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The news has been something of a hellscape lately, and the urge to doomscroll is destined to worsen rising anxieties about tariffs and the cost of living. Luckily, theres a new website that you can turn to if you need a bit of a brain break, and its all about chickens. Chicken.pics is a site from the mind of Erika Hall, cofounder of the design consultancy Mule. In a new subsection on the site, called Clickens, users are presented with two paintings of chickens and asked to judge them based on a hyper-specific adjective: For example, one might have to choose which of two hens is more maladjusted, mephistophelean, or persnickety. All of the chickens are hand-painted by Hall, and there are over 200 of them, as well as more than 200 potential adjectives, which means the chicken show-down options are functionally infinite. Its a nostalgic concept that harkens back to an early 2010s era of the internet, when silly stunt websites were everywhereand its a reminder that sometimes, the internet can still be fun. [Photo: chicken.pics] Which chicken is more punk? The idea for Clickens hatched back in 2021, when Hall was on a sabbatical to write her book, Just Enough Research, and was, by her own admission, looking for ways to procrastinate. She took up painting with watercolors and gouache as a sufficiently distracting side-hobby, but soon found it difficult to imagine new things to paint. Chicken was top of mind at the time because Halls senior pug, Rupert, had begun preferring the meat over his usual canned food. [Photo: chicken.pics] I thought, You know what, if I have to cook all this chicken for my silly little dog, I need to do something for the chickens, because we take chickens for granted, Hall says. Like, there’s 33 billion of them on the planet, and we just turn them into nuggets and things. And I thought, I’m going to honor these chickens that I’m feeding to my dog by really trying to see chickens and help other people see chickens. So, Hall started painting chickensand just didnt stop. Soon, square profile pics of chickens were covering her kitchen walls. Last year, she set up Chicken.pics to as a gallery to display the works. [Photo: chicken.pics] I made this website last year called Chicken.picswhich is, like, the greatest domain everbecause the web has gotten all platformized, and there just aren’t fun, stupid websites anymore, Hall says. So I decided I was going to restart the web from first principles and just make a website. It’s not trying to sell you anything. It’s just got pictures of chickens. In the last week of February, a friend helped Hall add the Clickens feature to the website, which pits two random chickens against each other in a battle of adjectives, hot or not style, Hall says. In just over a month, more than 74,000 votes have been cast on the site. People need something to do that isn’t doom scrollingthat was the intention, Hall says. It’s just a silly thing for people to do.
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E-Commerce
Chinese aerospace giant Comac has unveiled its plans for the C949, a supersonic aircraft designed to fly 50% farther than the Concorde and produce sonic booms quieter than a hairdryer. Scheduled to debut in 2049coinciding with the centenary of the People’s Republic of Chinathe aircraft positions China to challenge US supersonic projects like NASA’s X-59 and Boom Supersonic’s Overture in a race to redefine global air travel. The most important thing here is that this shows supersonic is a raceand Chinas interested, says Blake Scholl, CEO and founder of Boom Supersonic. Advanced airplanes symbolize technological superiority, and its no accident that China wants that crown. In a scientific paper published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Aeronautica Sinica, Comac engineers detailed a Mach 1.6 aircraft capable of flying 4,225 miles, surpassing the Concorde’s 2,796 miles. The key to its design is a reverse-camber fuselage. In aerodynamics, this term refers to an unconventional curvature design in the fuselage or wings that inverts traditional airfoil shapes (which usually turns down from front to back). For the Comac C949, this term specifically describes a concave midsectioncurving inward rather than outwardalong the aircrafts body. The team claims this curved midsection weakens shockwaves. This silhouette combines with a long needle-shaped nose that splits pressure pulses, and aerodynamic bulges near the engines to disperse exhaust turbulence. The airplane doesnt have a regular cockpit. [Image: Comac/South China Morning Post] Similar to the X-59 If the long dart shape looks familiar, it’s because you probably saw it before: NASA’s X-59 uses a very similar design. According to the research paper reported by the South China Morning Post, the team led by Comacs chief aerodynamicist Wu Dawei did simulations that demonstrate that the C949 aerodynamic features will reduce its sonic boom noise to just 83.9 perceived level decibels (PLdB), about the sound of a hairdryer. This is only 5% of the 105 PLdB noise generated by the Concorde. NASA’s aircraft will have a 75 PLdB boomcomparable to the hum of a dishwasherso the C949 will be slightly louder. Comac, like NASA with the X-59, believes that a quieter boom will make the case for removing the supersonic flight ban over land that’s been in place since 1971. The company says that the take-off noise will be within the international limits for take-off in airports near cities. The state-owned company, which aims to become the next Boeing or Airbus, knows that this is crucial for its commercial viability all around the world. Both the C949 and X-59 employ elongated noses and redesigned fuselages to fracture shockwaves, but the C949 adds artificial intelligence systems not found in NASA’s demonstrator. The paper claims that its artificial intelligence-powered fly-by-wire control system adjusts the aircraft’s surfaces 100 times per second to counteract instability at high speeds. The C949s twin turbofansthe jet engines that provide the thrustare adaptive-cycle, which means that they will alternate between two modes. One, when flying at a cruise altitude of 52,000-feet, is a fuel-efficient mode at 1.7 times the speed of sound (Mach 1.7). The other one, at lower altitudes, a low boom mode at Mach 1.6. Like the C949, the X-59 features a 30-meter needle-shaped nosenearly half its lengthto stretch and disperse shockwaves, while its engine is positioned atop the fuselage to direct noise upward. It’s all about the geometry, Lockheed X-59 program director Dave Richardson told me in an interview. There’s no exotic technology, just a meticulous way to turn a bang into a dull thud. Lockheed has envisioned that, using its aerodynamics, a 44-passenger commercial aircraft would be 61 meters long. Richardson acknowledges there will be obstacles: Scaling [the X-59] requires engines that can sustain Mach 1.8 without afterburnersa challenge, but not impossible. The Chinese engineers will have to develop a new engine too, just like Boom Supersonic. NASA’s Quesst prototype uses a virtual cockpit system that uses HD cameras to project the frontal outside view on internal screens that traditional pilot’s glass cockpit. This eliminates protuberances from the fuselage that would amplify the sonic boom sound. While Comac hasnt disclosed if the C949 will feature a full digital cockpit, its the only possible design option. Overture will also use one, like the Boom Supersonic XB-1, the prototype that served Scholl and his team to test their design ideas for Overture and their idea of boom-less supersonic flight. The Overture avoids these extreme aerodynamic shapes, leveraging an atmospheric phenomenon called Mach cutoff. At 18,000 meters, its boomless cruise technique uses temperature and wind gradients to bend shockwaves upward, preventing them from reaching the ground. The sonic boom occurs but never reaches the ground. Not even as a dull thud, like the C949 and X-59. The company demonstrated this in two supersonic flights over the Mojave Desert, California, just a few months ago. Its not magic, just math, says Scholl, who aims to offer Mach 1.7 flights at business-class prices by 2029. We dont need new materials, just smarter engineering, he adds. Challenges and advantages According to Scholl, the X-59 and the C949 won’t be able to operate at current airports due to their size and shape, hindering their commercial adoption. The X-59 requires new airport infrastructureits too long for existing gates, tells me. Overture, by contrast, fits current airports, he says. Regardless, Comac faces considerable challenges. It’s a relative newcomer to commercial aviation. Its first airliner, which includes a first homegrown engine, the C919, entered service in 2023. The company lacks the certifiation experience or supply chain power of Boeing or Airbus. Still, its ambitious timeline includes delivering a wide-body airplane called the C929 (an equivalent to the 787 Dreamliner) by 2027; and an ultra-long haul, 400-seat airplane called the C939 (equivalent to Boeings 777-9) by 2039. Then it plans to launch the C949 in 2049. So many complex projects, all built from scratch, carry the risk of delays, especially with unproven engine technology, according to industry experts. But if any country can pull this off, it’s China. Beijing has developed a very mature aerospace industry. The country is manufacturing a completely new, homegrown Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter in large quantities. It is now testing two different new sixth-generation fighters, which broke cover months before the U.S. announced its future sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, for now just a 3D render. And, to top it all, Beijing is ahead in another key aerospace race: hypersonic flight. General Mark Milley, then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, recognized this fact when the Pentagon detected a Chinese secret test that defied physics in 2021, qualifying it as close to a Sputnik moment, referring to the day the Soviet Union left the U.S. behind in the space race. China has the economic and technological power to make it happen, and state funding shields Comac from market pressures. The supersonic endgame Its a real danger, especially when the U.S. is abdicating leadership, warns Scholl. Look at Boeingthey havent launched a new plane in decades [Boeing’s last new commercial airliner was the Dreamliner, which was announced in 2003 and took off in 2009 for the first time] China aims to replicate their industrial success in aviation. Look at what happened with cars. Chinese cars take over in markets without any tariffs. That shift happened in 10 years, he says. China aims to replicate this in aviation. The C949 is feasible and fits into Chinese aerospace ambitions, but Comac still have to turn its idea into realityand from scratch. For now, NASA’s X-59 must demonstrate that its boom is acceptable to regulators. Boom Supersonic has shown that quiet supersonic flight is possible, but needs a new fuselage and new engines that balance speed and efficiency. Almost everything remains to be done, and the race has just begun. But Scholl warns: They have put a date on it. They have a model number. They are very serious. Theyll move as fast as engineering allows, without our regulatory red tape. Weve seen what happened in semiconductors when we lost leadership. We cant let that happen here, Scholl urges. And Wu and his team knows it, as they write in their paper: The winner will dictate 21st-century aviation. For now, all three contenders are rewriting the rules for this race, almost silently.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump has just expanded the social media surveillance system for immigrants. Starting in May, the United States will begin collecting the social media handles of all permanent resident applicants. That means anyone seeking a Green Cardincluding those already living in the United Statesmust sign up to be digitally surveilled by the government. Marco Rubio also reportedly demanded that diplomats scrutinize the social media accounts of student visa applicants, withholding approval from those who criticize the United States or Israel. This expansion is expected to have a chilling effect on the internet economy. Under government surveillance, current and future immigrants may shut down their online presences out of fear of retribution. Social media CEOsMark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and othersstood at Trumps inauguration and donated to his Victory Fund. Will they continue to support him now that hes threatening their bottom line? Trumps moves against immigrants’ online freedom During Trumps first administration, the Department of Homeland Security began tracking the social media accounts of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants. But the former president has now expanded that policy through an executive order titled Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. Immigrants will now have to disclose their social media handles when applying for Green Cards, asylum, or any other immigration benefit. For those who have already entered the country, the executive order suggests that future forms will likely require social media disclosures as well. Most experts predict this policy will crush digital free speech. Even the Department of Homeland Security appears wary. It issued a 60-day call for public comment, inviting agency representatives and citizens to share concerns. Since the forum opened a month ago, it has received over 1,000 comments, calling the policy a gross violation of civil liberties, an unreasonable violation of privacy, and Orwellianism. One commenter wrote, Simply – Stay out of people’s lives who are here legally. Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Marco Rubio is intensifying scrutiny of student visa holders. Following Trumps executive order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun detaining student protesters across the country. One such case involved Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts PhD candidate, who was apprehended on the street by plainclothes, masked officers. Now Rubio is demanding that diplomats inspect the social media pages of student visa activists. According to a cable reported by The New York Times, Rubio instructed that certain applications be sent to the fraud prevention unit for a mandatory social media check. This includes individuals suspected of having terrorist ties or sympathies, as well as anyone who held a student visa beginning on October 7, 2023the date of Hamass attack on Israel. Will Silicon Valley take note? There are nearly 13 million legal permanent residents in the U.S.13 million social media users who may quiet or delete their online presences due to the expansion of Trumps digital surveillance state. Thats not even counting the countless foreign nationals seeking student or travel visas who could do the same. Such behavior could significantly shrink the user bases of major social media platforms. And the CEOs of those companiesmany of whom supported Trumpmight start to feel the effects. Among those onstage at his inauguration were Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Shou Zi Chew (TikTok). What happens when immigrant users stop turning to Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok out of fear? Zuckerberg, in particular, has recently leaned into the rights free speech rhetoric. In January, he cut Facebooks already limited fact-checking operations, claiming they were too politically biased and shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas. It was a bold move in the name of online free expressionif youre aligned with the right ideology. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is using Zuckerbergs own platforms to surveil people with the “wrong” ideologies and deny them entry into the countryor worse. What will it take for these Big Tech CEOs to abandon their MAGA pipe dreams? For some financiers, it was tariffs. Maybe for them, itll be a direct hit to their customer base.
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E-Commerce
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