I love any piece by ArsTechnica, they have tech content as well as history and nature. The articles are usually very good!
Quanta Magazine is a great source as well!
I kind of like also The Guardian for more general news about the world
Also, I try not to read too much online. Like you say, so much is junk.
And I limit news. There's a real negative cognitive and emotional impact from reading so much depressing stuff about which you can do so little.
I also like The Economist, but I prefer to read it on paper.
There are tons
The nyt has stories that are just beyond
When you think of the amount of resources they need to pour into a single feature story not even a story story
Its beyond
Then you realize well at least they're using some of that bajillions in subscriber revenue to get real stories
You still have to wade past dumbass Paul krugman and their nazi writers
But thats the cost of finding the good stuff unfortunately
You could prob filter out the nazis/opinions if you made an effort
https://www.litterboxcomics.com/
etc...
I get most of 'em on instagram and find lots of new ones too.