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showing posts for '2020'

Stripe acquires Nigeria's Paystack for over $200 million to expand its footprint in Africa

Africa is a great opportunity for ecommerce in coming decades and Nigeria's Paystack has been growing fast. "Stripe is a San Francisco-based fintech startup that provides payments infrastructure for businesses. Its software and APIs are used by millions of companies of all sizes to accept payments,...
Source: techstartups.com

"Black in Tech Berlin" campaigns for the employment of young black engineers | Africanews

"Black in Tech Berlin" campaigns for the employment of young black engineers | Africanews
Source: africanews.com

Benin innovation hub | Africanews: An innovation centre in Benin is poised to "solve African problems."

Benin innovation hub | Africanews: An innovation centre in Benin is poised to "solve African problems."
Source: africanews.com

Crowds of regular people are as good at moderating fake news on Facebook as professional fact-checkers

Crowds of regular people are as good at moderating fake news on Facebook as professional fact-checkers
Source: niemanlab.org

Effect of school closures on mortality from coronavirus disease 2019: old and new predictions

"It was predicted in March 2020 that in response to covid-19 a broad lockdown, as opposed to a focus on shielding the most vulnerable members of society, would reduce immediate demand for ICU beds at the cost of more deaths long term. The optimal strategy for saving lives in a covid-19 epidemic is different...
Source: bmj.com

A new study shows how Trump and the RNC duped traditional media into covering mail-in voter fraud: "To the extent that the

A new study shows how Trump and the RNC duped traditional media into covering mail-in voter fraud: "To the extent that the mass media model we identify here is the primary driver of information disorder, it will not be cured by more fact checking on Facebook."
Source: niemanlab.org

Study: Neanderthal genes are a liability for COVID patients: Scientists say genes that some people have inherited from their

Study: Neanderthal genes are a liability for COVID patients: Scientists say genes that some people have inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors may increase their likelihood of suffering severe forms of COVID-19.
Source: medicalxpress.com

5,000 people have pledged to give at least 10% of their lifetime incomes to effective charities

5,000 people have pledged to give at least 10% of their lifetime incomes to effective charities: Today we reached a major milestone. More than 5,000 people have pledged to give at least ten percent of their lifetime earnings to effective charities.
Source: givingwhatwecan.org

Taking the temperature of the ocean by measuring the speed of sound waves passing through it

Taking the temperature of the ocean by measuring the speed of sound waves passing through it: A team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a way to detect changes in ocean temperatures by measuring sound waves generated by underwater...
Source: phys.org

Sports During COVID-19 - When What Doesn't Matter Actually Matters a Lot

Sports During COVID-19 - When What Doesn't Matter Actually Matters a Lot - HIV and ID Observations: "A few weeks ago, I got a text from a long-time ID colleague here in Boston: Hey Paul want ur opinion … this is for an interview with MLB radio, and no one knows less about baseball than I do, but...
Source: jwatch.org

Here’s Why Video Content and Education are Closer Than Ever | Emerging Education Technologies

Here’s Why Video Content and Education are Closer Than Ever | Emerging Education Technologies
Source: emergingedtech.com

Journalists perceive stories published in local news outlets to be less newsworthy

Journalists perceive stories published in local news outlets to be less newsworthy: Plus: "Cultural competence" through diverse sourcing; limitations in how journalists represent public opinion; and lessons from studying 7,000 news push notifications.
Source: niemanlab.org

Augmented reality could be the geology classroom

Augmented reality could be the geology classroom’s killer app "Geology is a very spatial science and can require a lot of 3-D visualization. Simple physical models (not to mention rocks) have long been used to aid teaching about things like faults or crystalline mineral structure. But these things...
Source: arstechnica.com

9 errors of judgement about the pandemic

America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral: As the U.S. heads toward the winter, the country is going round in circles, making the same conceptual errors that have plagued it since spring.
Source: theatlantic.com

Publishers are getting a (brief) reprieve from Apple’s coming ad-pocalypse: Apple now won't kneecap the ad tech industry

Publishers are getting a (brief) reprieve from Apple’s coming ad-pocalypse: Apple now won't kneecap the ad tech industry — for all the good and bad that implies — until early 2021. Publishers should use the extra time to get their data houses in order.
Source: niemanlab.org

Evidence slowly building for long-term heart problems post-COVID-19: While there are anecdotes aplenty, there's also some

Evidence slowly building for long-term heart problems post-COVID-19: While there are anecdotes aplenty, there's also some solid science behind the worries.
Source: arstechnica.com

Oppose the educational technology algorithims and technosolutions?

Essay by Audrey Watters on schools and the technology industry ... basically f**k the algorithm. "Robot Teachers, Racist Algorithms, and Disaster Pedagogy: I have volunteered to be a guest speaker in classes this Fall. It's really the least I can do to help teachers and students through another tough...
Source: hackeducation.com

Reviewing research about the evolution of complex cognition in birds

Reviewing research about the evolution of complex cognition in birds: So far, the majority of studies investigating brain functions and intelligence have been carried out either on humans or animals that are known to be most similar to humans, such as monkeys, apes, and other mammals. Nonetheless, some...
Source: phys.org

Robin Dunbar suggests negative impact of pandemic on friendships likely to be fleeting

Psychologist suggests negative impact of pandemic on friendships likely to be fleeting: Robin Ian MacDonald Dunbar, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, has conducted a review of the literature and concluded that the impact of the pandemic on friendships is likely to be fleeting. He has published...
Source: phys.org

APOD: 2020 August 11 - Churning Clouds on Jupiter

"Pictured by Juno, churning clouds on Jupiter show not only mesmerizing complexity but some high-level, light-colored pop-up clouds. Understanding atmospheric dynamics on Jupiter gives valuable perspective to similar atmospheric and lightning phenomena that occur on our home Earth."
Source: nasa.gov