The Atlantic via MSN – “No corporation looms as large over the American economy as Walmart. It is both the country’s biggest private employer, known for low pay, and its biggest retailer, known for low prices. In that sense, its dominance represents the triumph of an idea that has guided much of American policy making… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Mass Hysteria Over Drones Flying in the Night Sky? It Didn’t Have to Be This Way
EPIC: “Recent nighttime drone sightings in New Jersey and other places have gained national attention because of the mystery that surrounds the drones—Who is flying them? What are the drones doing? Why are the drones appearing now? Numerous theories popped up to fill the void left by the lack of information—from alien invasion to foreign… Continue Reading
Encyclopedia Britannica Is Now an AI Company
Gizmodo: “Once an icon of the 20th century seen as obsolete in the 21st, Encyclopaedia Britannica—now known as just Britannica— is all in on artificial intelligence, and may soon go public at a valuation of nearly $1 billion, according to the New York Times. Until 2012 when printing ended, the company’s books served as the… Continue Reading
8 Signs Your Windows Computer Might Be Infected With Malware
How to Geek – “While Microsoft has strengthened Windows security over the years, cyber threats have also evolved and become more sophisticated. A single misstep can compromise your PC, allowing malware to operate undetected. Here are some telltale signs that your computer may be infected and how to protect it.” Continue Reading
Words of the year: Fritinancy edition
Fritinancy: ” Yes, words, plural. Because when you keep track of interesting new and newly prominent words all year long, as I do, you have a tough time settling on just one word of the year (WOTY). Other deciding bodies are more, well, decisive. Cambridge Dictionaries chose manifest. Collins Dictionary selected brat. (See my post… Continue Reading
The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the US
ProPublica: “It’s not a secret that industrial facilities emit hazardous air pollution. A recent ProPublica analysis shows for the first time just how much toxic air pollution they emit — and how much the chemicals they unleash could be elevating cancer risk in their communities. ProPublica’s analysis of five years of modeled EPA data identified… Continue Reading
You shouldn’t be driving over 100 mph and your car shouldn’t let you
Fast Company – “The traffic signal on North Las Vegas’s North Commerce Street had been red for at least 29 seconds, but the Dodge Challenger did not slow down. Instead, it flew through the intersection with Cheyenne Avenue at 103 mph, almost three times the 35 mph speed limit. Carnage ensued. The crash that occurred… Continue Reading
New law in NJ limits the banning of books in schools and public libraries
WHYY: “When Martha Hickson was the librarian at New Jersey’s North Hunterdon HighSchool, she fought against attempts to ban books that her critics labeled as inappropriate because they contained sexual content, and she became a target of book banners. “I received hate mail, shunning by colleagues, antagonism by administrators, and calls for my firing and… Continue Reading
The 30-Year Mortgage Wasn’t Designed for Climate Chaos
Bloomberg: “…A different kind of perfect storm had hit the Pelleys: volatile weather, a country failing to keep up with rising flood risk and a mortgage industry writing loans without considering the future of the environment around the home. Homeowners in Florida and California have already been trying to reconcile their mortgage duration and dwindling… Continue Reading
Commercial tea bags release millions of microplastics, entering human intestinal cells
Gooya Banaei et al, Teabag-derived micro/nanoplastics (true-to-life MNPLs) as a surrogate for real-life exposure scenarios, Chemosphere (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143736 – “UAB research has characterized in detail how polymer-based commercial tea bags release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused. The study shows for the first time the capacity of these particles to be absorbed by… Continue Reading
Arkansas Law Criminalizing Librarians Ruled Unconstitutional
AP: “A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks found that elements of the law are unconstitutional. “I respect the court’s ruling and will appeal,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim… Continue Reading
The battle over copyright in the age of ChatGPT
Boston Review: “Questions of AI authorship and ownership can be divided into two broad types. One concerns the vast troves of human-authored material fed into AI models as part of their “training” (the process by which their algorithms “learn” from data). The other concerns ownership of what AIs produce. Call these, respectively, the input and… Continue Reading
