Today’s three

The most advanced civilizations might be the hardest to see.

Kurzgesagt · Watch 14 min

• Kardashev ranks a civilization by the energy it commands. Barrow ranks it by how small a thing it can control.
• Control DNA, then atoms, then nuclei, and most resource-hunting expansion becomes unnecessary.
• If that holds, a very old civilization could look like nothing at all.

The familiar picture is big: Dyson spheres, starships, a galactic empire. Kurzgesagt argues progress may run the other way, deeper into matter rather than out across space.

A civilization that can rearrange atoms can recycle almost anything, and one that can steer nuclear fusion in a lake has energy for millions of years. At that point there is little reason to pave a galaxy.

Raw salmon is a label question: GB 10136 and 可生食, or cook it.

Bilibili · Watch 4 min

• GB 2733 is for fresh and frozen fish meant to be cooked. It sets no parasite limit.
• GB 10136, with a ready-to-eat or raw label, is the standard built for sashimi.
• Wasabi and soy sauce do not kill parasites. Thorough cooking or a proper deep freeze does.

This month’s Sam’s Club dispute is the live case. The pack said to heat before eating, while the sashimi fridge and a staff member said raw was fine.

On 8 September Sam’s said it tests to a raw-eating standard internally, but still recommends cooking. The label is the part you can check yourself.

US–Iran talks may restart this week, with Qatar in the middle.

每日经济新闻 · Read 3 min

• Qatar’s mediator is expected to meet Iran’s foreign minister, Araghchi, and US representatives in New York on 28 or 29 September.
• Iran’s 7-day plan: end hostilities, unfreeze assets, lift oil sanctions and the port blockade. In return, Hormuz reopens within 7 days and nuclear talks resume.
• Trump rejected the plan on 26 September, then said on 27 September he expects talks this week.

Araghchi stayed in New York after the UN General Assembly. It is not yet clear who will speak for the US.

The swing from rejection to expected talks inside a day is the signal to watch. The terms have not changed; the willingness to sit down has.

Glance

An Iranian missile strike in Hormuz on 14 September injured 8 US Marines. It surfaced only on 27 September.

• Seven enlisted and one officer, hurt by smoke and with concussion-like symptoms. All returned to duty.
• They were not on a US ship. Officials gave no further detail.
• The Pentagon referred questions to Central Command, which declined to comment.

The holiday went north for autumn colour: “autumn route” searches up 170% in a week.

• County-town hotel check-ins in Zhejiang, Anhui, Guizhou and Hunan were more than 5× last year on day one.
• Flight bookings to Altay, Xilinhot, Nyingchi and Dali doubled on the first day of Mid-Autumn.
• Heilongjiang packaged more than 100 autumn routes. Self-drive gear sold 80% more week on week.