“Adult TikTok users in the U.S. use the platform to follow pop culture and entertainment accounts much more than news and politics. A new Pew Research Center analysis of the accounts Americans follow on TikTok highlights the centrality of internet-native content creators, prominent influencers and traditional celebrities on the popular short-form video platform. It also… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
The White House launches Reddit account
The Biden-Harris Administration has launched a Reddit account to provide accurate info on Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The White House will combat misinformation and share updates on federal response, recovery, and preparedness efforts across key sub-Reddits. TechCrunch: “On Tuesday, a White House official announced that the Biden-Harris administration has launched a White House account on… Continue Reading
First-of-its-kind dataset connects greenhouse gases and air quality
NOAA Research: “The GReenhouse gas And Air Pollutants Emissions System (GRA²PES), from NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), combines information on greenhouse gas and air quality pollutant sources into a single national database, offering innovative interactive map displays and new benefits for both climate and public health solutions. A new U.S.-based… Continue Reading
Milton Is the Hurricane That Scientists Were Dreading
The Atlantic [unpaywalled]: “In a way, Milton is exactly the type of storm that scientists have been warning could happen; Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in California, called it shocking but not surprising. “One of the things we know is that, in a warmer world, the most intense storms are… Continue Reading
Report Examining Failures of Supplemental Background Investigation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, today released a report detailing disturbing shortcomings in the supplemental background investigation conducted after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged during the 2018 confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Whitehouse’s report is the culmination of a six-year-long investigation hindered by… Continue Reading
Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs
“Today, Pregnancy Justice, an organization dedicated to defending pregnant people’s rights, released its latest report, Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs. The report documents that in the first year after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, at least 210 pregnant people faced criminal charges for conduct associated with pregnancy, abortion, pregnancy loss, or birth. The report… Continue Reading
Smart TVs are like “a digital Trojan Horse” in people’s homes
Ars Technica: “The companies behind the streaming industry, including smart TV and streaming stick manufacturers and streaming service providers, have developed a “surveillance system” that has “long undermined privacy and consumer protection,” according to a report from the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) published today and sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unprecedented tracking… Continue Reading
Interactive Media Bias Chart
“We generate overall news source scores based on scores of individual articles (in the case of online news sources) or episodes (in the cases of podcasts, radio, TV, and video-based sources). Our current team of over 60 analysts, who are trained in our content analysis methodology, perform the ratings. Our analysts go through an initial… Continue Reading
Google is testing verified checkmarks in search
The Verge: Google is experimenting with a new verification feature in search that should make it easier for users to avoid clicking on fake or fraudulent website links. Some people are seeing blue verified checkmarks beside business links in Google search results that indicate the company — like Meta or Apple — is genuine, and… Continue Reading
What We Know About Covid’s Impact on Your Brain
Bloomberg [unpaywalled] – Scientists are worried that persisting cognitive issues may signal a coming surge of dementia and other mental conditions – “Many of Covid’s earliest and most alarming effects involve the brain, including a lost sense of smell, sluggish thinking, headaches, delirium and strokes. More than four years after the pandemic began, researchers are… Continue Reading
How to Spot a Bad Prime Day Deal
Gizmodo: “We are all better off being more savvy consumers. When Amazon’s big shopping holiday, Prime Day, rolls around—now twice a year—we’re doubly incentivized to not fall for any bad deals. Prime Day is routinely subsumed with dishonest sales exacerbated thanks to a heavy dose of FOMO, or “fear of missing out.” Getting an honest… Continue Reading
Stunning photos of a vast e-waste dumping ground and those who make a living off it
NPR – “…For years, a site called Agbogbloshie in Accra was one of the largest e-waste processing sites in Africa, getting 15,000 tons of discarded phones, computers and other used electronics each year. Many Western media outlets depicted the site as a public health and environmental tragedy, rife with toxic chemicals that leach into the… Continue Reading
