Find out how to spot Sirius, the brightest star as seen from Earth. Learn the mythology behind this dazzling light and how it earned the nickname of the Dog Star. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/sirius-the-brightest-star…
Tag: New York City
Our world is losing ice at a record rate
The rate at which ice is disappearing across the planet has been speeding up, with 65% since the 1990s, a survey of global ice loss using European Space Agency satellite data reveals. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/esa-satellites-show-record-rate-ice-loss…
Google To Open Up Its Office Facilities for COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics
Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday said the company will make its office facilities available for COVID-19 vaccination clinics, as tech giants aim to speed up distribution efforts in the US. From a report: The company said it’s partnering with the health care provider One Medical for the clinics, which will be opened “as needed” at Google buildings, parking lots and…
Andrew Yang Proposes a Local Currency, Sees Growing Support for Universal Basic Income
In March Andrew Yang’s nonprofit gave $1,000 one-time grants to a thousand residents in the Bronx. This week a new article in the New Yorker asks one of those grant recipients how they feel about Yang’s newest proposal as he runs to be New York’s mayor: to give the city’s public-housing residents billions of dollars in a “Borough Bucks” currency that…
Will iceberg twice the size of NYC break off Antarctica this year?
A crack on the Antarctic ice shelf grew dramatically in late 2020 into 2021. Scientists are watching to see if the rapidly accelerating crack will cause the shelf to rip apart before Antarctica’s sunlit summer season – going on now – comes to an end. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/iceberg-brunt-ice-shelf-antarctica-break-off…
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…
Smartwatches Can Help Detect COVID-19 Days Before Symptoms Appear
Smartwatches and other wearable devices that continuously measure users’ heart rates, skin temperature and other physiological markers can help spot coronavirus infections days before an individual is diagnosed. From a report: Devices like the Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit watches can predict whether an individual is positive for COVID-19 even before they are symptomatic or the virus is detectable by tests,…
Carbon Engineering’s Tech Will Suck Carbon From the Sky
“It’s not enough to slash greenhouse gas emissions,” warns a new article in IEEE Spectrum (shared by schwit1). “Experts say we need direct-air capture of atmospheric carbon.” West Texas is a hydrocarbon hot spot, with thousands of wells pumping millions of barrels of oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas from the Permian Basin. When burned, all that oil…
IBM Will Pay $24.25 Million To Resolve FCC Probes
IBM has agreed to pay $24.25 million to resolve a pair of investigations by the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) over subsidies awarded to connect schools and libraries to broadband. From a report: IBM’s payment will resolve two FCC investigations that have spanned nearly 15 years over its alleged violations of “E-Rate” program rules in connection with New York City and El Paso…
Uber in Talks To Sell Air Taxi Business To Joby
Uber is in advanced talks to sell its Uber Elevate unit to Joby Aviation, Axios reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources. A deal could be announced later this month. From the report: Uber Elevate was formed to develop a network of self-driving air taxis, but to date has been most notable for its annual conference devoted to the nascent industry. The sale…