Monday, December 23

VIDEO REELS

For Knowingly Hurting Teens With Facebook And Instagram — States Sue Meta
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEO REELS

For Knowingly Hurting Teens With Facebook And Instagram — States Sue Meta

States sue Meta for knowingly hurting teens with Facebook and Instagram − here are the harms researchers have documented. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against Meta on Oct. 24, 2023, alleging that the company intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram with features that harm teens and young users. Meta officials had internal research in March 2020 showing that Instagram – the social media platform most used by adolescents after TikTok – is harmful to teen girls’ body image and well-being. But the company swept those findings under the rug to continue conducting business as usual, according to a Sept. 14, 2021, Wall Street Journal report. The report was based on documents provided by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Meta’s record of pursuing profits ...
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Social Media Challenges And 4 Reasons Teens Try Them
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SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEO REELS

Social Media Challenges And 4 Reasons Teens Try Them

4 reasons teens take part in social media challenges. Social media challenges are wide-ranging – both in the stunts they involve and the reasons why people do them. But why do young people take up challenges that pose a threat to health, well-being and, occasionally, their very lives? We are an engineering professor who specializes in understanding how humans interact with computers and a psychology professor with expertise in mental health, specifically traumatic stress and suicide. Together with our research team, we conducted a series of studies to try to understand what motivates teens and young adults to participate in different challenges. For these studies, from January 2019 to January 2020, we interviewed dozens of high school and college students in both the United States and sout...
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A Virtual Power Plant — What It Is And How It Works — An Energy Expert Explains
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ENVIRONMENT, IN OTHER NEWS, TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A Virtual Power Plant — What It Is And How It Works — An Energy Expert Explains

What is a virtual power plant? An energy expert explains. After nearly two decades of stagnation, U.S. electricity demand is surging, driven by growing numbers of electric cars, data centers and air conditioners in a warming climate. But traditional power plants that generate electricity from coal, natural gas or nuclear energy are retiring faster than new ones are being built in this country. Most new supply is coming from wind and solar farms, whose output varies with the weather. That’s left power companies seeking new ways to balance supply and demand. One option they’re turning to is virtual power plants. These aren’t massive facilities generating electricity at a single site. Rather, they are aggregations of electricity producers, consumers and storers – collectively known as distrib...
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A Short Training Video Could Help Juries That Don’t Understand Forensic Science
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SCIENCE, VIDEO REELS

A Short Training Video Could Help Juries That Don’t Understand Forensic Science

Juries that don’t understand forensic science can send innocent people to prison − a short training video could help. Ledura Watkins was 19 years old when he was accused of murdering a public school teacher. At trial, a forensic expert testified that a single hair found at the scene was similar to Watkins’ and stated his conclusion was based on “reasonable scientific certainty.” He explained that he’d conducted thousands of hair analyses and “had never been wrong.” This one hair was the only physical evidence tying Watkins to the crime. In 1976, Ledura Watkins was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Here’s the catch: The expert’s testimony was inappropriate and misleading, and the jury made a mistake. Watkins was innocent. L...
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The Link Between Video Chatting And Appearance Dissatisfaction — The ‘Zoom Effect’
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IN OTHER NEWS, VIDEO REELS

The Link Between Video Chatting And Appearance Dissatisfaction — The ‘Zoom Effect’

The ‘Zoom effect’ and the possible link between video-chatting and appearance dissatisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of digital connection: In the absence of in-person gatherings, many people instead found themselves face-to-face with their co-workers and loved ones on a screen. Videoconferencing has provided many benefits and conveniences. However, it isn’t surprising that constantly seeing ourselves on screens might come with some downsides as well. Prior to the pandemic, studies showed that surgeons were seeing increasing numbers of patients requesting alterations of their image to match filtered or doctored photos from social media apps. Now, several years into the pandemic, surgeons are seeing a new boom of cosmetic surgical requests related to videoconferencing...
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You Don’t Know How It Works, What It’s Going To Do — Why Humans Can’t Trust AI
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AI, TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

You Don’t Know How It Works, What It’s Going To Do — Why Humans Can’t Trust AI

Why humans can’t trust AI: You don’t know how it works, what it’s going to do or whether it’ll serve your interests. There are alien minds among us. Not the little green men of science fiction, but the alien minds that power the facial recognition in your smartphone, determine your creditworthiness and write poetry and computer code. These alien minds are artificial intelligence systems, the ghost in the machine that you encounter daily. But AI systems have a significant limitation: Many of their inner workings are impenetrable, making them fundamentally unexplainable and unpredictable. Furthermore, constructing AI systems that behave in ways that people expect is a significant challenge. If you fundamentally don’t understand something as unpredictable as AI, how can you trust it? Why ...
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A Computer Engineer Explains The One Device Connector To Rule Them All — The USB-C
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TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A Computer Engineer Explains The One Device Connector To Rule Them All — The USB-C

What is USB-C? A computer engineer explains the one device connector to rule them all. Apple announced on Sept. 12, 2023, that it plans to adopt the USB-C connector for all four new iPhone 15 models, helping USB-C become the connector of choice of the electronics industry, nine years after its debut. The move puts Apple in compliance with European Union law requiring a single connector type for consumer devices. USB-C is a small, versatile connector for mobile and portable devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones. It transfers data at high speeds, transmits video signals and delivers power to charge devices’ batteries. USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. The C refers to the third type, following types A and B. The USB Implementers Forum, a consortium of over 1,000 companies that pr...
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Rivers Are Losing Dissolved Oxygen From Their Water With Climate Change
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ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

Rivers Are Losing Dissolved Oxygen From Their Water With Climate Change

As climate change warms rivers, they are running out of breath – and so could the plants and animals they harbor. As climate change warms rivers, they are losing dissolved oxygen from their water. This process, which is called deoxygenation, was already known to be occurring in large bodies of water, like oceans and lakes. A study that colleagues and I just published in Nature Climate Change shows that it is happening in rivers as well. We documented this change using a type of artificial intelligence called a deep learning model – specifically, a long short-term memory model – to predict water temperature and oxygen levels. The data that we fed the model included past records of water temperature and oxygen concentrations in rivers, along with past weather data and the features of adjoin...
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A Neuropharmacology Expert Explains How Cannabis Holds Promise For Pain Management, Reducing The Need For Opioid Painkillers
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, SOCIETY, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

A Neuropharmacology Expert Explains How Cannabis Holds Promise For Pain Management, Reducing The Need For Opioid Painkillers

Cannabis holds promise for pain management, reducing the need for opioid painkillers – a neuropharmacology expert explains how. Drug overdose deaths from opioids continue to rise in the U.S. as a result of both the misuse of prescription opioids and the illicit drug market. But an interesting trend has developed: Opioid emergency room visits drop by nearly 8% and opioid prescriptions are modestly lower in states where marijuana is legalized. Marijuana is produced by the cannabis plant, which is native to Asia but is now grown throughout the world. Individuals use marijuana for both its psychoactive, euphoria-inducing properties and its ability to relieve pain. Chemicals produced by the cannabis plant are commonly known as cannabinoids. The two primary cannabinoids that occur naturally i...
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Cookies, Chips, Frozen Meals And Fast Food And Other Ultra-processed Foods May Contribute To Cognitive Decline
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

Cookies, Chips, Frozen Meals And Fast Food And Other Ultra-processed Foods May Contribute To Cognitive Decline

Ultra-processed foods – like cookies, chips, frozen meals and fast food – may contribute to cognitive decline. Scientists have known for years that unhealthy diets – particularly those that are high in fat and sugar – may cause detrimental changes to the brain and lead to cognitive impairment. Many factors that contribute to cognitive decline are out of a person’s control, such as genetics and socioeconomic factors. But ongoing research increasingly indicates that a poor diet is a risk factor for memory impairments during normal aging and increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But when evaluating how some diets may erode brain health as we age, research on the effects of consuming minimally processed versus ultra-processed foods has been scant – that is, until now. Two re...
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