Go, grrrl!
CO2 levels in atmosphere higher than any point since evolution of humans
According to data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is over 415 parts per million (ppm), far higher than any point in the last 800,000 years.
That’s the highest level since homo sapiens came onto the planet, meteorologist Eric Holthaus tweeted, and represents an increase of 15 ppm over just the past three years.
CO2 levels in atmosphere higher than any point since evolution of humans | abc7chicago.com
agggghhhhhhhhhhhh
San Francisco becomes the first US city to BAN government use of facial recognition
San Francisco supervisors approved a ban on police using facial recognition technology, making it the first city in the U.S. with such a restriction.
…Departments will need to get board approval to continue using or acquiring technology.
…The legislation bans municipal use but not personal, business or federal government use of face ID technology.
hmmm
Trump reverses US policy, endorsing Israeli control of Golan Heights
Trump endorsed permanent Israeli control of the disputed Golan Heights, saying on Thursday that the area seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab war is “of critical strategic and security importance” to Israel.
…”After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognise Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Trump reverses US policy, endorsing Israeli control of Golan Heights
Disgusting and embarrassingly misguided.
Bones of mysterious extinct Denosivan human found in the Himalayas
A 160,000-year-old Denisovan jawbone unearthed in a cave in Xiahe, China, is the oldest hominin fossil ever found in the vast Himalayan region that has an average altitude of 4,500 metres (14,800ft).
…Modern day humans are not thought to have arrived on the Tibetan plateau until around 40,000 years ago.
…Both Denisovans and their sister human sub-species, the Neanderthals, are known to have interbred with the ancestors of people living today. Most intriguingly, modern Sherpas and Tibetans appear to have inherited Denisovan genetic variants that help them cope with high altitudes.
…Their muscles get more mileage out of less oxygen than those of the average person. S
herpas have mitochondria – tiny rod-like power plants in cells – that are extra-efficient at using oxygen.
While their red blood cell count is increased in thin mountain air, it remains below the point at which the blood thickens and strains the heart, causing altitude sickness.
…Sherpas have lived in the Himalayas for at least 6,000 years.
Bones of mysterious extinct Denosivan human found in the Himalayas | Metro News
huh
How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era
Over the past three years, CrowdTangle estimates that Fox News’ main Facebook page, with 17 million followers, has racked up 80 percent more reactions, comments, and shares than CNN, which has 31 million followers. The Fox page’s engagement rate — the average number of engagements per post per follower — was higher than any major news organization over the same period, and some five times that of The New York Times.
As Facebook continues to grapple with the spread of misinformation and divisive content, causing critics to worry that it could pose threats to democracy, the lead that Fox News has built over less partisan news organizations on the platform strikes some as painfully ironic.
“The way Fox News dominates on Facebook is a good example of the way engagement can distort social media,” said Tara McGowan, CEO of the nonprofit digital organization Acronym and former digital director of Priorities USA, a Democratic political action committee. “The fact they can drive the exact same storyline each and every day across channels — from television to social media — is so much more effective at influencing hearts and minds than political advertising.”
…The influence of Fox on Facebook comes as Trump, Republican lawmakers, and Fox News personalities have repeatedly accused Silicon Valley of bias against conservatives. Rupert Murdoch, the Trump ally who owns Fox parent company Fox Corp., has similarly condemned the tech giant publicly and privately for wreaking havoc on the news industry.
…At a time when many news organizations started tuning out reader comments, if not blocking them altogether, Fox News mined comments for ideas. A former Fox News producer said its social team scoured responses to Facebook posts to see which topics popped and why, using their numbers or intensity to inform future posts.
What they found was a lot of rage, not just toward President Barack Obama but also toward mainstream Republicans.
…What’s more, the person said, the engagement trends suggested a fear of a changing America — fear of immigration, fear of globalization, and changing expressions of national pride — bubbled beneath the criticism. The social team doubled down.
…“We would intentionally post content that would be divisive and elicit a lot of comments,” the former social producer said, adding that high-engagement posts would inform programming decisions on TV. “Fox was all about a numbers game.”
…What’s clear is that Fox News’ rise on Facebook has meant that the GOP has a large and growing advantage as more political content comes users’ way. 2020 campaigns have collectively spent nearly $10 million on Facebook ads so far this year, according to the digital firm Bully Pulpit Interactive, and its analysis of the platform’s publicly available targeting data shows that Team Trump has overwhelmingly honed in on seniors in recent weeks. Fox News’ organic reach on Facebook, coupled with its alignment with Trump’s messaging, is likely to amplify that strategy.
How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era – VICE News
hmmm
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