Today’s Big Story

The Nap’s Resurgence

Devoted nap-takers explain the benefits of sleeping on the job

I think it was during the pandemic, while working from home, that I discovered the warm, comforting pleasure of a mid-day nap. After all, the average adult only gets about six hours of sleep a night—two hours less than the recommended amount. The key to staying alert and functioning is making up some of the deficit with a little midday shut-eye.

But they don’t just help you catch up on sleep or extend an afternoon coffee break. Research shows that napping can actually boost our cognitive and learning capabilities. Even a 10-minute nap can have profound effects on our brain and mood in addition to alleviating afternoon slumps. Michael Chee, the director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at the National University of Singapore, says that taking an afternoon nap can boost mental acuity, according to a 2022 meta-analysis of 54 studies that he oversaw. Even “short naps can be restorative,” he says.

The researchers reported the greatest benefits for vigilance and memory, but the results also showed improved mental processing speed following a siesta. Whether people habitually napped or had adequate sleep the night before, they all reaped the benefits. But that doesn’t make it easy to do—or even socially accepted.

People who make a habit of sleeping on the job comprise a “secret society of sorts within the U.S. labor force”, reports the Associated Press. Inspired by famous power nappers Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, today’s committed nap-takers often sneak in short rest breaks because the practice still carries a stigma.

A mid-afternoon siesta is the norm in parts of Spain and Italy. In China and Japan, nodding off is encouraged since working to the point of exhaustion is seen as a display of dedication, according to a study in the journal Sleep. Yet it’s hard to catch a few Z’s during regular business hours in the United States, where people who nap can be viewed as lazy. The federal government even bans sleeping in its buildings while at work, except in rare circumstances. But little by little, that may be changing.

NCAA Bans Trans Athletes

They’ll now limit women’s competition to athletes assigned female at birth

Transgender women will be barred from competing in N.C.A.A. women’s college sports, the sports organization announced on Thursday, a day after President Trump effectively forced the decision by signing of an executive order asking his agencies to withdraw federal funding from educational institutions if they defied him and let transgender girls and women compete.

The new policy, effective immediately, only allows student-athletes assigned female at birth to participate in women's sporting competitions. However, student-athletes assigned male at birth will still be allowed to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits, like medical care, while practicing. According to ABC News, an athlete who is undergoing hormone therapy, such as testosterone, is also barred from competing on a women’s team, according to the new policy. (This may impact athletes who do not identify as and would otherwise not be considered transgender.)

One legal scholar pointed out that the order will affect more than transgender athletes, adding that it might force women suspected of being transgender to answer invasive personal questions or undergo physical examinations. And while the topic of transgender athletes in college sports has generated headlines and made for political debate, there are very few transgender athletes in college. Last December, NCAA president Charlie Baker estimated fewer than 10 out of the 510,000 active college athletes are transgender, which translates to 0.00196% of college athletes.

Tech Doubles Down on AI

The biggest players pour billions into it, undeterred by DeepSeek’s rise

Tech giants projected tens of billions of dollars in increased investment this year and sent a stark message about their plans for AI: We’re just getting started. Everyone from Google and Amazon to Meta and Microsoft are committing to tens of billions to build out AI infrastructure—after record outlays last year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the four biggest spenders on the data centers that power artificial-intelligence systems all said in recent days that they would jack up investments further in 2025. We’re taking about a combined capital expenditures of at least $215 billion for their current fiscal years, an annual increase of more than 45%. Investors have been especially shaken that DeepSeek replicated much of the capability of leading American AI systems despite spending less money and using fewer and less-powerful chips, but Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said on Thursday’s earnings call, that they can’t stop moving forward: “We think virtually every application that we know of today is going to be reinvented with AI inside of it.”

Meanwhile, the creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI, is teaming up with another U.S. tech giant, a Japanese investment firm and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund to build $500 billion worth of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. The BBC reports that the new company, called The Stargate Project, was announced at the White House by President Trump who billed it as “the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history” and said it would help keep “the future of technology” in the U.S.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ + a Honeymoon Cocktail

There’s nothing Netflix (and its viewers) love more than a scammer, right? Apple Cider Vinegar, now streaming, is the latest scammer docudrama, another galling true story zhuzhed up for maximum bingeyness. This one is about two scams, though: an Australian woman perpetrating a cancer fraud, and the wellness industry more broadly.

Kaitlyn Dever plays Belle Gibson, an influencer who used a host of fictional ailments—from heart problems and seizures to Stage 4 brain cancer—to market a healthy eating app. If Gibson could cure her nonexistent illnesses by abstaining from sugar, gluten, red meat and other “toxins”, the spiel went, then so could her readers. The New York Times says Vinegar has “more depth and bite than many other scam stories,” and other critics say it’s an easily entertaining cautionary tale.

Give Gifts That Will Last

These are way better than some chocolates or flowers, right?

Have faith.