AI and energy demand: “numbers are often fairly small but sound big because they’re not given with any context of how much energy or water we use for everything else.”

Link. I have been waiting for somebody to do this.

“De Vries estimated how much energy would be used if all of the servers delivered in 2023 were running at full capacity. It came to around 5 to 10 TWh; a tiny fraction of the 460 TWh that is used for all data centres, transmission networks and cryptocurrency.”

Buried in a NYT article on Latino shift to Trump — one important paragraph

Link. “These voters were not necessarily poor: Many said they could afford groceries, but that higher prices left them with far less disposable income. Voters earning $20 an hour complained bitterly about being unable to take their families to the movies or on carefree outings at the mall.”

If you care about the future of American democracy look deeper at employed non-college Americans earning between $20-40 an hour. Ignore what they say. Don’t assume “inflation” is the root cause. Ask “why should they feel increasingly desperate over the past 20 years?

Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis doubled in young people — but appears to be a coding issue.

Link. The codes used in billing were for general pancreatic cancer, but the increase appears to be due to enhanced imaging and incidental discoveries of endocrine tumors that are thought to often resolve spontaneously. (Not mentioned in article – Steve Jobs died of an endocrine tumor because he refused the early surgery that would have removed it. They don’t always regress.)

Waiting for a Photogenic Child to Die of Measles

Link. “A major outbreak seems inevitable. When it happens, I hope there will be pictures. I hope they will be heart-breaking. I hope the parents will be brave enough to admit that their lives were shattered by their own choice.”

Might as well assign the journalist team now. A good reminder that humans are not actually very rational. And an example of how news is made or unmade.