Bats Morals

The Scientist And The Bats

Caroline Chen | ProPublica | 22nd May 2023

Profile of Peggy Eby, who works on virus transmission between bats and other mammals. A decade before Covid-19, she was being told that her work was not a "sufficiently important contribution". Her methods are not trendy or AI-based: just plenty of observation and recording. But the data she gathers allows her team to prove that virus spillover is not only predictable, but preventable (3,833 words)

from The Browser eleven years ago:

How Markets Crowd Out Morals

Michael Sandel | Boston Review | 21 May 2012

Sandel considers where economic markets belong. Is there anything that money cannot buy? "Suppose, on your wedding day, your best man delivers a heartwarming toast, a speech so moving it brings tears to your eyes. You later learn that he bought it online. Would you care? Would the toast mean less than it did before you knew it was paid for? For most of us, it probably would" (4,341 words)