Reading archive 2024-07-24

Trump allies crush misinformation research despite Supreme Court loss: High court ruling green-lighting contact between government and tech companies to stymie falsehoods online hasn’t deterred a GOP campaign against academics, nonprofits and tech industry initiatives aimed at addressing their spread.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT SALMON FROM ITS PACKAGING

Opinion  Libraries can help end the culture wars. That’s why they’re under fire.: Nothing threatens authoritarianism like a quiet place to explore knowledge. - "Many school librarians have quit, exhausted by harassment and even death threats; during the 2021-2022 school year, 35 percent of districts nationwide had no librarian at all."

Harris’s campaign will have to contend with DEI, culture war attacks: In the wake of Biden’s announcement that he would not run for a second term, attacks based on Harris’s racial identity were the most common form of criticism of her on X, according to recent data.

Harris’s ascent fills some Black women with jubilation — and fear: Interviews with more than a dozen Black women revealed excitement as well as concern about Harris’s ability to win at a moment when racism and sexism are palpable.

Scientists find ‘dark oxygen’ being produced from metals on the seafloor: Organisms normally need light to produce oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis.

Sharks test positive for cocaine in Brazil’s drug-polluted waters: Brazilian sharpnose sharks found with cocaine in their livers and muscles highlight the impact of the illegal drug trade on marine life, scientists say.

House GOP leaders ask members to stop making racial attacks against Harris: Almost immediately after President Biden announced Sunday that he was endorsing Harris to replace him on the ticket, Republicans began their offensive against Harris.

J.D. Vance said Kamala Harris has no kids. Stepparents would like a word.: The vice president is stepmother to two children, but that hasn’t stopped her opponents from suggesting she isn’t a real parent.

How ‘carbon cowboys’ are cashing in on protected Amazon forest: A six-month investigation reveals that many carbon credit ventures reap profits from public lands they have no right to and fail to share revenue with those protecting the forest.

Conspiracy theories about Biden’s covid built on years of Trump rhetoric: Top right-wing figures tied together the major news of the past weeks to fuel falsehoods.