SONG: Alone
SONG: “Alone”. (OGG version here.) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on “What Killed the Neanderthals? A Lack of Social Connection May Have Played A Big Role […]
sociology
Neanderthals died out from something like loneliness
Or maybe “loner-ism.” IFL Science reports on new research showing that what might have led to the demise of Neanderthals as a distinct kind of […]
Pink Power Ranger hacker breaks white power websites.
CyberNews reports on Martha Root, a pseudonymous hacker who single-handedly infiltrated and shut down a series of websites dedicated to white power: The leak affects […]
The temple as refuge … for endangered species.
Nature reports on a study from China that found thousands of endangered trees growing on the grounds of religious monuments across the country: It is […]
TechDirt is a democracy blog.
Have I cited TechDirt here before? I’m pretty sure I have. Anyway, in a sign of the weird times today, they’ve just come out and […]
How do you explain that your kid’s robot friend is dying?
Alas, poor Moxie. Aftermath is making me hope a lot of parents have found copies of The 10th Good Thing About Barney – because thanks […]
Social media makes you weird.
Or at least, to be a little closer to what this Current Opinion in Psychology study is really saying, social media creates a false sense […]
Hurricanes are way deadlier than you might expect.
Heatmap reports on a study looking at the “long tail” of excess deaths in the wake of major hurricanes, and found that major storms are […]
Say it to me deeply.
Science Daily reports on research into the psychological effects of the pitch of people’s voices. It’s fairly well known that people find men’s voices more […]
SETI talked for 20 minutes with a whale.
Mashable has an alien communication story with an aquatic twist. SETI and the Alaska Whale Foundation practiced for first contact by spending 20 minutes “conversing” […]
SONG: FAQs
SONG: “FAQs”. (available as .wav here) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on Popular Science, 14 Aug 2023, “School district uses ChatGPT to help remove library books,” […]
Wanna watch the watchers?
The Markup is making an offer to anyone with a Facebook account – even an inactive one. Previously, they mapped out how the Meta Pixel […]
U.S. Marshals use Twitter partner to scope out abortion-rights protestors.
The Intercept has found that Dataminr, an “official partner” of Twitter, has been collecting information on abortion protests for federal law enforcement by paying close […]
China makes first ChatGPT arrest – for manufacturing fake news.
Vice‘s Motherboard covers what is probably the first-ever AI-related arrest, by Chinese officials who accuse a man of using the software to mass-produce fake news: […]
Americans die young – and are dying younger than ever, compared to the rest of the world.
NPR looks at a subtle, slow-motion health crisis facing America. Compared to every other industrialized nation, across every age group, Americans die younger … and […]