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AI To Eavesdrop On World’s Wildest Places To Track, Protect Endangered Wildlife (Maria)
The author writes, “The endangered Geoffrey’s spider monkeys that dangle high in the rainforest canopy are elusive and hard for scientists to track. So biologist Jenna Lawson hid 350 audio monitors in trees across Costa Rica’s lush Osa Peninsula to spy on them. The devices recorded the sounds of the forest and surrounding countryside for a week, collecting so much data that Lawson could have spent years listening to it all. Instead, she fed it into artificial intelligence systems trained to instantly recognize spider monkey calls and detect where the animals traveled. … More of this AI-assisted wildlife surveillance is ‘urgently needed’ as some 28% of all plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, according to a paper published in the academic journal Science this summer.”
Trump’s ‘Stunningly Unqualified’ Diplomatic Team Shapes up at Breakneck Speed (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “They seem an unlikely, almost motley, crew of emissaries. For the Bahamas, there is Herschel Walker, a former NFL star whose fledgling Senate campaign was undone by a string of personal embarrassments but who now is named to be the next US ambassador to the small island nation. To the plum diplomatic posting of Paris goes Charles Kushner, father of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and a man the president-elect once pardoned for a felony conviction that the former Republican New Jersey governor Chris Christie, an ex-federal prosecutor, called ‘one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes’ he ever prosecuted. And to Greece, once a preserve of seasoned career diplomats, goes Kimberly Guilfoyle, until recently the romantic partner of Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and a woman known more for her rumbustious media profile than her diplomatic acumen.”
Roll Over, Ben Franklin: Trump Wants To Get Rid of USPS Again (Reader Steve)
From The Philadelphia Inquirer: “President-elect Donald Trump is once again interested in getting rid of one of Philadelphia’s best-known inventions: the United States Postal Office. Trump raised the idea of privatizing the post office — founded in 1775 in Philadelphia with Franklin as its first postmaster general — during a news conference [last] Monday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.”
The Mystery Is Not Why We Irish Have Responded to Israel’s Barbarism. It’s Why Others Have Not (Dana)
From The Irish Times: “It [makes] sense that, given our history, Irish people might be broadly sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause. … One partial explanation might be that colonial history is not simply history — as though history could ever be ‘simple.’ The civil rights struggle in the North, the Bloody Sunday massacre, the long years of brutal paramilitary violence on both sides: all of these things remain comfortably — or, more accurately, uncomfortably — within living memory. … In any case, the mystery is not why we Irish have responded as we have to Israel’s barbarism. … The mystery is why the strength of that response is unmatched, with the exception of Spain and Norway, by our fellow European countries.”
Weather Extremes Influence Illegal Migration and Return Between the US and Mexico, Study Finds (Laura)
The author writes, “Extreme weather is contributing to undocumented migration and return between Mexico and the United States, suggesting that more migrants could risk their lives crossing the border as climate change fuels droughts, storms and other hardships, according to a new study. People from agricultural areas in Mexico were more likely to cross the border illegally after droughts and were less likely to return to their original communities when extreme weather continued, according to research.”
One State’s War on Forever Chemicals in Milk (Russ)
From The New Republic: “After some shocking discoveries a few years back, Maine has led the charge in banning the use of sewage-based fertilizers, which have been found to contaminate farmlands with PFAS. Getting national policies on the books, however, may prove much harder.”
Virginia Home Gets Unexpected Owl Tree-Topper (Dana)
The author writes, “A Christmas tree in Virginia got a special tree-topper when a Barred Owl entered the home Thursday. The Animal Welfare League of Arlington posted two photos of the bird on Facebook. ‘This beautiful Barred Owl decided to play Santa and drop in — literally — through the chimney of a local home, and declared himself the newest star on top of their Christmas tree,’ officials wrote in the caption. ‘Look closely — you’ll see he knocked the old star over to make room for himself,’ they added.”
