Links for you. Science:
A new discovery about carbon dioxide is challenging decades-old ventilation doctrine
With bird flu infecting dairy cattle, FDA asks some states to curb sales of raw milk
This word was rejected by geologists. But it’s already taken over the world. A panel of scientists rejected the term “Anthropocene” to describe a period in which humans have profoundly impacted the environment — but others keep using it.
Dairy cattle test positive for bird flu in Minnesota, Iowa and Wyoming for first time
Clinical and Functional Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Sequelae Among Young Marines
There’s a Hidden Water Cycle in The Amazon We Barely Know Anything About
Other:
A new article by Zeynep claims that scientists lost the public’s trust, enabling covid conspiracy theories to form. I think it’s a bad take, and it’s mostly missing the story.
Freedom’s Just Another Word for Not Paying Taxes (gift link)
Is Donald Trump okay? His story about hypothetically being electrocuted is another glimpse into a mind that is unwell. (gift link)
Business owners are buying into a dumb myth about driving. NYC’s very good plan to fix traffic fell victim to a very bad argument
There’s a Reason Trump Has Friends in High Places (gift link)
The Cars Always Win: New York’s stalled congestion-pricing plan was a rare chance to try something different in American transportation.
Cognitive Decline? Trump Short-Circuits During Bonkers Rant
The U.N. Security Council endorses U.S. cease-fire plan to end the war in Gaza
NYC protesters wave terror group flags, call for intifada outside Nova massacre exhibit (really showing their asses on this)
Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas. Yahya Sinwar’s correspondence with compatriots and mediators shows he is confident that Hamas can outlast Israel (gift link)
Godliness
Why Dining Rooms Are Disappearing From American Homes
In Trump’s orbit, some muse about mandatory military service (convicted felon President Bone Spurs sez wut?)
Researchers Say There’s a Vulgar But More Accurate Term for AI Hallucinations
Apple just unveiled the first rational theory of AI for the masses
Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Is ‘Big Government’ Gone Mad
Trump telegraphs plans to neuter Congress, this time by seizing spending
The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Exclusive Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined
“False gospel”: The new GOP attack on Dolly Parton is a tactic borrowed from the Christian right. Fundamentalists disparage mainstream culture as “demonic” — Republicans just substitute the word “woke” (this is also what cults do)
Six big ideas to improve Metro and regional transit
The race to get ahead one of the deadliest natural disasters
The DC Council should insist on a true multi-modal design for Connecticut Avenue, or defund the project
Martha-Ann Alito Condemns Pride Flags, the Left, and the Media
What If America’s Business Bigwigs Aren’t That Bright? As they turn to Donald Trump, we have to ask.
The CFPB is genuinely making America better, and they’re going HARD. Fighting corporate crime with both fists and 7–2 SCOTUS backing.
Once a Convict: Trump has crossed a great divide in society.
mikethemadbiologist
For the record, as someone who passed the quals in AI grad school, albeit a long time ago, the article “… Vulgar but More Accurate Word…” is exactly correct. It’s a technically correct description of what the underlying technology does: generate _similar text_ to texts it has read using statistical means. There are no mechanisms for dealing with meaning, for reasoning, or for understanding the relation of any text (input or output) to the real world. There just isn’t. It’s exactly and only a statistical word-frequency game.
That is, the underlying LLM technology is deeply and unrepairably stupid.
I watched a math channel YouTube video on GPT-2 or so years ago, and couldn’t believe that anyone could possibly find that stupid and hopeless an idea even slightly interesting. But here we are. Sheesh.