Welcome back, Dippers,
Here’s a closer look at today’s top stories: the DOJ takes California to court over alleged noncitizen voters, spyware reaches phones through digital ads, and more.
Today’s estimated reading time is 3 minutes and 33 seconds.
- The Daily Dip Editor
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**On this day in 1846, a Boston dentist gave a landmark public demonstration of what surgical first at Massachusetts General Hospital? **(answer revealed below!)
(hint: Mass General’s famous dome)
In today’s issue:
DOJ suesover non-citizens on CA voter rolls 🏛️Citizen Labflags spyware attacks 💻Inmates sueDC jail over food safety ⚖️
Plus, take ** today’s poll** and check out the
Reuters and ABC News report that the Justice Department has sued California to prevent it from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 voters it alleges may be noncitizens. It first gave state and Los Angeles County election officials 48 hours to review a list of names.
California officials say the request lacks evidence or legal basis. A DOJ spokesperson says noncitizen voting is a federal crime and the department only wants California to ensure it is not happening.
The legal question: Election-law experts say the request could conflict with a federal ban on systematic voter-roll removals within 90 days of an election. DOJ says it seeks to set ballots aside, not purge registrations.
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab documented attacks they call ‘AdFection,’ which can infect devices through online ads without a click.
Researchers say Israeli ad agency Discover-Tech ran a platform called Controlium that let bad actors bid on ad space. A “zero-click” exploit was delivered the moment an ad loaded, even silently in the background.
The fallout: Researchers tied the attacks to Candiru, a spyware firm blacklisted by the U.S. government, and at least 45 Al Jazeera devices were targeted. Google and Beeswax cut off Discover-Tech’s access to their ad systems. The targets appear to be mostly governments and other high-profile groups.
:📈
Today’s Poll:Ad AnxietyCitizen Lab researchers say a surge of “AdFection” attacks can infect phones with spyware through ads, with no click needed. They say the targets appear to be governments and high-profile groups, and Google and other ad giants have removed the platform behind it.
How concerned are you about spyware spreading through online ads?
Six current or former inmates of the DC Central Detention Facility have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the District of Columbia. They say the jail knowingly and repeatedly served food containing mice and insects, and that guards dismissed their complaints.
The DC Department of Corrections says it takes food quality seriously and runs a pest management program. A 2025 DC auditor report described inmates and staff reporting bugs and rodents in food.
The accounts: Inmate Kevin Condray reportedly found a dead baby mouse in his rice and beans and was told by a guard to flush it. Plaintiff Mustafa Wright says he bit into a cockroach, then a bug a week later.
Here’s another round-up of feel-good news to wrap up our week:
Twiggy the giraffe, rescued in Kenya as a week-old calf hiding in a herd of zebras,
strolled back to her old sanctuaryfor a surprise day with her former keepers! Some bonds are just built different. 🦒💛New Zealand’s wētāpunga, a giant insect that can weigh as much as a mouse,
is officially on the reboundafter a 15-year program moved 11,000 of them to predator-free islands and mainland reserves! Big bug, bigger comeback. 🦗🎉Off California's Monterey Bay, about 20,000 octopuses gather around warm underwater springs in what's being called the
world's largest octopus nursery! The heat speeds up egg brooding to about 1.8 years, instead of the many years usual in the deep sea. 🐙💛
🐾 Animals: Cats have a special scent organ in the roof of their mouths called the vomeronasal organ. Sometimes that weird open-mouth face is just them running a smell investigation.
🪀 Toys: The yo-yo is among the world's oldest toys, with historical examples dating back to ancient Greece. People have been entertaining themselves with string for centuries.
🍉 Food: Watermelons are made up of roughly 92% water. It's a beverage pretending to be a fruit.
🤯 WTF: Snails can have thousands of tiny teeth arranged on a tongue-like structure called a radula. And here you were thinking their biggest threat was stepping on them.
TODAY’S QUIZ ANSWER:
Ether anesthesia
On October 16, 1846, William T. G. Morton showed that ether could keep a patient insensible to pain during surgery, in an operating theater at Massachusetts General Hospital. The room is now known as the Ether Dome. It’s considered one of the most significant moments in the history of medicine, and the date is still marked each year as World Anesthesia Day, also called Ether Day.
Did you take ** today’s poll**?
Looking for more specific details on each story? ** Click here** for the full show notes for yesterday’s PDS episode.
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