Writing at Aeon, an essay examines how global "antiquity" really was, arguing for uncovering a global ancient history that extends beyond the traditional focus on Greece and Rome. The piece reflects a broader movement in the historical and archaeological community to incorporate evidence from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific into narratives previously centered on the Mediterranean.

The New York Times reports on why the Clarity Act is mired in muck, covering the ongoing political and legislative challenges surrounding the proposed cryptocurrency regulation bill. The legislation, which seeks to clarify the respective regulatory roles of the SEC and CFTC over digital assets, has faced hurdles from both partisan disagreement and concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving the Trump family's crypto ventures.

Jim Olds shares his perspective on the new science plan, discussing Michael Kratsios's frontier vision for U.S. science and technology policy. Kratsios, who previously served as U.S. Chief Technology Officer and was nominated to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has emphasized emerging technologies and national competitiveness as central priorities.

The UK AI Security Institute has published a preliminary assessment of Kimi K3's cyber capabilities, evaluating the offensive and defensive cybersecurity potential of the Kimi 3 AI model developed by Moonshot AI, a Beijing-based AI startup. The assessment reflects growing interest among Western governments in independently evaluating the capabilities of frontier models developed outside the United States.

A widely shared post on X highlights an unusual workplace safety concern at a university. The post, available here, quotes an email from a university administrator: "Following a standard workplace safety check, I have just received an email from a university administrator in which my custom of keeping books on the shelves in my office is described as 'the unnecessary storing of combustible materials.'"

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences asks whether current science books for children are demotivating, examining how educational materials may be affecting young readers' engagement with science. The research comes amid broader concerns about declining interest in STEM fields among younger students in several developed countries.

According to a post on X, the Brazilian murder rate is down 40% from its 2017 peak. Brazil's homicide rate had reached record levels in 2017 before beginning a sustained decline, a trend that has drawn attention from researchers studying public security reforms in Latin America.

The New Yorker raises an intriguing linguistic question on X: Is the number of words we speak each day dropping by 300 each year?