Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

Parent company Meta has been building artificial intelligence (AI) systems using customers’ social activities – posts, photos, comments and stories – stretching back to 2007. There is no way to opt out in New Zealand. · New Zealand consumers have barely been alerted to this practice. It isn’t even clear when Meta’s privacy policy changed to allow data scraping for AI training purposes. Regardless, the policy is so long that it’s unreasonable to…

Imagine, for a moment, that the Iranian government ann­ounces it has developed a nuc­lear bomb and threatens to use it on Israel. The United States reacts with the threat of military intervention, as it did in 1991 and 2003 in Iraq. Iran signals that it will not tolerate a third Gulf war and looks for allies. American forces mass to enter Iran, which orders national mobilisation. Russia, China and North Korea express their support for Iran, and…

Historically, cultures around the world have improved their gut health by eating fermented foods. Guided by Rain Kuldjärv, food researcher and author, we chew over their enduring wisdom · Once upon a time, in the distant past, a nomad was crossing the desert on his camel. Hanging from the pommel was his precious supply of milk – carried, as was the custom in those days, in a bag made out of a cow’s stomach. Stopping to rest, he…

In July/August 2023 the Tūpuna Maunga Authority destroyed around 60 healthy mature trees on Ōtāhuhu Mt Richmond, just because they were not native. And it has said it is coming back for more. The Authority applied for a non-notified resource consent to chop down 278 exotic trees on the maunga, nearly half of its entire forest canopy. · Ōtāhuhu locals and people from the wider Auckland community say they are shocked at this devastation. Many of…

Maryanne Demasi, reports · Kansas is the latest US state to file a lawsuit against Pfizer, accusing the pharmaceutical giant of misleading the public about the safety and effectiveness of its covid-19 vaccine.Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach claims that Pfizer knew about the risks associated with its vaccine, “including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths” but failed to disclose this information to the public. · The…

When the United States Constitution was being drafted and ratified, the Founders debated over what qualifications to impose on the nation’s highest offices. Some delegates argued that members of Congress shouldn’t be debtors or foreign-born. Others insisted that all federal officers should be landowners. A few believed there should be almost no qualifications or restrictions on who holds a federal office—that the voters should decide who is…

At a solemn ceremony in Olympia, Greece, on July 20, 1936, the searing rays of the midday sun, concentrated by a parabolic mirror, kindled the Olympic flame. Enveloped by ancient ruins and a dozen women dressed in white tunics, shirtless Greek runner Konstantinos Kondylis dipped a torch into a burning cauldron, held the fire aloft in his right hand and jogged the first steps of what would be an epic 12-day overland relay to Berlin, host city of…

More than 50 countries are holding national elections this year, making 2024 the biggest year for democratic voting in history. · By year’s end, around 2 billion people will have had the chance to go to the polls, including in eight of the ten largest nations. Democracies are made up of many moving parts, arranged in various formations, but they all start with one essential component: popular elections. The simple fact that so many people now…

Go on, count them... · How many tentacles does an octopus have? None. · Octopuses are named for their eight limbs, known generally as arms. Their cousins, the squid and cuttlefish, have eight arms plus two tentacles. · These two limb types look and behave very differently. Tentacles shoot out and catch prey with suckers at the end. Arms have suckers all the way along and are used to sense the surroundings, search for food and sometimes walk. …

The best way to cut a sandwich has been confirmed by science, Or are you a sandwich renegade who opts for eating the thing whole? The consensus view favours cutting sandwiches diagonally to form two triangles, although hard science to back this up is difficult to find.  One hypothesis is that a triangle allows you to take your first two bites from the two 45° corners. These only have crust on one side and give faster access to the middle of…