David Lidsky's Blog, page 131

Space tourism’s rise challenges how we define astronauts and exploration

Space tourists are participants in a crafted, symbolic journey that reflects how commercial spaceflight is redefining what it means to go to space.

On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched six women—Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez—on a suborbital journey to the edge of space.

Gen Z is turning to ChatGPT for outfit advice

With new shopping features and personalized recommendations, OpenAI’s chatbot is becoming the go-to stylist for a generation navigating fashion one prompt at a time.

With around 1 billion searches on ChatGPT each week, Gen Zers are increasingly turning to AI to solve a daily dilemma: what to wear.

Why governments keep losing the ‘war on encryption’

Governments around the world continue to wrestle with the proliferation of strong encryption in messaging tools, social media, and virtual private networks.

Reports that prominent American national security officials used a freely available encrypted messaging app, coupled with the rise of authoritarian policies around the world, have led to a surge in interest in encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp. These apps prevent anyone, including the government and the app companies themselves, from reading messages they intercept.

Netflix’s ‘Sesame Street’ deal is a PR coup for the ages

Netflix saved the beloved children’s show from an uncertain fate in a way that creates goodwill for the company—and bad publicity for one of its rivals.

Anyone asking how to get to Sesame Street will have a new answer as of this morning: Just log on to Netflix. The industry leader in streaming, which topped 300 million global subscribers last December and reported revenue of $10.5 billion for the first quarter in 2025, just picked up Sesame Street ahead of its 56th season. That’s after HBO wound down its deal with the beloved children’s institution last December.

Trump wants Air Force One to be a ‘palace in the sky,’ but it represents much more than that

Air Force One has long served as a symbol of the power and prestige of the presidency.

Since President Donald Trump excitedly announced that he would be accepting a $400 million plane from the Qatari government to serve as the next Air Force One, even members of his own party have expressed alarm.

What the wins and losses for 2025 lunar exploration mean for the future

Together, these missions represent an increasingly international and commercial approach to lunar exploration and science.

Half a century after the Apollo astronauts left the last bootprints in lunar dust, the moon has once again become a destination of fierce ambition and delicate engineering.

Trump signs a bipartisan bill targeting revenge porn and AI-generated sexual images

The TAKE IT DOWN Act, championed by lawmakers and first lady Melania Trump, mandates swift removal of nonconsensual intimate imagery and introduces federal penalties for offenders.

President Donald Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law on Monday, strengthening federal protections for victims of revenge porn and AI-generated sexual images.

Klarna enlists AI-generated CEO video to deliver its earnings as BNPL firm racks up losses

While the ‘buy now, pay later’ provider grew to 100 million users last quarter, more of its customers are failing to repay those loans.

Klarna just announced its first quarter 2025 financial results, and they show that a larger chunk of customers are buying now and not paying later.

Supreme Court lets Trump end deportation protections for Venezuelans

The plaintiffs told the Supreme Court that granting the Trump administration’s request would expose hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to deportation to an unsafe country and cost billions.

The U.S. Supreme Court let Donald Trump’s administration on Monday strip temporary protected status from Venezuelans living in the United States that had been granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, as the Republican president moves to ramp up deportations as part of his hard-line approach to immigration.

What libraries are getting rid of after Trump’s order to dismantle the IMLS

Libraries’ e-book and audiobook programs are especially vulnerable to the Trump administration’s budget cuts.

Libraries across the United States are cutting back on e-books, audiobooks, and loan programs after the Trump administration suspended millions of dollars in federal grants as it tries to dissolve the Institute of Museum and Library Services.