We didn’t know that the smoke was coming, for instance. On Tuesday morning, meteorologists predicted that the same moderate haze that has hung around all season would again hit the East Coast. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation put out an alert saying that the air quality index, or AQI, might rise to 150 across the state.
They did not forecast — nobody, as far as I can tell, did — that the worst air pollution in decades would soon wallop the state. By Tuesday night, New York City’s AQI had already reached 174, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. As I walked home in D.C., I could see tendrils of visible smoke hugging the upper stories of apartment buildings.
This prediction failure gave the ensuing response a halting, confused quality. How could such a massive event come out of nowhere? Not until Thursday afternoon — when the smoke had nearly passed — did the federal government advise its workers that they could telework or take vacation time to avoid the bad air. On Friday, New York closed in-person schools, just in time for blue sky to return.
Category: WTF (Page 4 of 5)
VoA » Ten Chinese air force planes crossed Taiwan Strait median line, Taiwan’s National Defense Ministry said Sunday. The strait is generally viewed as the unofficial border between Taiwan and China. The ministry also said four Chinese ships conducted combat patrols Sunday. Taiwan deployed its own aircraft and ships in response to China’s moves. This marks the second time in less than a week that China has stepped up military activities around Taiwan. On Thursday, Taiwan reported that 37 Chinese military aircraft had flown into China’s air defense zone. Taiwan is democratically governed, but China claims it as Chinese territory.
Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.
STAND WITH UKRAINE 🇺🇦
Luckily the researcher had told us that they had carried out their research using ChatGPT. In response to being asked about articles on this subject, the AI had simply made some up. Its fluency, and the vast training data it is built on, meant that the existence of the invented piece even seemed believable to the person who absolutely hadn’t written it.
Huge amounts have been written about generative AI’s tendency to manufacture facts and events. But this specific wrinkle – the invention of sources – is particularly troubling for trusted news organisations and journalists whose inclusion adds legitimacy and weight to a persuasively written fantasy.
A government official in India has been suspended after he ordered a reservoir to be drained to retrieve his phone.
It took three days to pump millions of litres of water out of the dam, after Rajesh Vishwas dropped the device while taking a selfie.
19 students and 2 teachers lost their lives at the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, a year ago, on May 24, 2022. May these innocent lives rest in peace.
Not much, if anything has changed for the better. More guns. More mass shootings. Americans, as a whole, appear to have become desensitized to mass killings that occur with alarming regularity. In the year since 21 people were killed at Robb Elementary School, the US has seen at least 600 other mass shootings.
NY Times » How grief has warped the lives of the Uvalde shooting victims’ families and friends.
Mother Jones » The Uvalde Massacre Could Have Been Prevented had it not been for the disastrous police response
Axios » Politicians have expanded gun access in the US since Uvalde