The Daily Populous

Tuesday May 9th, 2017 morning edition

EPA removes half of scientific board, seeking industry-aligned replacements
Authored by theguardian.com
image for EPA removes half of scientific board, seeking industry-aligned replacements

The Environmental Protection Agency has “eviscerated” a key scientific review board by removing half its members and seeking to replace them with industry-aligned figures, according to the board’s chair.

Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has chosen not to renew the terms of nine of the 18-member board of scientific counselors, which advises the EPA on the quality and accuracy of the science it produces.

The group, largely made up of academics, is set to be replaced by representatives from industries that the EPA regulates.

Deborah Swackhamer, chair of the board, said that with other planned departures, the panel was left with five members, including her, in the midst of an EPA hiring freeze.

“We assumed these people would be renewed and there was no reason or indication they wouldn’t be.

This could lead to multiple instances of conflicts of interest, Swackhamer said, despite clear EPA ethics rules.

Swackhamer said: “We have spirited conversations about the science – we don’t just rubber-stamp what the EPA wants to do. »

Net Neutrality: John Oliver Wants You to Flood FCC Website
Authored by time.com

However, according to Oliver, that is threatened by the Trump administration’s decision to roll back protections for net neutrality.

Oliver wants them to all come together, get involved, and save net neutrality .

In 2014, the FCC's website crashed due to a huge amount of traffic following Oliver's first program on net neutrality. »

Are consumers willing to pay to let cars drive for them? Analyzing response to autonomous vehicles
Authored by sciencedirect.com

Abstract Autonomous vehicles use sensing and communication technologies to navigate safely and efficiently with little or no input from the driver.

First, we find that the average household is willing to pay a significant amount for automation: about $3500 for partial automation and $4900 for full automation.

The discrete choice experiment contained as experimental attributes three levels of automation: no automation, some or partial automation (“automated crash avoidance”), and full automation (“Google car”). »

In pictures

image for The new 8ft statue of King Arthur on the top of Tintagel cliffs
image for Me irl
image for Genius with an astronomically high IQ teaches South African girl how South Africans are supposed to spell
image for A pallet burned in such a way that it looks like different birds sitting next to each other and enjoying the fire
image for [r/The_Donald] Top Mind finds a flaw with the popular vote
image for The meaning of freedom
image for Cannot tell if broken or upgraded
image for Ecto Green Slime Filled Ghostbusters II cartridge
image for Grandma's love for the Empire has no limit.
image for [homemade] experimental donuts.
image for As Soviet troops approached Berlin in 1945, citizens did their best to take care of Berlin Zoo's animals.
image for "Im mary poppins y'all!"
image for President Jimmy Carter with the then-leader of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo (1977). Two years later, Obasanjo became the first military head of state to transfer power peacefully to a civilian regime in Nigeria. [1280 × 1873]
image for My pinball stopped exactly... here [OC]
image for Monty Python Life Of Brian is still relevant today
image for Science lol

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