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PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Why East Antarctica Is a ‘Sleeping Giant’ of Sea Level Rise (Maria)
The author writes, “Ian Lieser had just started going through the dozens of satellite images he looks at every day when he realized something was missing. As a glaciologist at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, he knew the shape of every ice shelf sticking out from the coast of East Antarctica. And on [March 17, 2022], there was a gap where most of the Conger glacier’s ice shelf had broken off into an iceberg the size of Vienna and drifted away. Lieser was stunned. He had been keeping an eye on Conger since the last few pieces of the neighboring Glenzer ice shelf had broken up 10 days before, but he had not expected to see it disintegrate so quickly.”
Uvalde District Attorney Fights Release of Public Records Against Wishes of Most Families (Reader Steve)
From The Texas Tribune and ProPublica: “Joining the Texas Department of Public Safety’s fight against the release of records, the district attorney claims the support of every family who lost a child in the 2022 mass shooting. Attorneys representing many of the families refute that claim.”
What the Misinformation Scare Reveals About Faith in Democracy (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Put partisanship to one side for the moment. Something else helps distinguish misinformation hawks from misinformation doves, according to a recent paper published in New Media & Society, a top communications journal. In short: The people who perceive the greatest social threat from misinformation tend to be those who have the gravest doubts about ordinary people’s common sense.”
This Changes Everything (Russ)
The author writes, “In 2018, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google — and not one of the tech executives known for overstatement — said, ‘A.I. is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire.’ Try to live, for a few minutes, in the possibility that he’s right. There is no more profound human bias than the expectation that tomorrow will be like today. It is a powerful heuristic tool because it is almost always correct. Tomorrow probably will be like today. Next year probably will be like this year. But cast your gaze 10 or 20 years out. Typically, that has been possible in human history. I don’t think it is now.”
Measles Cases Rising, Vaccines Lagging, Discredited Study Blamed (Mili)
From ABC News: “When a measles outbreak struck Columbus, Ohio, late last year, public health officials learned the overwhelming majority of cases — 80 of 85 — were among unvaccinated children. Investigators from Columbus Public Health went to speak to parents to ask them why they hadn’t vaccinated their children with the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) shot or why they were delaying vaccination. What they found was surprising.”
Earth Has Lost One-Fifth of Its Wetlands Since 1700 — But Most Could Still Be Saved (Laura)
From The Conversation: “Like so many of the planet’s natural habitats, wetlands have been systematically destroyed over the past 300 years. … Being close to a reliable source of water and generally flat, wetlands were always prime targets for building towns and farms. Draining their waterlogged soils has produced some of the most fertile farmland available. But wetlands also offer some of the best natural solutions to modern crises. They can clean water by removing and filtering pollutants, displace floodwater, shelter wildlife, improve our mental and physical wellbeing and capture climate-changing amounts of carbon.”
Scientists Say the Moon Needs Its Own Lunar Time Zone. Here’s Why. (Sean)
The author writes, “On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong took that first fateful step onto the Moon. The exact moment occurred just as our planet’s standard universal time hit 2:56 am. But what time was it for Neil? There’s currently no answer to that question, but with plans in place to inhabit the Moon, that may need to change.”
