A covert Israeli online campaign was trying to get American lawmakers on its side
Israel is funding an alleged online campaign aimed at “distorting” public opinion in the US amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the New York Times reported. The campaign was launched in 2018 by a firm hired by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. Its aim was to influence lawmakers to support Israel’s military operations in Gaza, it added.
The age of the police is here
Police drones in a US border city have been flying over residents for years in an effort to investigate thousands of 911 calls, a report said. Recently, a man in Chula Vista heard a drone’s ‘buzz’ over his head and was followed by police, who rummaged through his pockets. A resident said drones make him feel safer but some people feel like they are always being watched.
Deplatforming on January 6th decreased the reach of misinformation
A new study published in Nature has found that deplatforming did not reduce harms of online misinformation on fringe users. It added that complementary effects in online social networks and news consumption were a natural experiment. “It’s hard to see how deplatforming can reduce the harms of online misinformation,” it stated. This comes days after Facebook removed fake news from its platform.
TWo suspended a large amount of accounts after the Capitol riots
A team of US scientists has cooled down 1,000 molecules in a cloud to make a quantum condensate. “This condensate, which is over six billionths of a degree above absolute zero, is the world’s biggest quantum condensate,” researchers said. They said that tuning microwave fields to allow interaction between molecule will allow the system to separate into quantum droplets.
Chinese science still has potential to grow
The Nature Index, which tracks international research collaborations, has found that China’s researchers are now working with scientists in countries taking part in the Beijing government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to data from the Nature Index, China’s researchers are increasingly working with scientists in countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
China has a strong research clout that leads to growth in science publishing
China is leading in areas of “relative weakness” in the global publishing system, Shu Fei, a researcher at Hangzhou Dianzi University in China, said. China’s areas of weakness have the highest percentage of internationally collaborative papers in Nature Index, Fei said. She added China wants to become more involved in helping to shape how the global publishing system works.
MDMA therapy was rejected by FDA advisors due to concerns over research
US’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has rejected an application for MDMA therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amid concerns over research. The drug is currently being tested in Phase II trials, but the advisory panel found no abuse-related injuries or deaths among the patients receiving MDMA. It also raised concerns over the clinical research used for the trials.
The first step is to negotiate a treaty
The World Health Organization’s decision-making body, the WHO’s 2024 World Health Assembly, has failed to agree on the final wording for a pandemic treaty on May 27. The agreement and treaty extension were both announced on 1 June, the final day of the 2024 World Health Assembly, the WHO’s annual decision-Making meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
There is a culture of risk and retaliation at Openai
OpenAI CEO Scott Altman, in a letter to AI CEOs, said, “We believe in AI’s potential to benefit society, however, we also see risks, such as the entrenchment of inequalities, manipulation and misinformation, and the possibility of human extinction.” “Ordinary whistleblower protections are inadequate because they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated,” Altman added.
Mexico has a female president
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel Lpez Obrador on Sunday congratulated his challenger Claudia Sheinbaum on her victory in the country’s elections. “Congratulations on your victory…We are all very happy for you!” Lpez Obrador tweeted. Sheinbaum will become the country’s first female President when she is sworn in on July 1. Obrador won the election with 54.44% of the votes.