Look back: National news brief April 29 – May 5

May 1

Neuroscience is changing the way we design offices — for good.

• A Wall Street Journal article summarized recent neuroscience research on optimizing office design and listed how offices can adopt these improvements.
• Installing plants in offices have calming effects and would make employees less emotionally volatile. The article read, “just one plant per square meter can benefit mental and physical health.”
• Introducing fruits, nuts and vegetables to the office diet also helps to boost cognitive function. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation included blueberry plants in their campus courtyard, which employees can pick and enjoy.

May 1-2

Facebook’s annual F8 conference introduces new features, Virtual Reality experience and addresses user security and privacy concerns

• Facebook Developer Conference (F8) was from May 1-2. Nearly 5,000 people were in attendance.
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other keynote speakers introduced a range of new features that included dating profiles, 3D pictures, a digital reconstruction of spaces and their VR headset, Oculus Go. They also admitted mistakes, especially with Cambridge Analytical and introduced new measures to protect user privacy.
• Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will require advertisers and page owners to verify their identity with their government ID. The company will hire over 20,000 people to work on security and content review on the social media platform.
• They are also partnering with fact checking companies around the world to filter articles on the feed.
• Facebook will be restricting the amount of information third-party developers can request from people. Users can delete their activity and browse history on Facebook and connected third-party apps.
• The dating feature will allow users to set updating profiles. Facebook will introduce the users with people who are not their Facebook friends, provide photos as conversation starters, and suggest groups, venues, and events that users can go to meet people who share their same interests.
• Group video chats will be available on both Instagram and WhatsApp.
• With Oculus Go, users can view sports games, movie screenings, live concerts and other entertainment activities through their VR headsets. The company offers a 32GB model for $199, and a 64GB for $249.
• One of the most interesting VR features Facebook will provide is a digital recreation of users’ childhood rooms, through analyzing their uploaded photos and home videos. “It feels like a dream, it’s wild,” said Zuckerberg.
• In summary of their VR features, Zuckerberg said, “this work of mapping out immersive spaces is just another important step on the path to creating this real feeling of presence.”
• To see highlights from the 2018 F8 conference, see this video put together by The Verge.

May 4

2018 Nation Rifle Association convention — keynote speaker President Donald Trump praised Kanye West, talked about his approval rating from African American community and vowed to “protect” the second amendment.

• The three-day 2018 NRA convention officially kicked off in Dallas on Friday and will end on Sunday.
• President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Senator Ted Cruz spoke at the convention.
• Trump capitalized on Grammy Award-winner Kanye West’s impact on his approval rate from the African American community. “Kanye West must have some power because as you saw, I doubled my African American poll numbers — we went from 11 to 22 in one week. Thank you Kanye, thank you,” said President Trump. “When I saw the numbers, I said there must be a mistake. How can that happen?”
• West recently stirred up a Twitter storm through a series of tweets that aligned him with President Trump, drawing attention, criticisms, praises and controversy on the social media platform. 
• He also reassured the crowd that his administration is “fighting to protect” their Second Amendment. Trump said, “Your Second Amendment rights are under siege, but they will never, ever, be under siege as long as I am your president.”
• The Wall Street Journal reported the convention had the, “most prolific fundraising efforts in the NRA’s history.” According to the Federal Election Commission, after the Florida Parkland shooting, the NRA Political Victory Fund raised almost $2.4 million — a huge increase from their February fundraising result of $779,000.
• The report showed a glimpse of why the sudden increase of funds after the shooting. WSJ cited a quote from NRA supported Elizabeth Potter who, after the Parkland shooting, donated $1,000 to the NRA because she said, “the public was being misinformed about guns” and, “I just feel like we’re maligned.”