Changes to the definitions of conceptual words like ‘woke’ and ‘gaslighting’ are harming our ability to communicate and understand our experiences, a Leeds academic argues. In a new paper published in The Philosophical Quarterly journal, an ethicist at the University of Leeds has coined a term for the harm caused when language change leaves us lost for...
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New Study Shows Unique Findings on SPAC-IPO Filings
Is honesty the best policy? New research from Derek Harmon, assistant professor of strategy, shows that when filing a special purpose acquisition company initial public offering, or SPAC-IPO, being honest about uncertainty may be key to funding success. Three Key Takeaways SPAC-IPO filings are more successful in financing when they openly communicate the uncertainty associated with...
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Minneapolis Cigar Shop Faces 15-Minute Time Limit For Smoking Cigars
A new law that was signed on May 1 will prohibit more than 15 minutes of indoor smoking time at the city’s sole cigar lounge You can’t smoke a cigar in 15 minutes, not even a short one. But a new law that was just signed into effect will limit cigar smokers in Minneapolis to...
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Alcohol Use Disorder Can Be Treated with an Array of Medications – but Few People Have Heard of Them
More than 29.5 million Americans ages 12 and up had alcohol use disorder – the medical term for the disease commonly known as alcoholism – in 2022, when the most recent national data was published. The condition is characterized by a pattern of heavy alcohol consumption with loss of control over drinking despite negative social,...
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History Says Tariffs Rarely Work, but Biden’s 100% Tariffs on Chinese EVs Could Defy the Trend
Hundreds of BYD vehicles wait at a port in Suzhou, China, to ship out. AFP via Getty Images In June 2019, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “Trump doesn’t get the basics. He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China. Any freshman econ student could tell you that the American people are paying his tariffs.”...
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Facebook Marketplace Is Home to Steals and Deals—and Serious Trust Issues
Love it or hate it, Facebook Marketplace is the largest online resale site today with more than one billion monthly users. A new study conducted by UBC researchers sheds light on the intricate web of trust, privacy and safety factors shaping users’ experiences on this popular platform. Researchers interviewed 42 Facebook Marketplace buyers and sellers...
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Model Disgorgement: the Key to Fixing AI Bias and Copyright Infringement?
– Ian Scheffler By now, the challenges posed by generative AI are no secret. Models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Meta’s Llama have been known to “hallucinate,” inventing potentially misleading responses, as well as divulge sensitive information, like copyrighted materials. One potential solution to some of these issues is “model disgorgement,” a set of techniques that force models to...
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Pagan-Christian Trade Networks Supplied Horses from Overseas for the Last Horse Sacrifices in Europe
Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the Late Viking Age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals, according to research from Cardiff University. Published in the journal Science Advances, studies on the remains of horses found at ancient burial sites in Russia and Lithuania show that they were brought overseas from Scandinavia utilising expansive trade...
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Clean Needles Save Lives. In Some States, They Might Not Be Legal.
Kim Botteicher hardly thinks of herself as a criminal. On the main floor of a former Catholic church in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Botteicher runs a flower shop and cafe. In the former church’s basement, she also operates a nonprofit organization focused on helping people caught up in the drug epidemic get back on their feet. The...
_nasjonal_samling_(ns-_norwegian_nazi_party)_ss-skijegerbataljon_alt_for_norge_den_norske_legion_nsuf_wehrmacht_1943_blend_svarthandleren_etc_hjemmefrontmuseet_rakkestad_local_ww2_museum_permanently_exhibit.jpeg?sfvrsn=a651dbde_5 "Information Warfare and Its Casualties")
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Information Warfare and Its Casualties
A review of Peter Pomertantsev, “How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler” (PublicAffairs, 2024) “And who, in this moment, is the real Sefton Delmer?” asks Peter Pomerantsev about the subject of his new book, “How to Win an Information War.” “Which is his real voice, the one that expresses his ‘true’...
