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Daily Archives: January 7, 2019

National parks report on climate change finally released, uncensored

Reveal – Elizabeth Shogren: “Backing away from attempts at censorship, the National Park Service today released a report charting the risks to national parks from sea level rise and storms. Drafts of the report obtained earlier this year by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting showed park service officials had deleted every mention of humans causing climate change. But the long-delayed report, published today without fanfare on the agency’s website, restored those references. The scientific report is designed to help 118 coastal parks plan for protecting natural resources and historic treasures from the changing climate. Maria Caffrey, the study’s lead scientist, said she was “extremely happy” that it was released intact. “The fight probably destroyed my career with the (National Park Service), but it will be worth it if we can uphold the truth and ensure that scientific integrity of other scientists won’t be challenged so easily in the future,” said Caffrey, a University of Colorado research assistant who had worked on the report for five years….”

Also via Reveal – Elizabeth Shogren’s podcast, Silencing Science: “President Donald Trump says he doubts humans have much of a role in climate change. His administration has downplayed the science of climate change and sought to silence scientists working for the federal government. In this hour, Reveal’s Elizabeth Shogren details the pressures one researcher faced as she worked on a project for the National Park Service…” [h/t Mary Whisner]

What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency

The Atlantic – From seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law, President Trump may legally do all kinds of extraordinary things: “…It would be nice to think that America is protected from the worst excesses of Trump’s impulses by its democratic laws and institutions. After all, Trump can do only so much without… Continue Reading

“Choice” Magazine Names “Digital National Security Archive” an Outstanding Academic Title for 2018

“Washington, D.C., January 7, 2019 – Choice Magazine, the publishing arm of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), has named the Digital National Security Archive an “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2018.  The annual award goes to publications deemed especially worthy of attention from academic librarians seeking to build research collections. The Digital National Security Archive… Continue Reading

A new tool can help us determine which conspiracy theories are false and which might be true

London School of Economics US Centre’s daily blog on American Politics and Policy – “Many or even most conspiracy theories are demonstrably false. But some, like Watergate, are true. How can we determine which are which? Drawing on his own experiences with conspiracy theorists, Stephan Lewandowsky writes that conspiratorial thinking is not necessarily truth-seeking behavior, but can… Continue Reading

Financial Technology: Agencies Should Provide Clarification on Lenders’ Use of Alternative Data

Financial Technology: Agencies Should Provide Clarification on Lenders’ Use of Alternative Data, GAO-19-111: Published: Dec 19, 2018. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2018. “Financial technology—or “fintech”—can help connect lenders and borrowers online. Some fintech lenders told us that they use alternative data to help determine borrowers’ creditworthiness. For example, lenders may supplement traditional data (such as… Continue Reading

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

EveryCRSReport.com – Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, December 13, 2018: “The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests… Continue Reading

The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction

EveryCRSReport.com – The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction, December 13, 2018. “The daily order of business on the floor of the House of Representatives is governed by standing rules that make certain matters and actions privileged for consideration. On a day-to-day basis, however, the House usually decides to grant individual bills privileged… Continue Reading

DataCite’s New Search

DataCiteBlog: “Today we are announcing our first new functionality of 2019, a much improved search for DataCite DOIs and metadata. While the DataCite Search user interface has not changed, changes under the hood bring many important improvements and are our biggest changes to search since 2012. Faster Indexing – Newly registered (and tagged findable) DOIs… Continue Reading

Introducing Individual Account Subscription Tiers for Perma

Harvard University’s Perma.cc Blog Post: “For the last year or so, we’ve been working to understand the potential for Perma to help individuals and institutions outside the academic community combat link rot. Two things have become clear through our work. First, link rot is a problem for lots of people, not just scholars. Indeed, link… Continue Reading

Before the Electric Car Takes Over, Someone Needs to Reinvent the Battery

Bloomberg: “Solid-state technology promises to be cheaper and charge faster than anything on the road today. But no one is close to figuring it out. To deliver an electric vehicle that’s cheaper, safer and capable of traveling 500 miles on a single charge, the auto industry needs a breakthrough in battery technology. Easier said than done. Scientists… Continue Reading