Last week, standing in front of President Donald Trump's first Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire running a blitzkrieg against the US government, acknowledged that he had made a mistake--that in going after the US Agency for International Development, the foreign assistance program that he has all but destroyed, he accidentally ended the Ebola prevention project it ran overseas. Musk claimed the error was quickly fixed and there was no interruption in service. But former and current USAID staff quickly told the Washington Post that Musk was wrong--the Ebola response remained sharply curtailed. And, as the Bulwark reported, Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, who was placed on administrative leave Sunday, had drafted an unfinished memo that predicted the demolition of USAID would lead to more than 28,000 cases of Ebola and related diseases, as well as a 28 to 32 percent increase in tuberculosis globally, up to 18 million cases of malaria (with up to 166,000 deaths annually), and an additional 200,000 cases of paralytic polio a year. Musk's assertion that his slash-and-burn assault on USAID had no negative impact on combating Ebola was disinformation. He was hiding the truth on a critical global health issue.

The White House today announced the name of the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency: Amy Gleason, the US government's problem solver in the early days of the data-starved response to the Covid pandemic and a seasoned worker in the health space. The White House named Gleason after it argued in court that Elon Musk is not really the head of DOGE, and faced pressure from a federal judge to say who is. How long Gleason has been the acting administrator, and if Musk was an unofficial one before today's announcement, is unclear. This is Gleason's second time working in US Digital Services, now turned DOGE. In her first tour, which started in 2018 and carried through the frenzied and chaotic pandemic response, she pushed the bounds of existing bureaucracy to meet the crisis' demand.

This story was originally published on the author's substack, Field Notes with Alexander C Kaufman, to which you can subscribe here. Artificial intelligence is driving up demand for electricity--the only question is how much, and what provides the power. Over the next three years, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates, AI's thirst for power will double or triple. Last month, OpenAI unveiled its Stargate Project, a plan to invest 500 billion in the infrastructure for artificial intelligence over the next four years that includes adding 25 gigawatts of new electricity capacity. Right now, the most likely source of electricity to power those data centers is gas.

On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Elon Musk's DOGE fed sensitive data into artificial intelligence software as a way to help decide which of the Department of Education's programs were wasteful, to try and slash its budget. President Donald Trump is expected to soon release an executive order that would reduce education spending as much as possible while recognizing that he cannot get rid of the department itself. That can only be done by an act of Congress--Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) recently reintroduced such a bill in the House. As I previously reported, the Department of Education plays a crucial role in making sure disabled kids receive the same access to education across states, and distributes funding for the needed accommodations.

Axios reported on Friday that Apple CEO Tim Cook will donate 1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration, the latest tech company figure to do so. These donations--which aren't covered by campaign finance law and can be unlimited--signal a clear willingness to work with the Trump administration and a desire to curry favor with the once and future president. The tech sector is particularly eager to suck up. In December, Meta and Amazon donated 1 million to the inauguration committee, and OpenAI's Sam Altman said he planned to do the same. Uber and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi have both donated 1 million apiece (even as the company's chief legal officer Tony West is vice president Kamala Harris' brother-in-law).

So much of this year felt like a fever dream: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Which is why, this year, I'm leaning into my nerdish tendencies and rounding up some good, interesting, or inspiring news stories from the science world--promising discoveries, exciting new data, historic events, and unsung heroes. In the hope of providing relief from the hell that has been 2024, here's a non-comprehensive list of the year's coolest science stories, both big and small: Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and University of California, Riverside, PhD student Phillip Sternes spotted what appears to be a baby great white shark off the coast of California last year. In January, the team published the photos in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes. "Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive," Gauna said in a UC Riverside press release.

Less than a month before Donald Trump returns to office, two of his most ardent allies have plunged into a fierce online debate over immigration, specifically the government's visa program that allows American companies to hire so-called "highly skilled" foreign workers. The clash started on Monday with Laura Loomer, the far-right social media character known for her virulent racism, condemning Trump's decision to name Sriram Krishnan, a tech investor who was born in India, as a senior adviser on artificial intelligence. Tech leaders, including Elon Musk, weighed in to defend the practice of hiring foreign workers, specifically through the government's H-1B visa program. The debate has since devolved into a relentless string of petty insults--Loomer likened tech billionaires to "termites" at Mar-a-Lago; Musk called Loomer a troll--as well as accusations of censorship on X as retaliation. At a different point, Vivek Ramaswamy chimed in to register his support for hiring foreign workers.

Reveal has been a weekly investigative podcast for nearly 10 years now, so we've produced hundreds of hours of investigative journalism over the years designed to inspire, inform, or infuriate you (and occasionally, all three at the same time). We've curated some of our favorite Reveal series and serials to take you through your holiday travel time--episodes that will resonate today and into 2025. You can find the link to each episode on your preferred podcast platform below. Mississippi Goddam (seven-part series): Billey Joe Johnson Jr. dreamed of graduating high school, going to college, and one day playing pro football. On a cold December morning in 2008, that future was shattered.

For a brief moment in November, the TheoBros, a network of militant Christian nationalist influencers, made news when Trump nominated one of their allies, former Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth, to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth attends a church that is affiliated with the TheoBro movement, and he has cited TheoBro patriarch Doug Wilson, a pastor in Moscow, Idaho, as someone who has had a major influence on him. While the controversies surrounding Hegseth's alleged alcohol abuse and mismanagement of funds meant for veterans continue to make the news, the TheoBros have receded into the background. But as it turns, out, they are embroiled in a major controversy of their own. A simmering divide over how Christians should regard Judaism has ignited into a conflagration.

President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP During an appearance last week at the Economic Club of Chicago, Donald Trump refused to say whether he had talked with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since his presidency ended almost four years ago. The issue arose because in his new book, journalist Bob Woodward, citing a single source, reported that Trump had chatted with Putin up to seven times following his departure from the White House. Asked about this revelation, Trump said he doesn't disclose his conversations with foreign leaders--though he recently boasted he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu--but he added, "If I did, it's a smart thing." Then the news cycle and the world moved on. Once again, Trump escaped scrutiny of his bizarre and troubling relationship with Putin.