Category: Intersections

Facial recognition: technology and privacy

Intersections

“Facial recognition technology is increasingly used for identity verification and identification, from aiding law enforcement investigations to identifying potential security threats at large venues. However, advances in this technology have outpaced laws and regulations, raising significant concerns related to equity, privacy, and civil liberties. Facial recognition connects an image of a face to an identity or connects an image of a face to a database…

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How to identify fake academic publications?

Intersections

One of the most important parts of any search for information–whether academic or for personal reasons–has always been to think critically about the information you find; to be skeptical, to not assume the information must be true and/or objective just because it happens to come from a particular source or person. No one is entirely objective. And we/human beings are easily misled. Our entire digital…

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Extinction and climate change

Intersections

Earth’s climate is changing rapidly. No, it is not a hoax, not a projection for the future, not a scare tactic from whatever political or advocacy group that you or your favorite politician may not like. In our lifetimes, it has changed–generally growing warmer and often dryer, with daily weather more prone to extremes–winds, rain, snow, cold, heat, more destructive storms leading to more extensive…

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Fake papers are contaminating the world’s scientific literature, fueling a corrupt industry and slowing legitimate lifesaving medical research

Intersections

Frederik Joelving, Retraction Watch; Cyril Labbé, Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), and Guillaume Cabanac, Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (from The Conservation) Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research, undermining the literature that everyone from doctors to engineers rely on to make decisions about human lives. It is exceedingly difficult…

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How the oil industry and growing political divides turned climate change into a partisan issue

Intersections

Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (from The Conversation) After four years of U.S. progress on efforts to deal with climate change under Joe Biden, Donald Trump’s return to the White House is swiftly swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction. On his first day back, Trump declared a national energy emergency, directing agencies to use any emergency powers available to…

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Added sugar and non-nutritive sweeteners in food: children, health, and effects later in life

Intersections

People consume many different types and amounts of sugars from the foods and beverages in their diet. “A high intake of sugar is linked to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.” Does a high-sugar diet early in life lead to negative health consequences in later life? And, are some sugars healthier than others? For background, see — *Iqbal,…

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Free Science books and textbooks

Intersections

Thousands of academic books covering areas of the sciences are available (legally) to be used at no cost. Many can be downloaded and saved and then printed, if desired. Others can be read online but not saved/downloaded. More books are becoming freely available every month. While use is free, there is a cost to creating or modifying and publishing these books. That cost is often…

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Knowledge and understanding can overcome fear and anxiety

Intersections

If you believe social media or follow certain politically-aligned media outlets, we live in a particularly scary and dark world. Yet, many people throughout history have felt the same at the times they lived. War, disease, natural disasters, famine, political upheaval, economic crashes, and on and on. It may seem to us that we are living in especially perilous times with the world literally at…

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“Forever chemicals”, farmland, and cancer

Intersections

For many years, farmers across the United States have been encouraged by the Federal Government to spread sewage from homes and factories on farmland as fertilizer. This sludge, obtained from wastewater treatment plants, was rich in nutrients, and it helped keep the sewage out of landfills. But research now shows that this black sludge (called “biosolids”) can contain heavy concentrations of chemicals that can increase…

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Artificial intelligence and libraries

Intersections

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a ubiquitous topic.  Looking at social media and technology news gives the impression that the world abounds in AI experts and superusers.  But that is misleading. For most of us, including those of us at the libraries of higher ed institutions facing financial and enrollment challenges, AI can seem an especially daunting topic.  We should pay attention.  After all, will AI…

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