This giant, floating garbage dump has us talking serious trash

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This giant patch of garbage in the Pacific Ocean is why we can't have nice things

What a waste. A collection of plastic, floating trash halfway between Hawaii and California known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has grown to more than 600,000 square miles, according to a study published Thursday. That’s twice the size of Texas. The garbage patch includes 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and weighs the equivalent of 500 jumbo jets. Sadly, it’s the largest of five known trash collections in the ocean. Here's an unsettling fact: Our trash is harming the deepest fish in the ocean.

Trump and Biden go mano a mano (and other news from Washington)

President Trump responded to what he called a threat from Joe Biden by tweeting Thursday that the former vice president is acting like a tough guy. "Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault," Trump wrote. "He doesn't know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don't threaten people Joe!" Biden, who is considering a run against Trump in 2020, was discussing the problem of sexual assault when he cited the infamous 2005 tape of Trump talking about how he grabbed women. "If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him," Biden said to cheers from an audience in Miami.

Moving along …

She wanted a career in movies. Her agent wanted sex.

This is a #mustread USA TODAY investigation: Coming to light with the Me Too movement is that sexual harassment and abuse is rampant in every corner of Hollywood, and not just with powerful men like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. The victims are aspiring actresses, as well as directors and producers. They are screenwriters and camera operators, line editors and publicists. Here are their stories.

Sexual assault in Hollywood: When ‘no’ is not an option Megan Densmore said she faced an impossible choice. Risk her career or give in to her agent’s sexual advances.

We polled 1,000 young people. They are terrified of guns.

The threat of mass shootings is the defining fear for the generation that has grown up in the shadow of Columbine, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds. Nearly one in five respondents, 19%, say they don't feel safe at their school. And more than one in three young people nationwide say they plan to join Saturday's March For Our Lives protests. Just days before the march, Barack and Michelle Obama wrote a letter to students at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School saying they are "inspired" by their resolve after the shooting rampage that killed 17 people last month.

More on Saturday's march ...

March for Our Lives 'isn’t a political rally' More than 1 million people are expected to attend the March for Our Lives in Washington D.C. hoping for changes to gun regulations and school safety.

The Short List is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.