ReHacked #68: Toyota is pushing Congress to slow the shift to electric vehicles in favour for hydrogen, Debian for mobile, Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich and more

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Toyota is quietly pushing Congress to slow the shift to electric vehicles #economy #futurism

The US is slowing moving toward adopting policies that would put more electric vehicles on the road, but for Toyota, it’s not slow enough. The Japanese automaker, which is the largest car company in the world, has been quietly lobbying policymakers in Washington, DC to resist the urge to transition to an all-electric future — partly because Toyota is lagging behind the rest of industry in making that transition itself.

And a little bit more: Toyota has stepped up lobbying to preserve its investments in hybrids, hydrogen.

Mobian - Debian for mobile. #software

The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich #economy #longread

This paper uses data from 18 OECD countries over the last five decades to estimate the causal effect of major tax cuts for the rich on income inequality, economic growth, and unemployment. First, we use a new encompassing measure of taxes on the rich to identify instances of major reductions in tax progressivity. Then, we look at the causal effect of these episodes on economic outcomes by applying a nonparametric generalization of the difference-in-differences indicator that implements Mahalanobis matching in panel data analysis.

We find that major reforms reducing taxes on the rich lead to higher income inequality as measured by the top 1% share of pre-tax national income. The effect remains stable in the medium term. In contrast, such reforms do not have any significant effect on economic growth and unemployment.

Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk #technology

"Robot, stand up" - Oscar Constanza, 16, gives the order and slowly but surely a large frame strapped to his body lifts him up and he starts walking.

Fastened to his shoulders, chest, waist, knees and feet, the exoskeleton allows Oscar - who has a genetic neurological condition that means his nerves do not send enough signals to his legs - to walk across the room and turn around.

Maybe it’s time to think about sharing what you are reading? ;)

Tencent's WeChat suspends new user registration for security compliance #security

Tencent's WeChat has temporarily suspended registration of new users in mainland China as it undergoes a technical upgrade "to align with relevant laws and regulations", China's dominant instant messaging platform said on Tuesday.

"We are currently upgrading our security technology to align with all relevant laws and regulations," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

"During this time, registration of new Weixin personal and official accounts has been temporarily suspended. Registration services will be restored after the upgrade is complete, which is expected in early August," it added.

Weixin is the Chinese name for WeChat.

Most big number theory results are apparently 50-100 page papers where deeply understanding them is ~as hard as a semester-long course.

Because of this, ~nobody has time to understand all the results they use—instead they "black-box" many of them without deeply understanding.

#science #twitter-thread

Eyes wide shut: How newborn mammals dream the world they’re entering #nature

As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen before they have experienced sight?

A new Yale study suggests that, in a sense, mammals dream about the world they are about to experience before they are even born.

Writing in the July 23 issue of Science, a team led by Michael Crair, the William Ziegler III Professor of Neuroscience and professor of ophthalmology and visual science, describes waves of activity that emanate from the neonatal retina in mice before their eyes ever open.

France issues moratorium on prion research after fatal brain disease strikes two lab workers #science #health

Five public research institutions in France have imposed a 3-month moratorium on the study of prions—a class of misfolding, infectious proteins that cause fatal brain diseases—after a retired lab worker who handled prions in the past was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the most common prion disease in humans. An investigation is underway to find out whether the patient, who worked at a lab run by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), contracted the disease on the job.

Rescuing drowning children: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water. #safety

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs—vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

The Wisdom Of Trees (Da Vinci Knew It) #nature

Leonardo da Vinci wrote “all the branches of a tree at every stage of  its height when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk”. In  2011 Christophe Eloy investigated and found that trees which followed  Leonardo's rule would be the best at resisting wind-induced fracture.

Orbiter is now open source | Orbiter Forum #software #space

Ajit Pai apparently mismanaged $9 billion fund—new FCC boss starts “cleanup” #internet #politics

The Federal Communications Commission wants SpaceX to give up a portion of the $885.51 million in broadband funding it was awarded in a reverse auction in December 2020.

SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband division was one of the biggest winners in the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) grants announced in Ajit Pai's last full month as FCC chairman. Overall, Pai's FCC awarded $9.2 billion over 10 years ($920 million per year) to 180 bidders nationwide, with SpaceX slated to get $885.51 million over 10 years to serve homes and businesses in parts of 35 states.

Pai apparently mismanaged the auction, as an announcement yesterday from Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office said the FCC has to "clean up issues with the program's design originating from its adoption in 2020." The FCC cited "complaints that the program was poised to fund broadband to parking lots and well-served urban areas." The FCC suggested that SpaceX give up its funding in about 6 percent of the census blocks where it's slated to get money. Other ISPs are being asked to give up smaller portions of their funding.

ZZ Top icon Dusty Hill has died at the age of 72, band says https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/07/28/zz-top-icon-dusty-hill-has-died-at-the-age-of-72-band-says/ #pro-memoria

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Dainius