Hantavirus, Nazi-Looted Masterpieces, and a 4-Year-Old Pianist

 Need To Know 

Hantavirus at Sea

The MV Hondius remains at sea near Praia as health authorities delay docking the Dutch cruise ship in the Canary Islands for three to four days amid a hantavirus outbreak that has killed three people and sickened at least four others. 

The ship, carrying 88 passengers and 59 crew members, including 17 Americans, departed Argentina April 1 for Antarctica and remote South Atlantic islands. It has stayed at sea for days as authorities coordinate quarantine measures, testing, and medical evacuations. Early findings suggest limited person-to-person transmission—a rare development for hantavirus, which typically spreads through contact with infected rodent droppings or urine (what is hantavirus?). Officials said no rats were reported onboard, raising the possibility that a now-deceased Dutch couple was infected before boarding. Track the ship’s location here. 

Hantavirus can cause severe respiratory illness and is fatal in about 35% of US cases. The Andes strain found in South America can spread between people, though rarely, and carries a mortality rate of roughly 40%. No known treatment exists.

Meta, Data

Meta will begin using AI to analyze users’ bone structure and height as part of what it says is a broader push to help remove users under age 13 from its platforms. Meta announced yesterday that the approach will not involve facial recognition; the tech giant already scans text for signals of a user's age, including mentions of birthdays and school grades.

The announcement comes days after Meta threatened to shut down all platforms in New Mexico after being ordered to pay $375M in civil penalties for endangering children’s mental health and well-being. The state is now asking a judge to order Meta to pay $3.7B, and calling for an end to infinite scroll features and push notifications, among other changes. 

When Australia banned social media use for kids under age 16 in December, Meta says it removed about 550,000 accounts from its platforms. See countries restricting social media for kids here.

Orphan Masterpieces

Paris’ Musée d’Orsay yesterday opened its first-ever gallery dedicated to orphaned artwork recovered from Nazi possession after World War II. 

Roughly 2,200 pieces were retrieved from Germany and Austria, entrusted to French museums, and never claimed. Many are believed to have belonged to Jewish collectors. Adolf Hitler's deputy reportedly visited Paris 21 times, selecting works from their collections. After the Nazi regime collapsed, France recovered roughly 60,000 works, reconnecting about 45,000 with their rightful owners. Last month, the Musée d’Orsay created a team dedicated to finding the heirs of the roughly 225 works still in its possession, all by artists born between 1820 and 1870.

The Musée d’Orsay is displaying 13 works, including those by Edgar Degas (see here) and Pierre-Auguste Renoir (see here). They are hung so that visitors can see the stamps and inventory marks that chronicle their passage from private to Nazi hands.

The high-stakes quest to rescue Nazi-looted art inspired the film "The Monuments Men." Watch the trailer—cowritten and directed by George Clooney—here.

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> "Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" lead Tony nominations with 12 nods each, and June Squibb becomes the oldest nominee at age 96; see full list (More) | The Rolling Stones announce new album, "Foreign Tongues," slated for July 10 release (More) 

> "The Bear" stars reveal surprise hourlong prequel on Hulu ahead of anticipated season five premiere this summer (More) | First "Dutton Ranch" trailer drops ahead of the "Yellowstone" spinoff's May 15 air date (More, w/trailer)

> Doris Fisher, who cofounded The Gap Inc. clothing chain with her husband Don, dies at age 94 (More) | How Gap evolved from a denim-record store mashup to a fashion powerhouse (More)

Science & Technology

> OpenAI releases new default ChatGPT model aimed at reducing hallucinations in law, medicine, finance, and other technical fields (More) | Etsy launches app within ChatGPT to facilitate conversational shopping experience (More)

> Single dose of psilocybin—the psychedelic found in magic mushrooms—may alter brain pathways responsible for emotional regulation; researchers say this could be why people with anxiety and depression report long-lasting benefits (More) 

> Indigenous Andean populations have the world's highest prevalence of a gene tied to starch digestion—likely an adaptation to potato-rich diets—highlighting how diet can shape the human genome (More)  

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow +0.7%, Nasdaq +1.0%), with S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching fresh records (More) 

> Renewable energy firm Panthalassa raises $140M in funding round led by Peter Thiel to deploy floating AI data centers (More) | America's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, lays off 14% of workers, or roughly 700 people (More) 

> Elon Musk to pay $1.5M to settle SEC lawsuit that accused him of failing to properly disclose his Twitter stock purchases in 2022, allegedly allowing him to underpay when he bought the company for $44B later that year (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> Voters in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan turned out for primary elections yesterday, impacting races for the US Congress, state legislatures, and governorships, with Vivek Ramaswamy winning GOP nomination for Ohio governor; see all storylines (More) 

> Ukraine's unilateral ceasefire is set to go into effect tonight; comes after Russia announced a ceasefire later in the week to mark Victory Day parades (More) 

> Republicans propose $1B in security investments for the White House ballroom project (More) | See renderings of the ballroom (More, w/images)

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Historybook: Famed neurologist Sigmund Freud born (1856); Baseball great Willie Mays born (1931); Hindenburg disaster kills 36 (1937); Roger Bannister becomes first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes (1954); Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich dies (1992).