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Daily Archives: July 8, 2021

Word learning dogs provide an animal model for studying exceptional performance

Fugazza, C., Dror, S., Sommese, A. et al. Word learning dogs (Canis familiaris) provide an animal model for studying exceptional performance. Sci Rep 11, 14070 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93581-2

“Exceptional performance is present in various human activities but its origins are debated and challenging to study. We report evidence of exceptional performance and qualitative variation in learning object-names in dogs. 34 naïve family dogs and 6 knowledgeable individuals that knew multiple toy names, found in 2 years of search around the Globe, were exposed to 3 months of training to learn two novel toy-names and were tested in two-way choice tests. Only 1 naïve and all 6 knowledgeable dogs passed the tests. Additionally, only these dogs learned at least 10 new toy names over the 3 months, showing qualitative variation in this capacity. Although previous object-name knowledge could provide an explanation for the superior performance of the knowledgeable dogs, their rarity and the absence of previous training of this skill point to exceptional giftedness in these individuals, providing the basis to establish dogs as a model-species for studying talent…”

A Glowing Shrine to the Printed Word

The New York Times – “A mighty wall of books impresses in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, a transformed branch that bursts with new services and technology… That’s why the Stavros Niarchos now delights book obsessives but also offers lines of computers atop long tables and a dizzying array of technology training, career exploration, life-skills… Continue Reading

US COVID-19 Vaccination Tracking

“This tracker compiles spatial and demographic data on COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the United States. To characterize US county-level COVID-19 vaccination patterns accurately we integrated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with data provided by state health departments. We collate these disparate data sources to produce a single estimate of cumulative vaccination… Continue Reading

ALA Committee on Diversity Scorecard for Library and Information Organizations

ALA Committee on Diversity: “The DEI Scorecard for Library and Information Organizations, developed by theALA Committee on Diversity, is an evaluative tool that centers accountability and transparency in determining organizational effectiveness in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of people of color. Additionally, the Scorecard includes areas that impact these… Continue Reading

New York City’s new biometrics privacy law takes effect

Mondaq – “Following the municipal ban on the use of facial recognition technology in Portland, Oregon, New York City’s more expansive “biometric identifier information” law, set to go into effect July 9, 2021, will ban the sale of biometric data but permit the use of biometric identifying technologies with posted notice to customers in “simple language”… Continue Reading

More cell phone data use is negatively affecting Wi-Fi performance, study finds

Citation: “Hidden-nodes in coexisting LAA & Wi-FI: a measurement study of real deployments.” – UChicago researchers find competition between networks decreases performance – “If service becomes slow when you’re trying to send a quick email on your smartphone, you might scroll through your network options and discover how many Wi-Fi networks there are. In fact,… Continue Reading

Outbreak.info

“Outbreak.info is a standardized, searchable platform to discover and explore COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 data from the Center for Viral Systems Biology. Outbreak.info combines together data and metadata from a large number of data sources About the API – This site is a collection of APIs developed from the Su / Wu Labs at Scripps Research… Continue Reading