00:00 — Introduction

00:43 — The Night the Grid Almost Broke

00:43 — The Jobless Boom

00:43 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Virginia narrowly avoided power cuts when 60 data centers dropped off the grid at once (Data Center Dynamics): https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/virginia-narrowly-avoided-power-cuts-when-60-data-centers-dropped-off-the-grid-at-once/

- Near Misses Instill Fears Over Widespread Data Center-Induced Blackouts (Bisnow): https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/data-center/data-centers-nearly-caused-virginia-blackout-according-to-report-128565

- Byte Blackouts: How large data center loads are surfacing new issues (Grid Status): https://blog.gridstatus.io/byte-blackouts-large-data-center-loads-new-issues-pjm/

- Virginia has one of the highest utility disconnection rates in the nation (Cardinal News): https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/22/virginia-has-one-of-the-highest-utility-disconnection-rates-in-the-nation-the-data-center-boom-will-make-things-worse/

- Electricity prices up 267% near data center hubs (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/data-center-electricity-prices

- The AI boom belongs to capital, not workers (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/02/ai-boom-capital-labor

- Entry-level job postings dropped 29 percentage points (Randstad): https://www.randstad.com/press/2025/genz-workplace-blueprint/

- Only 30% of 2025 graduates found full-time jobs in their field (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/08/how-recent-grads-are-dealing-with-the-shrinking-pool-of-entry-level-jobs.html

- Oregon POWER Act passes despite tech industry pushback (OPB): https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/05/oregon-data-centers-electricity-use-power-act/

- Microsoft Community-First AI Infrastructure announcement (Microsoft): https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2026/01/13/community-first-ai-infrastructure/

- AI-exposed occupations outperforming job market in wages (Vanguard 2026 Economic Outlook): https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/dam/corp/research/pdf/isg_vemo_2026.pdf

- PJM governors statement on data center cost allocation (POWER Magazine): https://www.powermag.com/microsoft-commits-to-full-electricity-cost-recovery/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:17 — The Returning Soldier Effect

00:39 — When Humans Get to Choose

00:57 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Best quality vs. sex selection – an analysis of embryo selection preferences for patients undergoing preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy over a 10-year period (Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11339188/

- Returning soldier effect (Wikipedia (compiled from MacMahon & Pugh 1954, Kanazawa 2007)): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Returning_soldier_effect

- The impacts of profound gender discrimination on the survival of girls and women in son-preference countries (Social Science & Medicine): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829222002039

- A balancing act: sex selection after pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy for first versus second baby (Human Reproduction): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37208860/

- The Parents Who Want Daughters—and Daughters Only (Slate): https://slate.com/technology/2024/05/ivf-daughters-toxic-masculinity-sex-selection.html

- Big and tall soldiers are more likely to survive battle (Human Reproduction): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17884803/

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00:00 — Introduction

00:06 — The Fire Horse Curse

01:56 — The Algorithm That Creates What It Predicts

02:05 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- The Year of the Fire Horse: Why Did Births Plummet in Japan in 1966? (Nippon.com (Kikkawa Tōru, Nov 2025)): https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02550/

- Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Algorithmic Assessments, Transparency, and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies (Information Systems Research (Bauer & Gill, 2024)): https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/isre.2023.1217

- The curse of the Fire-Horse: How superstition impacted fertility rates in Japan (World Bank Blogs (Mar 2024)): https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/curse-fire-horse-how-superstition-impacted-fertility-rates-japan

- Fire Horse (Hinoe Uma) (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Horse

- Yaoya Oshichi (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoya_Oshichi

- Increased induced abortion rate in 1966, an aspect of a Japanese folk superstition (Annals of Human Biology (1975)): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1052742/

- Lunar New Year 2026: Year of the Fire Horse (Old Farmer's Almanac): https://www.almanac.com/content/chinese-new-year-chinese-zodiac

- The Fire Horse Superstition—Where Did It Come From? (Go Feisty): https://gofeisty.com/2025/12/04/the-fire-horse-superstition/

- The Year of the Fire Horse Myth in Japan (Metropolis Japan (Feb 2026)): https://metropolisjapan.com/year-of-fire-horse-myth-in-japan/

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00:00 — Introduction

00:25 — The Skill You're Losing By Not Struggling

00:28 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- How AI Impacts Skill Formation (arXiv (Shen & Tamkin, 2026)): https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245

- How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills (Anthropic Research): https://www.anthropic.com/research/AI-assistance-coding-skills

- Cognitive Offloading: Using AI Reduces New Skill Formation (Psychology Today): https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/202602/cognitive-offloading-using-ai-reduces-new-skill-formation

- Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips (Science (Sparrow et al., 2011)): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207745

- Habitual use of GPS negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation (Scientific Reports (Dahmani & Bohbot, 2020)): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62877-0

- How GPS Weakens Memory—and What We Can Do about It (Scientific American): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gps-weakens-memory-mdash-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:47 — Your Brain Has Two Problem Solvers

00:59 — What You Can Actually Do With This

03:02 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- ADHD Symptoms Predict Distinct Creative Problem-Solving Styles and Superior Solving Ability (Drexel University): https://drexel.edu/news/archive/2026/February/Kounios-ADHD-Creativity

- ADHD symptom magnitude predicts creative problem-solving performance and insight versus analysis solving modes (Personality and Individual Differences): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113660

- Strong ADHD symptoms may boost creative problem-solving through sudden insight (PsyPost): https://www.psypost.org/strong-adhd-symptoms-may-boost-creative-problem-solving-through-sudden-insight/

- Drexel University Creativity Research Lab (Drexel University): https://drexel.edu/news/in-the-news/2025/February/Feb-18-Kounios-Scientific-American

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:36 — You Have Way More Than Five Senses

05:44 — Life Started in the Freezer

05:57 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Humans could have as many as 33 senses (The Conversation): https://theconversation.com/humans-could-have-as-many-as-33-senses-270697

- Scientists Say We Might Have 33 Senses. Here's the Breakdown (Gizmodo): https://gizmodo.com/scientists-say-we-may-have-over-30-senses-heres-the-breakdown-2000718893

- As Light as your Footsteps: Altering Walking Sounds to Change Perceived Body Weight, Emotional State and Gait (ResearchGate / CHI 2015): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276206156

- Human senses and sensors from Aristotle to the present (Frontiers in Neurology): https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1404720/full

- Charles Spence (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spence

- Building blocks of life discovered in Bennu asteroid rewrite origin story (Penn State University): https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/building-blocks-life-discovered-bennu-asteroid-rewrite-origin-story

- Multiple formation pathways for amino acids in the early Solar System (PNAS) (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences): https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2517723123

- Asteroid Bennu reveals a new pathway to life's chemistry (ScienceDaily): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212023024.htm

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:11 — The Star That Just Disappeared

01:24 — The Wolves Didn't Change the Rivers

01:24 — The Government Just Said CO2 Isn't Dangerous

01:24 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Did astronomers just see a star blink out to become a black hole? (Scientific American): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/did-astronomers-just-see-a-star-blink-out-to-become-a-black-hole/

- Caught in the Act: Astronomers Watch a Vanishing Star Turn Into a Black Hole (Simons Foundation): https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2026/02/12/caught-in-the-act-astronomers-watch-a-vanishing-star-turn-into-a-black-hole/

- Archival Data From NASA's NEOWISE Tracks Star Turning Into Black Hole (NASA): https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/02/12/archival-data-from-nasas-neowise-tracks-star-turning-into-black-hole/

- A vanishing star births a black hole — without the fireworks (Science): https://www.science.org/content/article/vanishing-star-births-black-hole-without-fireworks

- Yellowstone wolves may not have transformed the national park after all (ScienceDaily / Utah State University): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212025612.htm

- Flawed analysis invalidates claim of a strong Yellowstone trophic cascade after wolf reintroduction (Global Ecology and Conservation): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989425005001

- Trump's EPA will stop regulating greenhouse gases, setting up a legal fight (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5678273/trump-epa-climate-change-endangerment

- EPA reverses long-standing climate change finding, stripping its own ability to regulate emissions (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/science/climate-change/epa-reverses-endangerment-climate-change-finding-rcna258452

- Trump's EPA overturns finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten humans (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/02/12/epa-greenhouse-gas-emissions-humans

- Trump revokes EPA finding on greenhouse gas threat in huge blow to climate change regulations (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/trump-epa-endangerment-finding-climate-change-greenhouse-gas.html

- EPA Repeals Legal Basis for Regulating Greenhouse Gases: What it Means for the US and the World (World Resources Institute): https://www.wri.org/insights/endangerment-finding-repeal-explained

- Friday the 13th superstition origins (Britannica): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Friday-the-13th-superstition

- The possible origins of Friday the 13th and other unlucky days (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2024/09/13/nx-s1-5103766/beware-its-friday-the-13th-dont-say-we-didnt-warn-you

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:27 — The Laser, the Balloon, and the Shutdown

00:27 — Three Hundred Million People Just Stopped

00:27 — Six Names in Two Hours

00:36 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Surprise US military plans to use counter-drone laser triggered El Paso airspace closure (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-texas-flight-restrictions-hnk

- Airspace closure followed spat over drone-related tests and party balloon shoot-down (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airspace-closure-followed-spat-over-drone-related-tests-and-party-balloon-shoot-down-sources-say/

- Pentagon-FAA Dispute Over Lasers to Thwart Cartel Drones Led to Airspace Closure (Associated Press / Military.com): https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/02/11/pentagon-faa-dispute-over-lasers-thwart-cartel-drones-led-airspace-closure.html

- El Paso airspace closure sparks DC blame game (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/02/11/el-paso-airspace-drones-faa-pentagon-breakdown

- El Paso airspace closure due to use of U.S. military anti-drone technology (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5711585/el-paso-airspace-drones-pentagon-faa

- El Paso flights canceled after FAA imposes, then lifts, sudden airspace shutdown (El Paso Matters): https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-shuts-down-el-paso-southern-new-mexico-airspace-for-10-days/

- Bharat Bandh on Feb 12: What's open, what's closed during strike tomorrow? (Business Standard): https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/bharat-bandh-what-s-open-closed-banks-transport-labour-codes-us-india-trade-126021100856_1.html

- Bharat Bandh on Feb 12: Trade unions expect about 30 crore workers to join nationwide strike (India TV News): https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/bharat-bandh-on-february-12-trade-unions-expect-about-30-crore-workers-to-join-nationwide-strike-2026-02-10-1029683

- Bharat Bandh on Feb 12: What's open and closed, all you need to know (Deccan Herald): https://www.deccanherald.com/india/bharat-bandh-on-feb-12-whats-open-and-closed-all-you-need-to-know-3894467

- Rep. Khanna names 6 men he says were redacted from Epstein files for 'no apparent reason' (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/massie-khanna-epstein-files-6-men/

- Trump is in the unredacted Epstein files 'more than a million times,' Raskin alleges (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/02/10/trump-epstein-files-jamie-raskin-unredacted

- Six men named in US Congress: Why is so much redacted in the Epstein files? (Al Jazeera): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/11/six-men-named-in-us-congress-why-is-so-much-redacted-in-the-epstein-files

- What to know about the latest Epstein files release (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2026/02/03/nx-s1-5696975/what-to-know-epstein-files-latest

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:36 — Your Face Is Your Boarding Pass

00:40 — Forty-Five Minutes Your Brain Can't Spare

00:44 — Your Pancreas Clocks Out at Sundown

00:54 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- TSA ConfirmID: $45 Fee for Travelers Without REAL ID (TSA Official Press Release): https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2026/01/15/45-fee-option-for-air-travelers-without-real-id-begins-february-1

- No REAL ID yet? You can still fly, but it may cost $45 (NBC News / Associated Press): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/real-id-deadline-rcna256838

- TSA ConfirmID FAQs (TSA.gov): https://www.tsa.gov/tsaconfirm-id/confirmid-faqs

- TSA PreCheck Touchless ID Expanding to 65 Airports (TSA.gov): https://www.tsa.gov/touchless-id

- TSA PreCheck Touchless ID Expands to Dozens of U.S. Airports (Newsweek): https://www.newsweek.com/tsa-expanding-precheck-touchless-id-system-to-65-more-airports-heres-the-list-11466312

- CLEAR Launches Biometric eGates at Oakland Airport (Aviation Pros): https://www.aviationpros.com/airport-business/security-safety-compliance/news/55343102/clear-launches-biometric-egates-and-tsa-precheck-enrollment-at-oakland-airport

- TSA Digital Identity and Facial Comparison Technology (TSA.gov): https://www.tsa.gov/digital-id

- AI reads brain MRIs in seconds and flags emergencies (Prima) (ScienceDaily / University of Michigan): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260210005419.htm

- Learning neuroimaging models from health system-scale data (Nature Biomedical Engineering): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-025-01608-0

- FDA AI Approvals Surge Past 1k for Radiology (The Imaging Wire): https://theimagingwire.com/2025/12/10/ai-enabled-medical-devices-granted-fda-marketing-authorization/

- Effects of timing and eating duration of time restricted eating on metabolic outcomes (BMJ Medicine): https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjmed-2024-001071

- Meal timing in time-restricted eating matters for metabolic health (Medical Xpress): https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-meal-restricted-metabolic-health.html

- Stroke Facts - CDC (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/data-research/facts-stats/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:34 — The Five Hundred Billion Dollar Handshake

00:41 — The Freezer Seal Is Broken

00:43 — Your Espresso Is Rebooting Your Brain

00:43 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- US-India Joint Statement on Trade Framework (The White House): https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2026/02/united-states-india-joint-statement/

- Fact Sheet: The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal (The White House): https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/02/fact-sheet-the-united-states-and-india-announce-historic-trade-deal/

- Trump Tariffs: The Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War (Tax Foundation): https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/

- US Tariffs: What's the Impact? (J.P. Morgan): https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/current-events/us-tariffs

- Are Tariffs Raising U.S. Retail Prices? (Harvard Business School Pricing Lab / EconoFact): https://econofact.org/are-tariffs-raising-u-s-retail-prices

- India-US Trade Deal: Five Takeaways From the White House Statements (The Wire): https://m.thewire.in/article/world/india-us-trade-deal-five-takeaways-from-the-white-house-statements

- Tariffs could really sting in 2026 (CNN Business): https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/03/business/tariffs-prices-2026

- Flavanols activate locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system via astringent taste (Current Research in Food Science): https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/current-research-in-food-science

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.