Female giraffes who hang out with friends live longer than loners

Female giraffes who socialise in a group with at least three others have a better chance of survival – unlike male giraffes, who don’t form long-lasting relationships Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267107-female-giraffes-who-hang-out-with-friends-live-longer-than-loners/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

The iPhone 12 Mini Was Apple’s 2020 Sales Flop

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Bad news for lovers of smaller phones: the iPhone 12 mini has sold poorly compared to other phones in the iPhone 12 lineup — poorly enough that analysts wonder whether Apple will remain committed to the smaller phone design moving forward. A data firm called Counterpoint Research found that the iPhone 12…

How Bravin took on the challenge to upskill and pave a new career path

Meet Bravin, a passionate learner from Kenya who decided to enroll in the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative. During a challenging time of unemployment, Bravin was determined to make the most of his time to upskill and prepare for re-entry into the workforce. See how he’s using his new skills and knowledge to pave a new […]
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The 1st sign of intelligent life beyond Earth?

Physicist Avi Loeb of Harvard believes we should take seriously the idea that ‘Oumuamua – the 1st known object to pass through our solar system from interstellar space – might have been created by an alien civilization. His new book is called “Extraterrestrial.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/book-avi-loeb-extraterrestrial-1st-sign-of-intelligent-life…

Scientists Develop Transparent Wood That Is Stronger, Lighter Than Glass

Researchers at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary sheets of wood into transparent material that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties. It could become an energy efficient building material in the future. CBC.ca reports: Wood is made of two basic ingredients: cellulose, which are tiny fibres, and lignin, which bonds those fibres together…

Pfizer Is Doubling Its Output of Covid-19 Vaccines

31.9 million Americans have already received one or both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine — including more than 9.3 million people who have been fully vaccinated. And now USA Today reports: Pfizer expects to nearly cut in half the amount of time it takes to produce a batch of COVID-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60 as it…

Ban on Wireless Modems In Voting Machines Should be Optional, Suggests US Election Agency

The U.S. agency overseeing elections has “quietly weakened a key element of proposed security standards…” reports the Associated Press, “raising concern among voting-integrity experts that many such systems will remain vulnerable to hacking.” The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is poised to approve its first new security standards in 15 years after an arduous process involving multiple technical and elections community bodies…

Russian Campaign Promotes Homegrown Vaccine and Undercuts Rivals

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Russian news outlets connected to election disinformation campaigns in the United States have set their sights on a new target: convincing Spanish-speaking countries that the Russian coronavirus vaccine works better than its American competitors, according to researchers and State Department officials. The Russian campaign has focused on Latin American nations,…

What’s the difference between asteroids and comets?

Asteroids and comets are generally composed of different materials and reside in different locations of the solar system, while some rare objects display characteristics of both. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/whats-the-difference-between-comets-and-asteroids…