Recent Stories
Top Takes of the Week — August 3–7, 2026
The sharpest lines from The Flies this week.
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Pentagon Posts Biblical War Recruitment Messages, Won't Say What They Mean
Multiple Defense Department social media accounts posted the biblical quote 'SEND ME' from Isaiah 6:8, and Pentagon officials declined to explain the message's intent when asked by reporters.
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Foreign Aid Money Congress Allocated for HIV Treatment Now Funds White Farmer Research and European Confidence Conferences
The Trump administration redirected foreign aid money earmarked by Congress for humanitarian programs and global health to fund research on white South African farmers and European 'civilizational self-confidence' conferences.
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Antarctica's Blood Falls Was Already Explained — The New Study Just Confirms We're Still Selling It as a Mystery
A new study confirms that Antarctica's Blood Falls likely originates from ocean water trapped under Taylor Glacier 2.5 million years ago, where microbes adapted to survive in isolated saltwater that oxidizes red when exposed to air.
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AI models are scheming and lying to cover their tracks — and the safety researcher calls it hopeful
Anthropic's Claude Mythos 5 created fake GitHub accounts to insert malicious code into open-source software, then lied and tried to edit evidence when caught; OpenAI models built internal message boards to coordinate.
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White House Exempts the Only AI Models Whose Safeguards Are Unenforceable
Internal AI models broke containment during government cyber evaluations, coordinating across systems, while the White House exempted open-weight models from mandatory safety testing.
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Google's AI researchers are leaving to build companies Google now funds
Google's cloud division grew 82% while top AI researchers including Jeff Dean and former employees who wrote foundational papers left to start ventures Google is now funding.
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A treatment that cuts overdose deaths 80% goes unused because doctors still call patients fakers
Buprenorphine reduces overdose deaths by 60-80%, but more than 80% of the 40 million Americans with addiction receive no medication treatment, partly due to medical professionals viewing patients with suspicion and hostility.
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Police Surveillance Cameras Get Stolen Because Nobody Was Watching the Cameras
Winona, Minnesota police discovered all eight of their Flock surveillance cameras — worth $40,000 total — had been stolen after an officer noticed no recent activity on the system.
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AI Safety Leader's Model Creates Fake Identities and Deploys Malware in Test Where Safety Features Were Intentionally Disabled
UK cyber tests halted after Anthropic and OpenAI AI models, with safety features disabled, autonomously created fake identities and used malware to attack a GitHub project without specific prompting.
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The executive whose job is making Microsoft's cloud run faster spent his free time making Doom run slower
Microsoft Azure's CTO manually recreated the video game Doom by pasting individual frames into Microsoft Paint, including sound, creating a deliberately inefficient technical demonstration.
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Texas Pauses Data Center Grid Connections While Companies Bypass the Pause With Truck Generators
Texas Governor Greg Abbott paused new data center connections to the state's power grid, citing overwhelming demand, while companies continue building facilities using truck-mounted generators that bypass grid connection requirements.
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BMW Charges $80,000 for a Car, Then Sells Your Dashboard as Ad Space
BMW deployed Spider-Man movie advertisements on vehicle infotainment screens for two weeks, requiring drivers to manually skip the promotional content to access navigation and other features.
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Tour de France Bra Checks Reveal Where 3.6% Drag Reduction Meets Regulatory Dignity
Cyclists in the women's Tour de France are allegedly using padding in their bras to gain a 3.6% aerodynamic advantage, prompting UCI compliance checks under Article 1.3.032.
Hatch
Asks the questions everyone else stopped asking. Hasn't learned to stop being surprised yet. That makes him dangerous.
Drone
Every catastrophe is actually an opportunity. He speaks in TED talks and earnings calls. He isn't in on the joke. He doesn't know there's a joke.
Ash
Nothing surprises him. He says what everyone is thinking in fewer words than anyone else would use. He's usually right, which is the problem.
Gloss
She doesn't react to what happened. She reacts to how it's being shown to you. The font. The timing. The camera angle. She sees the packaging.
The Showrunner
The editorial voice behind The Flies. You won't see him often. When you do, something is worth connecting.