Rittenhouse acquitted on reckless shooting charges

+ a global climate to-do list ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

It’s hard to imagine a white teenager armed with an assault rifle walking into a protest over the police shooting of an unarmed Black man. But that is exactly what Kyle Rittenhouse did in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. He shot three people, two fatally.

Legal scholar Ronald S. Sullivan breaks down the five elements of self-defense arguments in murder trials. The Wisconsin jury appears to have ignored all of them when it acquitted Rittenhouse yesterday afternoon of every charge he faced. Similar issues involving self-defense are being raised hundreds of miles away in Georgia, where three white men are on trial for killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man.

This week we also liked articles about antiviral pills people with COVID-19 can take, research that maps the brain and why it’s hard to win defamation lawsuits.

Howard Manly

Race + Equity Editor

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges. Sean Krajacic - Pool/Getty Images

Rittenhouse verdict flies in the face of legal standards for self-defense

Ronald Sullivan, Harvard Law School

In its decision, the Wisconsin jury believed Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defense – not recklessness, as prosecutors alleged – when he shot three people, two fatally.

John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, surrounded by other negotiators during COP26. UNFCCC

COP26 left the world with a climate to-do list: Here are 5 things to watch for in 2022

Rachel Kyte, Tufts University

The world promised progress at the Glasgow climate conference. Now it has to turn those promises into reality. A former senior UN official describes what to watch for in the coming year.

Research groups supported by the U.S. BRAIN Initiative recently released the most comprehensive map of cell types in the motor cortex of humans, monkeys and mice. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

Mapping how the 100 billion cells in the brain all fit together is the brave new world of neuroscience

Yongsoo Kim, Penn State

Scientists have been mapping the brain for centuries. New visualization tools bring them one step closer to understanding where thoughts come from and new ways to treat neurological disorders.

Infrastructure matters for wildlife too – here’s how aging culverts are blocking Pacific salmon migration

Ashlee Abrantes, University of Washington

Salmon migrate thousands of miles from inland streams to the ocean and back. The newly enacted infrastructure bill includes funding to help salmon and other wild species on their way.
Meet the person responsible for keeping inflation from spiraling out of control – without tanking the economy

Veronika Dolar, SUNY Old Westbury

Biden is expected to soon decide whether to keep Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair or name a replacement. The nominee will have more influence on the trajectory of inflation than anyone else.
Could oral antiviral pills be a game-changer for COVID-19? An infectious disease physician explains why these options are badly needed

Patrick Jackson, University of Virginia

Merck and Pfizer both have oral antiviral pills under review by the FDA. Such treatments could help turn the tide of the pandemic.

Rittenhouse acquitted on reckless shooting charges

Rittenhouse verdict flies in the face of legal standards for self-defense

COP26 left the world with a climate to-do list: Here are 5 things to watch for in 2022

Mapping how the 100 billion cells in the brain all fit together is the brave new world of neuroscience

Infrastructure matters for wildlife too – here’s how aging culverts are blocking Pacific salmon migration

Meet the person responsible for keeping inflation from spiraling out of control – without tanking the economy

Could oral antiviral pills be a game-changer for COVID-19? An infectious disease physician explains why these options are badly needed

Alex Jones loses Sandy Hook case, but important defamation issues remain unresolved

Want to take an online course? Here are 4 tips to make sure you get the most out of it for your career

Foods high in added fats and refined carbs are like cigarettes – addictive and unhealthy

The ancient history of adding insult to injury

5 ways to break into the video game industry

Conspiracies about a ‘catastrophic takeover’ by Jews have long been an American problem

4 reasons why museums aren’t cashing in on NFTs yet

Older messages

Why art museums can't bank on an NFT bailout

What a french fry has in common with a cigarette

Infrastructure law gives broadband its due

How the CBO became so powerful in Congress

Why don't you use all the stuff you have lying around?

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