2:00PM Water Cooler 8/2/2024 | naked capitalism

By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Fowl Tune of the Day

Blue Mockingbird, Presa Los Zompanties, Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico. Ten minutes of mockingbird!

In Case You Would possibly Miss…

1. Charts Friday: New RCP charts (unhealthy information for Trump); many Covid updates (somewhat excellent news).
2. Kamala’s VP search
3. Covid and site visitors security (i.e., cognitive points). New examine from AAA (!).
4. Aphantasia and prosopometamorphopsia.

Politics

“So most of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are actually a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles

Trump Assassination Try

“Video from Trump assassination try sufferer’s POV reveals determine shifting on roof moments earlier than gunfire” [FOX]. “A video from James Copenhaver, one of the victims critically wounded in the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Trump, shows a figure moving across the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building just minutes before gunfire rang out at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In the video taken at 6:08 p.m. on July 13, the person appears on the roof of the building adjacent to where Trump is speaking and can be seen walking from the 1:00 second mark to about the 2:50 second mark.” • Oh. This entire story makes less and less sense as it goes on.

“Pennsylvania county law enforcement officials say Secret Service is presenting a ‘misleading’ picture of Trump shooting scene” [CNN].

Less than one hundred days to go!

Friday’s RCP Poll Averages:

Drops for Trump across the board, including a 2.5% drop nationally (almost outside the margin of error, ha ha), and a blue triangle on the mao for the first time.

* * *

* * *

The Campaign Trail:

Kamala (D): “The presidential election is a toss-up” [Nate Silver, Silver Bulletin]. The deck: “Kamala Harris is giving Democrats the race that Joe Biden couldn’t.” From today’s RCP chart, that’s true. More: “[W}hen we launched the presidential model on June 26 — in the lifetime ago when Joe Biden was the Democratic nominee — the headline in the post that introduced the model was that the election wasn’t a toss-up. Instead, Biden had persistently been behind in the states that were most likely to decide the Electoral College, enough so that he was about a 2:1 underdog in the election despite the uncertainties in the race. His situation wasn’t unrecoverable, or at least it wasn’t until the debate. But you’d rather have had Donald Trump’s hand to play every day of the week and twice on Sundays… Now that the election is in kamala_mode, however, it’s far from clear whose position you’d rather be in, and I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to bet either on Harris or on Trump…. It’s also a toss-up in the states that are most likely to decide the election… And although we can’t tell you who’s going to win, there’s one thing I think we can say with some confidence: Democrats are lucky that they’re getting a second chance in this election with Harris instead of Biden.”

Kamala (D): “Can Kamala Harris Rebuild the Democratic Coalition?” [New York Times]. Nope. PMC 4EVA. That’s not salvageable. “Already, recent polls suggest Ms. Harris is not so weak. It’s still too soon to tell how strong she really is among young and nonwhite voters, as some polls — like New York Times/Siena College polling last week — find her running far ahead of Mr. Biden, while others show little change. But either way, even her best tallies still fall short of typical Democratic margins over the last 15 years. She doesn’t even fare as well as Mr. Biden did in 2020, and his performance among these groups was relatively weak for a Democratic presidential candidate.”

* * *

The VP search:

Kamala (D): “Vetting of Harris V.P. Picks Is Said to Be Complete” [New York Times]. “Vice President Kamala Harris is already scheduled to begin campaigning with her running mate on Tuesday. The decision is now in her hands after a law firm hired to vet possible picks completed its work, according to two people briefed on the process.”

Kamala (D): “Kamala Harris’ veepstakes races toward the finish line” [Politico]. “Some of the aides and allies involved in the vice presidential nominee decision-making process are Harris chief-of-staff Sheila Nix, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, former Rep. Cedric Richmond and Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West, according to two people familiar with the discussions and granted anonymity to discuss a private process. The Harris vetting team has already met with Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Andy Beshear of Kentucky; Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly; and others. The team has also asked vice presidential nominee candidates for previous ads they’ve filmed…. Harris has told aides that she wants someone, ideally, with some sort of executive experience and with whom she has a good rapport. One of the people familiar with the process said Harris is ‘looking for a governing partner above all else. She knows the process better than most, and understands the challenges and opportunities.’ Adam Hodge, a former Biden administration official, noted that Harris is picking someone to potentially govern by her side for years, not just to help her in one election.” • We’ll see how that goes.

Kamala (D): “How a sexual harassment scandal involving a Josh Shapiro aide could affect the Pa. governor’s VP chances” [Philadephia Inquirer]. “Erin McClelland, the Democratic nominee for state treasurer in November’s election, drew eyeballs last week with a thinly veiled and unusual intraparty jab, saying in a tweet that she wanted a vice presidential pick who, among other things, ‘doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug.’ Though she did not identify Shapiro by name, McClelland’s pointed remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to the resignation last year of one of Shapiro’s top aides and closest allies, Mike Vereb, amid a sexual harassment investigation. Vereb, 57, abruptly stepped down in September, three weeks after Shapiro’s administration quietly agreed to pay $295,000 to settle claims from a governor’s office employee who said he’d made repeated sexual advances toward her and often spoken openly — and lewdly — about her, other staff members, and a female state senator. Shapiro’s administration has largely avoided discussing Vereb in the year since, describing his departure as a private personnel matter while maintaining it “takes allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously.” His silence has drawn criticism from female state lawmakers in both parties, who have called for a more transparent accounting of what Shapiro knew about his aide’s conduct and when.” • Whoopsie.

Kamala (D): “Harris VP mystery: Signs point to Shapiro” [Axios]. “Like all big White House secrets — Supreme Court picks or the decision to drop out of the presidential race — the universe of people who have hard intelligence is quite small. But as an announcement nears, that universe starts to expand. For reporters and political obsessives, the game is on. More people know. Then more people think they know. And, finally, everyone pretends to know. Eventually the three groups converge. News leaks out, sending reporters scrambling to confirm if it’s true, which it isn’t always. Trust us, there’s nothing worse than not knowing who the VP pick is after spending months following a candidate around the country when, say, the AP has it. Minutes feel like hours. Hours like days. You wish you’d taken the bar and become a lawyer.” • A more subtle take than usual on horse-race coverage.

Kamala (D): “Mark Kelly emerges as the front runner to become Kamala Harris’ running mate; Here are the reasons” [Economic Times of India]. “In this survey, Senator Mark Kelly has emerged as the favorite among all contenders. The former Astronaut who represents the state of Arizona in the US Senate is also a critic of the gun laws in the US. Further, Harris who may lose out on the votes of white American males may count on Senator Kelly to attract the votes of this community…. Mark Kelly also may be the best candidate to take on Trump’s views on immigration. He is a Senator from a border state. 22% of the respondents view him favorably. He is also viewed negatively by 12%. He is still the best performing candidate…. Arizona is a swing state and this may enable the Democrats to focus on gaining precious votes from this state.” • Obama, according to rumor, wanted Kelly at the top of the ticket, not Kamala.

Kamala: “Who is Mark Kelly, the potential vice-presidential pick from Arizona?” [Guardian].” The Arizona senator was a US navy pilot who served multiple deployments. He was on Celebrity Jeopardy. He is a steadfast partner to his wife, former US representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt at a public event in Tucson in 2011 and has worked alongside Kelly to limit guns since. Oh, and he’s been to space multiple times because he was an astronaut, along with his twin brother, Scott. He even wrote a children’s book about it, called Mousetronaut…. He first ran for office in 2020, winning a special election against Republican Martha McSally to take a Senate seat. He won again in 2024 in the regular Senate election against Blake Masters, a well-funded Peter Thiel acolyte. To win the Senate seat in a purple state, Kelly has struck a centrist tone and proven himself a prolific fundraiser. He hasn’t inspired the intra-party ire that Arizona’s other senator , now-independent Kyrsten Sinema, has. He polls at the top of Arizona politicians for favorability.”

Kamala (D): “Mark Kelly Wasn’t There for Labor When Labor Needed Him” [John Nichols, The Nation]. “After the Democrats took charge of the White House and both chambers of Congress in January 2021, lawmakers introduced the PRO Act in an effort to expand union power. The measure is a sweeping plan to remove barriers to organizing workplaces across the country, and to make it possible for labor and national unions to bargain equitable contracts. The AFL-CIO describes the PRO Act, which is ardently backed by union activists and by Biden and Harris, as “the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression.” Predictably, it is opposed by corporate interests and their congressional allies…. The Senate failed to do so because, in addition to overwhelming Republican opposition, a handful of Senate Democratic Caucus members were reluctant to sign on for the measure, including West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Maine’s Angus King, Virginia’s Mark Warner, and the two senators from Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema and Kelly. In the face a major campaign led by the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) and other unions, Manchin and King joined the vast majority of Senate Democrats as co-sponsors in April 2021, bringing the number of co-sponsors to 47. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber would bring the measure to a vote if 50 Democrats agreed to co-sponsor it. Strategizing began for efforts to break an anticipated Republican filibuster in order to pass the bill. Kelly was seen as the key senator to make it all happen. If he moved, the argument went, Sinema could be convinced to do the same. And if they both signed on, a massive AFL-CIO push was planned in order to get Warner on board. But Kelly never moved, assuring that the measure would, in the words of the Revolving Door Project ‘stagnate in the Senate.’” • He’s perfect!

Kamala (D): “Sen. Mark Kelly’s past days hawking vitamins in China resurfaces amid veepstakes” [New York Post]. “‘I took Shaklee vitamins and the Shaklee rehydration drink while in orbit aboard the space shuttle,’ the former astronaut boasted to the crowd…. The California-based multilevel marketing company lined Kelly’s pockets for a series of speeches in China and the US between 2011 and 2016, which the Huffington Post first reported during the Arizona Democrat’s campaign for the US Senate in 2020. His wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was serving in the US House of Representatives in 2011 — and financial disclosures show Kelly netted $50,000 for Shaklee speeches in that year alone.” • $50,000? That’s all?

* * *

Cancellations:

Kamala (D): “Shapiro cancels fundraising trip in the Hamptons ahead of Harris picking running mate” [CBS]. But:

BREAKING: Gov. Tim Walz has announced the cancellation of his scheduled events for this weekend. The Governor was set to attend two county fairs, a high school football game, and go square dancing. The cancellations have been issued with no specific reasons provided.

— Amzi 🥥 🌴 (@AmziQureshi) August 1, 2024

Kamala (D): “Beshear’s absence generates political buzz as GOP set to dominate stage at Fancy Farm” [Kentucky Lantern]. “An annual West Kentucky church fundraiser well-known for barbeque, political speeches and cheers and jeers from onlookers is ready to be a Republican-dominated affair this weekend as the one two statewide elected Democrats will likely be elsewhere. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s absence from this yr’s Fancy Farm festivities could produce extra buzz than his presence would have — due to hypothesis that Beshear remains to be into consideration as working mate to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.” And–

Kamala (D): “Kamala Harris’ veepstakes races towards the end line” [Politico]. On Friday, “Buttigieg truncated his go to to Kokomo, Indiana, as a consequence of ‘some unexpected scheduling constraints.’”

And:

So am I proper that each veep contender cancelled their occasions however Mark Kelly, who additionally launched a video?

— Nomiki — “No-me-KEY” (@NomikiKonst) August 2, 2024

Lambert right here: My private principle (“with out proof,” as we are saying) is that Kamala already selected Shapiro, which is why she visited Philly. Why else do this? Then the Shapiro intercourse scandal lastly punched by her workers bubble, and it was again to sq. one.

* * *

Trump (R): “The Struggle of Trump’s Political Life” [Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal]. “Can Mr. Trump shift gears? He grew up, as I did, watching ‘The Ed Sullivan Present.’ I’m positive it was on each Sunday evening at 8 on the Trump home in Queens. On that present you noticed each week the good Borscht Belt comics of 1950-70. Their timing—’Take my spouse—please!’—is ingrained in him. What he does now could be shtick, as a result of he likes to entertain and is a performer. The boat’s sinking, the battery’s spitting, the shark’s coming!… This works so completely for individuals who help him. For everybody else it’s simply extra proof of psychopathology. He has to clean up his act. Can he?” Good level. And: Ms. Harris will dominate the approaching week with the disclosing of her vice-presidential alternative. Then there would be the conference, during which they’ll pull out all stops. After which August will likely be over. That means a 3rd of the 100-day marketing campaign will likely be over. Does Mr. Trump know that he’s combating for his life?” Additionally good level. However: “Does she suppose critically, deeply, soberly?…. Some will reply, ‘However Donald Trump isn’t critical!’ My reply can be: That’s why he misplaced the favored vote twice. If Democrats lose the favored vote, they nearly definitely lose the election. Mr. Trump himself would reply: I managed the nuclear arsenal for 4 years. Nothing blew up.” • The entire piece is price studying in full, particularly for Kamala’s positives, that are actual (new, shameless on coverage, born performer, lovely, pent-up help).

Trump (R): “Hillbilly Apprentice: An Interview With Trump Operating Mate JD Vance” [RealClearPolitics]. “If there may be any confusion about Vance, it isn’t as a result of he’s hiding his views. Whereas accepting the vice-presidential nomination in Milwaukee, he blamed the Biden-Harris administration for persevering with the overseas interventionism, deindustrialization, and globalism that he insists have hollowed out the center of the nation. Unhealthy commerce offers, silly financial coverage, and disastrous wars: He lays all of it on the toes of Democrats throughout every marketing campaign cease. But these selections had been typically bipartisan. Vance is aware of this and gives as a lot of a critique towards the previous GOP as a rebuke towards the present White Home. At every cease, Vance, a former U.S. Marine, walks on stage to ‘America First,’ an anti-war ballad from the Bush period by the late nation legend Merle Haggard. ‘Let’s get out of Iraq and get again on the monitor,’ the tune declares, ‘and let’s rebuild America first.’ Each the messaging and the overseas coverage proposals espoused by Vance alarm the standard internationalists inside his political occasion. The junior senator from Ohio appalled lots of them whereas first working for election. ‘I’ve acquired to be trustworthy with you,’ Vance advised former Trump adviser Steve Bannon throughout a 2022 interview. ‘I don’t actually care what occurs to Ukraine a method or one other.” The vice-presidential nomination has made him solely barely much less inflammatory.’” • Not my favourite Ohioan, however it says loads about his strengths that the Democrats dogpiled him with snark as their first transfer. I imply, the perfect they’ll do? (It’s additionally actually unlucky that the Trump marketing campaign didn’t punch again laborious, though maybe circuitously (“I wish to hear him deny it”)).

Trump (R): “Trump’s Racist Assault on Kamala Harris Was No Accident” [Susan Glasser, The New Yorker]. “Harris has all the time been proudly biracial: she is the daughter of an Indian mom and a Black, Jamaican father, each of whom immigrated to the U.S.” • No matter (and see yesterday’s essay on essentialist views vs. social constructionist view of race). Consider it this fashion. The Democrat PMC base is intimately conversant in the workings of Human Sources (HR) departments. HR departments typically use types the place you test a field in your race: White, Black (or, in Elizabeth Warren’s case, American Indian).These packing containers are mutually unique. Kamala’s marketing campaign managed race within the rollout of her supporters identical to an HR division does: Black, White, AAHNPI. The idpol verticals had been pure. Kamala personally behaves as if HR didn’t exist, and that racial caregories are not mutually unique, as Glasser argues; it’s attainable to be Black and Indian (though when Mom Jones writes “White Man Tells Black Journalists His Black Opponent Is Not Black” they’re absolutely on board with the HR paradigm. The problem is that the Democrats wish to have it each methods: They wish to enchantment to a “pure” Black id vertical, however they need a candidate is Black and Indian (and Kamala, as I documented yesterday, additionally presents as Indian). I personally don’t care both means, however the Democrat pondering on race is totally incoherent. Which is fairly wonderful for a celebration whose first transfer is so typically to play the racist card.

* * *

Syndemics

“I’m in earnest — I can’t equivocate — I can’t excuse — I can’t retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison

Covid Sources, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; consists of many counties; Wastewater Scan, consists of drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide knowledge). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Basic Ideas” (particularly on hospitalization by metropolis).

Lambert right here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To replace any entry, do be happy to contact me on the tackle given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!

Sources, United States (Native): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reviews); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (dashboard); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).

Sources, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).

Sources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).

Hat tricks to useful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).

Keep protected on the market!

Transmission: H5N1

“Blowflies are potential vector for avian influenza virus at enzootic space in Japan” [Nature]. From the Abtract: “Excessive pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) poses a major risk to each home and wild birds globally. The avian influenza virus, identified for environmental contamination and subsequent oral an infection in birds, necessitates cautious consideration of different introduction routes throughout HPAI outbreaks. … Blowflies signify a possible vector of HPAI, significantly in enzootic areas. The effectiveness of virus detection from flies depends closely on the prevalence of contaminated and deceased wild birds. C. nigribarbis is widespread in human-populated areas throughout Japan, together with semi-rural areas with poultry farms. Like different bugs, C. nigribarbis intermittently disperses its feces, resulting in environmental contamination. On this examine, we targeted on C. nigribarbis as a result of it was the dominant blowfly species in our examine area and the season, however we couldn’t exclude the contribution of different necrophagous blowflies in HPAI propagation, particularly in geographical areas.” • Oh, tremendous. An insect vector. I’m positive CDC and USDA are throughout this.

Sequelae: Covid

“The Pandemic’s Tenacious Grip on Site visitors Security” (press launch) [American Automobile Association]. “A brand new examine by the AAA Basis for Site visitors Security reveals the COVID-19 pandemic’s lethal impression on site visitors security in the USA. Researchers on the AAA Basis discovered harmful behaviors like dashing, not utilizing seatbelts, and impaired driving contributed to a major rise in deadly crashes in comparison with pre-pandemic instances. Notably, the brand new analysis highlights a disparity within the pandemic’s impression on site visitors security. Black and Hispanic People, already disproportionately affected by site visitors fatalities, noticed much more vital will increase from 2020 by 2022. Equally, these with decrease academic attainment skilled a a lot sharper rise in fatalities in comparison with faculty graduates. Basis researchers discovered that 114,528 individuals had been killed in site visitors crashes on U.S. roads from Might 2020 by December 2022, a 17% bounce in site visitors deaths (almost 17,000 extra fatalities) in comparison with what would have been anticipated underneath pre-pandemic tendencies.” Observe particularly: “The rise in occupant deaths was nearly totally amongst these not sporting seatbelts.” No surprise the seatbelt argument didn’t persuade anti-maskers. Anyhow, go lengthy exective dysfunction.

Lambert right here: New York hospitalization leveling out, WalGreens positivity down for 2 weeks, and now Cleveland positivity down, are the primary optimistic indicators I’ve seen in a very long time. Wastewater nonetheless going sturdy, although!

TABLE 1: Every day Covid Charts

LEGEND

1) ★ for charts new immediately; all others usually are not up to date.

2) For a full-size/full-resolution picture, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Home windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open picture in new tab.”

NOTES

[1] (CDC) This week’s wastewater map, with scorching spots annotated. Retains spreading.

[2] (CDC) Final week’s wastewater map.

[3] (CDC Variants) KP.* very fashionable.

[4] (ER) Price noting Emergency Division use is now on a par with the primary wave, in 2020.

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Leveling off. Doesn’t must be a everlasting factor, after all. (The NY city space has type; in 2020, as the house of two worldwide airports (JFK and EWR) it was an vital entry level for the virus into the nation (and from thence up the Hudson River valley, because the wealthy sought to flee, after which across the nation by air journey.)

[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). The visualization suppresses what’s, in share phrases, a major enhance.

[7] (Walgreens) An optimist would see a peak.

[8] (Cleveland) Slowing. Touch upon the Cleveland Clinic:

Ka-ching.

[9] (Vacationers: Positivity) Up. These sh*theads at CDC have modified the chart in order that it doesn’t even run again to 1/21/23, because it used to, however now begins 1/1/24. There’s additionally no technique to alter the time rasnge. CDC actually doesn’t need you to have the ability to take a historic view of the pandemic, or evaluate one surge to a different. In an any case, that’s why the form of the curve has modified.

[10] (Vacationers: Variants) Identical deal. These sh*theads.

[11] Deaths low, however positivity up.

[12] Deaths low, ED up.

Stats Watch

Employment Scenario: “United States Unemployment Charge” [Trading Economics]. “The unemployment fee in the USA rose to 4.3% in July of 2024 from 4.1% within the earlier month, the very best since October of 2021, and above market expectations that it will stay at 4.1%. Within the meantime, the labor pressure participation fee edged greater to 62.7% from 62.6%.”

Manufacturing: “United States Manufacturing unit Orders” [Trading Economics]. “New orders for US manufactured items fell by 3.3% from the earlier month to $564.2 billion in June of 2024, an even bigger contraction than market expectations of two.9%, to mark the sharpest decline since January. The contraction was largely because of the plunge in orders of transportation gear (-20.6% to $75.79 billion), because the gauge that excludes transportation edged greater by 0.1% from the earlier month.”

Retail: “United States Whole Automobile Gross sales” [Trading Economics]. “Whole Automobile Gross sales in the USA elevated to fifteen.82 Million in July from 15.18 Million in June of 2024.”

Tech: “Absolutely-automatic robotic dentist performs world’s first human process” [The New Atlas]. • No.

Tech: “Eerie new mind-controlling tech can manipulate feelings and even urge for food with none invasive surgical procedure” [The Sun]. “With an exterior magnetic area, scientists on the Institute for Primary Science (IBS) in South Korea discovered they may manipulate nanoparticle-activated ‘switches’ contained in the brains of mice. The expertise, dubbed Nano-MIND (Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics), allowed researchers to manage the feelings and appetites of mice from afar…. Scientists manipulated these neurons by magnetically twisting a tiny actuator to drag or push nanoparticles implanted within the mice’s brains. However that is the primary that hasn’t concerned invasive surgical procedure, and ponderous exterior programs, which has as an alternative allowed mice the liberty of motion. ‘That is the world’s first expertise to freely management particular mind areas utilizing magnetic fields,’ Jinwoo Cheon, director of the IBS Middle for Nanomedicine, stated in an announcement. Cheon, a senior creator of the examine that was not too long ago printed within the journal Nature Nanotechnology, added: ‘We anticipate it to be broadly utilized in analysis to know mind features, refined synthetic neural networks, two-way [brain-computer interface] applied sciences, and new therapies for neurological problems.’” • Simply don’t inform the advertising division!

Tech: “Meta blames ‘hallucinations’ after AI error over assassination try on Donald Trump” [The Telegraph]. “Meta has blamed hallucinations after its AI assistant stated that the latest assassination try on former US President Donald Trump didn’t occur. Synthetic intelligence chatbots are stated to ‘hallucinate’ after they generate deceptive responses to questions that want factual replies. ‘These kinds of responses are known as hallucinations, which is an industry-wide problem we see throughout all generative AI programs, and is an ongoing problem for a way AI handles real-time occasions going ahead,’ stated Joel Kaplan, Meta VP for world coverage.” • They’re not “hallucinations.” They’re bullshit.

At the moment’s Worry & Greed Index: 55 Impartial (earlier shut: 42 Worry) [CNN]. One week in the past: 40 (Worry). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Jul 31 at 2:15:54 PM ET.

Picture Guide

My first critical digital camera was a Mamiya C330:

Zeitgeist Watch

“What Occurs in a Thoughts That Can’t ‘See’ Psychological Photos” [Quanta]. “Two years ago, Sarah Shomstein realized she didn’t have a mind’s eye. The vision scientist was sitting in a seminar room, listening to a scientific talk, when the presenter asked the audience to imagine an apple. Shomstein closed her eyes and did so. Then, the presenter asked the crowd to open their eyes and rate how vividly they saw the apple in their mind. Saw the apple? Shomstein was confused. She didn’t actually see an apple. She could think about an apple: its taste, its shape, its color, the way light might hit it. But she didn’t see it. Behind her eyes, ‘it was completely black,’ Shomstein recalled. And yet, ‘I imagined an apple.’ Most of her colleagues reacted differently. They reported actually seeing an apple, some vividly and some faintly, floating like a hologram in front of them. In that moment, Shomstein, who’s spent years researching perception at George Washington University, realized she experienced the world differently than others. She is part of a subset of people — thought to be about 1% to 4% of the general population — who lack mental imagery, a phenomenon known as aphantasia.” • Word of the day….