Latest news with #LauraPollock
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Scottish newspaper's headline about Trump visit read 'Convicted US Felon to Arrive in Scotland'
Claim: In advance of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, Scottish newspaper The National's front page read "Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland." Rating: In July 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump flew to Scotland (archived) for trade talks and golf, rumors claimed that the Scottish newspaper The National's front page read "Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland." For example, a July 24 Reddit post (archived), attached with an alleged picture of the front page of the newspaper attached, read: "Trump is expected to arrive in Scotland tomorrow. This is the front page of The National": (MrDillon369/Reddit) The post had more than 29,000 upvotes as of this writing. Similar claims appeared on Bluesky (archived and archived). We found this claim to be true. The National published (archived) a front page with the headline "Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland" on July 25 as Trump arrived in Scotland for his visit. The newspaper's front-page story included the subheading "Republican leader, who was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, will visit golf courses." The National's official X account posted (archived) the front page with the caption: "Tomorrow's front page. Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland." The X account also posted (archived) a video that showed one of the paper's journalists, Laura Pollock, holding the print version, stating: "Supporters of Donald Trump are very angry at our front page this morning but we have a challenge for them. Which part is factually inaccurate?" The description "convicted US felon" is factually accurate. Trump was convicted (archived) on May 30, 2024, by a Manhattan jury on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, related to hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Although he received an "unconditional discharge" sentence on Jan. 10, 2025 — meaning no prison time, probation or fines — the conviction remains on his record. The National is a Scottish daily newspaper owned by Newsquest Media Group, which has been a subsidiary of the American media company Gannett — publisher of USA Today — since 1999. It began publication (archived) on Nov. 24, 2014, and was the first daily newspaper in Scotland to support Scottish independence. Media Bias/Fact Check, a tool that provides transparency to a source's biases and objectivity, rated (archived) The National as "Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left" while giving it a "High" rating for factual reporting due to "the use of credible sources and a clean fact-check record." Shalal, Andrea and Andrew Macaskill. "Trump travels to Scotland for golf and bilateral talks amid Epstein furor." Reuters, 25 July 2025, Accessed 25 July 2025. Jackson, Lucky. "The National newspaper front page as Donald Trump visits Scotland." The National, 25 July 2025, Accessed 25 July 2025. Herb, Jeremy, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell. "Trump found guilty in hush money trial." CNN, 30 May 2024, Accessed 25 July 2025. Bustillo, Ximena. "Trump is sentenced in hush money case — but gets no penalty or fine." NPR, 10 Jan. 2025, Accessed 25 July 2025. Press Association. "The National launches in Scotland 'to fly flag for independence'." The Guardian, 24 Nov. 2014, Accessed 25 July 2025. "The National – Scotland – Bias and Credibility." Media Bias/Fact Check, Accessed 25 July 2025.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researches spark debate after using drones to help animals: 'Are we actually harming the environment that we're trying to help?'
As more and more wildlife species lose their habitats and fall under significant threat of extinction, researchers have begun using artificial intelligence to help track, analyze, predict, and understand the situation at hand, as detailed by The Verge. Conservation researcher Alexandre Delplanque, for instance, uses AI to identify and count the waterbirds his drone encounters in order to monitor the various species. Likewise, scientists recently used AI to scan footage and identified over 300 new insect species in Panama. Unfortunately, AI tools can be imperfect and biased, as The Verge explained, and the environmental detriment of powering AI may defeat the purpose of its benefits in field research. AI data centers, for one, rely on copious amounts of water to function. In addition, the prevalence of AI-based technology puts pressure on power plants to supply enough electricity to sustain rising demand, typically through the burning of dirty fuels. The dirty fuels that frequently power them generate air pollution — including fine particulate matter and nitrous oxide, which have been linked to a myriad of health concerns, from organ damage to cognitive decline — and contribute to our planet's overheated condition, which threatens our communities and fragile ecosystems. Carbon pollution is the primary source of rising global temperatures and the risks that come with them, including more intense weather phenomena and crop insecurities. So while using AI to monitor threatened species might serve to protect them in future conservation endeavors, the question arises if the involvement of AI may be simultaneously damaging natural habitats and putting these species at further risk. Even the training process for an AI model can prove environmentally taxing. A 2022 study estimated that in training alone, a large language model consumed almost 1,300 megawatt hours of electricity — about as much as 130 households use on average in a whole year, per The Verge. Fortunately, though, the electronic footprint of AI in the environmental field is marginal compared to the rampant use of AI models elsewhere, according to The Verge. A growing number of data centers are also beginning to adopt non-polluting, renewable energy. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Researchers hope that, since it seems AI is here to stay, their applications of these tools can still make a difference for the better. "We have this concern as scientists all the time: are we actually harming the environment that we're trying to help?" said Canadian ecology professor Laura Pollock. "At least for the cases we're talking about, I don't think so, because the models we're running aren't huge … not like Social Network Big Data." AI-based technologies are already in action in the conservation field, analyzing hours upon hours of live drone footage to detect different species. Awareness is key — if we can observe and track these populations, we can target our conservation efforts more economically should the need arise. Some, like computational ecologist Tanya Berger-Wolf, believe the conservationists are just beginning to tap into the power of AI. "We want to go beyond scaling and speeding up what people already do to something new, like generating testable hypotheses or extracting unseen patterns and combinations," Berger-Wolf told The Verge. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
