newsPolice departments with high rates of brutality against civilians make deal with Amazon RingAmazon Ring is a home surveillance system attached to door bells, and are shaing footage and access with over 14,000 agencies Companies mandate or heavily encourage software that spies on employees working from home during covid Bossware collects data and performs other surveillance well outside of the necessary scope for monitoring a workforce Car brakes and tires accelerating arctic ice melt Dark hued microplastics from car tires traveling across asphault and exhaust darken surface of snow and ice, absorbing more heat from sun Land Sinking Along Mid-Atlantic Coast Will Increase Rate of Sea Level Rise Land is sinking along the mid-Atlantic coast because of land subsidence dating from the ice age Silicon Valley Elite Discuss Journalists Having Too Much Power in Private App In leaked audio from an invite-only app, venture capitalists pondered everything they think is wrong with journalism Socio-economic & environmental impacts of COVID-19 A global look at the impacts of the virus across various sectors More wildfires in the Arctic this year Wildfires exacerbated by heatwaves accelerate the process of permafrost melt, which in addition to releasing to CO2 has led to infrastructure collapses in the region Texas will face driest conditions of the last 1,000 years Texas' future climate will feature drier summers and decreasing water supplies for much of the state for the remainder of the 21st century Analysis of YouTube Trending Videos of 2019 (US) A detailed analysis of data and details from trending youtube videos in 2019 Earliest evidence of bow and arrow technology in Eurasia discovered The site in Sra Lanka also holds potential evidence for clothing making, the oldest outside of Africa Individuals in higher socioeconomic classes more likely to overestimate their own skills The study finds overconfidence can be perceived as greater competenece, leading to reinforcement of social hierarchies Underground network of microbes and fungus connecting trees mapped for first time Nicknamed the 'wood wide web', the complex interconnected web of microorganisms help tree roots exchange nutrients with soil, among other things New Surge In 3d Printed Guns A sharp increase has occured in the sharing of instructions and capabilities to produce 3d printed handguns Generic drug producers dangerously underregulated Investigative journalist publishes book claiming FDA is dangerously underfunded, and generic drug manufacturers are made aware of upcoming inspections weeks ahide of time, allowing them to destroy or fabricate documents regarding their drugs production and efficacy US Nuclear Weapons Tests Relics Possibly Leaking Radioactive Waste Into Pacific Ocean The remains of radioactive soil and ash from the cold-war era atomics testing performed by the US are encased from above in concrete but not reinforced from below, and has eroded over time Google begins drone deliveries in Finland after initial launch in Australia Google makes good on promise Amazon failed to live up to Google keeps a record of all of your purchases The tech giant uses Gmail to create a track list of every purchase you've ever made, and it is difficult to delete 'Endangered' category requires reclassification to protect slow-breeding animals Conservations call for a reworking of the requirements to consider a species endangered, as the current definition does not accurately reflect vulnerability of certain species, particularly megafauna like elephants, that reproduce at a much slower rate than others Jeff Bezos announces plans to colonize space In a stunning display of narcisissm and megalomania, world's wealthiest man lays out his own vision for humanity's future, depsite having zero qualifications aside from his ability to horde wealth Bedbugs evolved 100 million years ago New DNA study shows the creatures existed on earth as early as the dinosaurs Phage therapy successfully treats antibiotic resistent bacteria Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) have been genetically altered to attack human infections that are growing resistant to known forms of antibiotics 414 million pieces of plastic wash up on shores of barely inhabited Indian Island chain A survey of Cocos (Keeling) Islandsfound an estimated 238 tonnes of plastic, including hundreds of thousands of shoes and toothbrushes washed up from around the world Accuracy of silicon two-qubit operations have been measured for first time The breakthrough shows promise for use of silicon in full-scale quantum processors Lack of plant diversity damages bumblebees' ability to develop into healthy adults Loss of different food sources for bees results in insufficient nutrition for juvenile bees growing to adulthood, inhibiting their ability to reach maturity contribute to their colony Cocaine, pharmaceuticals found in wildlife in UK rivers and streams The study was performed across 15 sites in Suffolk and identified banned pesticides in addition to illicit substances First hominids in Tibet were Denisovans Fossil remains have been found in Tibet showing the Denisovans, a little known hominid group related to Neanderthals first discovered in Siberia, occupied the caves long before homo sapiens moved to the area Arsenic-breathing lifeforms discovered in tropical Pacific Ocean The survival strategy is thought to have been utilized by microorganisms in early oxygen-poor Earth environments Fracking triggers earthquakes far outside of injection sites A new study shows the pressure of injecting fluids more than a kilometer into the Earth's crust can create a domino-like effect of seismic activity much farther from the initial injection zone than previously estimated Amazon makes another series of major acquisitions Big purchases by the corporation include online pharmacy PillPack, self-driving car startup Aurora, electric truck startup Rivian, expansions to Amazon Air, and the commercial space-based internet service Project Kuiper Protesters occupy, skateboard in new gas pipeline being constructed in Germany Another pipeline is being obstructed by protests amid arguments that the environmental impact report is inaccurate and history of environmental damage seen in other such pipelines Indigenous Ecuadorian tribe wins landmark legal battle to protect millions of acres of land from deforestation The victory, won by the Waorani people of Pastaza, sets an important legal precedent in Ecuador in preventing the seizure of land from indigenous peoples to sell for the mining of resources 5 ways extinction is accelerated An analysis of 15,000 studies on species extinction reveals key factors in degradation of the planet's biosphere Nearly 25% of ice in West Antarctica now unstable Rapid thinning in the last quarter century has increased over time and glaciers are now unstable, losing more mass through melting and calving than they gain through snowfall The standard for measurement on earth has changed from referential to atomic On May 20, the official standard for acertaining the mass of an object will be based on atomic properties rather than specific, manmade objects created as points of reference [PDF] DOD's annual casualty report The US Department of Defense's annual report of civilian casualties and injuries in connection with the US military Sweden begins first driverless deliveries via electric trucks on public roads Swedish start-up Einride is in talks with major suppliers to utilize autonomous trucks, with human operators supervising up to 10 vehicles simultaneously Analysis of medical student evaluations shows biases towards women, minorities A study of 88,000 evaluations of third-year medical students over a decade (2006-2015) found students who were minorities or white women were more frequently described with words judging their personality while white men are more often are described with language judging their skills Professional Runner Jo Pavey states Nike froze their sponsorship after she announched her pregnancy The 5-time Gold winning Olympian accuses Nike of hypocrisy, as the corporation uses slogans of suppporting women pursuing their goals and dreams to sell its products while denying its own sponsored athletes support through maternity Neo-Nazi convicted for murder plot of British member of Parliament Jack Renshaw was under investigation for pedophilia and child abuse by labor party member Rosie Cooper whom he conspired to kill, exposed by an undercover member of Hope Not Hate (an anti-racism campaign investigating white supremacists) 96 year old retiree builds hundreds of birdnest boxes, turning tide for endangered bluebird species With no formal science background, Alfred Larson began building nest boxes for the birds in 1978 as a hobby Nature journal outlines ocean plastic problem with 60-year data set Plankton monitoring instruments help detect rising levels of plastics in oceans "Lifelike" material with artificial metabolism developed The tiny machines made of biomaterials are also capable of self-assembly and organization Kakapo parrots of New Zealand having best mating season on record The rare flightless birds, once the country's most common bird, has hatched 76 chicks by a total of 147 remaining adults in existence Hours after death, some functions are restored to pig's brain by scientists Many basic cellular functions were observed in the brain which was obtained from a meatpacking plant Thousands of Google employees protest work with Pentagon Employees, including senior engineers, sign letter protesting technology using AI to improve drone strikes as well as Google's sponsorship of the Conservative Political Action Conference Exorcisms gain popularity in US Trained exorcist numbers have risen from 15 to over 100 since 2011. (Note: in 2008 Pope Benedict called for increased efforts in the 'War on Satan', including global focus on training more exorcists) Harmful stereotypes about immigrants demonstrated false yet continue to influence policy Assumptions that immigrants spread disease and drain public resources are not supported by facts, shown in recent study Massive glacial melt in Greenland could be responsible for sudden sea level rises Melting of Greenland's ice sheet has increased dramatically compared to the last 400 years with no sign of slowing Gut Flora species differs depending on ethnicitices Studies of gut microbiomes across multiple demographics found commonalities among different ethnic groups Social unrest in France possibly being influenced by foreign propaganda bots Examination of social media accounts that have helped influence the Yellow Vests and surrounding rhetoric Data caps predicted to interfere with streaming within next year ISPs like Comcast will charge customers for going over their monthly data cap, resulting in extra charges for overusing services like Netflix AT&T will keep customers' money if they cancel in the middle of their billing cycle TV and Internet users will no longer be offered prorates or credits if they want to cancel their subscriptions, and will be forced to ride out the rest of the month Walmart announces robot janitors The automated workers will be fully autonomous and function even in the presence of customers 3d printed vegan steak developed First 3d printed steak synthesized from plant proteins that mimic muscle textures of beef, chicken Monarch Butterfly populations drop by an order of magnitude Only 20,456 butterflies were found at surveyed sites compared to 148,000 last year Streaming Services announce "pause ads" AT&T and Hulu, among others, announce intent to test advertisements that play when content is paused Amazon announces drone deliveries in 5 years 5 years ago Amazon is officially late fulfilling this promise given by its CEO, and implementation is not expected in near future Hackers use Google Chrome extension to exploit vicitims The browser extension was used to infect users, steal passwords and cookies US Life expentency on the decline Rise of drug overdoses and suicide are prime contributors Virtual fence along highway reduces annual wildlife fatalities by 50% New technology in Australia using motion-sensor alarms placed on roadside posts being tested along one of the busiest highways in the country to prevent animals from being struck and killed by vehicles Airlines use algorithm to split up families; charge more for closer seating Airlines accused of using algorithm to identify passengers of same surname, placing their seats far away from each other on the plane unless the passengers pay a fee to be seated next to one another. From the UK Five Year Trends for Poverty Rates, Internet Use, and Household income available From US Census Bureau Facebook collects and archives call data from users for years Internal documents show facebook considered the decision high-risk but went ahead with it Cars stolen by thieves remotely hijacking wireless key fobs The key fob signal can be boosted and rerouted, even when the keys are inside a home. From Toronto Volkswagon will stop producing vehicles that aren't CO2 neutral VW Corporation announces next generation of vehicles with combustion engines will be its last 24 Amazon Warehouse Workers Hospitalized after accident involving robot Workers were blasted with concentrated capsaicin (the active chemical in pepperspray) from bear spray after robot punctures cannister, all expected to be released within 24 hrs |