imdef @imdef@qoto.org

A disturbing (and beautifully done) graphic and story by #Reuters on #insects. Makes you wonder... https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-APOCALYPSE/egpbykdxjvq/ via @joostvkasteren

Just 600 years ago, nine species of enormous, flightless birds called moas wandered around New Zealand. Some of these magnificent big birds grew up to 12 feet tall, which would tower over Sesame Street’s most famous resident.

Moas had thrived for millions of years. And suddenly - shortly after humans arrived on the islands - they went extinct.

Coincidence? #Science says no. https://www.science.org/content/article/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct #nature

SHITPOSTING

is an anagram of

TOP INSIGHTS

Wow! Today I learned this:

You may have heard of the 'central limit theorem', where you take the mean of 𝑛 identical independently distributed random variables, the result approaches a Gaussian as 𝑛 → ∞ (if each random variable has finite standard deviation).

But what if instead you take the *maximum* of these random variables? Then there are 3 choices for what can happen!

The 'Fisher–Tippett–Gnedenko theorem' tells you what these 3 choices are:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher-Tippett-Gnedenko_theorem

(1/n)

#LongCovid #chronicillness estimates in Sweden during the pandemic

"14% corresponding to 1.1 million Swedes said that they have a long-term illness that is not a confirmed chronic illness, of these 500,000 Swedes have been ill with the same illness for more than 12 months. Of these who have been ill the longest, 100,000 state that the disease severely limits their lives. 300,000 that it partially limits their lives."

https://novus.se/egnaundersokningar-arkiv/coronastatus-langtidscovid/

Italy is now home to another famous Leonardo! 💻
Meet Europe's new #Supercomputer — the 4th most powerful in the world.

Capable of 250 million billion calculations per second, Leonardo will enable scientific breakthroughs in health, climate, and clean energy technologies.

Find out more: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_7119

#DigitalEU

What counts as a lie?

True claims that imply something misleading can if people detect
(a) an intention to deceive
(b) the implied deception

Making those two features explicit significantly increased the degree to which people rated statements a lie (N = 222 Prolific workers who viewed 15 vignettes each), confirming prior work.

So those features seem crucial (albeit not sufficient) for a statement to be a lie.

https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anac037

#ethics #CogSci #xPhi #MoralPsychology #SocialPsychology

Less uncertainty about uncertainty... Maybe?

When people see there’s a lot of uncertainty around science, how do people take it? Does it inspire trust, or the reverse?

There's some new evidence, so I've dug into it, & the previous evidence about a typology of uncertainties.

Plus Medicine in the Media training for journalists is back!, minimizing bias in animal studies, & more:

https://hildabastian.substack.com/p/less-uncertainty-about-uncertainty

#Uncertainty #SciComm

Q: Was that your biggest mistake as chief scientist—not calling #SARSCoV2 #airborne?
A: We should have done it much earlier, based on the available evidence, and it is something that has cost the organization. …

I talked to Soumya Swaminathan, the #WHO‘s chief scientist, who is leaving the agency at the end of this month.

https://www.science.org/content/article/who-s-departing-chief-scientist-regrets-errors-debate-over-whether-sars-cov-2-spreads

‘Labour advantage’ drives greater productivity at elite universities https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03784-4

"The sun weighs about 2,000 quettagrams."

"Ohhhh, now I totally get it."

The world generates so much data that new unit measurements were created to keep up.

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/19/1137985619/metric-system-measurement-prefix

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