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.
Microsoft: We Won’t Fight Labor Unions (Maria)
The author writes, “Microsoft said it would play nice with labor unions, marking a new approach that sets it on a different path from its industry peers. In a Thursday blog post, the company’s president, Brad Smith, said Microsoft recognizes and respects its employees’ ‘legal right to choose’ whether to form or join a union. ‘We are committed to creative and collaborative approaches with unions when employees wish to exercise their rights and Microsoft is presented with a specific unionization proposal,’ said Smith. Smith said the Redmond-based company was embarking on this new approach because attitudes toward the nature of work and companies’ responsibilities towards workers have changed.”
Two Professors Found What Creates a Mass Shooter. Will Politicians Pay Attention? (Reader Jim)
From Politico: “Their findings, also published in the 2021 book, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, reveal striking commonalities among the perpetrators of mass shootings and suggest a data-backed, mental health-based approach could identify and address the next mass shooter before he pulls the trigger — if only politicians are willing to actually engage in finding and funding targeted solutions. POLITICO talked to Peterson and Densely from their offices in St. Paul, Minn., about how our national understanding about mass shooters has to evolve, why using terms like “monster” is counterproductive, and why political talking points about mental health need to be followed up with concrete action.”
Canada to Ban China’s Huawei and Zte From Its 5g Networks (Sean)
The author writes, “The restrictions against Huawei and ZTE were announced by the country’s industry minister on Thursday. Francois-Philippe Champagne says the move will improve Canada’s mobile internet services and ‘protect the safety and security of Canadians’. But Huawei Canada said it was ‘disappointed’ by the decision, which it said was ‘political’.”
Republican AG who killed a man won’t stand for re-election after impeachment trial: report (DonkeyHotey)
From Raw Story: “‘Ravnsborg’s tenure as Attorney General has been marred by a September 2020 crash where he struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever with his car near Highmore. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that did not find him criminally responsible for Boever’s death. The South Dakota House of Representatives impeached him in April over the incident and the events that followed,’ the network reported.”
Rewilding Arabia (Mili)
From Arab News: “So far, the Wildlife Research Center in Taif has successfully bred 16 leopards as part of an Arabian Leopard Program being managed by the Royal Commission for AlUla. The most recent birth of a cub was in April 2021. The birth of this cub in April 2021, pictured here at five months of age, is the latest success in the Arabian Leopard Program. The birth of this cub in April 2021, pictured here at five months of age, is the latest success in the Arabian Leopard Program. The ultimate aim of the RCU through its program is to improve the Arabian leopard’s status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. To that end it is working in partnership with Panthera, a global conservation organization dedicated to preserving the world’s seven big wild cat species and the critical role they play in global ecosystems.”
Better Biopsies? High-Speed 3D Cameras Could Be the Future (Carina)
The author writes, “Engineers at Columbia University are working to give biopsies a much-needed upgrade. There, Elizabeth Hillman, PhD, and her team have developed a high-speed 3D microscope that can rapidly take photos of live cells without having to extract them from the body. The result: A noninvasive approach where results happen a whole lot faster. ‘Tissue looks different at different depths,’ Hillman says. ‘If you have a 3D image of the tissue, you can look at it at different levels – something that can’t be done with 2D images.’ Until now, examining those depths required a scalpel. But the technology Hillman and her team have developed, called MediSCAPE, involves simply dragging a small probe across the tissue. The probe very quickly takes many pictures of the living cells, making a large-scale 3D view of the tissue’s tiny features.”
