Thinking Allowed

medical / technology / education / art / flub

showing posts for 'new'

Meet the rogue birding group blocking wind energy at every turn

The American Bird Conservancy has repeatedly obstructed wind energy projects and become a go-to source for renewable energy opponents.
Source: grist.org

Overturning 'conventional wisdom' with 'natural experiments'

Via Reuters ... "Economists David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens won the 2021 Nobel economics prize on Monday for pioneering "natural experiments" to show real-world economic impacts in areas from minimum wage increases in the U.S. fast-food sector to migration from Castro-era Cuba." "One experiment...
Source: reuters.com

New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines aim to save millions of lives from air pollution

"Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. New guidelines provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood." "Global assessments of ambient air pollution alone...
Source: who.int

New Delta strain believed to have emerged among 53,000 revellers at Boardmasters festival

Almost 5,000 infections have been linked to the Boardmasters festival in Cornwall, and with half a million music lovers at even larger events over the Bank Holiday, officials fear revellers are being hit by a new strain of the Delta variant
Source: inews.co.uk

Teen builds solar-powered tuk-tuk from scraps

Piranawan, 15, from Sri Lanka spent eight months of his Covid lockdown making his eco-friendly vehicle.
Source: bbc.co.uk

Council policies 'inconsistent' with climate goals

A third of English councils support policies that could increase emissions, BBC research suggests.
Source: bbc.com

Will MIT Scientists' Powerful Magnet Lead Us to Nuclear Fusion Energy? - Slashdot

"A start-up founded by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it is nearing a technological milestone that could take the world a step closer to fusion energy, which has eluded scientists for decades," reports the New York Times: Researchers at M.I.T.'s Plasma Science and Fus...
Source: slashdot.org

New WHO toolkit promotes inclusion of people with dementia in society

“Towards a dementia-inclusive society: WHO toolkit for dementia-friendly initiatives”, launched today, is WHO’s latest response for establishing and scaling-up dementia-friendly initiatives globally. The toolkit helps countries raise public awareness and understanding of dementia to support people...
Source: who.int

Major U.K. science funder to require grantees to make papers immediately free to all

New policy brings UKRI-funded research in line with European open-access push
Source: sciencemag.org

Covid Disguises Chronic Scarcity of Workers for U.K. Recovery

“The acute labor shortage because of self isolation is masking the systemic challenge for businesses struggling to recruit after Brexit.”
Source: bloomberg.com

Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly | Commonwealth Fund

"How the 11 Countries Rank on Performance. The top-performing countries overall are Norway, the Netherlands, and Australia. The next three countries in the ranking — the U.K., Germany, and New Zealand — perform very similarly to one another." The UK was ranked #1 overall in 2017 - the last time this...
Source: commonwealthfund.org

Why whales in Alaska have been so happy

What will happen to Alaska's whales when tourism returns to waters stilled by Covid?
Source: bbc.com

Visa-free touring granted for UK artists in 19 EU countries – while industry demands "honesty" from government

"The government has announced that visa-free touring has been negotiated for UK artists in 19 EU member countries" This is great news for musicians but also good to see that individual EU states also still have control over their borders (they always did). It will be great for us all to have freedom...
Source: nme.com

Sikh and Hindu ashes scattering site opens - BBC News

A dedicated site for ashes to be scattered into flowing water is officially opened in Cardiff.
Source: bbc.com

Stonehenge tunnel campaigners win court battle

A judicial review into road works near the world heritage site finds for the campaigners.
Source: bbc.com

Gilgamesh tablet: US authorities take ownership of artefact

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was imported illegally into the US before being bought by Hobby Lobby.
Source: bbc.com

How global conferences are using tech to stay in business

"Moving events online kept the industry going during the pandemic and now they're here to stay." Notable mentions of the conferences Collision, Web Summit, and RISE, and the speed networking software Mingle. "[T]he Distance Learning Association's Thomas Capone says that the future of meetings and events...
Source: bbc.com

Pegasus: Spyware sold to governments 'targets activists'

Israeli tech firm NSO denies media reports that its software has been sold to authoritarian regimes. The Android and iOS spyware can apparently see photographs and contacts, log everything that is typed, and turn on the camera and microphone.
Source: bbc.com

Can Money Buy Happiness? A Review of New Data

Everyone knows the adage “money can’t buy happiness,” although few of us seem to believe it. The best-known theory on this topic is that money actually can buy happiness, but only up to a point. This comes from a study by two Nobel Laureates, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton (2010), which found...
Source: givingwhatwecan.org

Cats Are Better Than Dogs (at Catching the Coronavirus)

Cats and dogs can be infected by the coronavirus — but cats are more susceptible to infection, a new study suggests.
Source: nytimes.com