Money and Computing
Social Security and OIG Hold 5th Annual National Slam the Scam Day
"As public servants, we must use every tool at our disposal to raise awareness and protect the American people against Social Security imposter scams," said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security. "Scammers use fear and deception to scare people out of their critical benefits. We urge everyone to protect their personal information, remain vigilant, do not give money, and report any scam attempts to oig.ssa.gov.” Social Security scams -- where fraudsters mislead victims into making cash, gift card, or wire transfer payments to fix alleged Social Security number problems or to avoid arrest -- are an ongoing government imposter fraud scheme. Social Security impersonation scams have been one of the most common government imposter scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission." more »
Stanford Medicine Study Identifies Distinct Brain Organization Patterns in Women and Men
“A key motivation for this study is that sex plays a crucial role in human brain development, in aging, and in the manifestation of psychiatric and neurological disorders,” said Vinod Menon, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory. “Identifying consistent and replicable sex differences in the healthy adult brain is a critical step toward a deeper understanding of sex-specific vulnerabilities in psychiatric and neurological disorders.” more »
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Decision on Embryonic Personhood; KFF Health News’ Weekly Health Policy News Podcast, “What the Health?”
"Questions about President Joe Biden’s cognitive health are drawing attention to ageism in politics — as well as in American life, with fewer people taking precautions against the covid-19 virus even as it remains a serious threat to vulnerable people, especially the elderly. The mental fitness of the nation’s leaders is a valid, relevant question for many voters, though the questions are also fueled by frustration with a political system in which many offices are held by older people who have been around a long time." "The Alabama Supreme Court’s groundbreaking ruling last week that frozen embryos have legal rights as people has touched off a national debate about the potential fallout of the “personhood” movement. Already the University of Alabama-Birmingham has paused its in vitro fertilization program while it determines the ongoing legality of a process that has become increasingly common for those wishing to start a family." more »
Stanford Researchers Urge Caution With New Mixed Reality Headsets; Visual Distortions, Feelings of Social Absence and Motion Sickness Can Undercut the Vibe
“Given how far headsets with passthrough video have come, it’s time to dedicate serious academic thought to the psychological and behavioral effects of this technology,” said Jeremy Bailenson, the Thomas More Storke Professor in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). “We want to understand the implications of living in a life in which we rely on passthrough for hours every day to see the world around us.” more »