There are too many men in the world. Or not enough women. Either way, men now outnumber women by a huge margin in the world's most populous countries; creating an imbalance never before seen in human history (although, many of the parties I got invited to in college came pretty close). An interactive piece from WaPo: Too Many Men. "A combination of cultural preferences, government decree and modern medical technology in the world's two largest countries has created a gender imbalance on a continental scale. Men outnumber women by 70 million in China and India. The consequences of having too many men, now coming of age, are far-reaching."

Out in the Bay Area, we're pretty sure we can use technology and design to outsmart just about anything. But can we outsmart earthquakes? That, it seems, is the bet we're making in San Francisco where our skyline is increasingly filled with massive skyscrapers that we never would have considered building just a couple decades ago. Have we really learned that much? It's a question I ask myself every time I drive to my office. It's also a question the NYT investigated. And their investigation isn't making me feel much better: "Experts are sending this message: The building code does not protect cities from earthquakes nearly as much as you might think." San Francisco's Big Seismic Gamble.

North Korea has always said that the departure of American troops from its border would be a key demand in any negotiations. But in a pretty sudden reversal, Kim Jong Un is reported to have dropped that demand. The Guardian: "North Korea has expressed a desire for the 'complete denuclearization' of the Korean peninsula without attaching preconditions such as the withdrawal of US troops.

+ The US has made a tactical switch as well, marked by Mike Pompeo's secret visit to North Korea. From maximum pressure to maximum engagement.

"You can't flip on someone unless you've got something to offer prosecutors. Usually, the defenders of suspects in prosecutors' cross-hairs loudly proclaim their innocence, and insist that the investigation will ultimately vindicate them. But Trump's chorus is singing from a different hymnal." As insiders and pundits debate whether or not Michael Cohen or other Mueller targets will flip on Trump, The Atlantic's David Graham asks a pretty good question: Why Do Trump's Defenders Assume He's Guilty?

+ Trump prides himself as staying on the offensive. So maybe it shouldn't surprise us that, when backed into a legal corner, he's turning to a prosecutor. Rudy Giuliani is now joining Trump's legal team. (One assumes Rudy will be replaced as soon as Hannity passes the bar...)

+ And Rudy's not the only New Yorker looking to make a mark on what is evolving into one of the biggest legal fights in presidential history. From the NYT: "Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York is moving to change New York state law so that he and other local prosecutors would have the power to bring criminal charges against aides to President Trump who have been pardoned."

"An average person may shed upward of 50 million skin cells a day. Attorney Erin Murphy, author of Inside the Cell, a book about forensic DNA, has calculated that in two minutes the average person sheds enough skin cells to cover a football field. We also spew saliva, which is packed with DNA. If we stand still and talk for 30 seconds, our DNA may be found more than a yard away. With a forceful sneeze, it might land on a nearby wall." It turns out that we leave a lot of DNA in a lot of places, and once we leave it there, it's doesn't stay put. Which is really bad news if your DNA ends up, say, on a murdered man's fingernails. The Marshall Project with some background on the science and the story of the man who was framed for murder by his own DNA.

WaPo chimes in on the the electric scooters, that seemingly overnight, lined the sidewalks of several major cities. Electric scooters might revolutionize urban transport — if it wasn't for stupid humans. "We've been riding motorized scooters around San Francisco to get a handle on all the fuss. What makes these upright rides different from children's toys is their motors. They zip as fast as 15 mph, which can make getting around five times faster than walking — but also a hair-raising test of balance. You do, undoubtedly, look goofy riding one." (I used to ride on of these during the first internet boom. I'm always ahead of the curve, even when it comes to looking like an idiot...)

+ "One current employee, who largely approves of the new leadership, said he also misses the adrenaline rush that came with working under Kalanick. At Khosrowshahi's Uber, people go home for dinner." CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is a champion of everything Uber once rejected: caution, discipline, and tact. The always great Jessi Hempel wonders whether he can help Uber recover from the Travis Kalanick era (while maintaining the amazing growth associated with that era).

Cory Booker has been pushing for the legalization of marijuana for a long time. Last week we learned that former Speaker John Boehner went from being adamantly opposed to pot legalization to being on the advisory board of one of the largest cannabis corporations in the country. And now, Chuck Schumer says he plans to introduce a weed legalization bill. It seems to me that this is all happening faster than expected (and it's already 4/20 in the time zone where I'm writing this).

"Nobody thinks Facebook, YouTube, and the like are going away. But now, it's becoming clear that they can't replace the whole internet either, as once seemed their destiny — and, indeed, that no executive in their right mind would want to swallow it whole. And so for the first time in years, there are viable new social networks being born on the margins, and the great questions have to do with what comes next." Buzzfeed's Ben Smith: What Comes After The Social Media Empires. (Something even more addictive that ultimately makes us feel even worse? Just a guess.)

+ For my son and all his friends, video games are the new social networks, and one in particular - Fortnite - has a lot of them relating to the kid in this story: Gamer Teen Unfazed by Tornado That Blew Roof Off Neighbor's House. (I showed this article to my son and he thought the kid quit the game a bit too soon...)

Pasta is Good For You. That headline might seem too good to be true. And yet, headlines with that basic gist went viral across several news sites recently. If you've been paying any attention to who is behind these kinds of studies, then the latter half of this headline won't surprise you in the least. Pasta Is Good For You, Say Scientists Funded By Big Pasta.

He "dominates fan attention, preys on smaller competitors, and colludes with other superstars for his own gain. Regulators must break up this monopoly while they still can." The Ringer: Drake Is Too Big to Fail.

+ "Both Zagat and Consumer Reports surveys have found that excessive noise is the top complaint diners have, ahead of service, crowds, or even food issues." Julia Belluz: Why restaurants became so loud -- and how to fight back.

+ "According to a recent study, it takes 90 hours to make a new friend.

+ Reminder: NextDraft will be off on Friday as I head home from Tel Aviv. Back at you on Monday.