Links

Is polarisation inevitable for similarity-based content recommendation?

Recommendation systems that direct users towards similar content may create echo chambers, reinforcing existing viewpoints and limiting exposure to alternatives.

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Competitive women advise other women to cut their hair shorter

The study investigated how women’s intrasexual competition influences appearance advice, specifically hair-cutting recommendations, across two studies with female participants.

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Adapting prompts as generative models improve

A study with nearly 2,000 participants explored how prompts must evolve as generative AI models advance.

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Why are influencers running for election in Indonesia

Over 20 influencers were elected to the Indonesian parliament this year, reflecting the growing role of celebrities in politics.

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Waymo better than humans at preventing injuries and property damage

Waymo expanded its fully autonomous driving from 3.8 million to 25.3 million miles.

· Link post  #ai #breakthrough
Mali people in PNG

After a long journey, the author meets the Mali people in Papua New Guinea, who live in small villages using traditional building methods and sell crops like coffee and copra for money to buy tools and donate in temple rituals.

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Money laundering in the art world

The art market often facilitates anonymous, high-value purchases and large cash transactions, making it an ideal avenue for money laundering.

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Main Character Syndrome

Main character syndrome is the perception that one’s life is a story where they are the central character.

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Using AI to prevent suicide in Mexico

Yucatán, Mexico, partnered with the AI-powered app MeMind in 2022 to prevent suicides, leading to a 9% drop in the suicide rate.

· Link post  #ai
Energy shortages in Germany

Germany experienced a wind drought (“Dunkelflaute”) for the second time in a month, significantly reducing wind and solar power generation.

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European woes

Neoliberalism, combining free markets with egalitarianism, has been more successfully adopted by countries with strong civic virtue like Denmark, leading to effective reforms away from statism, unlike countries like Greece where reforms were hindered by special interests.

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Purple prose

Purple prose is overly ornate text that disrupts the narrative flow by drawing attention to its extravagant style.

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Zero-based regulation

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) requires all expenditures to be justified anew each period, starting from a zero baseline instead of previous spending levels.

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The Return of Realpolitik

Realpolitik is resurging globally, with countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea practising it, and Trump’s approach focusing on deals that benefit the US narrowly, marking a shift from ideological engagement to national interests.

· Link post  #history
Two light-years since the last plane crash

Since the last plane crash, US airlines have transported passengers over a distance exceeding two light-years.

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Mapping the brain with a virus

At E11’s laboratory in Alameda, California, researchers developed a technique where viruses carrying DNA snippets are injected into a mouse brain, instructing neurons to produce unique proteins that act as biological barcodes.

· Link post  #breakthrough
How AI monitoring is cutting stillbirths and neonatal deaths in a clinic in Malawi

The use of AI monitoring software in a Malawian clinic has reduced stillbirths and neonatal deaths by 82% over three years.

· Link post  #ai #breakthrough
Tokyo University used "Tiananmen Square" keyword to block Chinese admissions

According to Todai Shimbun, Tokyo University’s student newspaper, a graduate admissions site embedded the keyword “June 4th Tiananmen” for over a year.

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Sublingual vs. intramuscular administration of vitamin B12

A retrospective study compared the efficacy of sublingual (SL) versus intramuscular (IM) vitamin B12 administration in treating vitamin B12 deficiency.

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Richard Butler's nuclear diplomacy

In 2023, the author interviewed historian Richard Rhodes about the unexpected success of nuclear non-proliferation, noting that predictions in the 1960s foresaw many more nuclear-armed states.

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Chairman Mao’s propagation of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Chairman Mao promoted Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for political reasons, despite not believing in its effectiveness or using it personally.

· Link post  #history #communism #china
WhatsApp is on track to dominate

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp has reached 100 million monthly active users in the US as of 25th July.

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Platform Envelopment

Entrants in platform markets usually need revolutionary functionality due to network effects and switching costs.

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Rule of law in Hong Kong

The paper analyses Hong Kong’s transition from a British legal system to Chinese political control as a natural experiment in the rule of law.

· Link post  #communism
Commonwealth Bank's AI deployment

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s use of generative AI tools has halved customer losses from scams and reduced fraud by 30%.

· Link post  #ai