/07

Fake news: Study tests people’s ability to detect manipulated images of real-world scenes — ScienceDaily
▻https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170717220933.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2017/07/170717221038_1_540x360.jpg

Our study found that although people performed better than chance at detecting and locating image manipulations, they are far from perfect. This has serious implications because of the high-level of images, and possibly fake images, that people are exposed to on a daily basis through social networking sites, the internet and the media.

We found that people were better at detecting physically implausible manipulations but not any better at locating these manipulations, compared to physically plausible manipulations. So even though people are able to detect something is wrong they can’t reliably identify what exactly is wrong with the image. Images have a powerful influence on our memories so if people can’t differentiate between real and fake details in photos, manipulations could frequently alter what we believe and remember

#Photoshop #Fake_news

New limits to functional portion of human #genome reported: Work suggests at least 75 percent of the genome is junk DNA — ScienceDaily
▻https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170714140234.htm

The functional portion of the genome is described as that which has a selected-effect function, that is, a function that arose through and is maintained by natural selection. Protein-coding genes, RNA-specifying genes and DNA receptors are examples of selected-effect functions. In his model, only functional portions of the genome can be damaged by deleterious mutations; mutations in nonfunctional portions are neutral since functionless parts can be neither damaged nor improved.

Because of deleterious #mutations, each couple in each #generation must produce slightly more children than two to maintain a constant population size. Over the past 200,000 years, replacement-level fertility rates have ranged from 2.1 to 3.0 children per couple, he said, noting that global population remained remarkably stable until the beginning of the 19th century, when decreased mortality in newborns resulted in fertility rates exceeding replacement levels.

If 80 percent of the genome were functional, unrealistically high birth rates would be required to sustain the population even if the deleterious mutation rate were at the low end of estimates, Graur found.

#fertilité