Today’s Big Story

Our Air Quality Isn’t Great

Nearly everyone in the world breathes bad air. This is what you can do to lower your risk.

Take a long, deep breath. Feels good, right? Everyone loves a breath of fresh air. But unfortunately, too often our air is anything but fresh. When you check the weather on your phone, do you ever look at the Air Quality Index as well? Of course, the air quality varies dramatically from place to place and day to day, nearly the entire world—about 99% of the global population—is exposed to air at some point that doesn’t meet the strict standards set by the World Health Organization, the agency has reported.

How serious is this problem? Polluted air, laden noxious gasses or tiny, invisible particles that burrow into human bodies, kills 7 million people prematurely every year, the U.N. health agency estimates. And for the millions living in some of the world’s smoggiest cities—many of them in Asia like New Delhi; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Bangkok and Jakarta, Indonesia—bad air might seem inescapable.

But, as Vox, points out, Americans aren’t immune to these troubles: “Air pollution is a silent killer that no one is immune to.” In the United States, exposure to air pollution is associated with 100,000 to 200,000 deaths annually. Long-term exposure can lead to a range of health effects in almost every organ system of the body, says Ed Avol, professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

Energy and climate journalist David Roberts says that the evidence is now clear enough that it can be stated unequivocally: It would be worth freeing ourselves from fossil fuels even if global warming didn’t exist. Especially now that clean energy has gotten so cheap, the air quality benefits alone are enough to pay for the energy transition.

And while we wait for that, the Associated Press says that there are things that people can do, starting with understanding that the air isn’t only polluted when it looks smoggy, to lower your risk. Remember the COVID-era masks? Experts still say they’re a great way to filter out irritants and other dangerous particles when you’re outside. They also warn that people also need to be aware of indoor air pollution which can often be caused by common household activities like cooking or even burning an incense stick. They also say that simple air purifiers are an effective way to clean the air in spots we spend a lot of time in—like living rooms and bedrooms.

DOGE Government Cuts

Trump executive order vows substantial cuts to federal workforce

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. DOGE Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring. The Washington Post calls it the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce.

The executive order gives billionaire Elon Musk’s newly-formed team even more power than it has amassed in the first three weeks of the new administration. The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions. (DOGE, for those who’ve been living blissfully under a rock, stands for Department of Government Efficiency.) The announcement came just as the Trump administration faces several lawsuits accusing it of violating privacy laws. In addition to the legal troubles, Democratic lawmakers are raising concern about the security implications of DOGE’s potentially unsanctioned access to sensitive government databases.

Musk made an Oval Office appearance on Tuesday and told the media that he was providing maximum transparency in his government cost-cutting initiative, but offered no evidence for his sweeping claims that the federal bureaucracy had been corrupted by cheats and officials who had approved money for “fraudsters.” But the New York Times reports that Musk’s team is operating in deep secrecy: surprising federal employees by descending upon agencies and gaining access to sensitive data systems. Mr. Musk himself is a “special government employee,” which, the White House has said, means his financial disclosure filing will not be made public.

The Big Dogs Compete

Here’s what went down at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Did you see all those good boys and girls at the 149th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show this week? You might’ve missed that things are finally back to normal for America’s second-oldest continuously held sporting event (behind only the Kentucky Derby). Or, at least as normal as can be expected for a competition that features more than 2,500 dogs flooding into Midtown Manhattan to compete for the coveted title of “best in show”.

The famous dog show was thoroughly disrupted by the pandemic. For two years it moved out of New York City entirely—with the event being held at Lyndhurst, an estate in suburban Tarrytown. Then, for the last two years it took up residence at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. But it was back at Madison Square Garden last night, when Monty, a giant schnauzer, took home the top prize of “Best in Show”. Each dog at Westminster is judged according to how closely it matches the ideal for its breed. Winners get a trophy, ribbons and bragging rights, but no cash prize.

How exactly does judging work? There are seven different breed groups that are evaluated based on the standard set by their parent club, meaning competing dogs aren't compared to other competitors but to the ideal proportions, weight and size, head shape, gait and other qualities of the breed. But, if you ask me, they’re all winners and deserve a stop at the show’s designated massage therapist.

People Are Talking About the New Powerbeats

The wait was apparently worth it, according to critics

The Powerbeats Pro 2 was hardly a secret. Although Beats officially announced the new fitness-focused earbuds on Tuesday, Apple has been teasing them since last fall. And over the last few weeks, a number of pro athletes have been wearing the earbuds in public, including a few NFL players at the Super Bowl. There was little left to see of the Powerbeats Pro 2, but at least there remain more details to discover about the tech inside.

The all-new earbuds have been reworked and reengineered, packing over half a decade of data and research that has been combined with technological innovations, to deliver what Apple calls “the most impressive product in Beats’ history.” Hoping to position its latest product as more than your average set of sports earphones, Beats has introduced a host of new features—most notably, the in-ear heart rate monitoring, which the brand promises “gives athletes real-time data on their performance.”

And tech writers seem impressed. Engadget says the design is incredibly comfortable and the heart rate tracking was accurate and reliable. The Verge found the redesigned ear hooks more ergonomic and secure and said with 10 hours of battery life, they never died during a week of testing.

Your February Reading List

This month is all about non-fiction

Was one of your new year resolutions to read more? How’s that going? If you’re looking for interesting books to crack open, this month has a bunch of fascinating new releases—and they’re all nonfiction. From collections of essays and personal memoirs to a biography of America’s maestro of sketch comedy.

Survival is success.