Literary Hub: “…In the author’s estimation, the ceding of material books to the ephemeral gauze of the online posed a threat to our attention, to the ability of immersing ourselves within complex narrative or engaging in the almost-transcendent flow of reading. “Everything in contemporary society discourages interiority,” writes Birkerts. “More and more of our exchanges… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Education
The stunning success of vaccines in America, in one chart
Vox – “Measles, mumps, and polio are supposed to be diseases of the past. In the early to mid-20th century, scientists developed vaccines that effectively eliminated the risk of anyone getting sick or dying from illnesses that had killed millions over millennia of human history. Vaccines, alongside sanitized water and antibiotics, have marked the epoch… Continue Reading
Want to donate to charity? Here are 10 guidelines for giving effectively
Vox: “Giving to charity is great, not just for the recipients but for the givers, too. But it can be intimidating to know how to pick the best charity when there are thousands of worthy causes to choose from, and especially when so many are suffering around the world. Yet that suffering makes it all… Continue Reading
Oculi Mundi
Oculi Mundi is a digital heritage destination: the home of The Sunderland Collection of world maps, celestial maps, atlases, globes and books of knowledge. The project now includes a podcast, What’s your map, which starts with William Dalrymple’s exploration of an 18th century Jain cosmological map. Continue Reading
Z-Library Helps Students to Overcome Academic Poverty, Study Finds
Torrent Freak: “Z-Library is one of the largest shadow libraries on the Internet, hosting millions of books and academic articles that can be downloaded for free. The site defied all odds over the past two years. It continued to operate despite a full-fledged criminal prosecution by the United States, which resulted in the arrest of… Continue Reading
How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world
The Guardian – Carole Cadwalladr – In the wake of Trump’s unnerving appointees, the investigative journalist and veteran of the libel court offers [20] pointers on coping in an age of surveillance… Journalists are first, but everyone else is next. Trump has announced multibillion-dollar lawsuits against “the enemy camp”: newspapers and publishers. His proposed FBI… Continue Reading
Artificial Intelligence and Constitutional Interpretation
Coan, Andrew and Surden, Harry, Artificial Intelligence and Constitutional Interpretation (November 12, 2024). Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 24-30, U of Colorado Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 24-39, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5018779 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5018779 This Article examines the potential use of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in constitutional interpretation. LLMs are extremely… Continue Reading
Curious People Lead the Way in Catching New Invasive Species
Entomology Today [h/t Barclay Walsh]: “Early detection is critical to the eradication and management of invasive species, and curious members of the public play a key role by sharing observations on platforms such as iNaturalist. Integrating these sightings from a bug-curious public into ongoing biosecurity surveillance is an increasingly valuable approach for invasive species management.… Continue Reading
The Death of Search
The Atlantic unpaywalled – AI is transforming how billions navigate the web. A lot will be lost in the process. “…Although ChatGPT and Perplexity and Google AI Overviews cite their sources with (small) footnotes or bars to click on, not clicking on those links is the entire point. OpenAI, in its announcement of its new… Continue Reading
Behold a Digital Restoration of 655 Plates of Roses & Lilies by Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Open Culture – The Greatest Botanical Illustrator of All Time: “Pierre-Joseph Redouté made his name by painting flowers, an achievement impossible without a meticulousness that exceeds all bounds of normality. He published his three-volume collection Les Roses and his eight-volume collection Les Liliacées between 1802 and 1824, and a glance at their pages today vividly suggests the… Continue Reading
20 things you didn’t know about Google Scholar
Google Blog: “To celebrate 20 years of Google Scholar, we’re sharing some fun facts about the go-to resource for researchers worldwide. …some features available on Scholar Review a paper efficiently and effectively with AI outlines. We recently added AI outlines to Scholar PDF Reader to help you read papers both quickly and in depth. PDF… Continue Reading
Americans Are More Likely to Choose News That Supports Their Beliefs
This New Study Reveals Why. [The Debrief]: “A new study published in Communication Research suggests that people often prefer news that aligns with their existing beliefs, a tendency known as “selective exposure.” According to the new research, this habit is particularly noticeable in the United States, where partisan divides and “echo chambers” are becoming more… Continue Reading
