Tag: treatment

How our abuse of nature makes pandemics like covid-19 more likely

From habitat degradation to squalid animal treatment, our part in allowing “zoonotic” diseases like covid-19 to leap into humans is becoming ever clearer Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933240-800-how-our-abuse-of-nature-makes-pandemics-like-covid-19-more-likely/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

AI Ethics Research Conference Suspends Google Sponsorship

The ACM Conference for Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) has decided to suspend its sponsorship relationship with Google, conference sponsorship co-chair and Boise State University assistant professor Michael Ekstrand confirmed today. From a report: The organizers of the AI ethics research conference came to this decision a little over a week after Google fired Ethical AI lead Margaret Mitchell and three…

Soil safely filters 38 million tonnes of human waste each year

With some types of sanitation, such as pit latrines, human waste can be filtered through soil. Across the world around 38 million tonnes of human waste is sanitised this way – the equivalent of around £3.2 billion of commercial water treatment Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268469-soil-safely-filters-38-million-tonnes-of-human-waste-each-year/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Diabetes drug led to dramatic weight loss in large trial

A diabetes drug may also be a promising treatment for obesity — in a new study, people taking the drug lost a stunning 15% of their body weight, which is more than has been seen with any other obesity drug on the market. Source: https://www.livescience.com/diabetes-drug-caused-dramatic-weight-loss-trial.html

About Half of Global Wastewater Is Treated, Instead of Previous Estimate of 20%, Study Finds

schwit1 shares a report from UPI: The study published Monday in the journal Earth System Science Data, estimated 359 billion cubic meters of wastewater is produced each year — which is “equivalent to 144 million Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Edward Jones, a doctoral researcher at Utrecht University and the study’s lead author, said in a statement. Researchers found that 52% of that…

Hacker Increased Chemical Level At Florida City’s Water Supply, Police Say

An anonymous reader quotes a report from WTSP: hacker gained access to Oldsmar’s water treatment plant, bumping the sodium hydroxide in the water to a “dangerous” level, according to Pinellas County’s sheriff. In a press conference Monday, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said his deputies, along with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service, are investigating the breach as it is unclear if it…

Can Oklahoma Return Its $2 Million Stockpile of Hydroxychloroquine?

A nonprofit watchdog news site in Tulsa, Oklahoma reports:
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office has been tasked with attempting to return a $2 million stockpile of a malaria drug once touted by former President Donald Trump as a way to treat the coronavirus. In April, Gov. Kevin Stitt, who ordered the hydroxychloroquine purchase, defended it by saying that while it may not…

New study finds polyester fibers throughout the Arctic Ocean

A new study has found that pollution from microplastics is widespread in the Arctic Ocean, and 92% of those particles are minuscule synthetic fibers from our clothes. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/polyester-fibers-arctic-ocean-microplastic-pollution…

China Gives US Tech the Silent Treatment

Patience may be a virtue. For U.S. tech companies looking to do deals that involve China, it is also an expensive necessity. From a report: Cisco Systems and Applied Materials each received different lessons on that score last week. On Friday, Cisco found its $2.6 billion deal to buy Acacia Communications in serious jeopardy after Acaia announced it was terminating the…