Another Boeing airplane (777 this time) exhibited a sudden altitude drop during turbulence over SE Asia. One passenger with a heart condition died; seven are in critical condition.
In March, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner lost elevation on a flight from Oz to NZ. Reportedly an uncovered cockpit switch was involved. Boeing “recommended that airlines inspect the cockpit seats the next time they perform maintenance on their 787s”.”
“Since February, the Israeli government has declared more than 1,097 hectares [4.2 sq mi] ‘state territory,’ which makes it easier to build or expand Jewish settlements. The figure already makes 2024 a record year over the past three decades.”
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who heads the National Unity party, says his group will quit the emergency coalition government if Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn't agree to his requests, including a six-point plan for the Gaza conflict that will include post-war governance for the Palestinian territory.
“I think we are headed for major societal disruption within the next five years,” said Gretta Pecl, at the University of Tasmania. “[Authorities] will be overwhelmed by extreme event after extreme event, food production will be disrupted.”
Me, too. 😕
Three quarters of scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on #ClimateChange expect a global temperature increase at least 2.5°C (4.5°F) this century “with disastrous results for humanity.”
Axios piles on with #ClimateChange report on ocean temperatures
13 straight months of record ocean temperatures
“The spike in water temperatures and geographic reach of the heat, affecting every ocean basin, are simply too big to pin the blame on the natural climate cycle.”
The @WSJ headline implies students were manipulated by outsiders
It’s disinformation. Columbia University students ACTIVELY sought advice, researched prior protests.
Better:
Before launching protest, Columbia students consulted with external groups, researched historical university responses
FROM THE STORY, 4th graph:
“We took notes from our elders, engaged in dialogue with them and analyzed how the university responded to previous protests.”
Don’t get me started on that @WSJ “left-wing” pejorative.
The National Students for Justice in Palestine is a student group founded 21 years ago at UC Berkeley. They are “a loosely connected network of autonomous chapters … no prosecutor has ever brought charges against” them (NYT).
I ignored the headline Friday. I “read” the WSJ seldom; it’s part of Apple News. I gave up on the WSJ when Murdoch bought it.
Headline after headline Friday reflected political pundit reaction to Thursday’s Supreme Court oral arguments. The case? Former president Donald J. Trump’s claims of immunity from prosecution for his central role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
From “The Trumpification of the Supreme Court” to “Trump Melts Institutions, SCOTUS Edition” most link Trump with the 6-3 conservative majority.
But the man behind the (transparent) curtain was hypocritical Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Without Republican control of the Senate in 2017 and 2020, Trump would have had only one opportunity to nominate a justice. One time. Not three.
I may ask my students that (with the personal knowledge caveat) … they are working on 60 second elevator pitches. It’s a good way to ID interests.
Years ago, I challenged myself to do an Ignite talk (5 minutes, 20 slides that auto advance) to work on focus. Pretty sure I worked on that more than any normal “speech.” Blaise Pascal was right!
I'm reading Astrotopia by Mary-Jane Rubenstein and it's just amazing. I don't usually make it through books that are on depressing topics like the destruction of orbit, but this book is fascinating and real while also being completely hilarious. Like, I have laughed out loud multiple times while reading it and I'm only halfway through.
It's all about how the "NewSpace" tech bro billionaires are using the language of manifest destiny and see themselves as end-of-the-world prophets. Wowee.
Here’s your AI astonishment/nightmare fuel for today:
"TL;DR: single portrait photo + speech audio = hyper-realistic talking face video with precise lip-audio sync, lifelike facial behavior, and naturalistic head movements, generated in real time.”
One of my classes has their final projects due at 11:59pm tonight and the ramp-up of more and more frantic student emails is really depressing.
They had to choose topics in February and turn in drafts in March, and yet it seems that most of them didn't actually start until today...not that I was any better as an undergrad, but man it hurts to watch!
In the 200 level W class I teach with a handful of faculty, we scaffold like crazy. Lots of low stakes milestones.
I’ve told them there are two purposes: to prevent the behavior you’ve described and to show them in the long run it’s a less stressful and more productive process.