Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@qoto.org

'Getting far less attention abroad, however, has been a flurry of activity inside Hungary targeting independent journalism and watchdog groups. At the centre of the crackdown is the country’s controversial new sovereignty protection office.

Led by a figure with close links to the ruling Fidesz party and granted the power to draw upon the intelligence services without judicial oversight, the office was set up by Orbán’s government, formally to monitor foreign influence.'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/06/somewhere-between-orwell-and-kafka-hungary-closes-in-on-its-media

'The CRUK CoL Centre Clinical Research Training Fellowship PhD Programme

Applications for CRUK CoL Centre Clinical Research Training Fellowships commencing in September 2025 are open.'

App. deadline 5 November 2024

https://www.colcc.ac.uk/crtf-recruitment-process/

'The analysis, published on Monday in The Annals of Internal Medicine and based on data for the year 2021, shows that cancer screening makes up a substantial proportion of what is spent every year on cancer in the United States, which most likely exceeds $250 billion. The researchers focused their estimate on breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers, and found that more than 88 percent of screening was paid for by private insurance and the rest mostly by government programs.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/health/cancer-screening-tests-cost.html

“Google conducted a quality degradation study, which showed that it would not lose search revenue if [it] were to significantly reduce the quality of its search product"... a company that can make its product worse “without concern of losing consumers, is proof of monopoly power” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-google-search-monopoly-ruling-means/

It's beginning! Workers have installed the first mirror into the remarkable Rubin Observatory.

When complete, it will create the greatest movie ever made, capturing one "frame" of the universe every few days for more than 10 years.

https://rubinobservatory.org/news/secondary-mirror-installed #space #astronomy #tech #science

A drug combo could help reduce tumour growth in a deadly type of brain #cancer by targeting separate biological pathways. https://elifesciences.org/digests/96257/stronger-together?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic

The Home Secretary has thanked entirely the wrong group for protecting and supporting local communities. The clue is in the photo

Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/08/08/news/oil-companies-sold-public-fake-climate-solution-and-swindled-taxpayers?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Canada's National Observer @canada-s-national-observer-NatObserver

Starving the population of Gaza would without any shadow of a doubt be genocide. An Israeli minister said it "might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages". The context is that they recognise an external restraint on committing the ultimate crime against humanity.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/08/israel-finance-minister-bezalel-smotrich-gaza-starve-2m-people-comments?CMP=share_btn_url

Lawmakers in 29 U.S. states have proposed at least 91 bills promoting religion in public schools this year, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/08/world/society/us-public-schools-religious-battleground/ #worldnews #society #us #bible #schools #religion #ussupremecourt

The UK's Universities Superannuation Scheme (university pensions scheme, the largest private scheme in the UK) has dumped Israeli assets

https://on.ft.com/3WG0qhk

Are you a scientist? Do you know about #Project2025? Be afraid. Be very afraid. Oh, and the blueprint demands slashes to indirect costs to universities, which will mortally wound most soft-money medical and public health schools. Get organized. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/project-2025-plan-for-trump-presidency-has-far-reaching-threats-to-science/

A team from the Munich Center for #QuantumScience and Technology and the Deutsches Museum designed a special #exhibition on the subject of #light and matter with numerous interactive stations that make #quantumphysics tangible. Don't miss it: go.tum.de/23739…

📷R. Krause

Massive paper by a consortium of termite scientists, who finally fixed the taxonomic status of termite familes and sub families.

While the transition is going to be rough for some, we finally have monophyletic families. Congrats to Simon and Thomas for carrying this massive effort.

Welcome Heterotermitidae, a major group of termite pest genera !
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51028-y