Links 12/28/2025 | naked capitalism

Acoustic Guitar String Oscillations

The frame rate of the camera allows us to see the wavelength of each note

pic.twitter.com/VOoxecFT7F

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) December 26, 2025

Google Rapidly Deploying Huge CO2 Battery Facilities That Store 200 Megawatt Hours of Power Futurism

How reality crushed Ÿnsect, the French startup that had raised over $600M for insect farming TechCrunch

How America went money mad. William Gaddis invented our blank and empty world UnHerd

The John Galt of Comic Books Reason.com

COVID-19/Pandemics

Flu cases surge nationwide as CDC reports nearly 5 million infections this season WTVR CBS 6

COVID Cases Are Rising Again as Flu Surges. Know These Symptoms and How to Protect Yourself Today.com

Climate/Environment

Studies: Extreme weather fueled by climate change is adding to bird declines The Invading Sea

2025 One of Costliest Years for Climate Disasters: Report Earth.org

World’s third-largest solar producer could generate 12 million tons waste by 2047

South of the Border

Prices soar and Venezuela’s economy struggles under Trump’s pressure: ‘People are living day to day’ El Pais

Argentina: Congress passes first budget under Milei DW

Shared waters, rising tensions: Experts call for diplomacy as U.S.-Mexico water dispute intensifies Imperial Valley Press

All hail the Panama Canal, a frontline in the US-China trade war Asia Times

China?

A 30-meter-tall, 70-meter-wide snow sculpture in northeast China’s Jilin has become the backdrop for a spectacular light show recreating scenes from “The Lost Tomb” hit novel series. #ChangbaiMountains #HeavenlyPalaceOnTheClouds #SnowSculpture #IceAndSnow pic.twitter.com/vuxoDPy9kK

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 27, 2025

How China’s Singles Are Quietly Reshaping Consumer Spending Barrons

China’s Ultra-Long Range Sixth Generation Fighter Program Marks Major Milestone With Third Flight Prototype Military Watch Magazine

China industrial profits plunge as weak demand and deflation bite Financial Times

China hits milestone in building Beishan laboratory for managing nuclear waste SCMP

India

Architecture as Infrastructure: How India Builds for a Billion archdaily.com

Venture Capital Momentum in India Defies Global Funding Headwinds in 2025, Report Reveals crowdfundinsider.com

India is building the world’s largest battery storage site—here’s what it means for energy Glass Almanac

Africa

African regional bodies reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland CBS News

How Africa is asserting itself globally — despite Trump DW

‘All the comforts you find in Paris’: the man helping African ‘repats’ head home rfi.fr

European Disunion

NATO chief Rutte rejects EU defense breakaway from US politico.eu

Europe is at a ‘fork in the road’ between AI competition and climate, fund managers say CNBC

EU rolls out plan to address bottlenecks in healthcare Longevity.Technology

Old Blighty

UK youth to be offered military ‘gap year’ in bid to boost defence: Report Al Jazeera

Foreign doctors deterred from UK by racism, anti-migrant rhetoric, says medical leader Andolu Agency

Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran

The list of all the children under age 9 that Israel has killed in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/qQX29rCdZJ

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) December 27, 2025

One excavator, 10,000 bodies, a sea of rubble: inside Gaza’s effort to retrieve and bury its dead Scheerpost

Israel needs reckoning and renewal – its leaders must finally accept accountability – opinion The Jerusalem Post

Israel weights military action against Lebanon shafaq.com

Israeli forces raid Syrian town in Quneitra countryside Andolu Agency

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia hammers Ukraine’s capital ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy meeting Al Jazeera

Zelensky plans to meet Trump on Sunday for talks on ending Russian war BBC

The most likely thing to end the Ukraine war? Exhaustion The Times

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Privacy fears erupt as new facial recognition rules take effect at US airports TODAY Daily Mail

Privacy For Sale: Some Consumers Would Switch From Gmail To ProtonMail MediaPost

Western Democracies Ramp Up VPN Restrictions, Sparking Privacy Backlash WebPro News

Imperial Collapse Watch

Less support, more arrests: Why America’s Homeless population is growing WUSF.com

Baltimore Joins Detroit, Chicago, and Stilwell Becoming Unfrequented for Tourists in 2026? Here’s What You Need to Know! Travel and Tour World

Trump 2.0

Trump is talking about Greenland again Vox

Trump is shamelessly covering America in his name The Guardian

The Supreme Court Cast Its Lot With Trumpism. It Should Be Very Worried. Slate

The ‘Trump-class’ battleship faces a large obstacle in its way: Reality CNBC

Musk Matters

Elon Musk says xAI will have more AI compute than everyone else combined within five years Tom’s Hardware

How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? NY Times

Tesla doors that Elon Musk personally insisted on are now at center of safety investigations Cryptopolitan

Tesla Cybertruck + FSD + Grok = living in the future. pic.twitter.com/NspyBpPYk5

— Planet Of Memes (@PlanetOfMemes) December 24, 2025

Democrat Death Watch

The Dilemma for the Democrats in 2026 is … the Democrats The Hill

Letter: Shhh … be quiet and let Trump fix your mess, Democrats Yakima Herald-Republic

Immigration

ICE is deporting some immigrants so quickly, their attorneys are left scrambling NPR

Cuba Joins Venezuela, Syria, and Iran in US Immigration Ban: How New 2025 Policies Are Changing the Landscape of International Travel and Border Control Travel and Tour World

Our No Longer Free Press

Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Reason.com

Gov’t May Not Abridge or Chill Freedom of Speech Newsmax

Mr. Market Is Moody

An ounce of silver is now worth more than a barrel of oil Wall street Journal

U.S. Dollar ‘Collapse’ Crisis Warning—The Real Reason For A 2026 Gold And Silver Surge That’s Predicted To Blow Up The Bitcoin Price Forbes

Smart Investor: Will Tech Stocks Go From Best to Worst, The Hyped-Stocks Trap Morningstar

AI

New Research Challenges the Myth That AI Stifles Human Creativity SciTech Daily

CoreWeave chief flags extreme supply chain stress as AI growth hits deeper bottlenecks Cryptopolitan

AI Revolutionizes Online Dating: Tools, Matches, and Privacy Concerns WebPro News

AI Backlash Grew Massively in 2025 Futurism

Here are 5 ways AI transformed health care in Europe in 2025 euro news

The Bezzle

Pakistan busts $60 million crypto scam network Cryptopolitan

6 Investment Scams Making a Comeback Across the U.S. SavingAdvice.com

Guillotine Watch

The 5 most expensive bicycle in the world #top5 #expensive #bicycle pic.twitter.com/S7N81nuPfP

— Top5expensive (@top5expensive) April 25, 2025

The 5 most expensive motorcycle in the world #top5 #expensive #motorcycle pic.twitter.com/5XdXGSFfOk

— Top5expensive (@top5expensive) June 15, 2025

This year we brought a Sci-Fi futuristic personal flying motorcycle to reality.Airbike became the world’s first jet powered hoverbike and redefined personal mobility.What you see is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/uc9VBDI3cm

— Volonaut (@Volonaut) December 25, 2025

Antidote du jour (via)

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here