OUR PICKSThis Tornado Mayhem Is a Warning | Trump Thinks He Knows What Started the Pandemic | Small Nuclear Reactors, and more

This Tornado Mayhem Is a Warning (Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic)
As hurricane season looms, the effects of DOGE cuts on the U.S. forecasting and alert system are a new menace.

First U.S. Utility Seeks Permit for a Small Nuclear Reactor  (Jennifer McDermott, AP / Phys.org)
For the first time in the United States, a utility is asking federal regulators for a permit to build a small nuclear reactor.
The nation’s largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced Tuesday it submitted a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small, modular nuclear reactor. It wants to develop next-generation nuclear power in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at its Clinch River site.

Trump Thinks He Knows What Started the Pandemic  (Daniel Engber, The Atlaantic)
The lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origins has become a principle of MAGA governance.

America’s Political Ethics Problem  (Julian E. Zelizer, Foreign Policy)
The last time the nation faced a crisis of this magnitude, lawmakers and the president met the challenge.

We Made Luigi Mangione’s 3D-Printed Gun—and Fired It  (Andy Greenberg, Wired)
In the wake of Luigi Mangione’s alleged killing of a health care CEO with a partially 3D-printed pistol, we built and tested the exact same model of weapon ourselves. And it was entirely legal.

How the Signal Knockoff App TeleMessage Got Hacked in 20 Minutes  (Micah Lee, Wired)
The company behind the Signal clone used by at least one Trump administration official was breached earlier this month. The hacker says they got in thanks to a basic misconfiguration.