How hot was it 100,000 years ago? | Top 10

+ WHO rules aspartame a 'possible' carcinogen US Edition - Today's top story: Is it really hotter now than any time in 100,000 years? [View in browser]( US Edition | 30 July 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Happy Sunday – and welcome to the best of The Conversation. In one of last week’s readers’ picks, a professor who teaches the modern history of the Middle East, Rochelle Anne Davis, and one who focuses on modern Eastern Europe, Eileen Kane, look at “educational gag orders.” They call Florida Law SB 266, which passed last month, an “extreme example.” Among other provisions, the Florida law forbids professors to teach that systemic racism is “inherent in the institutions of the United States.” It’s easy to dismiss these types of laws as just another battle in the country’s culture wars or political grandstanding on the part of presidential hopefuls. But Davis and Kane see [troubling parallels in the “war on woke” to illiberal democracies like those in Russian and Poland](. Later this week we’ll bring you stories about the cybersecurity benefits of working from home, the European Union’s new human rights law and using poetry to teach math. Emily Costello Director of Collaborations + Local News Readers' picks Recent heat waves underscore Earth’s new climate state. Sean Gladwell via Getty Images [Is it really hotter now than any time in 100,000 years?]( Darrell Kaufman, Northern Arizona University Long before thermometers, nature left its own temperature records. A climate scientist explains how ongoing global warming compares with ancient temperatures. - [Decades of public messages about recycling in the US have crowded out more sustainable ways to manage waste]( Michaela Barnett, University of Virginia; Leidy Klotz, University of Virginia; Patrick I. Hancock, University of Virginia; Shahzeen Attari, Indiana University New research shows that Americans may have absorbed public messaging about the importance of recycling too well. - [DeSantis’ ‘war on woke’ looks a lot like attempts by other countries to deny and rewrite history]( Rochelle Anne Davis, Georgetown University; Eileen Kane, Connecticut College Tactics used to censor the teaching of American history in Florida schools bear much in common with those seen in the illiberal democracies of Israel, Turkey, Russia and Poland. - [Despite calls for her to recuse herself from Trump’s criminal case, Judge Aileen Cannon’s situation doesn’t meet the standard for when a judge should step away]( Peter A. Joy, Washington University in St Louis Trump appointed Cannon to the bench, but that alone is not a good enough reason for her to recuse herself from the case. - [WHO expert cancer group states that the sweetener aspartame is a possible carcinogen, but evidence is limited – 6 questions answered]( Paul D. Terry, University of Tennessee; Jiangang Chen, University of Tennessee; Ling Zhao, University of Tennessee An expert panel found a potential association with liver cancer, but too little research exists to assume a causal connection. For now, the WHO left current consumption guidelines unchanged. Editors' picks Buoy barriers are shown in the middle of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 18, 2023. Brandon Bell/Getty Images [Federal government is challenging Texas’s buoys in the Rio Grande – here’s why these kinds of border blockades wind up complicating immigration enforcement]( Jean Lantz Reisz, University of Southern California Setting up buoys in a section of the Rio Grande is more likely to result in migrants seeking pathways elsewhere, rather than deterring migration altogether. - [As contentious judicial ‘reform’ becomes law in Israel, Netanyahu cements his political legacy]( David Mednicoff, UMass Amherst Benjamin Netanyahu has helped reshape Israel and the broader world in profound ways. And there’s a dark side to those changes. - [To get rid of hazing, clarify what people really think is acceptable behavior and redefine what it means to be loyal]( Catherine A. Sanderson, Amherst College People often privately feel uncomfortable about bad behavior they see around them but mistakenly believe their peers don’t share their concerns. - [Extreme heat is particularly hard on older adults – an aging population and climate change put ever more people at risk]( Deborah Carr, Boston University; Giacomo Falchetta, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); Ian Sue Wing, Boston University Health and climate change researchers explain the risks and why older adults, even those in northern states, need to pay attention. - [40 years ago, the US started sending more and more kids to prison without hope of release, but today, it’s far more rare – what happened?]( Julie Ellen McConnell, University of Richmond Research on developing brains has helped bring about a sea change in attitudes toward juvenile life without parole. But many people who committed crimes as minors are still serving such sentences. News Quiz 🧠- [The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz]( Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on Teamsters, Tony Bennett, Taylor Swift and the Coriolis effect. Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](