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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

The leader's brain: Neuroscience in the workplace

The brain rarely fires on all cylinders even at the best of times - what more during a pandemic?
Source: reuters.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

England's 'freedom day' marred by soaring cases and isolation chaos

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'freedom day' ending over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England was marred on Monday by surging infections, warnings of supermarket shortages and his own forced self-isolation.
Source: reuters.com

US companies hit by 'colossal' cyber-attack

A cyber-security firm says it believes the Russia-linked REvil ransomware gang is responsible.
Source: bbc.com

What happened when a 'wildly irrational' algorithm made crucial healthcare decisions

Advocates say having computer programs decide how much help vulnerable people can get is often arbitrary - and in some cases downright cruel
Source: theguardian.com

Tailored messaging increases understanding of climate change in Republicans

A team of researchers at Yale University's Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has found that the use of tailored advertising can increase awareness among Republicans of the dangers posed by climate change. In their paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the group describes field...
Source: phys.org

How an informant and a messaging app led to huge global crime sting

It took $100,000 plus expenses, and the opportunity for a reduced prison sentence, for the smartphone developer to collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2018 and kick-start Operation Trojan Shield, according to a court document.
Source: reuters.com

China’s GPT-3? BAAI Introduces Superscale Intelligence Model ‘Wu Dao 1.0’ | Synced

The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) releases Wu Dao 1.0, China’s first large-scale pretraining model.
Source: syncedreview.com

Bill Gates' next generation nuclear reactor to be built in Wyoming

Billionaire Bill Gates' advanced nuclear reactor company TerraPower LLC and PacifiCorp (PPWLO.PK) have selected Wyomingto launch the first Natrium reactor project on the site of a retiring coal plant, the state's governor said on Wednesday.
Source: reuters.com

'Big risk': California farmers hit by drought change planting plans

Joe Del Bosque is leaving a third of his 2,000-acre farm near Firebaugh, California, unseeded this year due to extreme drought. Yet, he hopes to access enough water to produce a marketable melon crop.
Source: reuters.com

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants

 All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance...
Source: who.int

Germany declares U.K. a virus variant region

Germany's public health institute on Friday declared Britain and Northern Ireland a virus variant region, requiring anyone entering the country from the United Kingdom to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
Source: reuters.com

University of Northampton: The impact of COVID-19 on digital delivery - initial trend analysis

The speed and intensity of transitioning to mass online delivery of teaching has left in its wake a unique digital record, the patterns and trends of which reveal the story of the sector grappling to respond.
Source: jisc.ac.uk

China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars

The six-wheeled robot has made the hazardous descent to the surface of the Red Planet, China announces.
Source: bbc.com

Facebook faces prospect of 'devastating' data transfer ban after Irish ruling

Ireland's data regulator can resume a probe that may trigger a ban on Facebook's transatlantic data transfers, the High Court ruled on Friday, raising the prospect of a stoppage that the company warns would have a devastating impact on its business.
Source: reuters.com

Watch a Jet Suit Pilot Fly Onto a Ship to Trial the Tech for Fighting Pirates

The jet suit is made by UK-based Gravity Industries, whose founder Richard Browning was himself in the Royal Marine Reserves for a time.
Source: singularityhub.com

Royal Mail trials drone delivery to Isles of Scilly

The drones could be used to fly post to some of the most remote communities in the UK.
Source: bbc.co.uk

US passes emergency waiver over fuel pipeline cyber-attack

The US acts to keep fuel flowing after its largest pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack. "Cyber-security firm Digital Shadows says the Colonial attack has come about due to the pandemic - with more engineers remotely accessing control systems for the pipeline from home. James Chappell, co-founder...
Source: bbc.com