Daniel Aldrich
@danielaldrich.bsky.social
Social scientist interested in social capital, social infrastructure, energy and environmental politics. Books at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Daniel-P.-Aldrich/author/B001JSDHPW
Physical infrastructure investment challenges: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or nonexistent flood control projects. www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/t...
Thousands in Philippines protest corruption and demand return of stolen funds from flood projects
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or nonexistent flood control projects.
www.nbcnews.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Physical infrastructure investment challenges: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or nonexistent flood control projects. www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/t...
Like it or not, trust it or not, want to be seen using it or not, A.I. is and will continue to be a part of society’s very fabric. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/o...
Opinion | A.I.’s Anti-A.I. Marketing Strategy
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Like it or not, trust it or not, want to be seen using it or not, A.I. is and will continue to be a part of society’s very fabric. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/o...
Nuclear power company TerraPower has passed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff’s final safety evaluation for a permit to build a reactor in Wyoming. The company could be the first to deploy a utility-scale, next-generation reactor in America. www.geekwire.com/2025/gates-b...
Bill Gates’ TerraPower gets NRC green light for safety in construction of its first nuclear plant
The Washington-based company backed by Bill Gates and NVIDIA could be the first to deploy a utility-scale, next-generation reactor in America.
www.geekwire.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Nuclear power company TerraPower has passed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff’s final safety evaluation for a permit to build a reactor in Wyoming. The company could be the first to deploy a utility-scale, next-generation reactor in America. www.geekwire.com/2025/gates-b...
As creation gets cheap, the premium shifts to human judgment, framing and ethical use that keep powerful tools productive rather than misleading edsource.org/2025/why-pro...
Why professors are more important than ever in the AI era
Faculty expertise is more essential than ever in the age of AI, as it allows professors to ask the right questions and evaluate the quality of AI-generated outputs.
edsource.org
December 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
As creation gets cheap, the premium shifts to human judgment, framing and ethical use that keep powerful tools productive rather than misleading edsource.org/2025/why-pro...
A diplomatic row with Japan over Taiwan has China turning to Britain and France for support, appealing to their shared history as wartime allies. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/w...
China, Evoking World War II, Urges Europe to Take Its Side Against Japan
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
A diplomatic row with Japan over Taiwan has China turning to Britain and France for support, appealing to their shared history as wartime allies. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/w...
Please join us for the conversation!
December 1, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Please join us for the conversation!
Please join us for the conversation!
December 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Please join us for the conversation!
China waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at a UK university to get it to shut down sensitive research into alleged human rights abuses www.bbc.com/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
China waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at a UK university to get it to shut down sensitive research into alleged human rights abuses www.bbc.com/news/article...
What we need instead are walkable communities, libraries, grocery stores, appropriate housing, and good neighbours. lloydalter.substack.com/p/older-peop...
Older people are spending more time on their phones than the kids are
Some think this is a good thing as we enter into an "app-based retirement." I am not so sure.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:46 PM
What we need instead are walkable communities, libraries, grocery stores, appropriate housing, and good neighbours. lloydalter.substack.com/p/older-peop...
Extrapolating these estimates out suggests current-generation AI models could increase US labor productivity growth by 1.8% annually over the next decade www.anthropic.com/research/est...
Estimating AI productivity gains
Anthropic economic research on productivity gains
www.anthropic.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Extrapolating these estimates out suggests current-generation AI models could increase US labor productivity growth by 1.8% annually over the next decade www.anthropic.com/research/est...
New #article from Nason et al: Recalibrating Entrepreneurship Research: Decolonizing and Embracing the Pluralism of Entrepreneurial Activity
TL;DR: we call for theories that capture the full spectrum of entrepreneurial life across contexts and cultures.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TL;DR: we call for theories that capture the full spectrum of entrepreneurial life across contexts and cultures.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
December 1, 2025 at 3:48 PM
New #article from Nason et al: Recalibrating Entrepreneurship Research: Decolonizing and Embracing the Pluralism of Entrepreneurial Activity
TL;DR: we call for theories that capture the full spectrum of entrepreneurial life across contexts and cultures.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TL;DR: we call for theories that capture the full spectrum of entrepreneurial life across contexts and cultures.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The goal is to elect a handful of independent candidates to the House of Representatives in 2026, using AI to identify districts where independents could succeed. Even winning a handful of seats could upend politics as usual www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
An independent effort says AI is the secret to topple 2-party power in Congress
Using artificial intelligence to identify congressional districts where independent candidates could win, an organization called the Independent Center is aiming to disrupt the two-party system.
www.npr.org
December 1, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The goal is to elect a handful of independent candidates to the House of Representatives in 2026, using AI to identify districts where independents could succeed. Even winning a handful of seats could upend politics as usual www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
This year brought an avalanche of new and continuing attacks on what professors can teach, speak about and research at US colleges and universities, led by Trump and exacerbated in states like Florida and Texas, where these changes are swift and effective. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Associate Provost on Coordinated Attack on Academic Freedom
In her book The Right to Learn, Valerie Johnson dives into the years-long erosion of academic freedom in red states and how universities must resist it.
www.insidehighered.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:58 PM
This year brought an avalanche of new and continuing attacks on what professors can teach, speak about and research at US colleges and universities, led by Trump and exacerbated in states like Florida and Texas, where these changes are swift and effective. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Fifteen years after #Fukushima Japan is reconsidering its move away from nuclear as the rise of AI has created massive demand for cheap low-carbon power. For a country with a traumatic history with nuclear, that is a difficult and delicate decision www.ft.com/content/3239...
In Fukushima’s shadow: Japan’s pivot back to nuclear | FT Film
How the country is balancing a traumatic nuclear history with the need for cheap power
www.ft.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Fifteen years after #Fukushima Japan is reconsidering its move away from nuclear as the rise of AI has created massive demand for cheap low-carbon power. For a country with a traumatic history with nuclear, that is a difficult and delicate decision www.ft.com/content/3239...
You get some of the smartest people to create your product for free. Then, you get other experts to quality-control that product, also for free. Finally you sell the product back to the very people who made it (and the taxpayers who funded them) at markup www.zmescience.com/science/news...
We Need to Talk About the Billion-Dollar Industry Holding Science Hostage
Your tax dollars fund the research. You pay again to read it.
www.zmescience.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:17 PM
You get some of the smartest people to create your product for free. Then, you get other experts to quality-control that product, also for free. Finally you sell the product back to the very people who made it (and the taxpayers who funded them) at markup www.zmescience.com/science/news...
The skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Colleges Are Preparing to Self-Lobotomize
The skills that students will need in an age of automation are precisely those that are eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.
www.theatlantic.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:07 AM
The skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
New #article from Bao et al: StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricane
TL;DR: StormShare contributes to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
TL;DR: StormShare contributes to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
December 1, 2025 at 1:03 AM
New #article from Bao et al: StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricane
TL;DR: StormShare contributes to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
TL;DR: StormShare contributes to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
New #article from Lin, Liang, Garcia, Lyons and Andris: Social Infrastructure, Opportunities, and Barriers to Socializing in Savannah, Georgia
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
December 1, 2025 at 12:59 AM
New #article from Lin, Liang, Garcia, Lyons and Andris: Social Infrastructure, Opportunities, and Barriers to Socializing in Savannah, Georgia
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
New #article from Lin et al: Social Infrastructure, Opportunities, and Barriers to Socializing in Savannah, Georgia
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
December 1, 2025 at 12:58 AM
New #article from Lin et al: Social Infrastructure, Opportunities, and Barriers to Socializing in Savannah, Georgia
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
TL;DR: 60% of respondents formed new relationships in social infrastructure facilities, often in public places
muse.jhu.edu/article/973828
Worried about hurting sales, Zillow, the country’s largest real estate listings site, has quietly removed a feature that showed the risks from extreme weather for more than one million home sale listings on its site. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Worried about hurting sales, Zillow, the country’s largest real estate listings site, has quietly removed a feature that showed the risks from extreme weather for more than one million home sale listings on its site. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
This year's sharp enrollment decline of 17 percent due to Trump's attacks on migration and higher education is projected to cost the economy $1.1 billion www.cnbc.com/2025/11/30/i...
Fewer international students are enrolling at U.S. colleges, which could cost the country $1 billion, reports find
In the fall 2025 semester, new international student enrollment at U.S. institutions fell 17%, according to a recent report.
www.cnbc.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
This year's sharp enrollment decline of 17 percent due to Trump's attacks on migration and higher education is projected to cost the economy $1.1 billion www.cnbc.com/2025/11/30/i...
Unprepared : About 60% of designated emergency evacuation sites in Japanese areas expected to be damaged by tsunami do not have stockpiles, a survey by the Cabinet Office showed Sunday.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/30/japan/society/tsunami-evacuation-sites-no-stockpiles/
November 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Unprepared : About 60% of designated emergency evacuation sites in Japanese areas expected to be damaged by tsunami do not have stockpiles, a survey by the Cabinet Office showed Sunday.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/30/japan/society/tsunami-evacuation-sites-no-stockpiles/
New Delhi wakes up to toxic smog and goes to sleep in the same harmful conditions. The 30 million residents of India’s capital region trudge along with chronic headaches and itchy eyes, symptoms of a failure to provide a most basic need: breathable air. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
India Is a Rising Power, but Its Capital Is a Lethal Gas Chamber
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:10 PM
New Delhi wakes up to toxic smog and goes to sleep in the same harmful conditions. The 30 million residents of India’s capital region trudge along with chronic headaches and itchy eyes, symptoms of a failure to provide a most basic need: breathable air. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
But there can be no conceivable legal justification for the U.S. Special Operations Forces killing the survivors of a first strike on a drug boat off the coast of Trinidad who, in the Post’s words, “were clinging to the smoldering wreck.” www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...
A Dishonorable Strike
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org
November 30, 2025 at 3:07 PM
But there can be no conceivable legal justification for the U.S. Special Operations Forces killing the survivors of a first strike on a drug boat off the coast of Trinidad who, in the Post’s words, “were clinging to the smoldering wreck.” www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...