Covid-19 news: England and Wales deaths falling fastest among over 80s

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-england-and-wales-deaths-falling-fastest-among-over-80s/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

AI learns how to play old platform games

New computer algorithms designed to beat old 80s platformers could help robots navigate your home. Intelligent computer algorithms capable of playing … Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/344270/ai-learns-how-to-play-old-platform-games…

First real world covid-19 vaccine studies show ‘spectacular’ results

One dose of coronavirus vaccine cut hospitalisations in Scotland by up to 94 per cent, while further analysis shows a significant drop in death rates in the over-80s Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268769-first-real-world-covid-19-vaccine-studies-show-spectacular-results/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

UK Becomes the First Country To Approve Pfizer/BioNTech Coronavirus Vaccine, Roll Out To Start Next Week

Hope Thelps shares a report: The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for mass vaccination. Britain’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, says the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe to be rolled out. The first doses are already on their way to the UK,…

Ann Syrdal, Who Helped Give Computers a Female Voice, Dies at 74

Ann Syrdal, a psychologist and computer science researcher who helped develop synthetic voices that sounded like women, laying the groundwork for such modern digital assistants as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, died on July 24 at her home in San Jose, Calif. She was 74. From a report: Her daughter Kristen Lasky said the cause was cancer. As a researcher at…

Covid-19 news: Death in severe cases are 70 times higher in over 80s

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-death-in-severe-cases-are-70-times-higher-in-over-80s/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Closest Black Hole To Earth Found ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’

The massive cosmic object lurks in a star system you can see with the naked eye. From a report: During winter in the Southern Hemisphere, a blue point of light in the constellation Telescopium gleams overhead. The brilliant pinprick on the sky, which looks like a bright star, is actually two stars in close orbit — accompanied by the closest known…

Cobol Programmers Heed the Call to Support America’s Overloaded Unemployment Systems

Earlier this week Slashdot reader puddingebola shared a CNN story headlined “Wanted urgently: People who know a half century-old computer language so states can process unemployment claims…” But now IEEE Spectrum reports that “Cobol programmers in the United States are heeding the call to work on antiquated state unemployment benefits computer systems⦔ The new claims brought the three-week total to more…

Are There Generational Differences In First Coding Languages and Learning Resources?

“Under the age of 39? Odds are that most of your peers learned to code in C. “Most Baby Boomers and Gen Xers — or, those between the ages of 40 and 74 in 2020 — learned to code in BASIC.” That’s just one of the interesting conclusions from HackerRank’s third annual “Developer Skills Report,” which this year compiled responses from…