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.
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Nextdoor Is Quietly Getting the Cops Involved: Report
The author writes, “Community platform Nextdoor is courting police across the country, creating concerns among civil rights and privacy advocates who worry about possible conflicts of interest, over-reporting of crime, and the platform's record of racial profiling, per a Thursday report by CityLab.”
The Risk of Severe COVID-19 Is Not Uniform (Gerry)
The author writes, “Emerging patterns in the outbreaks and deaths from the infection suggest that the post-lockdown phase will involve a return to classic epidemiology. It will, in other words, be calibrated to the places and people involved. What might work in densely packed, multicultural New York City will be different from what is suitable in homogeneous, rural Wisconsin.”
How Stanford Lost Its Soul (Russ)
The author writes, “During the current pandemic, Stanford is making a mark for something less admirable than birthing the tech revolution. Stanford has become the main academic vector for contrarian Covid-19 thinking, helping give legitimacy to arguments that the world is overreacting to the virus.”
Women Justices Cut off More, Spoke Less in Phone Hearings (Judy)
From Law360: “Women justices participating in the U.S. Supreme Court’s first-ever teleconference hearings were interrupted significantly more often than their male colleagues and were given less overall speaking time, according to a report published Tuesday.”
The Brain Can ‘Update’ Memories With Incorrect Information (Mili)
The author writes, “A new study shows that the brain can update or ‘edit’ poorly-formed memories with the wrong information, potentially causing confusion, anxiety disorders like PTSD and, in extreme cases, false memories.”
These Drones Will Plant 40,000 Trees in a Month (Dana)
From Fast Company: “On land north of Toronto that previously burned in a wildfire, drones are hovering over fields and firing seed pods into the ground, planting native pine and spruce trees to help restore habitat for birds. Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this month.” |
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Shining a light on corruption while being honest about its scale is not merely a matter of accuracy—it is a matter of Ukraine’s survival. In...