STUDIES OF THE DAILY NEWS

#19 – May 25, 2026
First encyclical letter on AI
Leo XIV, the first American pope, Robert Prevost, presented the first major theological document of his pontificate: an encyclical letter on AI, “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”)
The document was presented in the Vatican during the most important Catholic feast day, Pentecost, which is religiously significant. Leo XIV had already signed it on May 15, the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum (‘On New Things’). That 1891 encyclical by Leo XIII, after whom Prevost named himself last year, dealt with the profound changes during the Industrial Revolution. Magnifica humanitas discusses the fundamental shift brought about by the information and technology revolution, with the rise of artificial intelligence as its true culmination.
The document states:
– control of artificial intelligence must not remain in the hands “of a few”
– technology is fueling world conflicts, “just war” theory is “now outdated,” saying that military force can only be used for “self-defense in the strictest sense.”

#18 – May 23, 2026
AI is changing the internet forever. Here’s how
‘It’s getting impossible to avoid using the internet without somehow encountering AI, despite growing anxiety about the tech and its impact on jobs, safety and the environment.’
– CNN, May 23, 2026 Lisa Eodiciccio

# 17
AI and mathematics
Source: Nature, 19 May 2026
Thanks to some surprising advances, mathematicians are starting to realize that artificial intelligence could radically alter their profession. (…) Daniel Litt, a mathematician at the University of Toronto, Canada, says the result is “reasonably interesting”, unlike previous examples in recent months of AI solutions to Erdős problems. He is relatively unimpressed by the results AI has achieved so far — and critical of the hype surrounding them. But Litt says that when it comes to future potential, it’s the sceptics who have it wrong.
In fact, he says that he is puzzled that the AI systems are not already making big discoveries. Their knowledge of existing mathematics is superhuman and they have shown strong reasoning capabilities. Plus, they don’t get tired or demotivated.
“Part of the mystery is, we don’t know what makes a human mathematician good at math,” Litt says, adding that it is unclear whether humans have some “secret sauce” that makes them uniquely creative.

# 16
AI and production
Source: The Economist, May 16, 2026

Prepare for an AI jobs apocalypse

It is not here yet. But governments should lay a safety-net.

The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 ignited the artificial-intelligence boom—and elicited a chorus of warnings from AI bosses of an impending jobs apocalypse. Never mind that they have reason to talk up the disruptiveness of their products, or that rich-world employment is near all-time highs—the dark message has landed. Seven in ten Americans think AI will make it harder for people to find work; nearly a third fear for their own jobs. A dearth of openings for college graduates—especially computer programmers—amplifies the dread.

The past offers some solace for the anxious. Labour markets constantly change. Today’s offices would be unrecognisable to a worker from 50 years ago. Never in modern history has technological progress hurt the overall demand for human labour. Economic historians now play down the magnitude of „Engels’ pause”, the period during the Industrial Revolution in which working-class wages grew more slowly than the wider economy.

Yet history is not always a good guide to the future, as the Industrial Revolution itself showed. The top AI models are awesome. They can tackle much more complex coding tasks than people were predicting a year ago. The number of AI agents has exploded. Spending on AI by businesses is up dramatically. (…) There is no evidence yet in the labour-market data of AI destroying many jobs. But (…) society may be on the verge of a profound reallocation of resources, and political upheaval.

(…) Though the market will find uses for human labour even as models and robots become more capable, the quality of those jobs and the wages they pay are not guaranteed. Data centres will account for 8.5% of America’s peak power demand in 2027, up from 4.1% in 2025, predicts Goldman Sachs, a bank. As AI firms bid up the price of land and energy, the dollars people earn will go less far. Eventually humans could, like horses in the age of the car, become uneconomical. Income may go mostly or entirely to owners of capital, who then go on to spend it on things that are made by AI and robots using natural resources that they monopolise.

This dystopian possibility is behind Silicon Valley’s admonitions that state intervention, and perhaps a universal basic income, will be necessary. That remains a long way off, if it ever happens. But governments may have to act sooner, for you do not need a cataclysm to stoke popular fury. (…) The white-collar employees threatened by AI have more political and social clout than factory workers hurt by Chinese competition. Even a small number of lay-offs could provoke a backlash against the technology; furious opposition to new data centres is a hint of what may be to come. (…)

(…) Prominent economists around the world have proposed higher taxes on capital and lower ones on labour. Some campaigners want levies on data centres. Inhibiting technology is not, however, a wise path to choose. Humanity is likely to reap enormous benefits from AI: not just greater wealth, but progress fighting diseases and solving problems such as climate change and poverty. (…)

In an all-AI workforce, humans will need help surviving, not adjusting. Hence a last set of radical ideas, such as the partial nationalisation of AI firms. This week a South Korean presidential adviser floated a citizens’ „dividend” from AI businesses, sending the local stockmarket down by 5%, before backtracking. In America politicians murmur about giving citizens shares in AI companies via „Trump accounts”. In economic terms there is little difference between a well-designed tax system and a government stake in the private sector—and countries without AI giants will have to rely on taxes rather than seizing shares in foreign companies. (…) The jobs apocalypse is not yet here. But if governments wait for conclusive evidence before creating a safety-net, it will be too late. Better to start now. 

# 15
AI & Mighty Individuals
2026.05.16 Altman vs Musk [*]
I hope AI can write the scenario of a dramatic scenario wherein judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers plays a keyrole. What happens when mighty individuals set up a arena where they are fighting their position in a supposed future of power, and the future position of AI?

# 14
AI & rights
2026.05.14
“Regardless of the software provider, data analyses are serious encroachments on fundamental rights,” (…). New knowledge can be generated, for example, by building a personality profile or evaluating specific circumstances with the help of AI. “That is a big risk, because people could be targeted by the authorities due to mistakes or discrimination. (-) Analysis tools can also have an intimidating effect, (…) “It can cause people to change their behavior for fear of of ending up in databases.” 
Source: Deutsche Welle, 2026.05.14

# 13
Biology, taxonomy
2026.05.13 Only now, for the first time since Linnaeus ‘invented’ homo sapiens in the Netherlands of 1751 (the Systema Naturae, based on the sexual dichotomy of the floral and animal ‘kingdoms’) the neuroanatomy of the clitoris been visualized for the first time by a research group. Bernadette de Bakker, Assistant Professor of Embryonic and Fetal Imaging, and Judith Huirne, Professor of Gynecology at Amsterdam UMC, created the first scan of exactly how spectacular the nerves run within the organ and how they branch. Though according to the French law, a clitoris ‘is not an organ’.
Source: NRC Handelsblad

# 12
Synthetic biology
2026.05.06
Nature spotlight  06 May 2026
Can synthetic biology help address some of the world’s most pressing problems? In this spotlight, Nature takes a closer look at how researchers are harnessing engineered biological systems to combat pollution and food insecurity.

# 11
AI & conciousness
2026.05.05 AI is concious, says evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins
In The Guardian: Richard Dawkins concludes AI is concious, even if it doesn’t know it – Chats with AI bots have convinced evolutionary biologist but most experts say he is being misled by mimicry. Quoted there:
“I fully expect the idea that AI systems are conscious to become increasingly mainstream over the course of this decade, and to spark some heated debates,” said Henry Shevlin, a philosopher of cognitive science and AI ethicist at the University of Cambridge. He said humankind remained largely in the dark about how consciousness worked and which beings or systems could have it.
“If anyone says that they know for sure that LLMs or future AI systems couldn’t possibly be conscious, it’s more likely to be an indicator of their own dogmatism than a reflection of the current state of scientific and philosophical opinion,” he said.

# 10
2026.05.04: in Nature: atmospheric warming contributions from airborne microplastics and nanoplastics

# 9
2026.04.30 In Science: AI can reason like a physician—what comes next?
Also: AI is starting to beat doctors at making correct diagnoses – Large language model excels at clinical decisions, even in fast pace of a simulated Emergency Room

# 8
2026.04.30 Rewriting the genetic code of life – Nature, 30 apr 2026]
Quoting: ‘Wang shelved the project for a few years, until a new generation of artificial-intelligence tools began to change what was possible. Systems such as AlphaFold can predict a protein’s 3D structure, and various protein language models can now suggest entirely new amino-acid sequences that fold and function.’
[also: Nature 19 feb 2025: biggest ever AI biology model writes DNA on demand]

# 7
2026.04.29 climate change in Europe twice as big as the rest of the world
according to the most recent climate report of EU-climate buro Copernicus

# 6
2026.04.27 The tech-oligarchy (‘moguls’) compared with Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Ford…
‘these five men hold the fate of Western civilisation in their hands‘ – The Economist
Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Demis Hassabis (DeepMind / Google’s AI efferts), Elon Musk (XAI), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) and Sam Altman (OpenAI)
The Economist, 2026.04.27: ‘In a very real sense, these five men hold the fate of Western civilisation in their hands. Already the American military uses their AI tools, with some of the tycoons (Mr Altman and Mr Musk) showing more enthusiasm for this than others (Mr Amodei). Some economists believe that AI will eventually supercharge economic growth. Others say it will put millions out of work. Plenty of people fret that it might end humanity altogether. Not since the splitting of the atom has a new technology created such angst.’

# 5
2026.24-29.2026 First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.
Colombia and the Netherlands host the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. The Conference is designed as a space for countries, subnational governments and other stakeholders that recognize the need to implement a transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner, in line with climate goals and the best available science.
the first implementation-focused Conference, intended to support practical action by those already prepared to move forward. It does not seek to deliver a negotiated outcome, but rather to generate shared understanding and actionable guidance that can help accelerate a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.

# 4
2026.04.21 Life on Mars
So the absolute historical dag, long awaited, about finding life elsewhere in the universe, passed quietly, as espected.
Life on Mars: 2026.04.21 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/24/science/curiosity-rover-organic-molecules-mars

# 3
2026.04.21: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70656-0

# 2
2026.04.21 Britain stops smoking
LONDON: UK Parliament has cleared the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, introducing a historic ban that will prevent anyone born after January 1, 2009 to smoke, by that creating a ‘smoke-free generation’.
Almost £11bn a year could be spent in England’s communities from money saved on tobacco products if people quit smoking, according to a study. The law could prevent more than 470,000 cases of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other diseases.

# 1
2026.04.20 Sudan genocide entering 4th year:
drones killing children / 7.9 million children starving [as we speak]

– “In 2026, UNICEF needs US$ 962.9 million to reach 7.9 million children across Sudan with lifesaving assistance. If that sounds like a lot, consider this: It is around US$120 per child. At this time in our lives, it may be worth comparing that to filling up a tank of fuel in a car, once. In Sudan, it’s a child’s life.
Source: UNICEF, April 14, 2026

– Drones are killing and wounding girls and boys in their homes, in markets, on the roads, near schools and health facilities – all places that should never be targets.
Source: UNICEF, April 14, 2026

– Federal prosecutors said a 44-year-old Los Angeles woman was arrested Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of helping Iran traffic weapons to Sudan, which is in its fourth year of a bloody civil war. Shamim Mafi will face charges that she brokered the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition” between Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, Source: CNN, April 19, 2026.

# 0
2026.04.18 Religious recources of the Trump administration.

“The devil,” William Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, “can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

On February 7, 2025, Trump announced the creation of the White House Faith Office, to be led by Paula White-Caine, his spiritual adviser.

Asked by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins why he is fighting with the pope, Trump said he has “nothing against the pope” but that “I have to do what’s right.” He added moments later: “I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement. He says, Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” (CNN, 2026.04.16 fact check: not true)

In april 2026, ‘the Trump administration appears increasingly bent on casting the Iran conflict as a holy war‘ blessed by God, Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White-Caine compared to him with Jesus at White House easter.

CNN, 2026.04.16: In fact, Hegseth has been speaking in such terms dating back to a book he published in 2020 called, “American Crusade.” In that book, Hegseth approvingly cited a pope having blessed the crusades.

“The pope, the Catholic Church, and European Christians chose to fight — and the crusades were born,” Hegseth wrote. “Pope Urban II urged the faithful to fight the Muslims with his famous battle cry on their lips: ‘Deus vult!,’ or ‘God wills it!’”

On this issue, the openly undiplomatic clash of the Trump administration with the American pope Leo XIV led to a shift of Europe’s far right to the centre-right, (stimultated by the Gaza genocide and Hungary’s elections) as the clash alienated catholic voters from the far right perspective of culture wars. Trump himself sealed the alienation by stating in an Italian newspaper about Meloni, who called the clash with pope unacceptable: ‘She’s the one who’s unacceptable’.

More background

Wikipedia, 2026.04.18: Central to the theme of the “American Crusade” is that there is something called “Americanism”, which The Guardian describes as essentially being right-wing populism. Hegseth characterizes “Americanism” in being opposition to forces like feminism, globalism, Marxism and progressivism and says either “Americanism” will prevail or “death” will.^[4]

Hegseth describes leftists, progressives and Democrats as the “enemies” of freedom, the American constitution and the United States. Hegseth explicitly rejects democracy in his book, equating it to a leftist demand; “For leftists, calls for ‘democracy’ represent a complete rejection of our system. Watch how often they use the word,” adding: “They hate America, so they hate the Constitution and want to quickly amass 51 percent of the votes to change it”. He has also expressed support for election-rigging through gerrymandering, saying “Republican legislatures should draw congressional lines that advantage pro-freedom candidates – and screw Democrats”.^[3] Regarding violence, Hegseth writes “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.”^[5]

Hegseth describes the 2020 presidential election as a clash for “the soul of America”, saying “the leftist media and machine hate President Trump – but they hate you just as much, if not more”. Hegseth predicted that if Trump lost and Democrats won the 2020 election, “America will decline and die. A national divorce will ensue. Outnumbered freedom lovers will fight back”, and the “military and police, both bastions of freedom-loving patriots, will be forced to make a choice. It will not be good. Yes, there will be some form of civil war”; he describes this as a “horrific scenario that nobody wants but would be difficult to avoid”. He says the end of the United States Armed Forces, which elsewhere he calls “the only powerful, pro-freedom, pro-Christian, pro-Israel army in the world”, will mean that “Communist China will rise – and rule the globe. Europe will formally surrender. Islamists will get nuclear weapons and seek to wipe America and Israel off the map”

Chris Hedges in his 2007 book American Fascists – The Christian Right and the War on America: “when I see how these people are manipulating the Christian religion for personal empowerment and wealth and for the destruction of the very values that I think are embodied in the teachings of Jesus Christ, I’m angry.”^[7]

in addition, CNN: MAGA Jesus, 2026.04.19
Paul Wehner, in The Atlantic, Januari 21, 2026

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bixonimania = fictional illness: ‘Scientists invented a fake disease. A.I. told people it was real’. Source: Nature, 2026.04.07
Not bixonimania: Life of Mars has been found 2026.04.21: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70656-0

______________________________________________________________________________________________________