CNN Business reports: Climate change, intensive agriculture, and the use of pesticides and fungicides in farming is ravaging the world’s bees. Commercial beekeepers in the United States lost 44% of their managed colonies in 2019, according to research from the University of Maryland. Now, technology startups are developing smart devices that give beekeepers access to detailed information about the state of…
Tag: united kingdom
‘At This Point, 5G is a Bad Joke’
An anonymous reader shared this skeptical opinion piece from Computerworld: Let’s start with the name itself. There is no single “5G.” There are, in fact, three different varieties, with very different kinds of performance… But, what most people want, what most people lust for is 1Gbps speeds with less than 10 milliseconds of latency… [T]o get that kind of speed you…
AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Study Put on Hold
phalse phace writes: A large, Phase 3 study testing a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford at dozens of sites across the U.S. has been put on hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, a frontrunner in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine, said…
How China Targets Scientists via Global Network of Recruiting Stations
China is targeting top scientific and technological expertise in the U.S. and other advanced nations through an expanding network of 600 talent-recruitment stations world-wide, a new report partly funded by the U.S. State Department has found. From a report: U.S. officials have long warned that China uses recruitment programs to improperly obtain advanced technology. However, the research conducted by an Australian…
2019 State of the Climate Report: Peak greenhouse gases and record heat
2019 ranks among the 3 warmest years in records dating to the mid-1800s. In 2019, greenhouse gases reached their highest levels on record. Both facts are from the 30th annual State of the Climate report, a review of world climate based on contributions from more than 520 scientists in over 60 countries. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/international-climate-report-2019-record-heat-greenhouse-gas…
Statistical evidence for temperature inversions in ultra-hot Jupiters
The thermal structure of hot gas giant exoplanet atmospheres is likely to be inverted for the hottest planets, a class of planets known as ultra-hot Jupiters. This is the conclusion from astrophysicists based at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in collaboration with an international team from the United States and the United Kingdom. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-08-statistical-evidence-temperature-inversions-ultra-hot.html…
Moon and Venus at dawn June 17, 18, 19
These next several mornings – June 17, 18 and 19, 2020 – look east before sunrise to see the moon and Venus. You might spot the Pleiades star cluster nearby. On June 19, the moon will occult or cover over Venus. For most of us, the occultation will happen in daylight. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-venus-at-dawn-june-17-18-19…
Urban Foxes May Be Self-Domesticating In Our Midst
sciencehabit quotes Science magazine: In a famous Siberian experiment carried out the 1950s, scientists turned foxes into tame, doglike canines by breeding only the least aggressive ones generation after generation. The creatures developed stubby snouts, floppy ears, and even began to bark. Now, it appears that some rural red foxes in the United Kingdom are doing this on their own. When…
Getting ‘Under the Hood’ to Learn and Apply Computer Science Technology: Meet Nikolas
Nikolas, a technical specialist from the United Kingdom, is one of the early learners taking a MicroBachelors® program on edX. He recently completed the first course in the Computer Science Fundamentals program, Introduction to Networking, and told us about his experience in the program so far. What edX course or program did you take and what were your goals in taking…
Robert May, Former UK Chief Scientist and Chaos Theory Pioneer, Dies Aged 84
Pioneering Australian scientist Robert May, whose work in biology led to the development of chaos theory, has died at age 84. The Guardian reports: Known as one of Australia’s most accomplished scientists, he served as the chief scientific adviser to the United Kingdom, was president of the Royal Society, and was made a lord in 2001. Born in Sydney on January…