Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Slow Motion: A Trick of the Brain and a Cultural Mirror

2025-07-21

Twenty years ago, neuroscientist David Eagleman designed an experiment where students were dropped from a tower to simulate near-death experiences. The experiment revealed that the 'slow-motion effect' isn't a slowing of perception, but rather a memory trick where the brain retains more detail during critical moments. This mirrors the common use of slow motion in film; it has become a common language for expressing trauma and extreme experiences. From movies to reality, slow motion is not just a visual effect, but a way we understand the world.

(newrepublic.com)

Tech slow-motion effect

The Gilded Cage: Henry James' Critique of American Excess

2025-04-25

Henry James critiques the social isolation and historical amnesia of America's newly wealthy. He likens their opulent mansions to grotesque jokes, their inhabitants hauntingly alone. In contrast, he celebrates the enduring beauty and cultural depth of long-cultivated European spaces and the generations who inhabited them. James also highlights the plight of Native Americans, seeing them as embodying the history America tries to conceal.

(newrepublic.com)

Misc Henry James Wealth and Isolation

NIH's New Medical Data Registry Sparks Privacy Concerns

2025-04-25

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is creating a medical data registry, allowing select outside researchers access but not download of the data, raising privacy concerns. Simultaneously, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Kennedy, has launched a study examining links between autism and vaccines, despite medical experts debunking any such connection. This, coupled with recent mass layoffs at HHS, raises fears that Secretary Kennedy and his allies, including anti-vaxxer Bhattacharya, may be pushing their agenda with a more compliant workforce.

(newrepublic.com)

Tech medical data privacy vaccines and autism HHS policy

Sebald's Uncanny Insights: Power, Order, and the Ghost of Kafka

2025-04-07

This essay delves into W.G. Sebald's interpretation of Kafka and Canetti, highlighting his profound insights into the nature of power. Sebald argues that totalitarian power stems from a fear of chaos, attempting to establish a sterile order through violence, ultimately leading to self-destruction. This power, he suggests, is parasitic rather than creative, barren and self-serving, its only aim self-perpetuation, mirroring the vampiric despots in Kafka's works. Sebald's analysis offers a timely warning, especially relevant in our current era.

(newrepublic.com)

Misc totalitarianism

Mass DOJ Resignations Protest Political Interference

2025-02-16

A mass resignation of high-ranking officials within the Department of Justice (DOJ) has unfolded over a case against New York City Mayor Adams. Multiple prosecutors, including acting US attorneys and section heads, resigned rather than drop charges against Adams. This is seen as a strong protest against political interference in judicial independence; an insider called it "coercion, not capitulation." The incident sparks debate about political pressure versus legal independence and highlights the complexities of the US political landscape.

(newrepublic.com)

Misc judicial independence mass resignation

WWII's Unsung Heroes: How Academics Won the War

2025-01-19

Elyse Graham's *Book and Dagger* reveals the surprising story of how scholars and librarians became pivotal spies during WWII. These 'scholar-spies,' working primarily for the OSS, didn't engage in traditional espionage. Instead, their expertise in information gathering, organization, and analysis provided crucial intelligence advantages. By meticulously sifting through seemingly mundane sources – newspapers, maps, phone books – they uncovered vital information that shifted the tide of the war. The book highlights how their contributions redefined intelligence gathering, influencing the CIA and other agencies for decades to come.

(newrepublic.com)

Tech Intelligence Academics