Articles: Thu 22.Feb.2024
BBC: Whale song mystery solved by scientists
Scientists have worked out how some of the largest whales in the ocean produce their haunting and complex songs.
Humpbacks and other baleen whales have evolved a specialised “voice box” that enables them to sing underwater.
The discovery, published in the journal Nature, has also revealed why the noise we make in the ocean is so disruptive for these ocean giants.
BBC: Christopher Saunders: Former Bishop of Broome charged with rape in Australia
Australian bishop Christopher Saunders has been charged with rape and a string of historical sex offences - some against children.
The 74-year-old was arrested in Broome on Wednesday, after parallel investigations ordered by Western Australian police and the Pope.
Mr Saunders, who has denied allegations in the past, was refused bail and will appear in court on Thursday.
He is one of the most senior Catholic clerics to face charges of this nature.
Mr Saunders is accused of two counts of rape, 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault, and three counts of indecently dealing with a child as a person in authority.
Manton Reece: Simplified pricing in Micro.blog
Today that’s changing. We are getting rid of the per-blog pricing. Instead, there will be three simple plans, and Micro.blog Premium will now include multiple blogs.
- $5: one blog with all the basic features
- $10: Micro.blog Premium, all the advanced features and up to 5 blogs included
- $15: Micro.blog Family, same as Premium but up to 5 users can post to any of your blogs
Additionally, there will continue to be no charge for hosting extra single-page web sites and test blogs. The new “up to 5 blogs” count is for normal, full blogs.
Brighter Side: Groundbreaking new study reveals the cause of ADHD
“This finding is a major step forward in our understanding of the genetic basis of ADHD,” said Prof. Ohad Birk, one of the authors of the study. “In addition to the scientific importance of finding a clear delineation of a novel genetic basis and molecular pathways for ADHD, both the mutant human cells and the mouse strain carrying the human mutation can serve as an effective model system for the discovery of novel medications for ADHD.”
The study could have significant implications for the treatment and management of ADHD. While the disorder is typically treated with medication, such as stimulants and non-stimulants, these can have significant side effects, including decreased appetite, insomnia, and mood swings. The discovery of CDH2 as a key gene involved in ADHD could lead to the development of more targeted and effective treatments.
Business Insider: 7 Democrats Who Could Replace Biden If He Drops His Reelection Bid
After President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid last April, the vast majority of Democratic leaders coalesced around his candidacy, which wasn’t surprising for an incumbent.
But Biden has one of the most unique backgrounds of any president in US history: He’s been a fixture in Washington for over 50 years, as a Delaware senator, vice president, and now president. And if he’s reelected to a second term this fall, he’d be 82 years old at the time of his inauguration in January 2025 and 86 at the end of a second term.
Biden’s age has become a cause of concern among many voters, including some who are inclined to back him over former President Donald Trump. The worries were amplified after Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on the probe into Biden’s handling of classified documents, where no charges were recommended but the president’s acuity and memory were questioned.
Through it all, Biden has defended his reelection bid, argued that his age is an asset, pushed back against the special counsel report, and articulated why he should be reelected – pointing to accomplishments like the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act and touting the low national employment numbers.
Kottke: How’s It Going Today?
I’m feeling a little retrospective and nostalgic today, so if you’ll indulge me, I’m going to acknowledge a couple of personal milestones.
- Today marks 19 years of me doing kottke.org as a full-time job. What. The. Actual. F? I kinda can’t believe it. Before this, the longest I’d ever stayed at a job was about two years…and the average was closer to 9-12 months. Aside from dropping out of grad school to bet my life on the World Wide Web, choosing to turn this website into my job is the best decision I’ve ever made.
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\2. This is a less-obvious milestone with diffuse edges but one that came to mind this morning as I looked back at some photos from a couple of years ago. When I announced I was taking a sabbatical in May 2022, I wrote about my fiddle leaf fig and the metaphorical connection I seem to have with it: …
[How do I deal with Markdown’s automatic numbering? If I don’t put a backslash in front of the “2”, it renders it as “1” (the start of a new numbered list), and if I do put it in, it leaves the “2” there but the backslash itself shows! The same problem occurs in Drafts.]
BBC: Steve Rosenberg: How two years of war in Ukraine changed Russia
24 February 2022 was a watershed moment.
But looking back the direction of travel had been clear. It was in 2014 that Russia had annexed Crimea from Ukraine and first intervened militarily in the Donbas; Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020 and jailed in 2021. Domestic repression in Russia pre-dates the invasion of Ukraine, but it has accelerated since.
As for Vladimir Putin, two years into this war he sounds increasingly confident and determined to defeat his enemies at home and abroad. He rails against America, Nato and the EU and presents Russia’s war in Ukraine as a war on Russia by the “collective West”, an existential battle for his country’s survival.
Big Think: “Megastructure” under Baltic Sea sheds light on Palaeolithic hunters
Archaeologists have identified what may be Europe’s oldest human-made megastructure, submerged 21 metres below the Baltic Sea in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. This structure — which has been named the Blinkerwall — is a continuous low wall made from over 1,500 granite stones that runs for almost a kilometre. The evidence suggests it was constructed by Palaeolithic people between 11,700 and 9,900 years ago, probably as an aid for hunting reindeer.
The Verge: Switching to electric vehicles would be fantastic for kids’ health
A wholesale switch to electric vehicles would be a tremendous boon to the health of many people around the world. But a new report from the American Lung Association highlights the particular advantages for children, especially those vulnerable to respiratory illness.
Based on a model in which all new vehicles sold by 2035 are zero-tailpipe emission, the group concludes that there would be 2.7 million fewer asthma attacks among children, as well as 147,000 fewer acute case of bronchitis. The transition to EV-only sales would also prevent 2.67 million cases of upper respiratory symptoms and 1.87 million cases of lower respiratory symptoms in children. And there would be 508 fewer cases of infant mortality.
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But “fleet turnover” can be slow, especially with conventional gas-powered cars and trucks becoming more capable, breaking down less, and staying on the road longer. The average light-duty vehicle on the road today is 12 years old, up from 9.6 years old in 2002.
If the United States wants to move to a fully electric fleet by 2050 — to meet President Biden’s goal of net zero emissions — then sales of gasoline-powered vehicles would likely have to end altogether by around 2035. That’s an extraordinarily heavy lift.
The Verge: Ford slashes Mustang Mach-E prices again as EV price war enters its second year
For model year 2023, the Mustang Mach-E is getting a big price cut, as much as $8,000 off for some versions.
*TorStar: London, Ont., truck murders were terrorism, judge rules
The decision comes nearly three years after a white nationalist killer struck a family of five because he wanted to “kill Muslims.”
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After ruling the murders terrorism, Pomerance sentenced [Nathaniel] Veltman to a additional life sentence for the attempted murder of the young survivor, saying it warranted “the strictest penalty known to Canadian law.” That sentence will be served at the same time as the automatic life sentence he already faced for first-degree murder.
Last Updated: Thu 22.Feb.2024 18:17 EST