Merz JJ, Barnard P, Rees WE, et al. World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot. Science Progress. 2023;106(3). doi:10.1177/00368504231201372 “Previously, anthropogenic ecological overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad symptoms we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Is A.I. the Death of I.P.?
The New Yorker [free to read]: “Intellectual property accounts for some or all of the wealth of at least half of the world’s fifty richest people, and it has been estimated to account for fifty-two per cent of the value of U.S. merchandise exports. I.P. is the new oil. Nations sitting on a lot of… Continue Reading
Why the World Is Betting Against American Democracy
Politico: “When I asked the European ambassador to talk to me about America’s deepening partisan divide, I expected a polite brushoff at best. Foreign diplomats are usually loath to discuss domestic U.S. politics. Instead, the ambassador unloaded for an hour, warning that America’s poisonous politics are hurting its security, its economy, its friends and its… Continue Reading
Bird populations are declining
The Washington Post – Some are in your neighborhood…”We know this because of eBird, the crowdsourced database of bird observations managed by the Cornell Lab. eBird is to older bird databases roughly what Wikipedia is to Encyclopaedia Britannica — instead of depending on the observations of a relatively small group of trusted experts, eBird uses… Continue Reading
Gorsuch urged to recuse himself from supreme court case over ties to oil baron
The Guardian: “Philip Anschutz has hosted rightwing justice at resort and stands to benefit if court strips power from federal regulatory agencies. Two days before oral arguments in a US supreme court case set to have a major impact on federal health and environmental regulation, a leading government watchdog called on Neil Gorsuch to recuse… Continue Reading
Big Tech Won’t Let You Leave. Here’s a Way Out
Wired [read free]: “The platform is the canonical form of internet business: a two-sided market that facilitates connections between end-users and business customers. Uber connects drivers with riders; Amazon and eBay connect sellers with buyers; TikTok and YouTube connect performers with audiences; social media connects people with something to say with people who want to… Continue Reading
How one artist feels about her work being scraped for AI.
The Verge: “How one artist feels about her work being scraped for AI. Dorothy Gambrell of Cat and Girl (IYKYK) has made a comic about being named as one of the artists used to train Midjourney. Gambrell refers to herself as “small-time” and her discussion of her ambitions may clarify why a lot of creators… Continue Reading
ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot
TechCrunch: “ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies for more wide-ranging needs. And that growth has propelled OpenAI itself into… Continue Reading
How To Use Your Android Phone or iPhone as a Webcam
Gizmodo: “Smartphones can take on the roles of many other gadgets—cameras, calculators, e-readers, dictaphones, and all the rest—and they can also do double duty as webcams. In fact, this functionality is now built into both Android and iOS, so it’s easier than ever to use a phone as a webcam when it’s connected to your… Continue Reading
Macaulay Library’s Best Bird Photos 2024
The Cornell Lab – All About Birds: “There are more than 50 million photos in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library archive. Here are some of the best from the past year. From the Winter 2024 issue of Living Bird magazine. If you like this photo essay, you’ll also enjoy last year’s Best of… Continue Reading
Pro-China YouTube Network Used AI to Malign US Report Finds
The New York Times: [read free] “…Content from at least 30 channels in the network drew nearly 120 million views and 730,000 subscribers since last year, along with occasional ads from Western companies, the report found. Some of the videos featured titles and scripts that seemed to be direct translations of common Chinese phrases and… Continue Reading
Tips to help you look better in photos
Washington Post [read free]: “We spend our entire lives looking at our own faces. Cameras, meanwhile, have mere moments to capture them. And because cameras can’t “see” the world the way human eyes can, is it any surprise they can reproduce our image in ways that don’t always feel right? Photography has fueled our shared… Continue Reading
