Interesting Links for 12-07-2025

[andrewducker]

1. LLMs have had an unprecedented impact on scientific writing in biomedical research (and probably other fields too)

(tags:ai writing research )

2. Solar is EU's biggest power source for the first time ever

(tags:solarpower Europe )

3. ACLU urges trans people to update passports as soon as possible

(tags:transgender usa passport )

4. America has done all of this before, within the last hundred years

(tags:America history racism Mexico )

5. When The U.S. Government Tried To Replace Migrant Farmworkers With High Schoolers

(tags:USA Mexico migration farming heat work history )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

Wow. Thank you. As to "A-teams", I lived in the USSR. That's what we did every fall. Frankly, not that I object to that, I liked it.

[channelpenguin]

I believe that one is the reasons English and Scottish school summer holiday times vary was farming-related. But I can no longer recall what might be harvested in July in Scotland that is either later or not grown so much in England. Barley and/or oats? Hay?

Or maybe my memory is just faulty and there's no connection.

October Week is a Scottish holiday that I think the English don't do - and that might tie in nicely with the main crop tattie harvest....

[movingfinger]

Schools in Maine (in Aroostook, anyway) still close for about a month for potato picking!

[redbird]

Thanks for item 2. It took me a minute, looking at the graphs, to identify "other fossil" (oil).

#4

[mellowtigger]

I think maybe the only reason I've known about the Japanese camps was because of George Takei. I don't remember hearing about Operation Wetback, though. The Trump government is trying to eliminate any information that makes Americans sad. I'm pretty sure this link makes you ineligible for entry to the USA these days. Interesting times.

Re: #4

[andrewducker]

I am absolutely not visiting the USA any time soon.

Re: #4

[mellowtigger]

A few weeks ago, I kept seeing headlines that tourism here was down by 10%. I cannot even guess why that reduction is so low. Even from Canada, current estimates are for visitations to drop by only 20%. I try to guess why, but my only answers make other people seem delusional. The most rational course of action is to stay away for several years, at least.

Re: #4

[andrewducker]

Same.

Re: #4

[jducoeur]

It's early days yet. It's only been six months since His Cheetoness took the throne, and it took some months for the horrors to begin to reach the public consciousness. I suspect that a good deal of that travel was planned before then, and most people are reluctant to change their plans if they believe that they are personally unlikely to be targeted. (Which, if you're apparently white and "normal", is still statistically true.) The clue is slowly spreading as the illegal crackdowns widen, but it takes time.

I expect there to be a gradual wind-down of tourism into the US as those plans finish and people find better places to go for the time being.

But of course, there are probably plenty of pro-facism types around the world who consider all of it to be a net positive -- believers in the idea that only those other people will be hurt -- who will pick up a bit of the slack.