Sep162020 by DmediaNo Comments

Hurricane Sally Threatens Historic Floods Along US Gulf Coast

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Heavy rain and pounding surf driven by Hurricane Sally hit the Florida and Alabama coasts Tuesday as forecasters expected the slow-moving storm to dump continuous deluges before and after landfall, possibly triggering dangerous, historic flooding along the northern Gulf Coast. "It's going to be a huge rainmaker," said Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist and meteorologist at Colorado State University. "It's not going to be pretty." The National Hurricane Center expected Sally to remain a Category 1 hurricane, with top sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour at landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The storm's sluggish pace made it harder to predict exactly where its center will strike. The hurricane's slow movement exacerbated the threat of heavy rain and storm surge. Sally remained dangerous even after losing power, its fiercest winds having dropped…


Sep152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Well-Preserved Ice Age Cave Bear Remains Found on Russian Island

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Scientists at a Russian university have announced the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved ice age cave bear, with much of its soft tissue including its nose, flesh and teeth intact.In a statement, scientists from North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk say reindeer herders on Great Lyakhovsky island in the New Siberian Islands archipelago discovered the carcass in the melting permafrost. NEFU is considered the premier center for research into woolly mammoths and other prehistoric, ice age species.Scientists at the research center have hailed the find as ground-breaking. Previously, scientists had only the bone of cave bears to study. The species, or subspecies, lived in Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene period and became extinct about 15,000 years ago.Preliminary analysis suggests this specimen to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old,…


Sep152020 by TechmanNo Comments

Pompeo: Confident There Will Be Effective Competitors to Huawei from Western Vendors

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday he is confident there will be effective 5G competitors to China's Huawei from Western vendors at comparable costs, adding that he believes Western technologies will come to dominate telecommunications. "I am confident that there will be a cost-effective deliverables from Western trusted vendors that can deliver the same services, or better services, at comparative cost," Pompeo said during an Atlantic Council event. In what some observers have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried 5G dominance would give China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept. With U.S.-China relations at their worst in decades, Washington has been pushing governments around to world to squeeze out Huawei Technologies Co, arguing that the firm would hand over…


Sep152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Hurricane Sally Stalls Just of Southern US Coast 

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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says slow-moving Hurricane Sally, the latest storm to threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, remains offshore but is already bringing high winds, rain and surf to the coastline.    In the latest report, forecasters say Sally was about 110 kilometers east to southeast of east of the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. It currently has maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour, and hurricane warnings early Tuesday extended from the Louisiana-Mississippi border east to Florida.    Forecasters say Sally should reach land near the Alabama-Mississippi state line by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, although they stress “significant” uncertainty as to where the storm’s eye would make landfall. But they say Sally is moving more eastward than originally anticipated, sparing the city of New Orleans.  …


Sep152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Humpback Whales Found In Crocodile-Infested Australian River, Baffling Scientists

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Marine experts are planning to rescue humpback whales that have been recorded for the first time in crocodile-infested waters in the Kakadu national park in tropical northern Australia. It is thought the giant sea mammals took a wrong turn during one of nature’s most epic migrations. The humpbacks should be starting their long journey to Antarctica from breeding grounds off Western Australia’s remote north coast. Instead, a small group - thought to be two adults and a large juvenile - were spotted in the East Alligator river in the Kakadu national park, east of Darwin on September 2.  It is famous for its world heritage Aboriginal rock art and for its crocodiles. Never have migrating whales been recorded in the area.  Experts believe one of the humpbacks has returned to the sea, and plans are being made…


Sep152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Hurricane Sally Threatens US Gulf Coast with Slow Drenching

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Hurricane Sally, one of five storms lined up as if on a conveyor belt across the Atlantic, churned toward the Louisiana-Mississippi coast Monday with rapidly strengthening winds of at least 145 kph (90 mph) and the potential for as much as 60 centimeters (23.5 inches) of rain that could bring severe flooding. Storm-weary Gulf Coast residents rushed to buy bottled water and other supplies ahead of the storm, which was expected to reach Louisiana's southeastern tip around daybreak Tuesday and make its way sluggishly northward into Mississippi on a path that could menace the New Orleans metropolitan area and cause a long, slow drenching. Forecasters said it could be a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 169 kph (105 mph) by the time it nears the coast. It would be Louisiana's second…


Sep142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Trump, Biden Differ on Approach to Western Wildfires

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At opposite ends of the country, President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden presented vastly different views Monday about the cause of the historic, destructive wildfires in the Western United States, which have killed at least 35 people.In California, the president — brushing aside concerns about climate change as a catalyst for the increasing number and intensity of such fires — reiterated his call for Western states to practice better forest management.“When trees fall down after a short period of time, they become very dry — really like a matchstick,” said Trump on arrival in California. “And they can explode. Also leaves. When you have dried leaves on the ground, it’s just fuel for the fires.” Trump’s “climate denial” did not cause the fires, Biden said in his home state of Delaware.…


Sep142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Astronomers Announce Possible Sign of Life on Venus

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An international team of astronomers Monday announced the discovery of a rare gas molecule — phosphine — in the clouds of Venus, which may be the first solid evidence of extraterrestrial life in the solar system.  The researchers say on Earth, phosphine is only made industrially or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments. The international team, which includes researchers from Britain, the U.S. and Japan, published their findings in two papers — the science journal Nature on Monday, and Astrobiology journal on Saturday.Phosphine was first spotted in observations that were made by Cardiff University astronomer Jane Greaves using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. The discovery was then confirmed using a more sensitive radio telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.  FILE - Radio telescope antennas…


Sep142020 by TechmanNo Comments

Huawei’s Survival at Stake as US Sanctions Loom

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Starting Sept. 15, China's telecom giant Huawei — once a symbol of Chinese technology prowess — will be cut off from essential supplies of semiconductors. Without those chips, Huawei cannot make the smartphones or 5G equipment on which its business depends, business analysts say.The sanctions against one of China’s most successful technology companies were announced in August, when the United States introduced a new set of rules that prohibit foreign chipmakers that rely on U.S. technology from selling any chips to Huawei without first obtaining a special license.In recent weeks, suppliers from South Korea and Taiwan have all indicated they will comply with the sanctions and cease their supply of semiconductors to Huawei on Tuesday, the day the new moves against the Chinese company comes into force.“Unfortunately, in the second…


Sep142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Sally Set to Become Hurricane and Threaten US Gulf Coast

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Tropical Storm Sally slowed down Sunday as it churned northward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, increasing the risk of heavy rain and dangerous storm surge before an expected strike as a Category 2 hurricane in southern Louisiana. "I know for a lot of people this storm seemed to come out of nowhere," said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. "We need everybody to pay attention to this storm. Let's take this one seriously." Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sally is expected to become a hurricane Monday and reach shore by early Tuesday, bringing dangerous weather conditions, including risk of flooding, to a region stretching from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  Edwards urged people to prepare for the storm immediately. He also said there are still many from southwestern…


Sep142020 by TechmanNo Comments

Report: TikTok Deal Moves Forward with Oracle

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ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the wildly popular video sharing app TikTok, has rejected Microsoft’s bid to buy the app and appears to be leaning toward a deal with investors led by Oracle.  The Trump administration has given ByteDance until September 20 to make a deal or stop operating inside the U.S.  On Sunday, the Microsoft's corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)In a statement, Microsoft said its proposal “would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation.”The fate of TikTok in the U.S. hangs in the balance as it approaches the Trump administration deadline. In recent months, the video app…


Sep132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Medical Journal: Masks an Important Tool to Fight COVID-19

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Wearing a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic could be a more important part of the arsenal against the virus than previously thought.An article in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that universal face mask wearing “might help reduce the severity of disease and ensure that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic.”If that premise is correct, the article suggested, face mask wearing could become a form of inoculation “that would generate immunity and thereby slow the spread of the virus” during the global wait for the development of a vaccine.The journal cited two recent outbreaks of COVID-19 in U.S. food-processing plants where workers were required to wear masks every day.“The proportion of asymptomatic infections among the more than 500 people who became infected was 95%, with only…


Sep122020 by DmediaNo Comments

Dakotas Lead US in Virus Growth as Both Reject Mask Rules

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Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic.The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota, as the city council considered requiring face coverings in businesses. The city was forced to move its meeting to a local arena to accommodate intense interest, with many citizens speaking against it, before the mask requirement ultimately passed.Amid the brute force of the pandemic, health experts warn that the infections must be contained before care systems are overwhelmed. North Dakota and South Dakota lead the country in new cases per capita over the last two weeks, ranking first and second respectively, according to Johns Hopkins…


Sep122020 by DmediaNo Comments

DRC, Congo Face Risk of Ebola Spreading Across Border

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The World Health Organization is raising the prospect that the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Equateur province could spread across borders.The latest figures put the number of cases in the province at 113, including 48 deaths. The disease has spread into 12 of the province’s 17 health zones.Bomongo, the latest area affected by Ebola, is located between the Ubangi and Congo rivers.  It is the second health zone to be affected that borders the Republic of the Congo.The World Health Organization warned that this increases chances that the outbreak could spread into another country.  WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told VOA the risk was heightened because Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province, also is affected by the outbreak.“The population is also very highly mobile," Chaib said.…


Sep122020 by DmediaNo Comments

Cameroon Says Patients at Risk as COVID Scares Away Blood Donors

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Cameroon says it urgently needs more than 2,000 pints of blood to save the lives of about 300 people, including hemodialysis patients, in the central African state’s troubled English-speaking town of Bamenda.Health workers say the fear of COVID-19, coupled with increasing attacks by separatist fighters, has scared away most blood donors. People wounded in the separatist crisis and dialysis patients are being rushed to hospitals in French-speaking towns.      Ngum Sirri, 55, was being rushed to the General Hospital in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, in the hospital's ambulance. The hemodialysis patient was brought in from the English-speaking town of Bamenda by her family members. She says she is in search of blood to save her life.      "When you give blood you save lives, so we are pleading with…


Sep112020 by DmediaNo Comments

Daily US Virus Deaths Decline, But Trend May Reverse in Fall

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The number of daily U.S. deaths from the coronavirus is declining again after peaking in early August, but scientists warn that a new bout with the disease this fall could claim more lives.The arrival of cooler weather and the likelihood of more indoor gatherings will add to the importance of everyday safety precautions, experts say."We have to change the way we live until we have a vaccine," said Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. In other words: Wear a mask. Stay home. Wash your hands.The U.S. has seen two distinct peaks in daily deaths. The nation's summertime surge crested at about half the size of the first deadly wave in April.Deaths first peaked on April 24 at an average of 2,240 each…


Sep112020 by DmediaNo Comments

COVID ‘Increasing Rapidly’ Among American Youth

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Cases of COVID-19 are “increasingly rapidly among young adults in the U.S.,” according to a research letter from Harvard, published at the online site of the JAMA medical journal.The study included 3,222 young adults between the ages of 18 and 34.The investigation found that the young adults “experienced substantial rates of adverse outcomes: 21% required intensive care, 10% required mechanical ventilation, and 2.7% died.”Patients with morbid obesity, hypertension, and diabetes were at “greater risks of adverse events.” The young adults with more than one of the conditions, the researchers found, “faced risks comparable with those observed in middle-aged adults without them.” Black and Hispanic patients made up more than half of the patients who required hospitalization.A separate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report says an investigation of symptomatic outpatients…


Sep112020 by DmediaNo Comments

Terrorism, Pandemic Trigger Two Kinds of Stress

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This September 11 is different. Every year, Americans have remembered the largest terrorist attack on American soil by coming together – to read names, to pray, to hold hands.  But this year, one of the most trusted remedies for grief – togetherness – is not available because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. In New York City, even the twin columns of light that traditionally shine into the Manhattan sky on the anniversary will not appear this year. A spokesman for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum told the New York Times that the decision was made in order to avoid the health risks of a crew of nearly 40 people working closely together to install the lights. One could argue that the pandemic, like 9/11, has changed everything. FILE - Spectators…


Sep112020 by DmediaNo Comments

NASA Sets Out to Buy Moon Resources Mined by Private Companies

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NASA on Thursday launched an effort to pay companies to mine resources on the moon, announcing it would buy from them rocks, dirt and other lunar materials as the U.S. space agency seeks to spur private extraction of coveted off-world resources for its use. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in a blog post accompanying the announcement that the plans would not violate a 1967 treaty that holds that celestial bodies and space are exempt from national claims of ownership. FILE - NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks to multiple media outlets at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Nov. 26, 2018.The initiative, targeting companies that plan to send robots to mine lunar resources, is part of NASA's goal of setting what Bridenstine called "norms of behavior" in space and allowing private mining…


Sep112020 by TechmanNo Comments

Russian Hackers Targeting US Campaigns, Microsoft Says

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The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has renewed vigorous U.S. election-related targeting, trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations including political campaigns and their consultants, Microsoft said Thursday.The intrusion attempts reflect a stepped-up effort to infiltrate the U.S. political establishment, the company said."What we've seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those who they consult on key issues," Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president, said in a blog post. U.K. and European political groups were also probed, he added.Most of the hacking attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified, he said. The company would not comment on who may have been successfully…


Sep112020 by DmediaNo Comments

Climate Change May Shift Risks of Mosquito-borne Diseases

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More dengue, less malaria. That may be the future in parts of Africa on a warming planet, depending on where you live. FILE - A doctor tests a child for malaria at the Ithani-Asheri Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania, May 11, 2016.Using mosquito optimal temperature data and population density, the researchers predicted the risk of malaria and dengue in Africa under “worst-case, business-as-usual” climate projections. The dengue mosquito — which also spreads a lot of viruses that cause diseases such as chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever — is expected to expand its range, increasing the risk of these diseases throughout sub-Saharan Africa by 2080.   In contrast, the areas of greatest risk for malaria are predicted to shrink, shifting further south and into high-elevation regions. The researchers say that rising urbanization in Africa may further…


Sep102020 by DmediaNo Comments

Report: World’s Wildlife Population Has Plummeted Because of Human Activity

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A report released Thursday by the nonprofit conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the world's wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 68% in just four decades, with human consumption behind the decline.FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2019 photo, a burned area of the Amazon rainforest is seen in Prainha, Para state, Brazil.However, wildlife populations are not the only ones who are in danger as a result of species decline and deforestation. Scientists say that the rapid destruction of the environment plays a dramatic role in the spread of zoonotic diseases, which are passed from animals to humans, such as COVID-19.Forests act as buffers to keep zoonotic diseases away from humans, environmentalists say, and the more that are destroyed, the greater the risk of exposure for people.'Russian…


Sep102020 by DmediaNo Comments

UN Chief Says $35 Billion Needed for WHO Coronavirus Program

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday called for $35 billion in additional funding for the World Health Organization's Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator program, designed to develop and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines and treatments worldwide.   The funding includes $15 billion in the next three months.     Guterres spoke Thursday at a virtual inaugural meeting of the ACT Facilitation Council, an international collaboration of leaders looking to use the program as a mechanism to speed the development of COVID vaccines and treatments.   In his remarks, the U.N. chief told the group the nearly $3 billion that has been contributed so far is “seed funding" and is less than 10% of what WHO wants for the program.      "We now need $35 billion more to go from startup…


Sep102020 by DmediaNo Comments

La Nina Climate Pattern Could Bring Snow, Storms to North America

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U.S. weather officials announced Thursday that a La Nina climate pattern has developed in the Pacific Ocean, possibly exacerbating an already busy hurricane season and setting up a colder, wetter winter for North America.U.S. Climate Prediction Center Deputy Director Mike Halpert said in a press release that La Nina can contribute to an increase in Atlantic hurricane activity by weakening winds over the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Basin. He said that can enable storms to develop and intensify.Halpert said the potential for La Nina development was considered when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) updated its Atlantic hurricane season outlook last month.In a statement on its website, NOAA describes La Nina — translated from Spanish as “little girl” — as a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea…


Sep102020 by DmediaNo Comments

Study Suggest Best Way to Drive Away Seagulls; Eye Contact

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A new study suggests that if you find yourself annoyed by seagulls at the beach or, more increasingly, urban areas, the best way to discourage them is to make eye contact.Researchers at Britain’s University of Exeter observed 155 herring gulls – the most common variety of seagull, and a variety, they say, that is becoming more common in urban areas.The gulls tend to be seemingly fearless around people in either setting when it comes to stealing food. They have been known to fly off with whatever a person might be eating if it is left unguarded.For their study, the researchers approached the seagulls while either looking directly at them or facing toward them, while keeping their eyes to the ground.  They found when their eyes were locked with the gulls,…


Sep102020 by DmediaNo Comments

Trump Bans Oil Drilling Off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina

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U.S. President Donald Trump has moved to bar offshore oil and gas drilling in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, a rare action against the fossil fuel industry from an administration that has made global energy dominance a priority.The order drew skepticism from environmentalists and disappointment from the oil and gas industry, but approval from Republicans in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina who have opposed drilling off their state coasts.Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden places a note card in his jacket pocket as he speaks at a campaign event in Warren, Mich., Sept. 9, 2020.Florida especially is considered critical to deciding November's presidential election. Polls there find Trump in an extremely close race with his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.The memorandum Trump…


Sep102020 by TechmanNo Comments

Millennials Connect Via Social Media Challenges During COVID-19

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Bingo is back, this time among millennials and Gen Zers. To stave off boredom caused by the coronavirus quarantine and connect with others, millions of global millennials and Gen Zers are issuing challenges to each other on social media.  Challenges have gotten so popular that social media giant Instagram added a “challenge” story sticker to make it easier for users to create their own or nominate others.  Challenges and tags flooding social media range from drawing random oranges and tagging friends, to perfecting 15-second dances on TikTok to keep people busy, connected and entertained.  Here are some of the biggest social media trends and challenges that have gone viral.Bingo  People are making bingos about everything, whether it’s a university, zodiac sign or ethnicity. Bingo questions usually follow a “never have I ever” format that users cross off until they eliminate all the…