Coming soon: Techies.
Coming soon: Techies. NASA

Do our future space colonizers have a future up on the red planet? Scientists have discovered "a tremendous amount of water" underneath the northern polar ice cap on Mars, reports Gizmodo. This water reservoir is now believed to be the third-largest reservoir on the planet. The reservoir, if somehow melted and brought to the surface, is believed to be able to "submerge the entire planet." I've never wanted to go to Mars, but as we discover more water out there I'm beginning to think the technocratic space race isn't the craziest idea. I'd show Jeff Bezos my red planet.

The four Washington state "faithless electors" who didn't cast their Electoral College votes for Hillary Clinton can still be fined $1000: The Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the electors, who signed a pledge to vote for Clinton, can still be fined for defying the popular vote. The four voters were the first to go rogue in Washington state since 1976, reports the Seattle Times. Three of them voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one of them voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, an activist fighting the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Dionne Warwick says Beyoncé hasn't reached "iconic status" yet: At least that's what everyone says at her retirement home.

I know you want more terrifying flood videos: This is the best visual ASMR since Orbeez.

More disaster porn: These are coming from former Slog PM grunt Nathalie Graham—we share a desk. Cute, right? She loves disaster and ruin.

Should light rail to West Seattle and Ballard be underground? That's what some residents want, but it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially delay construction. When the ST3 package was approved by voters in 2016, underground tunnels were not part of that deal. The Sound Transit Board is currently debating whether or not to move forward with an environmental study of these country tunnels. And also, you know, who's going to pay for them. The debate is ongoing:


Diabetics, go west: Well, if you live east of Colorado. Today, the state became the first in the nation to cap the price of insulin. People with diabetes won't pay more than $100 per month for insulin starting in January, thanks to a bill that was just signed into law by Colorado's Gov. Jared Polis. It's a win for people with diabetes, but insurance companies will still be paying the full price. The law doesn't restrict how much insulin manufacturers can charge insurers.

Jay Inslee finally did a good tweet:

The Boeing 737 Max may soon be approved to fly again: The timeline isn't totally clear, but the FAA announced today that the agency may allow the death plane to fly as soon as the end of June. Other countries seem less willing to lift the ban. I'd like to use this space to point out that I flew a 737 Max 8 the same day the plane crashed in Ethiopia. The plane is actually very nice and much more comfortable than regular airliners, except for the sudden and unexpected vertical crashes that kill everyone on board. I'd like a t-shirt that says "I Survived the 737 Max," but I understand that maybe that's insensitive to those who did not.

Jayapal is on Team ITMFA: U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (MY REP) has called for the House of Representatives to initiate an impeachment inquiry of the motherfucker-in-chief. The rest of the Democratic congressional delegation didn't agree—at least not publicly. U.S. Rep. Adam Smith came close to agreeing with Jayapal, telling the Seattle Times's David Gutman, "We need to prepare to begin impeachment proceedings, but we are still conducting our full investigation." Look, we've been on Team ITMFA since November 8, 2016.

Happy birthday to Seattle's best:

Ken Jennings, for those who aren't familiar or don't really care (me), won 74 consecutive games of Jeopardy!. But he has a challenger...

James Holzhauer is now the game's 26-day reigning champ: He squeaked by with only $5,400 separating him from his challenger today. Holzhauer, who made news when he earned the highest single-game payout in Jeopardy! history in April, has some people thinking he's going to beat Jennings's record. Here's how Holzhauer ranks with other competitors, via Vulture as of yesterday:

Total Regular-Game Earnings
1. Ken Jennings: $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer: $1,939,027
3. David Madden: $430,400
4. Julia Collins: $428,100
5. Matt Jackson: $411,612

Single-Game Winnings
1. James Holzhauer: $131,127 (April 17, 2019)
2. James Holzhauer: $118,816 (April 23, 2019)
3. James Holzhauer: $110,914 (April 9, 2019)
4. James Holzhauer: $106,181 (April 16, 2019)
5. James Holzhauer: $101,682 (May 1, 2019)

Consecutive Games Won
1. Ken Jennings: 74 games
2. James Holzhauer: 25 games*
3. Julia Collins: 20 games
4. David Madden: 19 games
5. Matt Jackson: 13 games

All-Time Winnings, Including Tournaments
1. Brad Rutter: $4,688,440
2. Ken Jennings: $3,370,700
3. James Holzhauer: $1,939,027*
4. David Madden: $773,733
5. Larissa Kelly: $660,930

*Not including today's game

Some nice reading for your evening: "After sex on the damp sheets, we passed out"—the worst moments from Moby’s memoir

Want to reach the summit of Mount Everest? Get in line! Literally: