 Rojak is a colloquial Malay word for “eclectic mix,” and is the name for a Javanese dish that typically combines sliced fruit and vegetables with a spicy dressing. Don’t go poking Frustrated with humanity’s lack of progress on contacting aliens, some scientists are taking matters into their own hands. One San Francisco-based group has already sent a message to a faraway star, in a practice that has come to be known as Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence. But broadcasting our existence to aliens, who may or may not exist, “is a big mistake that could destroy us all,” German-American political scientist Yascha Mounk argues in his Substack. Invoking the moral dilemma of responding to extraterrestrials captured in Liu Cixin’s popular novel The Three-Body Problem, Mounk writes that an influential group of scientists are harboring the “naive” assumption that aliens in a technologically advanced civilization would want to help, not destroy humans. “But we also know from the history of our own species that technological superiority need not go hand-in-hand with such moral enlightenment,” he writes. Stephen Hawking also signaled the danger of alerting aliens to our existence, warning that “the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” You stink The Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail line is one of the busiest in the world, with 40 round-trip rides between the two megacities daily. But it’s not much of a joy ride. Packed with hundreds of business people taking meetings and flipping through documents, “the work vibe is so intense that casual travelers who ‘accidentally’ board this train are in for a shock,” a Renwu magazine article translated by the The Ginger River Review stated. The journey embodies “work stench” — a Chinese internet term that describes the vibe people give off when they are furiously working. It apparently spreads to other passengers: Students told Renwu that on board the train, they chose to study or watch lectures instead of movies to fit in with the other passengers. And as “trains get faster, the pressure to keep up with work intensifies,” Renwu wrote. Some companies require employees to attend meetings in both cities on the same day, knowing they can give them more work to finish during the commute. Futurist revolution More than 80 years ago, Italian futurists who became obsessed with “disruption” and “creative destruction” transformed the social movement into an authoritarian one, supporting the rise and reign of Benito Mussolini. Now, similar ideals driven by beliefs that cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence can solve climate change and poverty are fueling the rise of authoritarian leaders in Latin America like Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, according to Pirate Wire Services, a Latin American news Substack. Bukele’s grand plans to build “Bitcoin City” — a hyper-modern metropolis powered by volcanic thermal energy and financed via cryptocurrency — have stalled as he unconstitutionally held onto power and rescinded civil liberties to fight crime. That doesn’t bother Latin America’s emerging futurist community, however, as long as he supports their modernist visions. “If Bukele says he likes bitcoin, they like Bukele. Nothing else matters to them,” one crypto expert who works closely with the Salvadoran government told the publication. | 
