A steady stream of links #9

Long read

[1] The last days of social media

These are the last days of social media, not because we lack content, but because the attention economy has neared its outer limit — we have exhausted the capacity to care. There is more to watch, read, click and react to than ever before — an endless buffet of stimulation. But novelty has become indistinguishable from noise. Every scroll brings more, and each addition subtracts meaning. We are indeed drowning. In this saturation, even the most outrageous or emotive content struggles to provoke more than a blink. Outrage fatigues. Irony flattens. Virality cannibalizes itself. The feed no longer surprises but sedates, and in that sedation, something quietly breaks, and social media no longer feels like a place to be; it is a surface to skim.

Environment

[2] Meet the people protecting the night sky

That’s because ecosystems have metabolic rhythms similar to sleep cycles, Johnston explained. “Artificial light at night is similar to chronic sleep disruption—the system never fully powers down,” she said. “Over time, that elevates metabolism during these ‘resting’ periods, which can increase carbon release to the atmosphere.”

Made me laugh

[3] Strech

[4] Nervous

[5] A harmless songbird