Clement Tahershamsi @Clementulus@social.cleverlibre.org

Happy Friday, everyone. Here's a new view from JWST's MIRI of spiral galaxy NGC 1566. The colors in this image come from the emission of dust. Hardly any stars are visible. The reddish areas correspond with star formation, though.

Data via Proposal GO 2107 / Janice Lee

The profits of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell have skyrocketed by 169% so far this year to $125 billion.

While you were paying through the nose at the gas pump, Big Oil companies were using the cover of inflation to line their pockets.

It's time for a windfall profits tax.

HOT OLDER MEN in YOUR AREA want to know if YOU have been TOUCHING the THERMOSTAT.

Ursula K. Le Guin

#quotes #literature #books #imagination

"The endothelium is a vertebrate specific specialization of the circulatory system that enabled a critical new level of vasoregulation. The evolutionary origin of these endothelial cells is unclear. We hypothesized that Mir-126, an endothelial cell-specific microRNA may be informative."

#Preprint #Evolution #Development #endothelium

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.23.517662v1

Today in #Science (@sciencemagazine), Claudia Arevalo, Scott Hensley, & al develop an #mRNA–#LipidNanoparticle #vaccine encoding #hemagglutinin antigens from all 20 known #influenza A & B virus subtypes/lineages! #Vaccination protected animals challenged w/ matched & mismatched viral strains!

In the same issue,
Alyson Kelvin & Darryl Falzarano write a wonderful Perspective on this important next step towards a #UniversalFluVaccine!

Article: bit.ly/Sci_abm0271
PS: bit.ly/Sci_adf0900

#IAV #IBV

autumn

"RACISM IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ISSUE CONFRONTING AMERICA.

A nation whose ancestry includes every people on earth, whose motto is E pluribus unum, whose ideals of freedom under law have inspired millions throughout the world, cannot continue to harbor prejudice against any racial or ethnic group without betraying itself. Racism is an affront to human dignity, a cause of hatred and division, a disease that devastates society."

https://www.bahai.us/the-vision-of-race-unity-americas-most-challenging-issue/

#RaceUnity #Racism

So, to start with, I've decided that I'll be posting one paragraph daily from a letter entitled "Vision of #RaceUnity: America's Most Challenging Issue":

https://www.bahai.us/the-vision-of-race-unity-americas-most-challenging-issue/

Each paragraph will be a public toot for max visibility. Hopefully this can develop into a thread and attract some deep thought from Americans—black, white, and otherwise—as well as concerned folks from around the world. #BlackFedi #Racism #Prejudice #Unity

The railroad workers may strike soon, which will decimate the US supply chain. Before you complain that you can’t find your favorite crackers or shampoo at the store, please acknowledge the reasons why rail workers are striking:

· The rank-and-file workers that run the trains have been on call, 24-7 for years due to the new normal of skeleton crews. Trains are running with crews of one or, in some cases, none as remote control (yes, you read that right) is now allowed. They can’t plan to attend their daughter’s birthday party or their brother’s wedding.

· Currently, under their present contract, they have zero paid sick leave. They must give 30 days notice for a doctor’s appointment or family emergency. The Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) contract terms proposed by the Biden admin gives them 1 paid sick day.

· Railroad companies’ profit is soaring. Rather than sharing that windfall with the rank and file, profit is paid out in stock dividends or used for stock buybacks (a practice that artificially boosts stock performance).
Railroad company profits (for 3-month periods, not yearly!):
- Union Pacific $1.84 billion in - 2nd quarter 2022
- BNSF $1.66 billion (up 10%) in 2nd quarter 2022
- CSX $1.11 billion (up 15%) in 3rd quarter 2022 on 2% more freight

One more thing – If the railroad workers do go on strike, Congress is likely to vote to force them back to work. Historically, these types of resolutions have seen high levels of bipartisan support because Congress is not pro-worker, they are classists that protect the interests of Wall Street and the stock ownership class above all else.

#Solidarity #union #unionstrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_vG9i8AmQ&t=1s

Good night all. Sweet dreams.

#Aurora, #photography

The three chinese curses, for those who are curious, are usually some variation of:

1. May you live in interesting times

2. May you be recognized by powerful people

3. May you get what you wish for

In this case its a more stylized version of #3

Understanding #Mastodon gets easier once you get the basic idea that federation between servers can be understood as homeomorphisms across hyperplanes between the Riemannian manifolds of toots, whereas the servers represent countable finite sets of discrete entities.

#Peace in not the refusal to defend oneself and one's community.
Peace is the commitment never to attack anyone.
and mostly, Peace is an internal sense of #tranquility, regardless of external #circumstances.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
http://www.jlhuie.com/2022/11/todays-affirmation-i-am-at-peace-with.html

Perspectives.

Just posted a new workingpaper:

The political economy of AI regulation: Towards democratic control of the means of prediction

https://maxkasy.github.io/home/files/papers/handbook_politicalecon_ai.pdf

This is a first draft of a handbook chapter.
It covers a lot of topics that I have been thinking about; feedback and comments are very much appreciated!

#machinelearning #inequality #AI #ethics

Did #austerity cause #Brexit? In the past weeks there was much talk in the UK on a return of #austerity. I am a Prof of Economics at Warwick University and I wrote a paper in 2018 that shows how #austerity was instrumental to bringing about #Brexit. This is a means of #introduction on here.

Open Access ➡️ https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20181164

The paper shows that #austerity was a pivotal driver of #Brexit result. But that is only half the story: most likely there wouldnt have been an #EUReferendum ...