IBM: Use AI to Identify Vaccine-Hesitant Parents
May 8th, 2019Mmm hmm.
Via: IEEE:
Growing skepticism toward vaccines has sparked a flareup of measles outbreaks affecting New York City neighborhoods, cruise ships, international airports and even Google’s Mountain View headquarters. To help family physicians reach out to vaccine-hesitant parents, data scientists have shown how computer models can predict the likelihood that an individual child’s parents will not get him or her vaccinated.
Since 2016, the world has witnessed a resurgence in measles cases and deaths as more people choose not to vaccinate their children—a decision that is often influenced by misinformation spread online through social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. By identifying families at greatest risk of not getting vaccinated, computer models could enable health officials and physicians to talk with parents at the stage when they remain undecided about vaccines.
“The reason why this could be useful is that, while it’s very hard to persuade someone once they’ve made up their mind, it might be easier if we know early enough and approach them in a friendly manner explaining why it’s important that their children be vaccinated,” says Tin Oreskovic, a data scientist at IBM’s Chief Analytics Office.
Nearly One in Two Americans Takes Prescription Drugs
May 8th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
Americans are good at popping pills. About 46 percent of the U.S. population used one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days, according to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics. With almost half the U.S. population taking drugs, it may be surprising that this figure is a slight improvement from 10 years prior.
Japan Leads the Way in Child Health: No Compulsory Vaccines. Banned Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) Vaccine
May 5th, 2019As the ghastly Washington Post runs an opinion piece recommending arrests, fines and isolation for people who don’t vaccinate their children…
Via: Global Research:
The U.S. has the very highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized developed countries, with more American children dying at birth and in their first year than in any other comparable nation—and more than half of those who survive develop at least one chronic illness.
American children would be better served if these officials—before imposing questionable and draconian measures—studied child health outcomes in Japan. With a population of 127 million, Japan has the healthiest children and the very highest “healthy life expectancy” in the world—and the least vaccinated children of any developed country. The U.S., in contrast, has the developed world’s most aggressive vaccination schedule in number and timing, starting at pregnancy, at birth and in the first two years of life. Does this make U.S. children healthier? The clear answer is no. The U.S. has the very highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized countries, with more American children dying at birth and in their first year than in any other comparable nation—and more than half of those who survive develop at least one chronic illness. Analysis of real-world infant mortality and health results shows that U.S. vaccine policy does not add up to a win for American children.
Computer Chips Based on Biological Neurons May Help Simulate Larger and More-Complex Brain Models
May 5th, 2019Via: The Scientist:
Neuromorphic chips’ ability to perform complex computational tasks while consuming very little power has caught the attention of the tech industry. The potential commercial applications of neuromorphic chips include power-efficient supercomputers, low-power sensors, and self-learning robots. But biologists have a different application in mind: building a fully functioning replica of the human brain.
Billionaires Worried About Economic System Collapse, Peasant Uprisings
May 5th, 2019Via: Los Angeles Times:
The atmosphere of incongruity that pervaded this week’s annual Milken Institute Global Conference was practically palpable.
The gathering of billionaires, hedge fund managers and other financial industry professionals who converged on the Beverly Hilton hotel largely had a particular end in mind: how to increase their alpha, which, not to get too complicated, means improving their investment returns.
But while the 5,000 attendees could go to sessions on the state of capital markets, listen to the chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund and strike up conversations with some of the world’s most savvy investors, it all had to go down with a rather large dose of bitter medicine.
If the barricades have not been erected in the streets, they were told several times over, they could soon be unless there is reform of the American economic system.
Biomarker for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Identified
May 5th, 2019Via: Stanford:
Stanford scientists devised a blood-based test that accurately identified people with chronic fatigue syndrome, a new study reports.
Tucker Carlson: Facebook’s Zuckerberg Dictating Which Political Opinions You’re “Allowed To Have”
May 5th, 2019Via: Real Clear Politics:
ZUCKERBERG: We’re taking a more proactive role in making sure our partners and developers use our services for good… We’re very focused on making sure our recommendations and discovery services aren’t highlighting groups where people are repeatedly sharing misinformation or harmful content. We’re working hard to remove groups if they exist primarily to violate our policies or do things that are dangerous.
“Groups that do things that are dangerous.” What exactly does that mean? “Dangerous,” like hurting other people? Or “dangerous,” as in saying things that Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t like or considers bad for business? Two days later, we found out. Facebook released its latest enemies list. Alex Jones, Milo Yiannpoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Louis Farrakhan, and Laura Loomer were all designated “dangerous individuals” and banned from Facebook and from its subsidiary, Instagram. Alex Jones’s company, Infowars, was banned as well, and described as a “dangerous organization.” How dangerous is Infowars? So dangerous that you can be banned from Facebook just for sharing its content, unless you also denounce it. Think about that for a moment. Mark Zuckerberg isn’t just censoring opinions. He is prescribing which political opinions you’re allowed to hold, which conversations Americans can have about their country. Keep in mind, nobody voted for Mark Zuckerberg. He’s 34 years old. He is completely cut off from reality. He is worth 72 billion dollars. He can single handedly make our first amendment irrelevant.
Managing Conspiracy Theories
May 5th, 2019Via: Richard Dolan:
Robots Edge Closer to Unloading Trucks in Amazon-Era Milestone
May 4th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
As FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. beef up automation to keep pace with surging e-commerce and a potential threat from Amazon.com Inc., they’ve been stumped at a crucial stage: loading and unloading trucks.
Robot makers are getting close to solving part of that puzzle.
Siemens AG and Honeywell International Inc. have built machines that pull packages from the back of a tractor-trailer and place them on conveyor belts, whizzing the parcels off for sorting. Making robots that can load trucks is more complicated, although clearing that hurdle isn’t far off.
“The biggest challenge in our world is: Every single package is different in size, shape, weight, color, material,” said Ted Dengel, managing director of operations technology at FedEx’s ground-delivery unit. “It makes it a very tricky problem.”
Poynter Institute Wants 515 Outlets Blacklisted, Including Blacklisted News
May 4th, 2019And Cryptogon. *chortle*
Via: Blasklisted News:
BlacklistedNews.com made the list (now removed) that Poynter.org published of unreliable news organizations that they would like to see demonitized and Blacklisted from the internet.
Not shocking to say the least.
This is why we are working now to create alternative ways besides traditional banner advertising to support the website. The writing is on the wall and this is far from over.
