It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse! It’s time for another Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something that you want to share, drop a link in the comments!
New Transformers Series Introduces Its First Nonbinary Robot (from Kotaku): “According to screengrabs shared on Twitter and YouTube, Nightshade is a nonbinary Transformer who uses they/them pronouns. Nigthshade isn’t the first Transformer who’s a member of the alphabet army—it’s been previously established that Anode and Lug, two characters in the IDW Transformers comics, are a transgender couple, and Arcee is transgender—but they are the first canonically nonbinary Transformer.”
How the “Global Cooling” Story Came to Be (from Scientific American): “But the story was tantalizing enough that other variations – somewhat more nuanced – were written by the New York Times and National Geographic, among others. The theory picked up support from some pretty reputable scientists: the late, esteemed Stephen Schneider of Stanford endorsed a book on the issue.”
Facebook fact-checkers will stop checking Trump after presidential bid announcement (from CNN): “Meta’s policy doesn’t stipulate that a candidate formally register with the Federal Election Commission. “We define a ‘politician’ as candidates running for office, current office holders – and, by extension, many of their cabinet appointees – along with political parties and their leaders,” the memo stated.”
Did Attractive Girls Get Worse Grades When Classes Moved Online? (from Skepchick): “Okay, so it’s just a little ethical problem, but the data is still sound, right? Well! You know how I’m always blah-blah-blahing about how great pre-registered studies are? That’s when researchers publicly acknowledge what their hypothesis is before they start a study, and they also detail what statistical analyses they plan to use. That would have been GREAT here. And the fact that it’s NOT pre-registered brings up some very interesting questions.”
Twitter blue check unavailable after impostor accounts erupt on platform (from The Guardian): “There are now two categories of “blue checks” and they look identical. One includes the accounts verified before Musk took the helm, and notes that “This account is verified because it’s notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category” – a message that can be seen by clicking on the checkmark itself. The other notes that the account subscribes to Twitter Blue.”
Facebook parent Meta cuts 11,000 jobs, 13% of workforce (from The Associated Press): “In addition to the layoffs, a hiring freeze at the company will be extended through the first quarter of 2023, Zuckerberg said. The company has also slashed its real estate footprint and he said that with so many employees working outside of the office, the company will transition to desk sharing for those that remain.”
Mastodon Has Officially Retired the ‘Toot,’ Its Version of the Tweet (from Gizmodo): “The latest version of Mastodon — 4.0.0 — rolled out on Monday, introducing dozens of tweaks to the web app. Among them, the “Toot” button has been replaced with one that now simply says “Publish.” Many users lamented the change and said they planned to continue calling posts “toots” anyway.”
This Is Why Women Won’t Date You (from Medium): “Laber posits that part of the reason for the rise of Trump isn’t just that women are performing some sort of Lysistrata-esque pork-out against white nationalists and their quislings… it’s that their refusal to consider conservative boners contributes to increased political polarity. The issue, Laber insists, is that people are dating folks whom they like.”
‘SafeBlood’ Hardliners Want to Set Up Unvaccinated Blood Banks (from Vice): “Medical authorities only allow directed donations in specific situations where it is medically necessary, such as to source a rare blood type, but refuse growing requests for “unvaccinated” blood on ethical and medical grounds. The medical consensus is that there’s no risk of harm from being transfused with blood from people who have had the COVID vaccine, with authorities such as the US Food and Drug Administration saying there’s no evidence to suggest “an increased risk of adverse events.””
Libraries Across the US Are Receiving Violent Threats (from Vice): ““It’s been a larger pattern through all these right-wing attacks,” Macrina told Motherboard. “Admin just like, not taking any of it seriously enough, not getting it. So their responses to these bomb threats are seen as more of the same. And also admins just not communicating through these situations [makes] the workers feel even more isolated and at risk.””
Chocolate is having a moment (from CNN): “One reason for the growth is higher prices for groceries and snacks, including chocolate. The increase isn’t affecting sales too much — shoppers are not that sensitive to changes in the price of chocolate, said Dan Sadler, principal of client insights at IRI, who has expertise in the confections market and tracks price sensitivity.”
That’s it for this edition, but worry not! I’ll have more reading material for you next time! Until then, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Iacon East 