memes
How Right Wing Influencers Used AI Slop to Turn Renee Good Into a Meme
A look at “necromemetics” and the meme economy in the aftermath of violence.
The Abstract
Dozens of CDC Health Databases Have Gone Dark Under Trump: ‘The Consequences Will Be Dire’
Nearly half of routinely-updated CDC databases have experienced delays or shutdowns in 2025, with vaccination-related systems disproportionately affected, according to a new study.
News
Two Heads, Three Boobs: The AI Babe Meta Is Getting Surreal
The algorithm is driving AI-generated influencers to increasingly weird niches.
Podcast
Podcast: Unmasking Deepfakes Kingpins (with Kolina Koltai)
Bellingcat's Kolina Koltai talks about OSINT investigations into synthetic abuse imagery sites, and seeing them go down because of her work.
News
I Replaced My Friends With AI Because They Won't Play Tarkov With Me
What began as a joke got a little too real. So I shut it down for good.
memes
How Right Wing Influencers Used AI Slop to Turn Renee Good Into a Meme
A look at “necromemetics” and the meme economy in the aftermath of violence.
The Abstract
Scientists Discovered a Cow That Uses Tools Like a Chimpanzee
Veronika, a brown cow in Austria, uses sticks and brushes as multipurpose tools to scratch hard-to-reach spots
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Signs of the Times
This week, we discuss stances on AI, a conference about money laundering, and signs about slavery coming down.
The Abstract
Scientists Got Men to Rate Penises by How Intimidating They Are. This Is What They Found.
Why is the human penis so big? Scientists probed the evolution of penis size through sexual selection and mate competition in a first-of-its-kind study
AI Porn
Aliens and Angel Numbers: Creators Worry Porn Platform ManyVids Is Falling Into ‘AI Psychosis’
“Ethical dilemmas about AI aside, the posts are completely disconnected with ManyVids as a site,” one ManyVids content creator told 404 Media.
Podcast
Podcast: Here’s What Palantir Is Really Building
We talk ELITE, the tool Palantir is working on; how AI influencers are defaming celebrities; and Comic-Con's ban of AI art.
Amateur Radio Operators in Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty
"My local community is being systematically liquidated in what I can only describe as a targeted intellectual genocide."
News
Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback
The famed convention's organizers have banned AI from the art show.