OUR PICKSHow To Strengthen Nuclear Failsafe | The Dictatorship of the Engineer | Banning AI App DeepSeek from U.S. Government Devices, and more

Social Media for Children “Like Cancer Risk of Smoking”  (Matt Dathan and Daisy Eastlake, The Times)
The UK head of counterterrorism is calling for an online age restriction, banning under-16s from using platforms.

NOAA Employees Told to Pause Work With “Foreign Nationals”  (Dell Cameron, Wired)
An internal email obtained by WIRED shows that NOAA workers received orders to pause “ALL INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS.”

Early Detection Tools Help but They Can’t Stop Every Wildfire  (Matt Reynolds, Wired)
Tree-mounted sensors and new satellites promise a way to detect wildfires before they get out of hand—but no early detection method is foolproof.

House Lawmakers Push to Ban AI App DeepSeek from U.S. Government Devices  (Associated Press / VOA News)
A bipartisan duo in the U.S. House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok.
Lawmakers Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, on Thursday introduced the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited the Chinese government’s ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks.

How To Strengthen Nuclear Failsafe  (Julia Berghofer, National Interest)
Ensuring shared failsafe protocols is the best way to improve nuclear security in a world where arms control progress has stalled.

TRUMP’S CHANGES TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

“Effectively Unaccountable”: Inside the Trump-Musk Relationship  (Jess Bidgood and Jonathan Swan, New York Times)
The alliance between President Trump and the billionaire Elon Musk might be the most consequential in American government.

Musk’s DOGE Agents Access Sensitive Personnel Data, Alarming Security Officials  (Isaac Stanley-Becker, Greg Miller, Hannah Natanson and Joseph Menn, Washinton Post)
The highly restricted data includes personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees maintained by the Office of Personnel Management.

If DOGE Goes Nuclear  (Ross Andersen, The Atlantic)
The risk of messing with the wrong computer system

The Trump Administration Is Restricting Research Funding Through Keywords  (Philip Bump, Washinton Post)
Are your thoughts too radical for the Trump administration? Let’s find out.

Trump Policies Sow Chaos, Confusion Across Scientific Community  (Joel Achenbach and Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washinton Post)
U.S. scientists, unaccustomed to shock-and-awe political assaults, are reeling from President Donald Trump’s executive orders on DEI, gender and other subjects.

The Dictatorship of the Engineer  (Franklin Foer, The Atlantic)
The right claims to loathe technocracy—but it has empowered Elon Musk to remake the government.

Trump Advisers Stopped Musk from Hiring a Noncitizen at DOGE  (Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, The Atlantic)
The world’s richest man still relies on the president for his authority.

DOGE Teen Own “Tesla.Sexy LLC” and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers  (Andy Greenberg, David Gilbert, and Lily Hay Newman, Wired)
Experts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by “Big Balls”online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems.