasts about groping women, Republicans considered their options—and Trump's candidacy faced a moment of maximum peril. But after Trump's conviction last week, an enraged MAGA establishment moved quickly to enforce new litmus tests.


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Trump's Big New Megaphone

Donald Trump has officially joined TikTok. His first video, posted on Saturday night—his only post so far—is a montage showing the former president making the rounds at a UFC fight in New Jersey. He waves to fans and takes pictures with them while Kid Rock's "American Bad Ass" plays in the background.Trump—who has appeared on WrestleMania, perfected his image on reality television, and commanded the world's attention through a demagogic Twitter account—is made for this. His account already has more than 4 million followers; the account belonging to the Biden campaign, created in February, trails far behind with about 349,000. It is a sign that social media may once again be used for political warfare by a man who poses an existential threat to American democracy; what might be shocking will instead be played for laughs and engagement on a platform that Trump attempted to ban as president.


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Research: Why Companies Should Disclose Their Lack of Progress on DEI - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)

Many companies have set goals to increase employee diversity, and many companies have fallen short of meeting their goals. Most leaders would likely prefer to keep this lack of progress quiet, but research shows that there may be benefits to being transparent about it. Specifically, this type of disclosure can signal that you take diversity seriously and are genuinely committed to the goals you’ve set for your organization. That said, taking too long to make progress can dampen any goodwill you might receive from disclosure.

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What's next for MDMA - MIT Technology Review (No paywall)

The FDA is poised to approve the notorious party drug as a therapy. Here’s what it means, and where similar drugs stand in the US. 

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Stop Overlooking the Leadership Potential of Asian Employees - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)

How can U.S. organizations successfully tap into the talents of their Asian employees, helping them advance in their careers while also benefiting from the unique skills and perspectives this group has to offer? This article explores why so many Asian employees see their careers suddenly stagnate, and offers five actions organizations can take to help employees move past this roadblock. Further, the authors explain why increased investment in Asian employees can pay off for the organization at large.

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Male birth control gel is safe and effective, new trial findings show

Until this past winter when his participation concluded, Whitehead was a volunteer in a phase 2 trial for the gel. The product — which contains testosterone and a synthetic hormone called Nestorone that reduces sperm production — is the most advanced among a crop of novel birth control options for men.

After 12 weeks of applying the gel every day, 86% of trial participants achieved sperm suppression, meaning they had only up to 1 million sperm per milliliter of semen, the amount the researchers deemed effective for contraception. On average, the timing for effective contraception was eight weeks.

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The rise of the hard right threatens Europe's political stability - The Economist (No paywall)

European elections could mean gridlock in Brussels and beyond

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5 big lessons from JWST's new record-setting galaxy

JADES-GS-z14-0 is now the most distant galaxy ever found: just 285 million years after the Big Bang.

Although (second place) JADES-GS-z14-1 is point-like, its more distant sibling already spans 1,700 light-years across.

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