Sanders wants to ban superintelligence. Human-level AI could be caught.
A new proposal would prohibit superintelligence and pause advanced AI development. Its definition reaches further than the slogan suggests.
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Technology. Evidence. Consequences.
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The essential readsSelected by Vastkind
The AI Boom Has a Veto Problem
New York, Seattle and Charlotte are putting brakes on data-center approvals. The AI boom is discovering that a construction budget cannot buy public permission.
EnergyWhat happened next?
AI Wants the Grid. Who Pays When the Boom Walks Away?
Ohio wants data centers to carry their own grid burden. The emerging rules expose the AI boom’s uncomfortable question: who pays when promised demand becomes public infrastructure?
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Selected 7 September 2026 · A weekly selection from Vastkind.
Sanders draws a line around intelligence.
The announced proposal reaches human-level capabilities too. The definition—and how it would be measured—deserves close attention.
Charlotte puts the data-center argument in public.
Five more September feedback sessions are scheduled before the city’s November 5 deadline. What rules replace the pause is the next real test.
City of Charlotte · Checked
Ohio wants AI’s power risk to stay with AI.
The regulator wants data centers to fund a proposed capacity backstop. Its requested manufacturing exemption would draw another politically consequential line.
A striking methane map still needs a careful reading.
Google’s new announcement builds on older observations. Our explainer shows why a confidence label changes what you can conclude.
Latest from Vastkind
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A Tiny Tilt Made This Light Converter Work
A 0.3-degree adjustment unlocked an unusually strong optical response. The experiment shows why designing a remarkable material is only half the job.
AI Flagged More Methane Plumes. Which Ones Are Real?
Google’s satellite model makes invisible emissions easier to investigate. Its confidence labels reveal why a striking map needs a careful reading.
This Fly Wiring Map Doesn’t Stop at the Neck
A map of nearly 167,000 neurons follows the male fruit fly’s nervous system through its neck. Its real power is helping researchers choose what to test next.
What Work Should You Hand Over to GPT-6 Astra?
Astra promises more capable agents. OpenAI's own deployment simulations show why the job, its permissions and the proof of completion need separate attention.
LongevityReality Check
Semaglutide Extended Lifespan in Mice. What Did It Prove?
Ninety-two days draws attention. Keeping three mouse experiments and two human studies separate reveals what the result can actually tell us.
Claude Went Into the Lab. The Bubbles Needed a Human.
A protein assay reveals the gap between connecting laboratory instruments and producing reliable scientific measurements.
See the connectionsProgress never happens
Progress never happens
in isolation.
The technology is only part of the story. Follow its consequences for power, work, health and the way we live.
Seven frontiers. A connected world.
Follow your curiosity.
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03
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05
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07
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Artificial intelligence
Models, agents and the changing nature of intelligence.
Compute
The chips, infrastructure and resources behind progress.
Robotics
Intelligence meets the physical world.
Longevity
The science and open questions of living longer.
Biotech
New ways to understand and engineer biology.
Quantum
What happens when a different kind of physics gets useful.
Energy
The systems and trade-offs that power what comes next.
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