Darkening oceans threatening marine life
Research oceanographer Paige Hoel speaks about the important role sunlight plays in marine life and why parts of the ocean are darkening.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Female lobster travels enormous distance, surprising researchers
A researcher with the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Centre says a female lobster travelled from Grand Manan to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Globe Climate: The rise of weather content on social media
If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this e-mail newsletter to you, you can sign up for Globe Climate and all Globe newsletters here. Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada. A manatee was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade. The threatened species usually makes its habitat in warmer southern Gulf waters, so scientists want to monitor its condition to see if a rescue is necessary. In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay – the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued. Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548. Now, let's catch you up on other news. For this week's deeper dive, we closer look at the online world of watching weather. How often do you check your weather app? Or... weather apps? Online culture reporter Samantha Edwards recently took a deep dive into the new big world of weather data. Once the domain of professionals, climate information gathered from satellites and radar models are now easily accessible online, giving amateur forecasters an unprecedented amount of raw data. 'I immersed myself into the digital world of weather nerds, amateur forecasters and content creators. I joined niche online forums, subreddits and Facebook groups, subscribed to YouTubers who livestream during extreme weather events, and followed weather influencers,' she wrote in the morning update newsletter. With a plethora of new weather apps, we have access to real-time information that can help us better plan our lives and time outdoors – from where there will be heavy rain to extreme heat. On Reddit and niche online forums, weather nerds analyze and debate the output of forecasts. On YouTube and TikTok, 'storm streamers' go live for hours during extreme weather events, providing real-time updates and sharing on-the-ground photos sent in from their devoted followers. But the flood of data can also consume us, lead to misinformation and heighten climate anxiety while at the same time diluting important updates about flooding and wildfire threats. For the past few summers, Aspen Murray has started to check a new data point every day on her weather app: air quality. 'Getting accustomed to checking the air quality has been something that's really made me think more about my climate anxiety,' she said. 'Growing up, that's something that I never would have thought of or worried about.' Experts also warn that the overexposure to weather warnings, especially if they're poorly worded or not local, can lead to 'alert fatigue' and may result in tuning out crucial information. Plus, during extreme weather events, disinformation from high-profile conspiracy theorists is drowning out emergency response efforts. On Facebook, Samantha stumbled upon a group called Ontario Storm Reports, which was started by the former storm chaser Adam Skinner and now has tens of thousands of members. He says that the majority of people who post in the group, and also watch his livestreams during severe weather, have weather anxiety but find the knowledge more comforting. 'The unknown is much more scary,' he said. Sarah Goodman: Ottawa must prioritize climate tech in Canada's new defence strategy Stephen Maher: The people opposing Nova Scotia's ban on accessing the woods don't understand our culture Julia Zarankin: To my surprise, I learned that birding can be an adrenaline-fuelled extreme sport Conservatives plan national campaign to scrap zero-emission vehicle mandate Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged that his party will embark on a national campaign to push the Liberal government to scrap the policy he's dubbed the 'Carney tax.' Poilievre led the charge as the Conservatives attacked the consumer carbon price over the last two years, which eventually played a role to end the so-called carbon tax earlier this year. Now the Conservative leader claims the Liberal EV mandates 'would literally erase many small towns from the map.' We've launched the The Climate Exchange, an interactive, digital hub where The Globe answers your most pressing questions about climate change. We have been collecting hundreds of questions and posing them to experts. The answers can be found with the help of a search tool developed by The Globe that makes use of artificial intelligence to match readers' questions with the closest answer drafted. You can ask a question using this form. We want to hear from you. E-mail us: GlobeClimate@ Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
Does AI understand Gen Alpha? Teen's study says slang may put kids at risk
Gen alpha slang may be bypassing AI moderators ⭐️HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️ A 14-year-old who researched AI and Gen Alpha slang was invited to present her findings at an international academic conference this summer. She found that AI models understood these slang expressions about 40 to 70 per cent of the time. This means AI moderators might miss certain instances of online harassment. Read on to find out how she presented these findings in Greece. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Rizz. Sus. Sigma. Aura. No cap. As Generation Alpha's list of slang words gets longer and longer, it gets harder and harder for their parents and teachers to understand what they're saying. But does AI understand the youngest generation of internet users? According to one 14-year-old, not always. In June, Manisha Mehta presented the findings of a study she conducted at an AI conference in Athens, Greece. The study looked at how well AI moderation tools understand slang expressions used by Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024. Her findings suggest that kids' ever-growing, 'secret' language may actually be putting them at risk in online spaces. WATCH — What is artificial intelligence and how does it learn? The spark behind the study Manisha, who is from Cupertino, California, first got into AI through conversations with her dad, who is an AI researcher himself. 'I was always his sounding board. We would go on long walks and get into really deep chats about his newest research ideas,' she told CBC Kids News. Maniasha got interested in AI through her dad, who studies AI. (Image submitted by Manisha Mehta) But when her dad would try to have chats with both Manisha and her twin brother at the same time, it was a different story. Manisha said that, to her dad, she and her brother were practically speaking a different language with all the Gen Alpha slang they'd use. 'The communication barrier between us and our parents was fascinating. If we were being serious or silly on a topic, they wouldn't always know the difference.' She wanted to find out just how big the communication gap between Gen Alpha and the older generations had become. Does AI understand Gen Alpha? Manisha, with the help of her friends, came up with a list of 100 Gen Alpha words and phrases — like 'ate that up', ''hits different' and 'in my flop era.' She then put them into a survey and gave it to kids, parents, professional content moderators and an AI models to see how many terms each group would understand. Gen Alphas consistently understood over 95 per cent of the terms. 'Parents, on the other hand, were respectfully hopeless,' she said. The AI models, according to Manisha, understood around 35 to 65 per cent, depending on what was asked. Manisha's study suggests that AI moderators on apps like Instagram may be missing some instances of harassment that include gGen aAlpha slang. (Image credit: Michel Aspirot/Radio-Canada) She thinks this gap in understanding is because AI models are trained on language that becomes outdated soon after they're released. 'But Gen Alpha slang is changing all the time,' she said. 'Within weeks, new trends and words emerge online and older lingo dies out.' Why that's a problem AI is now used heavily by social media platforms to monitor and moderate user behaviour, taking action when people bully, harass or threaten others. But because AI isn't able to understand a good chunk of Gen Alpha terms, Manisha realized it may be missing some instances of harassment. 'This could be an issue because the internet isn't always a nice place,' said Manisha. 'Terrible things can be said and disguised as something else.' Manisha pointed to 'KYS' as an example — an online acronym that means 'kill yourself' but could be easily glossed over by those who aren't familiar with it. 'If AI and our parents aren't catching these things, who will?' she said. Presenting in Greece Fausto Giunchiglia, a professor of computer science at the University of Trento in Italy, was one of Manisha's dad's professors. When he caught wind of Manisha's research findings, he thought the wider scientific community should know about it, considering the serious safety concerns it raised. 'I thought it was very important research to get out immediately. The work, for her age, was outstanding,' he told CBC Kids News. He helped Manisha apply to present her findings at the Association for Computing Machinery's Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency in Athens, Greece, in June. Manisha was accepted. That's no small feat, according to Giunchiglia — many applications from full-fledged, adult scientists are rejected each year. Manisha said she was really nervous to present to a room full of top scientists, but was able to pull it together. 'It was overwhelmingly positive,' she said. 'I feel so grateful, I had so many positive comments from people afterward.' What's next? Manisha plans to dive even further into the research. She also said she's developing a web app to help parents better understand what their Gen Alpha kids are talking about. Her message for other kids? Stay curious about AI. 'I think it's good to stay informed however you can, because it's about to become such a massive part of our world.'
