Midterm Battle Lines, Magic Mushrooms, & a Geography Quiz

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Adam Rogers
May 06, 2026

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Trump-backed challengers unseated five Indiana Republican state senators Tuesday who had blocked his redistricting push, underscoring his continued grip on the GOP even as his approval ratings sag. Roughly $12 million was spent on advertising across seven contested primaries. One incumbent survived; another race remained too close to call as of Tuesday at 10 pm.
In Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy won the Republican gubernatorial primary and will face former state health director Amy Acton in November. Ramaswamy has $30 million on hand — his own money plus donor contributions — against Acton's $5 million. Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor in 20 years, but polls suggest a competitive race.
The November House battlefield also took shape. In Ohio, Republicans nominated candidates in two redistricted seats they hope to flip. In Indiana, Republicans nominated a challenger to Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan in a district Harris won by less than one point in 2024. Democrats need three seats to retake the House.

Alberta separatists submitted nearly 302,000 signatures, almost double the 178,000 needed, to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The question could appear on a provincial ballot as early as October if signatures are verified. Premier Danielle Smith said she would move forward despite personally opposing separation.
A yes vote would not automatically trigger independence. Negotiations with the federal government would follow, and Indigenous groups are already using the courts to block the process. An Edmonton judge is expected to rule this week on a First Nations challenge arguing that separation would violate treaty rights.
Support for independence sits below 30%. "Mark Carney is popular, even in Alberta," said McGill political scientist Daniel Béland, noting separatist sentiment peaked during the Trudeau years and has since declined. A referendum, he said, is likely to lose. An Edmonton separatist group's recent data breach has also raised questions about signature authenticity.

A small study found a single dose of psilocybin — the active compound in magic mushrooms — may cause measurable changes in brain structure, offering a possible explanation for its reported mental health benefits.
Researchers tracked 28 participants and found changes in how water moved through the brain’s neural pathways, a sign of structural changes, especially in areas linked to emotion and decision-making. Stronger psychedelic experiences were linked to larger brain changes and greater psychological insight. About 70% of participants reported improved well-being weeks later, though scientists stress the findings are early and not fully understood.
The study arrives as Trump last month signed an executive order to speed psychedelic research, prompting the FDA to grant fast-track reviews to two psilocybin companies studying the drug for depression. Larger studies are needed to determine whether the brain changes are beneficial and how they relate to long-term treatment.

A late-spring snowstorm is hitting Colorado and Wyoming this week, with Denver expecting 2 to 6 inches and parts of the Rockies up to 2 feet. (More)

A Republican spending bill includes $1 billion in taxpayer funds for security upgrades tied to Trump's White House ballroom. (More)

Tennessee authorities have been hunting Craig Berry, a retired special forces veteran accused of shooting his wife Friday, for four days after he fled into the woods near Dover. (More)

Romania's pro-European government collapsed after parliament voted 281 to 4 to remove Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, less than a year after he took office. (More)

Narendra Modi's BJP won West Bengal's assembly for the first time, securing over 205 of 294 seats and extending party dominance to 20 of India's 28 states. (More)

A fireworks factory explosion in Liuyang, China, killed at least 26 people and injured 61, prompting authorities to halt all nearby fireworks manufacturing. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Tuesday (S&P +0.81%, Nasdaq +1.03%, Dow +0.73%), as solid earnings results drove the S&P to another all-time high. (More)

Intel shares jumped 14% on a Bloomberg report that Apple may shift chip production to Intel and Samsung in the US, away from its longtime supplier Taiwan Semiconductor. (More)

Coinbase is cutting 700 jobs, about 14% of its staff, citing market conditions and an AI restructuring push. (More)

Stefon Diggs was found not guilty Tuesday of assaulting his personal chef in a pay dispute, though the NFL said the case remains under review. (More)

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL Draft Lottery, earning the first overall pick and the likely right to select Penn State phenom Gavin McKenna. (More)

The Rolling Stones will release a new album, "Foreign Tongues," on July 10, featuring guest appearances from Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, and a posthumous contribution from drummer Charlie Watts. (More)

Meta will use AI to scan photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram for physical clues like height and bone structure to identify and remove users under 13. (More)

A study of 804 male prisoners found that men with higher psychopathy had larger brain surface areas across 65 regions but felt less emotional empathy, challenging earlier findings of reduced brain volume. (More)

For the first time, the James Webb Space Telescope has identified a rocky exoplanet's surface, finding Kua'kua, 48 light-years away, is covered in basalt with no atmosphere. (More)

Quiz: Can you name the 20 most-visited US states?

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