theodp writes: Amazon on Wednesday announced it has lined up the support of Governors and State School Superintendents from five ‘key states’ for a pilot that aims to reimagine the Java-based Advanced Placement Computer Science A (AP CS A) course taken by high school students for college credit. By doing so, Amazon indicated it hopes to address “the diversity gaps in…
Tag: diversity
Second Google AI Ethics Leader Fired, She Says Amid Staff Protest
Alphabet’s Google on Friday fired scientist Margaret Mitchell, she said in a Twitter post, after weeks of being under investigation for moving thousands of files outside the company amid a battle over research freedom and diversity. From a report: Google’s ethics in artificial intelligence research unit has been under scrutiny since December’s dismissal of scientist Timnit Gebru, which prompted protest from…
Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret
Her birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species. From a report: Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned 21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly…
European Space Agency seeks diversity in new astronaut drive
Are you calm under pressure and zero gravity, open to extra-terrestrial travel and female? If so, you could be a prime candidate for the European Space Agency’s first astronaut recruitment drive in 11 years. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-european-space-agency-diversity-astronaut.html…
Coursera partners with Howard University, expands social justice content, and collaborates with Facebook to offer scholarships to Black learners
By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera At Coursera, we believe that learning is the source of human progress — that it has the power to transform our world. In 2020, we strengthened our commitment to address systemic racism through learning. We focused on creating social justice and anti-racism content and elevating Black voices […]
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Pandemic Drove Sales of 4G and 5G-Enabled PCs To New Record In 2020
Global sales of cellular-enabled mobile PCs reached more than 10 million units for the first time in 2020 as home workers sought improved connectivity in response to the closure of office facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research firm Strategy Analytics: According to the latest analysis from Strategy Analytics’ Connected Computing Devices program, global shipments increased by 70% to 10.1 million, the…
Two Google Engineers Resign Over Firing of AI Ethics Researcher Timnit Gebru
An engineering director and a software developer have quit Alphabet’s Google over the dismissal of AI researcher Timnit Gebru, a sign of the ongoing conflicts at the search giant over diversity and ethics. From a report: David Baker, a director focused on user safety, left Google last month after 16 years because Gebru’s exit “extinguished my desire to continue as a…
Sparrows are healthier living in groups with diverse personalities
Individual house sparrows show distinct personality types, and they are healthier when they live in groups that reflect a diversity of sparrow personalities Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2265802-sparrows-are-healthier-living-in-groups-with-diverse-personalities/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Climate impact on childhood diet may undermine food security efforts
Warming temperatures and more variable rainfall are reducing diet diversity among children in many countries – and may even undermine efforts to improve food security Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2265638-climate-impact-on-childhood-diet-may-undermine-food-security-efforts/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Walmart’s E-Commerce Chief Is Leaving To Build ‘a City of the Future’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Recode: Marc Lore, a serial entrepreneur who sold his startup Jet.com to Walmart for $3 billion and then oversaw the transformation of the retail giant’s e-commerce business over the last four years, is leaving his full-time role with the company at the end of the month, he told Recode. His next big entrepreneurial swing…