PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
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Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 Could Forever Change Hearing Aid Market (Maria)
The author writes, “Between flashy shots of a sleek new Apple Watch and a colorful array of iPhones, Apple made a major announcement for a two-year-old product: the AirPods Pro 2. The earbuds will soon gain a hearing aid function that anyone can access, a move that will provide a cheaper alternative to traditional hearing aids and an all-in-one solution that could change the way people get help for hearing loss. … Provided Apple receives approval from the FDA, Apple’s new ‘clinical-grade’ over-the-counter hearing aid capability will roll out as a free software update this fall.”
Debate in Nuclear-Armed Former Colony Fails To Reassure Global Community (Laura)
From Al Jazeera: “Efforts to restore democracy to the United States, a troubled, oil-rich former British colony with a history of political violence, may have suffered a serious setback this week after yet another chaotic presidential debate, some Americanists say. Held in the relatively stable northeastern state of Pennsylvania on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the country’s worst terrorist attack, the debate was a chance to showcase the democratic progress the country had made since the violent, shambolic elections and attempted coup nearly four years ago.”
Justice Clarence Thomas Faces New Recusal Demand After Wife’s Alleged Message to Conservative Group (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “An alleged private message from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni to the leader of First Liberty Institute, which describes itself as the nation’s largest religious liberty organization, has triggered a wave of criticism from top Democrats, including a new call for the justice to recuse himself from future cases involving that organization. First Liberty frequently petitions the high court and is behind a number of landmark conservative victories, including those protecting the ability of public school teachers to pray on the job; helping families obtain state funding to attend religious schools; and, forcing private employers to be more accommodating of religious observance.”
Why Is the New York Times Legitimizing a Holocaust Denier? (Al)
From The Bulwark: “It was shocking, although not surprising, to see Tucker Carlson praise the prominent Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper, who said Adolf Hitler was a peacemaker and called Winston Churchill the ‘chief villain’ of World War II. But it was even more shocking — as well as dismaying and disheartening — when the New York Times conferred some credibility on Cooper by repeatedly describing him as merely a ‘Holocaust revisionist’ rather than an outright denier.”
Extreme Weather To Strengthen Rapidly Over Next Two Decades (Mili)
The author writes, “The study shows how global warming can combine with normal variations in the weather to produce decade-long periods of very rapid changes in both extreme temperatures and rainfall.”
Youth Group Asks Supreme Court to Revive a Landmark Climate Lawsuit (Russ)
The author writes, “A group of young people who filed a landmark climate change lawsuit in 2015 against the federal government, only to have their suit thrown out, are turning to the Supreme Court in an attempt to revive the case and get their day in court. This kind of request to the Supreme Court is unusual, but the plaintiffs supported their position by arguing that the federal government had stymied the process with similar courtroom maneuvers over the years.”
Is DNA the Future of Digital Data Storage? (Sean)
From Chemistry World: “A portrait of Rosalind Franklin with a hidden twist hangs on the wall of the Bill and Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, US. The portrait is five years old and is a black acrylic ink painting of Franklin over a collage of nearly 2000 photographs. These images are all snapshots of precious memories submitted by the public to Luis Ceze, a professor of computer science and engineering. But the real surprise lies in the medium used to paint Franklin. The acrylic ink contains synthetic DNA encoded with all the digital information needed to reproduce each photograph in the collage.”
From Our Archives
Cities, States, and Kids Sue to Stop Climate Change
August 29, 2017: “There is now three times more climate change litigation in the United States than in the rest of the world combined, according to the UN. The most important case to date seeks to put Donald Trump on trial, along with Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The 21 plaintiffs of Juliana et al. v. United States et al. — children and youth ages 10 to 21 — accuse the US government of failing to protect future generations from climate change. The federal lawsuit was filed on their behalf by Our Children’s Trust in Oregon.”
