Rotundus.com

California, Coffee and Cancer: One of These Doesn’t Belong

"If Americans slap a label on every substance that has the potential to cause cancer, eventually those labels will stop having any meaning. If nearly inconsequential dangers get the same warning as significant dangers, people might start ignoring preventive efforts entirely."

Second-largest earthquake in modern South Korean history tied to geothermal plant

I've talked before re: nuclear how pretty much any form of power generation poses risks. Geothermal is no exception.

Relative's DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area Rapist case, DA's office says

"The effort was part of a painstaking process that began by using DNA from one of the crime scenes from years ago and comparing it to genetic profiles available online through various websites that cater to individuals wanting to know more about their family backgrounds by accepting DNA samples from them, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi."

The single most dangerous moment for a tyrannical regime is when it starts to "reform". How do you safely open a pressure cooker that was designed not to have a safety valve?

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) April 21, 2018

Noninvasive spinal stimulation method enables paralyzed people to regain use of hands, study finds

This sounds really cool: "A UCLA-led team of scientists reports that six people with severe spinal cord injuries — three of them completely paralyzed — have regained use of their hands and fingers for the first time in years after undergoing a nonsurgical, noninvasive spinal stimulation procedure the researchers developed. ... In addition to regaining use of their fingers, the research subjects also gained other health benefits, including improved blood pressure, bladder function, cardiovascular function and the ability to sit upright without support."

Watching the Election from The Post-Truth Future

"Contrary to popular sentiment in the US, Chinese readers don’t blindly trust the state-run media. Rather, they distrust it so much that they don’t trust any form of media, instead putting their faith in what their friends and family tell them. No institution is trusted enough to act as a definitive fact-checker, and so it’s easy for misinformation to proliferate unchecked. This has been China’s story for decades. In 2016, it is starting to be the US’ story as well."

Getting the message across: evaluating think tank influence in Congress

"think tanks engage in strategic ideological positioning to maximize their influence. ... think tanks’ ideological positioning affects directly how members of Congress engage with them, both by citing them in floor speeches and in calling them to testify, with more extreme think tanks being cited more frequently in floor speeches and more moderate think tanks called more often to testify." You can find an ungated draft of the paper here

Here's what she had to say back in January 2017:

I recently heard one of the more interesting insights about Silicon Valley I'd heard in a while. It explained something I’d wondered about for years.

But I can't tell you what it was.

There's too much downside in sharing any opinion that could easily be misinterpreted online. Even facts are dangerous to share if they don’t align with what people want to believe.

There's a lot of concern about "fake news" lately. That is a real problem, but there's also the opposite problem: true things that aren't being said.

Some of the most useful things I've learned about startups over the years are also things I'd never share publicly. Not because the ideas are necessarily controversial in their own right, but because anyone could twist them to seem controversial if they were sufficiently motivated to. And when that happens I immediately regret having said anything. It's a massive distraction. I have two young kids, and I have hundreds of startups to keep track of. I don't have time to fight with people who are trying to misunderstand me.

She's probably one of the most influential women in Silicon Valley. That's one - but not the only - reason why I'll probably later post some thoughts on / excerpts of a 2015 essay by her husband on her and her thought.