Russia Probe Now Investigating Cambridge Analytica, Trump’s ‘Psychographic’ Data Gurus

A reminder that our usually-abstract work as analysys have real-world impacts

A data firm backed by some of Donald Trump’s closest allies is now facing scrutiny as part of an investigation into possible collusion between the president’s team and Russian operatives, The Daily Beast has learned.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) is looking at Cambridge Analytica’s work for President Donald Trump’s campaign as part of its investigation into Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 race, according to sources familiar with the probe.

The company is in the process of turning over documents to HPSCI, according to a source familiar with the committee’s work. Another source close to the investigation said that the probe’s focus on Cambridge Analytica is “fruitful.”

Source: Russia Probe Now Investigating Cambridge Analytica, Trump’s ‘Psychographic’ Data Gurus

Tons of grapes are stolen during France’s wine harvest

Thieves making away with grapes is not a new phenomenon but it has surged this year apparently because of a disastrous yield.

“There’s a great temptation to help oneself from [the vineyard] next door,” an industry expert told AFP on condition of anonymity.

France faces its poorest wine harvest since 1945 after an unusually mild March and frosty April, experts said last month, although a hot summer promises to deliver top vintages.

The Agriculture Ministry said output was expected to total 37.2 million hectoliters (983 million US gallons), 18 percent less than 2016 and 17 percent below the average over the past five years.

The 2016 harvest was already one of the poorest in 30 years.

This year, bitter cold struck twice within a week in April, ravaging the fragile shoots and buds that had emerged prematurely following mild temperatures in March.

To combat the frost, nervous Bordeaux winemakers set fires in oil drums, then positioned them carefully between the rows of budding grapevines. Giant fans were also deployed to battle the cold, damp air settling on the plants.

Source: Tons of grapes are stolen during France’s wine harvest

A new study tracks the ancient Roman economy using the city’s early lead plumbing

In their study, the researchers examined soil cores from Ostia, Rome’s earliest harbor, where the city’s water runoff drained. Layers of lead in the soil “corresponded to periods in the Roman Empire when there was a lot of economic growth,” Newitz says. “And so the more lead they saw, the more pipes they speculated were in use during that period of time, and they saw a lot of really interesting patterns.”

“Basically, as the pipe system expanded, what it meant was that the Empire was spreading,” she says, explaining that Romans sourced their lead from European colonies, making the city’s water infrastructure hugely expensive to build and maintain.

Source: A new study tracks the ancient Roman economy using the city’s early lead plumbing | Public Radio International

Three words; exploding, pig, poop

[S]tarting in about 2009, in the pits that capture manure under factory-scale hog farms, a gray, bubbly substance began appearing at the surface of the fecal soup. The problem is menacing: As manure breaks down, it emits toxic gases like hydrogen sulfide and flammable ones like methane, and trapping these …

Mapa en Relieve (Relief Map) – Guatemala, Guatemala

The Mapa en Relieve (Relief Map) in Guatemala City is a large, impressively accurate 3D replica of the country’s remarkable terrain. It depicts in intricate detail the major cities, towns, volcanoes, rivers, lakes, plateaus, and valleys blanketing the landscape, at a scale of 1:10,000 kilometers. This is all the more impressive considering the map was made more than 100 years ago, without the help of satellites and modern technology.

Source: Mapa en Relieve (Relief Map) – Guatemala, Guatemala – Atlas Obscura

The (Very) Long Tail Of Hurricane Recovery

On Sept. 8, someone in New York City dialed 311, the city’s non-emergency hotline, and asked for information about a Hurricane Sandy disaster relief program. This was not a fluke. It’s been nearly five years since the storm devastated the mid-Atlantic, causing 43 deaths in the city and $19 billion in damage. But still, nearly 1,800 days later, the calls continue — there have already been 142 this year.

Source: The (Very) Long Tail Of Hurricane Recovery [538]

A Laid-Back History of the Recliner – MEL Magazine

[T]he puffy living room brute/upholstered man-womb/promoter of extreme laziness known as the recliner, has a long history of being advertised as a health aid. In fact, some of the earliest consumer recliners were made by medical device companies — variations on the chairs they were making for doctors and dentists at the …