TikTok Is Amplifying Misogynistic Content

Wednesday, February 7th, 2024

Today’s newsletter is: 853 words; 4 min.

KNEAD TO KNOW

A Michigan jury convicted the mother of the Oxford High School shooter on manslaughter charges. Jennifer Crumbley, whose husband James goes on trial in March, is the first parent to be held criminally responsible for their child carrying out a mass shooting.

House Republicans killed a bipartisan border deal which included funding for Ukraine and Israel, failed to pass a standalone bill sending aid to Israel, and failed the first cabinet impeachment in 150 years…all in one day. All of that failure despite holding the majority of seats in the House. 

The Boeing door blowout investigation revealed the door plug was missing four bolts required to keep it in place. FAA chief Mike Whitaker said there will be additional oversight of the company’s aircraft deliveries going forward. 

ESPN, Warner Bros Discovery, and Fox announced a new joint sports streaming service. The unnamed platform, which they pinky promised won’t be just like having cable, will feature games from every major American sport and content from 15 linear networks, including ESPN, TNT, and FS1.

QUICK BITES

TikTok Is Amplifying Misogynistic Content

A new report by researchers at University College London and Kent University found a fourfold increase in the amount of misogynistic content shown in TikTok’s “For You” page after just five days of using the platform with controlled accounts.

• How they did it: The researchers interviewed young people engaging with and producing radical online content and set up specific archetype accounts based on that data. After five days of using the platform, the amount of recommended content that objectified, sexually harassed, or otherwise discredited women jumped from 13% of videos to 56%.

People with Depression Have Higher Body Temperatures

A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found people with depression tend to have higher body temperatures, and the temperature increases with each increasing level of depression symptom severity.

• Why it matters: The researchers say the findings suggest heat therapy could help alleviate depressive symptoms, a suggestion in line with previous work showing hot tubs can reduce depression, possibly by triggering the body to self-cool.

Seizures of “Magic Mushrooms” Have Increased “Dramatically” 

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Health found law enforcement seizures of “magic mushrooms” more than tripled between 2017 and 2022, jumping from 402 seizures to 1,396 over that period in what the researchers describe as a “dramatic” increase. 

• Digging deeper: The total weight of seized mushrooms increased by 2,750% over the study period, with the most weight in seizures located in the West (42.6%) and South (41.8%).

PROOFED DISCOVERY

A Body Discovered in an Irish Bog Turned Out to Be an Ancient Teenager, Preserved for 2,500 Years

“Bog bodies,” or, “what the hell is that thing,” as they’re also known, are ancient bodies that get preserved in peat bogs primarily located in northern Europe.

• The most famous example is probably the Tollund Man, who was discovered in Denmark in 1950 and now lives in a Danish museum (also my nightmares after looking at too many pictures).

Tollund Man was hanged and left in a bog some 2,400 years ago (around 400 B.C.), though looking at him you’d think he was a spry 1,000-year-old.

• The preservation of his body stems from the acidic, low-oxygen environment of the wet and spongy peat bogs, which, without getting lost in the weeds, essentially pickles the bodies.

A proofed discovery:

In October 2023, the body of a teenage boy was discovered in a bog in Northern Ireland, but when police arrived on the scene, they weren’t sure whether or not the remains belonged to someone recently deceased.

• “The skin was as pink as yours or mine,” detective inspector Nikki Deehan told the Financial Times. “The kidney was malleable to the touch.”

The remains (pictured above) were so well-preserved scientists were able to perform radiocarbon testing, finding them to be around 2,000 to 2,500 years old.

• It’s unclear, however, how exactly the boy, who was likely between 13 and 17 years old, died, since the remains were scattered and the skull is missing.

OVEN-FRESH STATS

• $14.3 billion - The amount of shareholder value that’s been destroyed over the past decade by U.S.-listed ETFs managed by high-profile investor Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management, by far the most of any fund family, according to a new report by Morningstar Inc. 

• 141.5 billion cubic feet - The amount of natural gas consumed in the U.S. on January 16, topping the previous record high of 137.8 billion cubic feet on December 23, 2022, according to new data from the Energy Information Association.

• 8+ million - The number of paid subscribers to YouTube TV, according to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. The figure makes YouTube TV the fourth-largest pay-TV service in the country.

• $2,300 - The additional yearly earnings for children of parents who are considered conventionally attractive, amounting to around $106,000 over an average career, according to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

EXTRA SCHMEAR

Long Video. Learn why the U.S. won’t pay down its debt. (11 min) 

Short Video. Is Hollywood headed for a future of AI movie-making? (7 min)

Fun Video. Go with this reporter to spend 24 hours wearing Apple’s Vision Pro headset. (8 min)

Good Read. A quick read about Patricia Hearst, whose high-profile kidnapping captivated the world five decades ago. (430 words; 2 min)

Neat List. Check out seven natural phenomena worth seeing with your own two eyes.

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Written by Ryan Wittler