Oxybenzone is a common sunscreen ingredient that gives sunscreen its protective powers against UV light. However, this very same chemical turns deadly after attaching to sugars found in anemones and corals and then being exposed to UV light. It essentially metabolises into the opposite of a sunscreen in these conditions; it destroys and kills cells, especially those without protective algae like bleached coral reefs. While oxybenzone is harmful to coral reefs, the true extent of its damage is still being studied. Read full article here
Societal Issues
AI Predicts Crime A Week In Advance With 90 Per Cent Accuracy
An artificial intelligence model built by Ishanu Chattopadhyay and his colleagues analysed crime data in Chicago from 2014 to 2016 and managed to predict future levels of crime down to the nearest 300 metres, a week before they actually happened. While extremely useful, this artificial intelligence has been shown to expose racial prejudice in law enforcement. Hopefully, as the study’s data and methodology have been made available for others to evaluate, these prejudices can be avoided in the next iteration. Read full article here
Merv
August 15, 2022
