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Mapping France’s ‘Great Fear of 1789’ shows how misinformation spreads like a virus

Mapping France’s ‘Great Fear of 1789’ shows how misinformation spreads like a virus

Phys.org reports: Since the rise of the internet and social media, society has become well-acquainted with the idea of “virality” as the rapid spread of ideas and information (or misinformation). The relatively recent COVID-19 pandemic also reminded modern society of how rapidly viruses spread and how they impact society. As it turns out, the idea of information spreading like a virus is not just an apt metaphor—information virality can also be scientifically modeled in the same way as an actual…

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America is no longer a functioning democracy

America is no longer a functioning democracy

Don Moynihan writes: There is so much happening that occasionally pausing to take stock is necessary. So where are we? In deep trouble. America may not be fully authoritarian, but by no means can we consider it to be a functioning democracy. There will be no announcement, no headline saying “America Not A Democracy.” But if you are willing to look clear-eyed at the cumulative evidence, the inescapable conclusion is that our deeply held beliefs about American democracy no longer…

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Why bargaining with authoritarians fails

Why bargaining with authoritarians fails

Daniel Ziblatt writes: On March 23, 1933, inside a dimly lit chamber filled with the stale scent of cigar smoke, Ludwig Kaas tried to convince himself he was making the right decision. A Catholic priest and the leader of Germany’s establishment Center Party, he stood at a crossroads. For several years, his party had sought to block Adolf Hitler’s rise. But in 1932, Hitler’s National Socialists (Nazis) became the largest force in parliament, and in January 1933, Hitler became chancellor….

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AI companies stand to profit from denying care to patients on Medicare

AI companies stand to profit from denying care to patients on Medicare

The New York Times reports: Like millions of older adults, Frances L. Ayres faced a choice when picking health insurance: Pay more for traditional Medicare, or opt for a plan offered by a private insurer and risk drawn-out fights over coverage. Private insurers often require a cumbersome review process that frequently results in the denial or delay of essential treatments that are readily covered by traditional Medicare. This practice, known as prior authorization, has drawn public scrutiny, which intensified after…

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How AI is undermining education

How AI is undermining education

Clay Shirky writes: I remember the moment I knew my approach to student use of artificial intelligence was not working. Early in a meeting at N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi campus last fall, a philosophy professor, arms crossed over his chest, told me he’d tried one of the strategies my office had suggested — talking with his students about the ways A.I. could interfere with their learning — and it hadn’t worked. His students had listened politely, then several of them had…

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Scientists are flocking to Bluesky

Scientists are flocking to Bluesky

Wired reports: Marine biologist and conservationist David Shiffman was an early power user and evangelist for science engagement on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Over the years, he trained more than 2,000 early career scientists on how to best use the platform for professional goals: networking with colleagues, sharing new scientific papers, and communicating with interested members of the public. But when Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, renaming it X, changes to both the platform’s algorithm…

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The sudden surges that forge evolutionary trees

The sudden surges that forge evolutionary trees

Jake Buehler writes: Over the last half-billion years, squid, octopuses and their kin have evolved much like a fireworks display, with long, anticipatory pauses interspersed with intense, explosive changes. The many-armed diversity of cephalopods is the result of the evolutionary rubber hitting the road right after lineages split into new species, and precious little of their evolution has been the slow accumulation of gradual change. They aren’t alone. Sudden accelerations spring from the crooks of branches in evolutionary trees, across…

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National Guard in DC go from dealing with ‘crime emergency’ to picking up trash

National Guard in DC go from dealing with ‘crime emergency’ to picking up trash

The Independent reports: The National Guard, called in to deal with a “crime emergency” in DC declared by Donald Trump, have been spotted picking up trash. Troops were seen donning yellow marigolds and orange high-visibility vests over their camouflage gear Tuesday as they picked up litter in Lafayette Park, just outside the White House. According to officials, the military was deployed as part of a “beautification and restoration mission” in Lafayette Square, the National Mall, and the Tidal Basin. At…

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Grand juries are repeatedly pushing back against dubious indictments

Grand juries are repeatedly pushing back against dubious indictments

The New York Times reports: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday were unable to secure a felony assault indictment against a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of Washington this month, according to two people familiar with the matter. The remarkable failure by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington was the second time in recent days that it was unable to persuade grand jurors to bring an indictment in a felony assault case against a federal…

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Majority of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling on every issue, poll finds

Majority of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling on every issue, poll finds

Quinnipiac University Poll reports: In the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to Washington D.C. in an effort to reduce crime, voters 56 – 41 percent oppose the move, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University national poll of registered voters released today. There are wide partisan and gender differences. Republicans (86 – 12 percent) support the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the nation’s capital to reduce crime, while Democrats (93 – 5…

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The Federal Reserve tried to put off confrontation with Trump for as long as possible

The Federal Reserve tried to put off confrontation with Trump for as long as possible

Victoria Guida writes: The Federal Reserve is not a place that panics. My experience of the central bank and its staff is that they try to think as many steps ahead as possible. Just as Fed policymakers weigh the balance of risks to the economy, and the many potential scenarios that may unfold, they similarly weigh the balance of political risks to their mandate and autonomy. It’s an institution made up of regular people, of course — people who feel…

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How AI became the far right’s latest weapon against refugees

How AI became the far right’s latest weapon against refugees

Anagha Nair writes: Earphones plugged in, a cigarette dangling from his hand, Mohammed al-Mohammed was waiting for a train at a station in Hamburg, Germany, when he was enveloped by screams of horror. Amid the chaos of people fleeing, he glimpsed a flash of metal out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw a lady clutching a raised knife, pointed toward him. Mohammed’s reflexes kicked in, and he pushed the lady away. As another man tackled her and…

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The AI-profits mirage and the lessons of history

The AI-profits mirage and the lessons of history

John Cassidy writes: In a 1987 article in the Times Book Review, Robert Solow, a Nobel-winning economist at M.I.T., commented, “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” Despite massive increases in computing power and the rising popularity of personal computers, government figures showed that over-all output per worker, a key determinant of wages and living standards, had stagnated for more than a decade. The “productivity paradox,” as it came to be known, persisted into the…

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Here’s how the first proteins might have assembled, sparking life

Here’s how the first proteins might have assembled, sparking life

Science reports: Life today depends on proteins, cellular workhorses that do everything from flex muscles to ferry oxygen. And proteins, in turn, depend on RNA, which carries the recipes for making them and also helps with their assembly. In modern cells, large protein-based enzymes help connect RNA snippets to amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Then, the RNA- and protein-based cellular machine called the ribosome stitches the amino acids together into a protein chain, reading the correct sequence from…

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