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The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 913 posts.
Please try this experiment for me. Try asking this question out loud, in a tone of intellectual interest and engagement: “Are you suggesting that the two have the same effect?”. Now try asking this question out loud, in a tone of hostility and incredulity bordering on sarcasm: “Are you suggesting that the two have the…
The number of people who majored in computer science in the US isn't much higher in 2015 than in 2005. Why do so few students major in computer science?
It's not just passengers refusing to wear personal protection equipment that's a problem at the airline. It seems another problem is passengers who wear too much. So last week American Airlines sent a memo to its customer care agents on "Prohibited Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)."
Revenue of $4.1 billion, growing 37% year-over-year or 39% on a constant currency basis Rides Adjusted EBITDA of $742 million, with continued margin expansion Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019. Financial Highlights for…
According to the state authority Statistics Sweden (SCB) data, september 2020 was the least deadly month per capita ever in Swedish history. So far the year 2020 has been the third least deadly year per capita ever in the country, despite the tragic and global Covid-19 pandemic.Deaths in September 1860 - 2020 in…
Preface:I have worked in the United States and England as a researcher for most of my life, I am Italian and a few years ago I became the father of a beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, for reasons …
By removing old, obsolete dams, we are healing the ecosystem and restoring life to the Hudson and its tributaries
Americans have a lower life expectancy than people in other rich countries despite paying much more for healthcare. What factors may explain this?
An analysis of Denmark’s wind industry offers lessons for policymakers seeking to increase renewable electricity production with limited budgets, according to Cynthia Lin Lawell.
Update December 14, 2021: After this post was published, on June 4, 2021, a federal magistrate judge in Kansas issued another opinion denying the government's application for a geofence warrant.Update May 17, 2021: Since this post was published, the court unsealed its July 24, 2020 opinion denying...
The Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory has deployed an in-house diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19. Rapid identification of infected people could help limit the spread of the virus.
In a stunning victory for nonprofits and NGOs around the world working in the public interest, ICANN today roundly rejected Ethos Capital’s plan to transform the .ORG domain registry into a heavily indebted for-profit entity. This is an important victory that recognizes the registry’s long legacy...
This post sparked a great conversation on Hacker News! See the comments here. “Quantity has a quality of its own”–Attribution contested A significant factor in the power of states throughout history has been sheer numbers. Spain was able to control an overseas empire to a significantly greater degree than Portugal…
As the Covid-19 crisis progresses, censorship programs advance, amid calls for China-style control of the Internet
What is life? This question keeps many people awake at night and has led to rafts of definitions, some involving features (procreation, metabolism and so forth), some involving chemistry, entropy or energy flux and some are of a more philosophical bent. A BBC article noted there are over 100 definitions of life and it…
By Gabriel and Ernest Oppetit Unforseen shit happens. 9/11, the 2008 crash, Brexit, Trump, COVID-19… you know the story. These events surprised us because our information diets are domi…
There’s a person I think about from time to time.
Memories of long-ago Sunday nights on the road.
Dear Mark Zuckerberg, Voting has already begun in one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history. More than ever before in American politics, t…
The gloves were off on Tuesday as the US Government explicitly argued that all journalists are liable to prosecution under the Espionage Act (1917) for publishing classified information, citing the Rosen case. Counsel for the US government also argued that the famous Pentagon Papers supreme court judgement on the New…
