Jul142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Global Vaccine Plan May Allow Rich Countries to Buy More

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Politicians and public health leaders have publicly committed to equitably sharing any coronavirus vaccine that works, but the top global initiative to make that happen may allow rich countries to reinforce their own stockpiles while making fewer doses available for poor ones.   Activists warn that without stronger attempts to hold political, pharmaceutical and health leaders accountable, vaccines will be hoarded by rich countries in an unseemly race to inoculate their populations first. After the recent uproar over the United States purchasing a large amount of a new COVID-19 drug, some predict an even more disturbing scenario if a successful vaccine is developed. Dozens of vaccines are being researched, and some countries — including Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. — already have ordered hundreds of millions of doses before…


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Ghana’s Organic Farming Growing in Popularity During Pandemic

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In Ghana and West Africa, organic food is growing in popularity as people try to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. But organic produce is not easily regulated, and some consumers are paying extra for unverified claims. Farmers across the region are creating their own system, with support from international bodies, to certify organic produce. Stacey Knott reports from Accra.Camera: Stacey Knott  Produced by: Stacey Knott    ...


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

UN: COVID-19 Worsening World Hunger   

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The United Nations said Monday that 690 million people across the planet were undernourished last year, and an additional 83- to 132 million are at risk this year due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.  “World hunger is still increasing — up by 10 million people in one year and 60 million in five years,” said Maximo Torero Cullen, chief economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is one of five U.N. agencies that compiled the report on world hunger.  “Over 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food,” he added. Of that figure, about 746 million are severely food insecure and 1.25 billion are moderately food insecure.  With nearly 13 million confirmed cases worldwide of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, infections are rising as food…


Jul132020 by TechmanNo Comments

Google Plans to Invest $10 Billion in India

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Google announced it will invest $10 billion in India in an effort to make the internet more "affordable and useful" to the more than one billion people living there. "This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement Monday. The money, to be spent through a new Google for India Digitization Fund over the next five to seven years, will invest in India's technology sector.  FILE - Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during a visit to El Centro College in Dallas, Oct. 3, 2019."We'll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments," said Pichai. This new investment represents Google's biggest commitment to India yet. These investments focus on increasing access to the internet…


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

How Discovery of Fresh Water Bolsters China Claims in Disputed Sea

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Discovery of a rare freshwater reserve under one of its land holdings in a widely disputed sea gives China a boost in occupying the islet and offers it a new defense for its sovereignty claims if they land in international court.A freshwater lens is forming under Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, Chinese researchers said in the peer-reviewed publication Hydrology Journal. The lens created by tidal activity will take 20 years to become “stable” at 15 meters thick, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology researchers in Guangzhou said in the May 2020 study.“Having this freshwater access evidently will change the quality of life and change their ability to station people on the artificial island,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at…


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

US, China, UAE Sending Spacecraft to Mars This Week

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In a fresh attempt to scout out signs of previous life on Mars, the United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates are sending out spacecraft to Mars, starting this week.The unmanned spacecraft are also analyzing the area to prepare for future astronauts.The U.S. is sending a rover named Perseverance to gather rock samples, and it will likely not return for ten years.Each spacecraft must go over 482 million kilometers to reach Mars, after which they must leave Earth’s orbit and enter Mars’. The process of arriving alone takes at least six or seven months.The countries' goal is to find out if Mars had any signs of previous microscopic life. As has been previously determined, Mars used to have bodies of water, so it’s possible the planet was also host…


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Look Out, Mars: Here We Come with a Fleet of Spacecraft

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Mars is about to be invaded by planet Earth — big time. Three countries — the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates — are sending unmanned spacecraft to the red planet in quick succession beginning this week, in the most sweeping effort yet to seek signs of ancient microscopic life while scouting out the place for future astronauts.The U.S., for its part, is dispatching a six-wheeled rover the size of a car, named Perseverance, to collect rock samples that will be brought back to Earth for analysis in about a decade. "Right now, more than ever, that name is so important," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said as preparations went on amid the coronavirus outbreak, which will keep the launch guest list to a minimum. Each spacecraft will travel more than 300…


Jul132020 by DmediaNo Comments

How the Discovery of Fresh Water Will Bolster Chinese Claims in a Disputed Sea

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Discovery of a rare freshwater reserve under one of its land holdings in a widely disputed sea gives China a boost in occupying the islet and offers it a new defense for its sovereignty claims if they land in international court.A freshwater lens is forming under Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, Chinese researchers said in the peer-reviewed publication Hydrology Journal. The lens created by tidal activity will take 20 years to become “stable” at 15 meters thick, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology researchers in Guangzhou said in the May 2020 study.“Having this freshwater access evidently will change the quality of life and change their ability to station people on the artificial island,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at…


Jul132020 by TechmanNo Comments

Top White House Adviser Expects Tough Action on TikTok, WeChat

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White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday he expected President Donald Trump to act firmly against the TikTok and WeChat applications, amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.Trump last week had said he is considering banning the wildly-popular TikTok app as a way to punish China over the coronavirus pandemic.In an interview with Fox News, Navarro argued that "what the American people have to understand is all of the data that goes into those mobile apps that kids have so much fun with... goes right to servers in China, right to the Chinese military, the Chinese Communist Party."He said these apps can be used to steal intellectual property. "So expect strong actions on that" by Trump, Navarro warned.Fast-growing video-sharing app TikTok belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance and has…


Jul122020 by TechmanNo Comments

Touchless: How the World’s Busiest Airport Envisions Post-COVID Travel 

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With COVID-19 ravaging the aviation industry, airlines and airports worldwide are reining in costs and halting new spending, except in one area: reassuring pandemic-wary passengers about travel."Whatever the new normal (...) it's going to be more and more around self-service," Sean Donohue, chief executive of Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport (DFW), told Reuters in an interview.The airport is working with American Airlines - whose home base is DFW - to roll out a self-check-in for luggage, and all of its restrooms will be entirely touchless by the end of July with technology developed by Infax Inc. They will have hands-free sinks, soap, flushing toilets, and paper towel dispensers, which will be equipped with sensors to alert workers when supplies are low."One of the biggest complaints airports receive are restrooms," Donohue said.Dallas…


Jul122020 by DmediaNo Comments

Coronavirus Pandemic Stifles Dengue Prevention Efforts

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To slow the spread of the coronavirus, governments issued lockdowns to keep people at home. They curtailed activities that affected services like trash collection. They tried to shield hospitals from a surge of patients.But the cascading effects of these restrictions also are hampering efforts to cope with seasonal outbreaks of dengue, an incurable, mosquito-borne disease that is also known as “breakbone fever” for its severely painful symptoms.Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Indonesia have dealt with concurrent outbreaks of dengue and coronavirus this year. In Brazil, where there are more than 1.8 million COVID-19 infections, at least 1.1 million cases of dengue have been reported, with nearly 400 deaths, according to the Pan American Health Organization.Dengue cases are likely to rise soon with the start of seasonal rains in Latin…


Jul112020 by TechmanNo Comments

US Convicts Russian Hacker in 2012 Data Breach

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A jury in San Francisco convicted Russian citizen Yevgeny Nikulin after a series of hacks and cyberthefts eight years ago that targeted major U.S. social-media companies such as LinkedIn and Dropbox.The District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday said Nikulin would be sentenced September 29.Nikulin, 32, faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of selling stolen usernames and passwords, installing malware on protected computers, as well as up to five years for each count of conspiracy and computer hacking.According to U.S. prosecutors, Nikulin in 2012 stole the usernames and passwords of tens of millions of social media users to access their accounts. Some of that data was put up for sale on a Russian hacker forum.Nikulin, who last year was examined by court-ordered psychologists…


Jul112020 by TechmanNo Comments

Amazon Says Email to Employees Banning TikTok Was a Mistake 

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Roughly five hours after an internal email went out to employees telling them to delete the popular video app TikTok from their phones, Amazon appeared to backtrack, calling the ban a mistake. "This morning's email to some of our employees was sent in error. There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok," Amazon emailed reporters just before 5 p.m. Eastern time. Spokeswoman Jaci Anderson declined to answer questions about what happened. The initial internal email, which was disseminated widely online, told employees to delete TikTok, a video app increasingly popular with young people but also the focus of intensifying national-security and geopolitical concerns because of its Chinese ownership. The email cited "security risks" of the app.  An Amazon employee who confirmed receipt of the initial email but was not authorized to speak publicly…


Jul102020 by TechmanNo Comments

Memo: Amazon.com Bans TikTok from Employees’ Phones, Cites ‘Security Risks’

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Amazon.com Inc has requested employees remove the TikTok video sharing app from their mobile devices by July 10 over "security risks," according to a memo to employees seen by Reuters. "Due to security risk, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email. If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email. At this time, using TikTok from your Amazon laptop browser is allowed," according to the email. Amazon.com representatives did not immediately return requests for comment. "While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialog so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community," TikTok responded in a statement. Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok,…


Jul102020 by DmediaNo Comments

Comet Streaking Past Earth, Providing Spectacular Show

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A newly discovered comet is streaking past Earth, providing a stunning nighttime show after buzzing the sun and expanding its tail.  Comet Neowise swept within Mercury's orbit a week ago. Its close proximity to the sun caused dust and gas to burn off its surface and create an even bigger debris tail. Now the comet is headed our way, with closest approach in two weeks. NASA's Neowise infrared space telescope discovered the comet in March. Scientists involved in the mission said the comet is about 3 miles (5 kilometers) across. Its nucleus is covered with sooty material dating back to the origin of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. The comet will be visible around the world until mid-August, when it heads back toward the outer solar system. While it's visible with…


Jul92020 by DmediaNo Comments

Brazil to Ban Fires in Amazon for 120 Days

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Brazil will ban fires in the Amazon forest for 120 days, heeding the demands of global investors upset over environmental destruction, the government said Thursday. A formal decree banning fires will come next week. Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao made the announcement during a virtual investment conference Thursday with several European firms. He cited a letter signed by 29 firms — some of whom are threatening to cut all investment in Brazil unless the environmental degradation stops. “It’s a positive first step, and we need to continue the dialogue, and hopefully we’ll all see some results on the ground,” said Jeanett Bergan, head of responsible investments for KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund. The investors told Brazilian authorities they monitor deforestation rates, prevention of forest fires, and enforcement of Brazil’s forest code when assessing their…


Jul92020 by DmediaNo Comments

NASA Begins Summer Road Trip

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NASA embarks on an epic summer road trip tens of millions of miles away. An astronaut who both walked on the moon and reached the deepest point on Earth shares her journey. And a “natural firework” of a comet streaks the French skies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...


Jul92020 by DmediaNo Comments

Study Finds Rats, Like Humans, Less Likely to Offer Help When in a Group

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A new study using rats suggests that how a person decides whether to step in and help another person who is in distress may be more a factor of biology than psychology and may show why some people show empathy and others do not.A long-held social-psychological concept holds that people in a group are less likely to help someone in need than if those individuals were alone. The idea, known as “the bystander effect,” is often explained by suggesting a larger group “diffuses responsibility.” In other words, an individual might feel less personally responsible for helping.But the study, conducted at the University of Chicago and published Wednesday in the Journal of Science Advances, shows rats, making decisions based purely on biological instincts and not any concept of right or wrong,…


Jul92020 by TechmanNo Comments

China’s Rival to GPS Navigation Carries Big Risks

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After more than 20 years of effort, China completed its satellite navigation system last Tuesday when the last of BeiDou’s 35 satellites reached geostationary orbit.China's domestically developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, designed to rival the U.S.-owned Global Positioning System (GPS), is now offering worldwide coverage, allowing global users to access its high-accuracy positioning, navigation and timing services, which are vital to the modern economy.China’s state media claims the system, formally initiated in 1994, is now being used by more than half of the world's countries, and that its navigation products have been exported to more than 120 countries.FILE - A GPS station is seen in the Inyo Mountains of California. (Shawn Lawrence/UNAVCO)Like GPS, the services are offered free of charge using public protocols. But technical experts say the differences between…


Jul92020 by TechmanNo Comments

Britain in Huawei Dilemma as China Relations Sour 

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There is growing speculation that Britain may be about to reverse course and ban Chinese firm Huawei from Britain’s rollout of 5G mobile telecoms technology.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson approved Huawei’s involvement in the construction of non-core elements of Britain’s 5G mobile network in January. The United States strongly criticized that decision, warning that the company is closely linked to the Chinese government and poses a big security risk. It appears Johnson may be about to heed that warning. “I am very, very determined to get broadband into every part of this country, reaching out for across the whole of the U.K. And we're convinced that we can do that,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “I am also determined that the U.K. should not be in any way be vulnerable to high-risk state vendors. So, we'll have to think…


Jul82020 by TechmanNo Comments

Facebook Removes False Accounts Linked to Brazil’s Bolsonaro

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Social media giant Facebook said Wednesday that it had removed dozens of accounts linked to supporters or employees of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into the spread of false news online.Nathaniel Gleicher, the company's head of cybersecurity policy, said in a statement that 73 Facebook and Instagram accounts, 14 pages and one group had been removed. Brazilian courts have been investigating the spread of false news in connection with Bolsonaro.There was no immediate comment from the presidential office about Facebook's action.Facebook's executive said the accounts were linked to the Social Liberal Party, which Bolsonaro left last year after winning the 2018 presidential election, and to employees of the president; two of his sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro; and two other lawmakers."This network consisted…


Jul82020 by DmediaNo Comments

Researchers Say Climate Change Causing Arctic Spider Population Boom

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A new study suggests earlier Arctic springs driven by climate change are providing wolf spiders in the region the opportunity to have more babies. The study, published in the June 24 edition of the biological sciences journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that Arctic wolf spiders are taking advantage of the early spring season by producing more batches of offspring — called clutches — because warmer temperatures extend the season when the spiders are active. Authors of the study, from the Arctic Research Center at Denmark’s Aarhus University, dissected individual egg sacs from the spiders and counted the number of eggs and partially developed juvenile spiders. They compared those egg contents with the size of the mothers and determined that the spiders were producing two separate clutches, something previously only…


Jul82020 by DmediaNo Comments

After US Departure, WHO Looking at Germany    

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In the wake of America's official departure from the World Health Organization, a former senior director at the U.N. health agency predicted that other countries, particularly Germany, would likely step in to fill any void left by the single-biggest financial contributor.   At a briefing on Wednesday morning, Dr. David Heymann, a former assistant WHO director-general and an American, said he was “very disappointed” at the U.S. decision to exit the agency.   He says the U.S. has been behind incredibly important activities at WHO, noting it was the U.S. and its Cold War enemy Russia that spearheaded the global initiative to eradicate smallpox.   Heymann said, however, that WHO would likely just get on with its work.   He says Germany has become an important partner in global health recently and other countries are stepping up as…


Jul82020 by TechmanNo Comments

Facebook Civil Rights Audit: ‘Serious Setbacks’ Mar Progress

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A two-year audit of Facebook’s civil rights record found "serious setbacks" that have marred the social network’s progress on matters such as hate speech, misinformation and bias.   Facebook hired the audit’s leader, former American Civil Liberties Union executive Laura Murphy, in May 2018 to assess its performance on vital social issues. Its 100-page report released Wednesday outlines a "seesaw of progress and setbacks" at the company on everything from bias in Facebook's algorithms to its content moderation, advertising practices and treatment of voter suppression.   The audit recommends that Facebook build a "civil rights infrastructure" into every aspect of the company, as well as a "stronger interpretation" of existing voter suppression policies and more concrete action on algorithmic bias. Those suggestions are not binding, and there is no formal…


Jul82020 by DmediaNo Comments

Tie for Warmest 12-Month Period Globally as Siberia Sizzles

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Temperatures soared 10 degrees Celsius above average across much of permafrost-laden Siberia last month, which was tied for the warmest June on record globally, the European Union's climate monitoring network said Tuesday. The 12-month period to June 2020 was also tied for the warmest to date across the planet, on a par with the ones ending in May 2020 and September 2016, an exceptional El Nino year, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported.That means Earth's average surface temperature for July 2019-June 2020 was 1.3C above pre-industrial levels, the standard benchmark for global warming. The 2015 Paris climate treaty calls for capping the rise in temperature to "well below" 2C.  In 2018, however, the UN's climate science panel (IPCC) concluded in a landmark report that 1.5C — only two-tenths of a degree…


Jul82020 by DmediaNo Comments

Massive Machines Search for Smallest Pieces of Universe

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Antimatter.It’s not just the stuff of science fiction.  The physicists working at CERN – officially the European Organization for Nuclear Research – create it almost every day as part of their efforts to find out what the universe is made of and how it works. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is a consortium of 23 countries and includes scientists and workers from many more.Their research lab is a ring-shaped underground tunnel, 27 kilometers around, that crisscrosses the border between Switzerland and France. In the tunnel lies the Large Hadron Collider, where protons – one of the building blocks of atoms – are made to crash into one another with incredible force, creating, among other elements, antimatter. But just because physicists can make antimatter doesn’t mean they understand everything about it yet. Antimatter is as old…


Jul72020 by DmediaNo Comments

Brazil Man May Be Cured of HIV

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Doctors in Brazil say an experimental treatment given to a man known as the Sao Paulo Patient may have cured him of HIV.     The man, who was subjected to intensive anti-retroviral drug therapy with the purpose of removing all traces of the AIDS virus from his body, shows no signs of the virus after more than a year since he stopped receiving the treatment.   In an interview with The Associated Press, the patient said he was “very moved, because it’s something that millions of people want. It’s a gift of life, a second chance to live.”   The only other two known cases of HIV cures have been through bone marrow transplants, which gave patients new immune systems that were better equipped to respond to the virus.…