⤴⤵ Up Wing/Down Wing #56

A curated selection of pro-progress and anti-progress news items from the week that was

In case you missed it ...

✨🎈 If the AI boom goes bust, then what? (Monday)

🧬 RFK Jr.’s dumb war on mRNA vaccines and America’s medical future (Wednesday)

⏩🎇 Awaiting the AI acceleration: A Quick Q&A with … researchers Anson Ho and Andrei Potlogea (Thursday)

✨ GPT-5 is a step forward, not a leap — and that’s OK (Friday)

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⤴ Up Wing Things

✈️ Denver airport to embrace SMRS. Denver is launching a study to explore nuclear power as a future energy source for Denver International Airport, which is expected to serve 120 million passengers annually by 2045. The focus is on small modular reactors, which could offer a reliable and sustainable power supply to support the airport’s growth. The move follows a change in Colorado law that now classifies nuclear as clean energy. Researchers in Colorado are already engaging with reactor developers, exploring promising designs and economic models to evaluate the technology’s potential. (CBS)

🏋️ New obesity pill shows promising results. Eli Lilly’s experimental pill for obesity, orforglipron, has delivered promising results in an 18-month clinical trial of over 3,000 adults. Those taking the highest dose lost an average of 12 percent of their body weight — about 27 pounds — with 60 percent losing at least 10 percent. The once-daily pill is part of the GLP-1 drug class, which includes injectables like Eli Lilly’s Zepbound as well as Ozempic, approved for weight management and known for helping patients lose up to 20 percent. The company plans to present their full findings this September at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting. (Wired)