151
Almost all of the world’s mammal biomass is humans and livestock
Humans and livestock make up 95% of the world’s mammal biomass; wild mammals are just 5%.
Most cited
Posts that commenters keep linking to, ranked by how many different people have cited them in Hacker News comments. 894 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
Any year
152
Two-Thirds of Americans Think Government Should Do More on Climate
There is bipartisan support for several proposals to reduce the effects of climate change, especially for large scale tree-plantings to help absorb carbon emissions and offering tax credits to businesses that capture carbon emissions.
153
Sizing Up Twitter Users
Twitter users are younger, more likely to identify as Democrats, more highly educated and have higher incomes than U.S. adults overall.
154
Terminating Service for 8Chan
The mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio are horrific tragedies. In the case of the El Paso shooting, the suspected terrorist gunman appears to have been inspired by the forum website known as 8chan.
155
Road traffic injuries
WHO fact sheet on road traffic injuries providing key facts and information on who is at risk, drink driving, motor cycle helmets, seat belts and child restraints, and WHO response.
156
Obesity and overweight
Obesity and overweight fact sheet from WHO providing key facts and information on causes, health consequences, double burden of disease, prevention, WHO response.
157
Request For Research: Basic Income
We’re going to try something new—our first Request For Research. We’d like to fund a study on basic income—i.e., giving people enough money to live on with no strings attached. I’ve been intrigued by the idea for a while, and although there’s been a lot of discussion, there’s fairly little data about how it would…
158
Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide
The Free and Open Source 3D Creation Software — blender.org
159
Blocking Kiwifarms
We have blocked Kiwifarms. Visitors to any of the Kiwifarms sites that use any of Cloudflare's services will see a Cloudflare block page and a link to this post.
160
Larry Page addresses PRISM
You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM. As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we…
161
What Americans die from vs. what the news reports on
What do Americans die from, and what do the New York Times, Washington Post, and Fox News report on?
162
Software Freedom Conservancy files GPL lawsuit against Vizio
The Software Freedom Conservancy provides a non-profit home and services to Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects.
163
Vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians
Vehicles with especially tall front ends are most dangerous to pedestrians, but a blunt profile makes medium-height vehicles deadly too.
164
CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978
The latest report in EPI’s annual series analyzing current and long-term trends in CEO compensation.
165
There's No Fire Alarm for Artificial General Intelligence
What is the function of a fire alarm?
166
Tildes – A non-profit community site driven by its users' interests
Online communities are in a precarious and unhealthy state right now. We can do better.
167
We can break up Big Tech
By Elizabeth Warren
168
Extreme poverty: How far have we come, and how far do we still have to go?
The world has made immense progress against extreme poverty, but it is still the reality for almost one in ten people worldwide.
169
Wrong Again: 50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions
Modern doomsayers have been predicting climate and environmental disaster since the 1960s. They continue to do so today. None of the apocalyptic predictions with due dates as of today have come true. What follows is a collection of notably wild predictions from notable people in government and science.
170
Amnesty International concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
171
Grand jury subpoena for Signal user data, Eastern District of Virginia
In the “first half of 2016” (the most specific we’re permitted to be), we received a subpoena from the Eastern District of Virginia. The subpoena required us to provide information about two Signal users for a federal grand jury investigation. We’ve designed the Signal service to minimize the dat...
172
What the data says about crime in the U.S.
Federal statistics show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s.
173
What share of global CO₂ emissions come from aviation?
Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions. But it has contributed around 4% to global warming to date.
174
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels were key to industrialization and rising prosperity, but their impact on health and the climate means that we should transition away from them.
175
Employers steal billions from workers’ paychecks each year: Survey data show millions of workers are paid less than the minimum wage, at significant cost to taxpayers and state economies
This report assesses the prevalence and magnitude of one form of wage theft—minimum wage violations (workers being paid at an effective hourly rate below the binding minimum wage)—in the 10 most populous U.S. states. We find that, in these states, 2.4 million workers lose $8 billion annually (an average of $3,300 per…
176
Cancer
Cancers are one of the leading causes of death globally. Are we making progress against them?
177
Not just “a few bad apples”: U.S. police kill civilians at much higher rates than other countries
Police violence is a systemic problem in the U.S., not simply incidental, and it happens on a scale far greater than other wealthy nations.
178
Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War
A statement from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War and national security uses of AI.
179
Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant
This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and …
180
The Techno-Optimist Manifesto
We are told that technology is on the brink of ruining everything. But we are being lied to, and the truth is so much better. Marc Andreessen presents his techno-optimist vision for the future.