Daily issue #12: Democracy in Decline, DNA Research Game-Changer, Algorithmic Fairness
Dear Steemians,
your daily, manually selected, three special news to make your chitchat always up to date!
Today's Picks
Democracy In Decline For One-third Of The World
2.6 billion people—a third of the world's population—live in countries where democracy is in retreat, according to a new study based on the largest dataset on democracy, published today in Democratization. The research also found that only 15 per cent of people globally live in places where women and lower income groups have at least somewhat equal access to power.
DNA Barcodes That Reliably Work: A game-changer For Biomedical Research
In the same way that barcodes on your groceries help stores know what's in your cart, DNA barcodes help biologists attach genetic labels to biological molecules to do their own tracking during research, including of how a cancerous tumor evolves, how organs develop or which drug candidates actually work. Unfortunately with current methods, many DNA barcodes have a reliability problem much worse than your corner grocer's. They contain errors about 10 percent of the time, making interpreting data tricky and limiting the kinds of experiments that can be reliably done.
Bias Detectives: The Researchers Striving To Make Algorithms Fair
In 2015, a worried father asked Rhema Vaithianathan a question that still weighs on her mind. A small crowd had gathered in a basement room in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to hear her explain how software might tackle child abuse. Each day, the area’s hotline receives dozens of calls from people who suspect that a child is in danger; some of these are then flagged by call-centre staff for investigation. But the system does not catch all cases of abuse. Vaithianathan and her colleagues had just won a half-million-dollar contract to build an algorithm to help.
CREDITS: Photo by Les Anderson