Data is Plural: “The MIT Media Lab’s Alex Berke et al. have compiled “a first-of-its-kind dataset containing detailed purchase histories from 5027 U.S. Amazon.com consumers, spanning 2018 through 2022, with more than 1.8 million purchases […] crowdsourced through an online survey and shared with participants’ informed consent.” The published data include “order date, product code, title, price, quantity, and shipping address state,” and are “linked to survey data with information about participants’ demographics, lifestyle, and health.” The researchers found that a stratified subsample of the data demonstrated “expected seasonal trends and strong relationships to other public datasets.” [h/t Data Science Community Newsletter]
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Daily Archives: May 21, 2024
Five ways criminals are using AI
MIT Technology News: “Artificial intelligence has brought a big boost in productivity—to the criminal underworld. Generative AI provides a new, powerful tool kit that allows malicious actors to work far more efficiently and internationally than ever before, says Vincenzo Ciancaglini, a senior threat researcher at the security company Trend Micro. Most criminals are “not living… Continue Reading
Big Oil Reality Check: Oil and Gas Companies Failing on Climate
“Oil Change International released our Big Oil Reality Check report today in collaboration with over 200 organizations worldwide. The report assesses the climate pledges and plans of eight international oil and gas companies – Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Eni, Equinor, and ConocoPhillips – against 10 criteria representing the bare minimum for aligning with the… Continue Reading
How food affects the mind, as well as the body
The Economist [no paywall]: “…With mental-health disorders rising, a growing number of scientists are investigating how food or nutritional supplements affect the mind. Brains, being the most complex and energy-demanding of the body’s organs, almost certainly have their own specialised, nutritional needs. Welcome, then, to the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry. An adult human brain,… Continue Reading
Pay researchers to spot errors in published papers
Nature – Borrowing the idea of ‘bug bounties’ from the technology industry could provide a systematic way to detect and correct the errors that litter the scientific literature. “In 2023, Google awarded a total of US$10 million to researchers who found vulnerabilities in its products. Why? Because allowing errors to go undetected could be much… Continue Reading
Like to bike? Your knees will thank you and you may live longer, too
NPR: “We are in the middle of National Bike Month, and cycling enthusiasts love to talk up the benefits of their favorite activity. “It’s definitely my longevity drug,” says Brooks Boliek, 65, an avid cyclist of many decades, who used to commute to his office on a bicycle. A substantial body of evidence supports the… Continue Reading
Federal Court Dockets
Data Is Plural: “Journalist Matt Clark has compiled a database of more than 350 million docket entries across more than 13 million cases in 180+ federal courts — including the majority of district, appellate, and bankruptcy courts. The records, which Clark collected through the RSS feeds that many federal courts provide, span 2013 to the… Continue Reading
New Online Dashboard to Track Global Steel and Aluminum Scrap Metal Trade
“The International Trade Administration has unveiled a new supply chain monitor, known as the Global Scrap Monitor, for tracking steel and aluminum scrap trade flows around the world. This online dashboard provides data on global aluminum and steel scrap trade flows from the top importing/exporting markets, allowing domestic industry stakeholders and consumers to better understand… Continue Reading
Six-Chart Sunday – Generation Gaps
Age of Disruption: “Values Gap: Gen Z is less than half as likely as the Baby Boomers to say Patriotism, Belief in God & Having Children are “very important” to them. (Public Opinion Strategies poll for NBC News, recommend their entire deck).” Continue Reading
Amazing Winners of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2024
My Modern Met: “This dreamy winter scene has earned Dieter Damschen the title of GDT Nature Photographer of the Year. The competition is run by the Germany Society for Nature Photographers to highlight the talent of its members. This year, 481 members from 13 countries entered just under 8,000 images. Damschen rose to the top… Continue Reading
