An anonymous reader shares a report from Techdirt: Last last week, a report out of the UK topped the trending news items at Hacker News. The report found that U.S. broadband speeds — historically the poster child for mediocrity — jumped roughly 90% during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The improvements weren’t consistent geographically, and the report was quick to note that by…
Tag: Proof
Most Popular Courses of 2020: A Year of Mental Health, Contract Tracing, and Job-Relevant Skills
By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer, Coursera In 2020, a record number of people turned to online learning as a source of hope, growth, and resilience amid economic uncertainty, and campus and workplace disruptions. Since March, there were more than 69 million enrollments on Coursera—a roughly 430% increase compared to the same period last year. […]
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Italy Fines Apple $12 Million For Unfair Claims About iPhone Water Resistance
Iwastheone writes: Italian regulators have fined Apple $12 million for making misleading and unfair claims about iPhone water resistance. The fine was imposed by L’Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), which translates literally as the guarantee authority for competition and the market. This is the competition watchdog responsible for ensuring that companies treat both consumers and competitors fairly. First,…
What Happened After Silicon Valley Tried to Make Telecommuting Permanent
California’s state air quality mandates require each region to have a feasible plan for a 19% reduction in emissions by 2035. But “after a barrage of criticism from Silicon Valley businesses and Bay Area mayors, Metropolitan Transportation Commission planners have backed off a requirement to have employees from big companies work from home three days a week,” reports the Bay Area…
After 17 Years OS X Notifier App ‘Growl’ Retired
Growl is being retired after surviving for 17 years. Its page on GitHub explains: Growl is a notification system for OS X. Growl has been around since 2004, and was originally called Global Notifications Center. The name was changed to Growl (like the noise a dog makes) since we felt the name Notifications Center was too geeky. We were wrong about…
How Powerful Forces Collaborated to Peddle Misinformation about the Origins of the Coronavirus
There’s “an overwhelming body of evidence” for scientists’ belief that the coronavirus originated in an animal before making the leap to humans, reports the New York Times. (Alternate URL here.) They add that U.S. intelligence agencies also “have not found any proof” for a fringe theory it somehow leaked from a lab. Yet as recently as September, a Hong Kong researcher…
Moon, Venus, Mercury before daybreak
These next several days, watch as the waning crescent moon joins up with the planets Mercury and Venus, plus the star Spica, in the eastern predawn/dawn sky. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-venus-mercury-before-daybreak…
Scientists Discover Two New Mammals in Australia
CNET reports:
Two new species of greater glider, a cat-size marsupial that lives in the forests of Australia, have been discovered after scientists ran DNA tests on new tissue samples of the animals. A new study published in Nature’s public access Scientific Reports journal details the findings… Using genetic sequencing tests from tissue samples taken from various gliders found in areas of…
Physicists develop efficient modem for a future quantum internet
The first quantum revolution brought about semiconductor electronics, the laser and finally the internet. The coming, second quantum revolution promises spy-proof communication, extremely precise quantum sensors and quantum computers for previously unsolvable computing tasks. But this revolution is still in its infancy. A central research object is the interface between local quantum devices and light quanta that enable the remote transmission…
GPS and Water Don’t Mix. So Scientists Have Found a New Way To Navigate Under the Sea
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: [E]ven today’s most sophisticated GPS systems are still unable to map a huge chunk of the Earth: that which is located under oceans, seas, or rivers. The technology, in effect, doesn’t mix well with water, which breaks down the radio waves GPS relies on to function. MIT scientists have been looking at ways…