Aug42023 by DmediaNo Comments

Endangered Species Act’s Future in Doubt

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Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp's glow. "Another big brown," she said with a sigh. It was a common type, one of many Wilson and colleagues had snagged on summer nights in the southern Michigan countryside. They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees. The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission. "It's a bad suggestion if we do not catch one. It doesn't look good," said Allen Kurta, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied bats for more than 40 years. The two bat varieties are…


Aug32023 by DmediaNo Comments

Ancient Flamingo Egg Found in Mexico During Airport Construction

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MEXICO CITY — An ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old was uncovered at a busy construction site for a new airport in Mexico, officials from the Latin American country said Wednesday. The remarkably preserved egg from the Pleistocene period is incredibly rare. It is the first discovery of its kind from the Phoenicopteridae flamingo family in the Americas and only the second in the world, according to Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH. The Pleistocene geological epoch, the most recent Ice Age, began 2.6 million years ago and ended around 11,700 years ago. The flamingo egg fossil was found at a depth of 31 centimeters (12.2 inches) amid clay and shale during construction at the new Felipe Angeles airport in the state of…


Aug32023 by DmediaNo Comments

108 Treated for Heat-Related Illnesses at World Scout Jamboree in South Korea

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At least 108 people were treated for heat-related illnesses at the World Scout Jamboree being held in South Korea, which is having one of its hottest summers in years. Most of them have recovered but at least two remain in treatment at an on-site hospital as of Thursday morning, said Choi Chang-haeng, secretary-general of the Jamboree's organizing committee. The committee, which plans to proceed with the event while adding dozens more medical staff to prepare for further emergencies, did not confirm the ages and other personal details of those who were injured. Wednesday night's opening ceremony of the Jamboree brought more than 40,000 scouts, mostly teens, to a campsite built on land reclaimed from the sea in the southwestern town of Buan. The temperature there reached 35 degrees Celsius Wednesday.…


Aug32023 by DmediaNo Comments

Heaviest Animal Ever May be Ancient Whale Found in Peruvian Desert

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There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live. While today's blue whale has long held the title, scientists have dug up fossils from an ancient giant that could tip the scales. Researchers described the new species — named Perucetus colossus, or "the colossal whale from Peru" — in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Each vertebra weighs more than 100 kilograms, and its ribs measure nearly 1.4 meters long. "It's just exciting to see such a giant animal that's so different from anything we know," said Hans Thewissen, a paleontologist at Northeast Ohio Medical University who had no role in the research. The bones were first discovered more than a decade ago by Mario Urbina from the University of San Marcos' Natural History Museum in Lima. An…


Aug32023 by DmediaNo Comments

Climate Change Made July Hotter for 4 of 5 Humans on Earth, Scientists Find

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Human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth, with more than 2 billion people feeling climate change-boosted warmth daily, according to a flash study. More than 6.5 billion people, or 81% of the world's population, sweated through at least one day where climate change had a significant effect on the average daily temperature, according to a new report issued Wednesday by Climate Central, a science nonprofit that has figured a way to calculate how much climate change has affected daily weather. "We really are experiencing climate change just about everywhere," said Climate Central Vice President for Science Andrew Pershing. Researchers looked at 4,711 cities and found climate change fingerprints in 4,019 of them for July, which other scientists said is the hottest month on…


Aug22023 by DmediaNo Comments

Global AIDS Program Targeted in US Abortion Battle Moved to State Department

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The State Department launched a new bureau Tuesday aimed at making the battle against global outbreaks a lasting priority of U.S. foreign policy, even as one of its key elements – a widely acclaimed HIV program – has become caught up in the political battle over abortion. The bureau is to include the 20-year-old initiative known as the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. The program is relatively unknown to Americans but has succeeded beyond most early expectations in addressing the AIDS crisis and is credited with saving up to 25 million lives worldwide. The bureau will be led by a public health official integral to PEPFAR, John Nkengasong. Born in Cameroon, Nkengasong was a founder of U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention operations in Africa. He…


Aug22023 by DmediaNo Comments

Mass-Produced Clothing Causes Serious Air, Water Pollution Worldwide

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A customer goes into a store in the United States that is popular for trendy and cheap clothes — known as “fast fashion” — for an impulsive wardrobe addition. The person buying those clothes may be planning to keep them for only a short time, and then throwing them out when a new fashion trend arrives. Fast fashion refers to the mass-produced and low-cost clothing items that manufacturers churn out by the millions each day, especially in China, but also in countries such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Turkey. But what most people don’t realize is that most of the clothes are made from materials that are bad for the environment and end up in landfills. “Fast fashion has huge implications for the environment,” said Eliot Metzger, director of…


Aug22023 by TechmanNo Comments

Australian Lawmakers Highlight Social Media’s Threat to National Security

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A parliamentary committee investigating foreign interference in Australia has found that Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat could present major security risks. In April, Australia said it would ban TikTok on government devices because of security fears.  Lawmakers in Australia have sounded the alarm about the nefarious rise of social media and its power to spread disinformation and undermine trust.  The Senate Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media said that foreign interference was Australia's most pressing national security threat. The parliamentary inquiry in Canberra found that the increased use of social media, including Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat, could “corrupt our decision-making, political discourse and societal norms.”    The report stated that “the Chinese government can require these social media companies to secretly cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies.”  Committee makes…


Aug12023 by TechmanNo Comments

Amazon Adds US-Wide Video Telemedicine Visits to Its Virtual Clinic

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Amazon is adding video telemedicine visits in all 50 states to a virtual clinic it launched last fall, as the e-commerce giant pushes deeper into care delivery. Amazon said Tuesday that customers can visit its virtual clinic around the clock through Amazon’s website or app. There, they can compare prices and response times before picking a telemedicine provider from several options. The clinic, which doesn’t accept insurance, launched last fall with a focus on text message-based consultations. Those remain available in 34 states. Virtual care, or telemedicine, exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has remained popular as a convenient way to check in with a doctor or deal with relatively minor health issues like pink eye. Amazon says its clinic offers care for more than 30 common health…


Aug12023 by TechmanNo Comments

Meta to Ask EU Users’ Consent to Share Data for Targeted Ads

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Social media giant Meta on Tuesday said it intends to ask European Union-based users to give their consent before allowing targeted advertising on its networks including Facebook, bowing to pressure from European regulators. It said the changes were to address "evolving and emerging regulatory requirements" amid a bruising tussle with the Irish Data Protection Commission that oversees EU data rules in Ireland, out of which Meta runs its European operations. European regulators in January had dismissed the previous legal basis — "legitimate interest" — Meta had used to justify gathering users' personal data for targeted advertising. Currently, users joining Facebook and Instagram by default have that permission turned on, feeding their data to Meta so it can generate billions of dollars from such ads. "Today, we are announcing our intention…


Aug12023 by DmediaNo Comments

Brazil’s Endangered Golden Monkeys Recover Following Big Population Drop From Yellow Fever

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There are now more golden lion tamarins bounding between branches in the Brazilian rainforest than at any time since efforts to save the species started in the 1970s, a new survey reveals. Once on the brink of extinction, with only about 200 animals in the wild, the population has rebounded to around 4,800, according to a study released Tuesday by the Brazilian science and conservation nonprofit Golden Lion Tamarin Association. "We are celebrating, but always keeping one eye on other threats, because life's not easy," said the nonprofit's president, Luís Paulo Ferraz. Golden lion tamarins are small monkeys with long tails and copper-colored fur that live in family groups led by a mated pair. Usually, they give birth annually to twins, which all family members help to raise by bringing…


Aug12023 by TechmanNo Comments

Flashing ‘X’ Sign Removed From Former Twitter’s Headquarters

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A brightly flashing "X" sign has been removed from the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter just days after it was installed.  The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said Monday it received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure over the weekend. Complaints included concerns about its structural safety and illumination.  The Elon Musk-owned company, which has been rebranded as X, had removed the Twitter sign and iconic blue bird logo from the building last week. That work was temporarily paused because the company did not have the necessary permits. For a time, the "er" at the end of "Twitter" remained up due to the abrupt halt of the sign takedown.  The city of San Francisco had opened a complaint and launched an investigation into the…