The Strait of Hormuz blockade is causing a slow-moving food crisis
The Strait of Hormuz blockade is causing a slow-moving food crisis

Farmers are very busy in the spring, under pressure to get crops into the ground just as the Northern Hemisphere begins to thaw. But this year has been different for many, thanks in large part to the escalating war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a […]

Trump Hates Offshore Wind. Republicans Don’t

This week’s Current Climate newsletter also looks at a Google spinout using AI to create better batteries and MIT’s Kate Brown on the environmental impact of grassy lawns

Google says Polymarket bets showing up in News was an ‘error’
Google says Polymarket bets showing up in News was an ‘error’

Polymarket bets started popping up in Google News alongside legitimate news articles. But now those results aren’t showing, and Google says they were never supposed to. Spokesperson Ned Adriance told The Verge that “Google News is designed to show sources that create content about current issues, events, and important topics, and we have policies for […]

How Iran out-shitposted the White House
How Iran out-shitposted the White House

In the early days of the war on Iran, while the White House was busy posting Call of Duty memes and AI slop of dancing bowling pins, the Iranian regime’s state media was flooding the zone with video after video of what was happening on the ground: Explosions over Tehran. Smoke billowing in the sky. […]

Now the FAA says gamers are the answer to its air traffic controller shortage
Now the FAA says gamers are the answer to its air traffic controller shortage

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has struggled for years to have enough air traffic controllers to address shortages, with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) saying in January that the number of people in the job in the US has declined by around 6 percent “in the last decade.” Now the Trump administration is rolling […]

The Iranian Lego AI video creators credit their virality to ‘heart’
The Iranian Lego AI video creators credit their virality to ‘heart’

Donald Trump has spun the recent rescue of a downed airman whose fighter jet was destroyed behind Iranian borders as a resounding success. But the story is very different in one of the many viral, AI-generated Lego videos that have been produced by Iranian content creation group Explosive Media in the weeks since the US […]

Congress can finally close a mass surveillance loophole — but will they?
Congress can finally close a mass surveillance loophole — but will they?

A warrantless wiretapping authority that has facilitated surveillance for decades is up for renewal in Congress. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), last reauthorized in 2024, is set to expire on April 20th. A bipartisan coalition of progressive Democrats and members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus say it’s long overdue for reform. […]

Trump Mobile isn’t giving up just yet
Trump Mobile isn’t giving up just yet

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. We’re back to being ignored, but the company is showing signs of life. It’s been nine months since Trump Mobile announced itself, seven months since the company updated any of […]

Florida launches investigation into OpenAI
Florida launches investigation into OpenAI

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is launching an investigation into OpenAI over public safety and national security risks, as reported earlier by Reuters. In a statement on Thursday, Uthmeier says there are concerns that OpenAI’s data and technology are “falling into the hands of America’s enemies, such as the Chinese Communist Party.” Uthmeier also says […]

John Deere will pay farmers $99 million over right-to-repair lawsuit
John Deere will pay farmers $99 million over right-to-repair lawsuit

John Deere has agreed to pay farmers $99 million to resolve a class action lawsuit that accused the agricultural giant of preventing farmers and mechanics from accessing the materials needed to repair equipment, as reported earlier by Reuters. As part of the proposed settlement, John Deere says it will make repair resources available for a […]