Favorites April 6th 2022

Ben Gross 🇺🇦 @bengrossbg

Oh my god this is so horrific

"Amazon workers are compelled to move so quickly, Goggins said, that when inspectors tried to measure workers' risk of musculoskeletal injuries at Amazon's flagship warehouse in Kent, south of Seattle, 'it broke the model.'". Quite dystopian, maybe not the worst dystopia on offer right now.

Nathan Ruser @Nrg8000

These trenches dug by Russian forces during their invasion of the region were dug in the most irradiated areas of the Chernobyl Radiation Area, see this map of soil Caesium radiation around the disaster area, with the location of the trenches marked. No wonder some got sick.

Antti Eskelinen @eskelinen_antti

Drone video of trenches excavated by #Russia`ns in the #Chernobyl radiation area. #Turpo #Ukraine https://t.co/fW78GOY3Nc

Sounds like the "Russian Soldiers hospitalized due to radiation exposure upon capturing Chernobyl" could very well be accurate.

David Andolfatto @dandolfa

Persistent shock.

So few people in the bay area are using trains and buses that commute traffic is probably almost as bad as it ever was, despite offices not yet at full capacity. In terms of real estate demand, despite some companies allowing hybrid work models, they're still keeping desks for every worker, meaning they need almost as much space despite not being at full capacity.

southpaw @nycsouthpaw

This is a real shadow docket humdinger. A district court vacated a Trump-era EPA rule that had overturned 50y of precedent and practice under the Clean Water Act. 5 justices granted an emergency stay without saying why; Roberts joined Kagan’s dissent. supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf…

Folks are pretty pissed about this use of the shadow docket. "Constitutional showdown" and all that.

Erin Crossett @Crossettwebear

A big and exciting update on GiveWell’s thinking about improved water quality as a way to reduce mortality, which underpinned their recent $65M grant for Dispensers for Safe Water.

blog.givewell.orgA major update in our assessment of water quality interventions - The GiveWell BlogGiveWell has seen new evidence that has led us to substantially update our view of the promisingness of water treatment interventions, such as chlorination. We’re sharing this news in brief form before we’ve published a grant page, because we’re excited about the potential of this grant and what it…

The way GiveWell does research to try to validate the effectiveness of various interventions is really cool. Previously they've been pretty sure that simple cash transfers are the clear winner, but after this new study they now believe that water quality interventions are "about four to eight times as cost-effective, depending on the location". And so now they're gonna direct funding towards it.

Threads

• This is a very funny thread by a guy who's in a challenge trial for a vaccine against dysentery. I particularly enjoyed his explanation of his motivations. Also the his proposed plan for drinking the shigella juice. Everyone was talking about this thread today, a nice distraction from world events.

Toronto, March 2022