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Daily Archives: October 10, 2019

News from the Law Library of Congress Chatbot

In Custodia Legis – “Have you tried the Law Library of Congress Chatbot lately? The chatbot provides answers to frequently asked legal reference questions through Facebook Messenger. You can interact with it by clicking through a series of menu options or you can type in a natural language question. The chatbot debuted in October 2017, and since that time we have been able to learn from user interactions with the chatbot and make revisions to improve the user experience. For example, the chatbot’s natural language abilities have substantially improved since its debut. When the chatbot was released, slight variations from questions the chatbot anticipated, such as deviations in sentence structure, would likely cause the chatbot to return the default response. With the benefit of additional development time, the chatbot’s vocabulary is much more robust and can accommodate variations in sentence structure. Give it a try and let us know what you think. If you would like to try your hand at building your own chatbot, click here for more information…”

Two-thirds of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise

Auduban – Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink: “If we take action now, we can improve the chances for hundreds of bird species. By stabilizing carbon emissions and holding warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, 76 percent of vulnerable species will be better off, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to… Continue Reading

The house hippos are back!

Media Smarts – “Twenty years ago, some tiny hippos got a lot of attention from Canadians, and got us talking about the fine line between what is fact and what is fiction.  In today’s digital world, critical thinking is more important than ever.  Here you’ll find a variety of resources to help you figure out what’s… Continue Reading

The Most Detailed Map of Auto Emissions in America

The New York Times – See driving-related emissions in your metro area, road by road – “These findings come from a New York Times analysis of new data released through Boston University’s Database of Road Transportation Emissions. The database provides the most detailed estimates available of local on-road CO2 over the past three decades. The… Continue Reading