Matt Willemsen @Nonog@fedibird.com

Amazed by how for the past six years there was absolute silence from Syria, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia as to the Palestinian cause.
Not one fucking word.
Not one.
They were all fast pals with Israel.
I wonder just when this Abraham fella left the room.

Access to Law Should Be Fully Open: Tell Congress Not to Be Fooled by the Pro Codes Act
Online access to safety regulations helps make that review—and accountability—possible.
The rub: the SDOs claim to own copyright in these rules, even after they become law, and that they are therefore allowed to sell and otherwise control access to them. Based on that claim, they sued Public Resource for copyright infringement.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/access-law-should-be-fully-open-tell-congress-not-be-fooled-pro-codes-act #Law #access #public #ProCodesAct

The Chatbots Are Now Talking to Each Other
ChatGPT-style chatbots that pretend to be people are being used to help companies develop new product and marketing ideas.
https://www.wired.com/story/fast-forward-the-chatbots-are-now-talking-to-each-other/ #chatbots #AI #marketing #characters #SyntheticHumans #FocusGroups

AI like ChatGPT can guess secrets that you never share, study shows
A study showed that LLMs can infer data about users even if those users never share that information.
Even scarier is the fact that bad actors could abuse the chatbots to learn these secrets.
https://bgr.com/tech/ai-like-chatgpt-can-guess-secrets-that-you-never-share-study-shows/ #AI #ChatGPT #guess #secrets #LLM #chatbots

Minnesota Mine Pits Global Climate Pollution vs. Local Mine Pollution
The Biden administration aims to increase U.S. production of these critical minerals that China and other countries with weaker environmental standards have come to dominate. But local opposition is complicating the effort. VOA's Steve Baragona looks at the battle over one such mine in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota.
https://www.voanews.com/a/minnesota-mine-pits-global-climate-pollution-vs-local-mine-pollution/7330700.html #Minnesota #Mine #nickel #Global #Climate #Pollution #Local

The tragedy of the Israel-Palestine conflict is this: underneath all the horror is a clash of two just causes
This isn’t a contest of heroes and villains – but two peoples in deep pain, fated to share the same land
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/27/tragedy-israel-palestine-conflict-horror #israel #palestine #just #cause #conflict

Alberto Ibargüen Is on a $150M Mission to Save Local News
Alberto Ibargüen, president of the Knight Foundation, says the money is vital for journalists who need time—“and time costs money”—to undertake in-depth reporting in communities.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/alberto-ibarguen-is-on-a-dollar150m-mission-to-save-local-news #AlbertoIbargüen #KnightFoundation #local #news #journalism

Deconstructing the ‘beheaded babies’ misinformation in Israel’s war on Gaza
How the consequences of misinformation contribute to real-life violence against Palestinians
https://advox.globalvoices.org/2023/10/28/deconstructing-the-beheaded-babies-misinformation-in-israels-war-on-gaza/ #misinformation #gaza #babies #violence

Centrist Maine Democrat takes “responsibility” after mass shooting and flips on assault weapon ban
"I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war, like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime"
https://www.salon.com/2023/10/27/centrist-maine-democrat-takes-responsibility-after-mass-and-flips-on-weapon-ban/ #maine #democrat #switch #assault #rifle #ban

Humans Are Ready to Find Alien Life
We finally have the tools we need. Now scientists just need to watch and wait.
In the thousands of years that people have been arguing about whether life exists elsewhere in the universe, one thing has been constant: No one really has had a clue. But not anymore. That’s because we finally know exactly where to look for aliens.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/10/search-for-alien-life/675707/ ##alien #life #ET #encounter #biosignatures #civilization #technosignatures

Scientists Just Came Up With a Wild Idea For Making Oxygen on Mars
Desert-dwelling bacteria that feed on sunlight, slurp up carbon dioxide, and emit oxygen could be incorporated into paint that supplements the air in a habitat on Mars.
It's called Chroococcidiopsis cubana, and scientists have developed a biocoating that emits measurable amounts of oxygen on a daily basis while reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air around it.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-came-up-with-a-wild-idea-for-making-oxygen-on-mars #bacteria #CO2 #oxygen #Mars #paint

Toxic Impact of Lead Exposure Is Much Greater Than We Knew, Report Warns
Leaded fuel might be a thing of the past, but a new report from The World Bank reveals the chemical's toxic legacy continues to take a toll worldwide.
What's worse, the ongoing harmful impacts of lead exposure are far greater than we thought, especially in low- and middle-income countries where lead contamination is more common in food, soils, paint, battery recycling, metal mining, and agricultural products.
https://www.sciencealert.com/toxic-impact-of-lead-exposure-is-much-greater-than-we-knew-report-warns #Toxic #Impact #Lead #Exposure #contamination

Cancer Breakthrough: A Groundbreaking Solution to Metastasis & Chemotherapy Resistance
Scientists discovered that blocking the molecule Netrin-1 reduces the process contributing to cancer metastasis and resistance to therapy. Early trials in humans show promise, and further research will explore the treatment’s broader applicability and effect on survival rates.
https://scitechdaily.com/cancer-breakthrough-a-groundbreaking-solution-to-metastasis-chemotherapy-resistance/ #cancer #metastasis #treatment #Netrin1 #chemotherapy #resistance #UNC5B

Feel-good story of the week: Two ransomware gangs meet their demise
One is fatally hacked, the other shut down in international police dragnet.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/10/two-ransomware-gangs-knocked-out-of-commission-in-a-single-week/ #ransomware #gangs #justice #hacking

This Ancient Society Survived The Sahara Desert With a Single Water Source
The forgotten civilization was known as the Garamantes to the Romans, and it was the first urbanized society known to establish itself in a desert.
Despite the location, its people not only survived, they thrived, squeezing every drop of life they could from beneath the sand.
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-ancient-society-survived-the-sahara-desert-with-a-single-water-source #desert #society #garamantes #aquifer #slaves

Did Australia’s First Peoples domesticate dingoes? They certainly buried them with great care
Published in PLOS One today, our new study of dingoes buried alongside First Nations people in ancient times has provided crucial clues to this mystery. Our findings may help change the way we think about the connections between dingoes and people.
https://theconversation.com/did-australias-first-peoples-domesticate-dingoes-they-certainly-buried-them-with-great-care-205994 #dingoes #FirstNations #burial #care #society