Welcome to the Saturday edition of The Conversation U.S.’s Daily newsletter.
At times, it can feel like the early 21st century is a difficult time to live through, with threats from war, political strife and environmental damage – not to mention whatever might become the next pandemic, or a resurgence of COVID-19 itself.
So when Eileen Hunt, who studies political science at Notre Dame, wrote me to suggest an article about “The Last Man,” a book published 200 years ago by Mary Shelley, who also wrote “Frankenstein,” I was intrigued. Hunt’s message hinted that Shelley’s book – which is set in the 21st century – might offer some guidance on how to get through “a lethal contagion spread by human conflict and war that sweeps the world and seemingly leaves one sole human survivor.”
That wasn’t quite the encouraging summary I was hoping for, of course. But she assured me, and explains in her article about the book, that there is uplifting wisdom in it, and the promise of hope, even in a changed world. I’ll take it.
This week we also liked stories on why leaving AI unregulated could actually benefit Chinese competitors, how election officials are trying to build confidence in mail-in voting, and what “controlling for a variable” means in the context of doing scientific research.
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