Republicans Are (Still) Dumb, Planet Drone Gets A New Moon, UK Has Hunger Pains … and More

As the pandemic started taking a severe national toll last year, House Democratic leaders came up with a temporary fix intended to limit lawmakers' exposure. Under the plan, individual lawmakers who hoped to avoid the floor of the Capitol -- because they were experiencing symptoms, because someone in their household was ill, etc. -- could now vote by proxy. The system ensured that many representatives could participate in the legislative process during a pandemic without endangering themselves or their colleagues. [In] May 2020, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined with 20 other GOP lawmakers in filing a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of proxy voting. A district court rejected the case, concluding that it wasn't up to the judiciary to intervene in how the legislative branch established its own procedural rules. Yesterday, as the New York Times reported, an appellate court agreed.

Days of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China’s Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes. At least 25 people have been killed and seven are missing in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou. The provincial authorities issued its highest level of weather warning. A year’s worth of rain – 640mm – fell in just three days. The casualties are expected to rise as rescue work continues in the days to come. Chinese media call the rainfall “unseen in the last 1,000 years”.

Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton bikepacked the entire Tour de France on his own, rode an additional 1,303 miles, and beat the peloton to Paris by more than 5 days. In the early days of the Tour de France, riders navigated their way through the countryside on their own, stopping in cafes to eat and doing repairs to their bikes themselves. They also didn’t take team buses, cars or flights between stages. This is what Lachlan Morton did. He camped under the stars, skipped the rest days and pedaled the entire distance from stage to stage. Over 18 days, Lachlan rode 3,424 miles and spent 225 hours on the bike (roughly 12 hours per day). On the last day of his Alt Tour (following just 4 hours and 38 minutes of sleep and with a 27% recovery) Lachlan continued riding straight through the night, spending more than 20 hours on the bike to travel 358 miles. He finished in Paris at 5:30 am on Tuesday, July 13th.

Britain’s food supply chains are “right on the edge of failing” as absence related to COVID-19 has aggravated a critical shortage of labour, a meat industry body said on Wednesday. The British Meat Processors’ Association (BMPA) said the shortage of skills was so critical, some plants had reported vacancies of 10% to 16% of permanent positions, discounting the impact of the pandemic. On Monday, England's car plants, railways, supermarkets and pubs warned the government that the COVID-19 tracing app, which has told hundreds of thousands of workers to isolate, was wrecking the recovery and pushing supply chains to the brink of collapse.

During a recent episode of her podcast Call Her Daddy, 26-year-old host Alex Cooper finally figured out what her blockbuster show was all about. Cooper and her guest, clinical psychologist and star of Showtime’s documentary series Couples Therapy Dr. Orna Guralnik, had just spent over an hour in a wide-ranging discussion about the unconscious mind and how early childhood experiences shape us, among other things. ast month, it was widely reported that Cooper signed a three-year contract with Spotify worth $60 million, discussions of which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Starting July 21, Call Her Daddy will be available only on the streaming platform.

An amater astronomer has discovered a previously unknown moon around Jupiter after poring over old telescope images, a major first. Jupiter may have dozens or even hundreds of undiscovered moons orbiting around it. This massive planet boasts a substantial gravitational field that allows it to capture space debris into its orbit. Jupiter currently hosts at least 79 moons, and the number continues to grow. The latest discovery was made by Ly, an amateur astronomer, and it's the latest addition to the catalogue of the Carme group of Jovian satellites.