Lawmakers have slammed the Food and Drug Administration for ignoring'troubling evidence' of Elon Musk's Neuralink practices and pushing the brain chip to human trials. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) penned a letter to the FDA, criticizing the agency for not expecting the company's long list of animal abuse allegations that span back to at least 2019. The Democrat cited 2022 reports that described employees' complaints of'hack jobs' of animal experiments due to a rushed schedule, causing needless suffering and deaths. The open letter also stated'these alleged failures to follow standard operating procedures potentially endangered animal welfare and compromised data collection for human trials.' Blumenauer is now demanding the FDA explain how it reconciled reports of such lapses with its decision to authorize Neuralink's human trial.

We wish we could say you look good for 60 years old, but real talk: You do not. Sure, you've grown--when President Eisenhower authorized you in 1956, you were just a glimmer of asphalt. Look at you now! Fully 47,662 miles of roads, bridges, ramps, and curves, the meshwork that defined American post-war expansion and exceptionalism. The Department of Transportation estimates that by 2030, you might have an annual 86 billion funding gap--and that's just to keep your flabby highways and bridges functioning. Actually improving the darn things could cost up 150 billion per year.