DIGITAL CONTENT
The day/night solar cycle speaks directly to our cells.
Life spent eons developing under Earth’s light/dark cycle. Our bodies are physiologically tuned, programmed, to function according to the sun.
Daylight Saving Time [DST] is a disruption to the systems that regulate our physiological processes — our internal systems like digestion, sleep, mood, etc. Studies prove that when our internal clocks and solar clocks are misaligned, our risk of heart attack increases. DST is linked to circadian disruptions associated with cancer, depression and sleep disorders.
#abolishDST #circadianScience #chronobiology
Cryptocurrency is more than Bitcoin.
Today’s crypto market controls more than $1 trillion — and it’s growing. Blockchain devs are using code to solve legacy problems in traditional finance systems, giving more people a chance to try lending, investing, borrowing, arbitrage, etc.
Historically, these finance tools were reserved for a traditional bank’s wealthier clients. Tools available in DeFi [smart contracts, borderless liquidity pools] can eliminate financial gatekeepers, democratize financial tools, and possibly supplant the existing finance system.
#defi #crypto #finance
TWO TRUE ZOMBIE STORIES.
The true story of a NASA biologist who accidentally reanimated frozen microbes. It’s also a story about a Russian village’s encounter with a zombie microbe, assumed exterminated decades before, that returns from the ice to resume its killing spree.
For the last hundred years, Earth’s average surface temperature has climbed. That means the active layer has gotten slightly warmer, which melts off the top layer of permafrost. Rising temps mean more melting ice, and imprisoned in that ice — countless microbes in hibernation.
#climate #permafrost #microbes
a texas ransomware story
In 2019, a ransomware attack wiped out 750 government computers across Texas in less than 90 minutes.
When attacks spread to municipal water systems, Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration, activating the State Operations Center – typically used during hurricane response and recovery. This was the first time a state government used an emergency operations center to respond to cybercrime.
This is the true story of a Texas ransomware attack.
#ransomware #texas #fbi
it costs 2¢ to make 1 penny.
There are more than 130 billion pennies in circulation right now, amounting to more than a billion dollars worth of coins.
But can you remember the last time you used a penny? The value of the penny has declined to the degree that it now costs more than one cent to produce the one cent coin. So is it time for the penny to be retired?
Mining metals, transporting coins, minting pennies — all at a loss — and we don’t even use them.
#money #penny #currency
PRIVACY AFTER 9/11
After 9/11, the PATRIOT Act expanded law enforcement’s ability to use technology to hunt down and combat terrorists. Critics say these expanded abilities extended too much authority to police.
In the Senate, the USA PATRIOT Act passed 98 to 1. The only person to vote against it – the Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold. Twenty years later, after millions of privacy violations, his fears seem to have been justified.
#politics #privacy #911
the decentralized web
The Internet was originally conceived as a decentralized network of computers.
Today, web servers have been largely consolidated into the hands of five multi-billion-dollar corporations: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple and Facebook. This means data, the element that powers the web and apps, belongs to five corporations.
The dWeb is an attempt by developers to return that data to users.
#internet #dweb #decentralization
old news // the media + inaugurations
The ceremonial transfer of power from one U.S. president to another is an event that transfixes the nation every four to eight years. And as the decades have passed, advances in technology have allowed the media to tell that story in an evolving way — from illustrations to the use of photographs, radio, video and finally digital media.
Peter K. Hull explores the history of storytelling through our presidential inaugurations in this interactive video. Scan the QR codes for more context.
#politics #media #inaugurations
no kill
There was a time when a stray cat or dog taken to an area shelter was looking at a death sentence.
That was before the concept of ‘no-kill’ began to take root at shelters across the country — and while those prolonged stays now don’t automatically become death sentences, attempts to help can produce dire, unintended consequences.
This is a no-kill origin story and a look at present day animal ethics.
#animals #shelters #noKill
the all-powerful customer review
Customers have been rating products since at least 1750 B.C.E., when archaeologists have dated a scathing review of a copper merchant that was chiseled on a stone tablet.
Today, ratings are integrated into almost every facet of our lives - and affect our decisions and company profits more than ever — even altering the product development cycle itself.
Technology has revolutionized commerce and turned us all into influencers.
#technology #customers #reviews
Fear = control
Fear is a powerful response that helps us respond to threats.
It can also spur us to take irrational, or even violent action. Peter K. Hull examines how fear affects our decision-making and what happens when that trigger is manipulated by others.
This is a true story about fear’s influence on humans throughout history.
#history #fear #control
perseverance goes to mars
Perseverance is heading to Mars.
Actually, if you’re reading this, the rover is already on the red planet, and experiments testing rock composition and powered flight have already happened. This is a list of the highlights we watched for the day of launch.
This event marked one of the early visits to Mars by Earth’s mechanical beings.
#science #mars #perseverance
paying the toll
Healthcare workers went to war with COVID-19 in 2020.
As the first wave of coronavirus cases peaked in the U.S., eight healthcare workers from New York City and across the country shared their intimate experiences fighting the virus — through exhaustion, grief and fear.
These accounts, which resemble video calls from loved ones, share the emotional weight of the Coronavirus pandemic.
#coronavirus #covid19 #healthcareWorkers
decentralized government
Political parties have centralized power in America.
Instead of a mix of hundreds of unique voices, there’s only two loud ones — the reds and the blues. This means our government isn’t a mix of talented approaches, but a system designed to maintain authority for one group.
Here are examples of government, decentralized even further, in practice today.
#government #decentralized #politicalParties
the class of 2020
Graduation ceremonies, proms, parties, class trips and other milestones of high school’s senior year have been put on hold or canceled entirely due to the coronavirus.
But that doesn’t mean that members of this historic class aren’t looking for opportunities to mark this important transition in their lives. This is a discussion with a few members of the Class of 2020 about their unique circumstances.