Feedback is New Scientist's popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com One of the great joys in life, Feedback argues, is the perfect opening sentence of a book – and the concomitant realisation that, yes, this one is going to be good. "It was the day my grandmother exploded." "As the manager of the Performance sits before the curtain on the boards and looks into the Fair, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place."

A single man searching for love in Miami is confused. On the one hand, he received a barrage of criticism online for asking to split the bill on a first date with a girl he met on Tinder, an online dating app. On the other hand, he thinks – with modern-day feminism strongly in place in 2024 – women want equality and all that comes with it. The single man, who goes by "Water Boy" (@TheWaterBoy) on TikTok, posted a video recording of the date on TikTok. Users posting retellings of their bad dates are commonplace on the platform.

The American tech industry has long paid reverence to its monolithic slate of founders and visionaries: Meta's Mark Zuckerberg; Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. But where the other firms sold phones and search engines, Musk and Altman championed their work as a public mission for protecting mankind, with a for-profit business attached. It is notable that as private companies, they don't have to report to federal regulators or to shareholders, who can vote down proposals or push back against their work.