Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery With Daily Postings Since 2002
“Arc Institute researchers have developed a machine learning model called Evo 2 that is trained on the DNA of over 100,000 species across the entire tree of life. Its deep understanding of biological code means that Evo 2 can identify patterns in gene sequences across disparate organisms that experimental researchers would need years to uncover. …
Fast Company: “The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has updated its website, and in theory, it’s a model of government transparency. The site lists savings the department claims to have made from cuts, along with bar charts and tables that purport to show the department’s work and the size and scope of the federal government. …
The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Democratic Staff, is surveying the impact of the Trump Administration’s mass firings of federal employees from science agencies. If you were terminated from your position since January 20, 2025, please fill out this brief survey. While anonymous submissions will be helpful to the Committee’s efforts, we encourage you …
Via LLRX – A Digital Extension of Historical Bias: Arab Americans and the New Frontier of Algorithmic Discrimination – The integration of artificial intelligence into U.S. national security operations has automated and amplified discriminatory practices established in the post-9/11 era, creating unprecedented barriers for Arab Americans. This paper by Natalie Abdou examines how AI systems …
Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate …
Via LLRX – How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see – Research librarian Alejandro Paz and policy scholar Eric Nost, who belong to a network called the Public Environmental Data Partners, a coalition of nonprofits, archivists and researchers who rely on federal data in our analysis, advocacy and …
Above the Law: “The new administration has made it clear that they don’t have much interest in enforcing the nation’s securities laws. Except maybe as an avenue to accuse companies of dishonoring shareholders by promoting ESG initiatives. The point is, Trump has a meme coin to sell and a media company stock to fluff so …
Via LLRX – Book Review: Generative AI For Dummies – Jerry Lawson’s opinion of the new book, Generative AI for Dummies, is that it demystifies the complex world of generative AI for audiences from all walks of life. If you’re after a fast, engaging, and practical introduction to AI—and maybe even a little chuckle or two …
The Atlantic [unpaywalled]: “The president’s special commission now has an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate information at many federal agencies. The employee’s account, along with the accounts of several others across federal agencies, offers the clearest portrait yet of just how deep DOGE has burrowed into the systems of the federal government—and the sensitive …
The New York Times: “The biggest single line item on the website of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team appears to include an error. The Department of Government Efficiency, the federal cost-cutting initiative championed by Elon Musk, published on Monday a list of government contracts it has canceled, together amounting to about $16 billion in savings itemized …
ProPublica: “On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 123-page report on the 1921 racial massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which claimed several hundred lives and left the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in smoldering ruins. The department’s investigation determined that the attack was “so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence.” …
Quanta Magazine: “The library sorting problem is used across computer science for organizing far more than just books. A new solution is less than a page-width away from the theoretical ideal. Computer scientists often deal with abstract problems that are hard to comprehend, but an exciting new algorithm matters to anyone who owns books and …