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EartherChina’s Air Pollution Rates Plummet After Coronavirus Lockdown
Y-….yay? I guess? Satellites operated by NASA and the European Space Agency have seen “significant decreases” in toxic nitrogen dioxide over China that are “at least partly related to the economic slowdown following the outbreak of coronavirus,” according to a press release NASA issued this weekend. Nitrogen dioxide is the gas the bellows out of … Continued
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ScienceHealthUber’s Sensible Solution for Drivers Concerned About Coronavirus: Just Don’t Work, Duh
As the coronavirus outbreak rages on, an increasing number of tech giants have begun adopting additional safety measures to minimize their employees’ exposure, such as restricting travel or canceling prescheduled events. In that vein, Uber pushed out a memo to its global network of drivers Friday with some tips on how to stay healthy while … Continued
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Tech NewsSeems These Hedge Fund Goons Want to Ditch Twitter’s CEO
After scooping up a major stake in Twitter, activist investor Elliott Management Corporation plans to oust its co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, according to recent reports. Sources familiar with the matter that requested anonymity told Bloomberg that the $40.2 billion hedge fund has nominated four directors to Twitter’s executive board, an ominous choice considering only … Continued
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ScienceHealthThe World Health Organization’s Making TikToks to Tackle Coronavirus Misinformation
On Friday the World Health Organization took the fight against online health misinformation to TikTok, the same day it elevated its coronavirus threat assessment to the organization’s highest possible level. “We are on the highest level of alert or highest level of risk assessment in terms of spread and in terms of impact,” said Dr. … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Makes Using Its Messenger App Simple Again
Facebook’s redesign for its Messenger app proves two things: 1) Facebook’s leaning hard into its Stories format after the feature’s success on Instagram; and 2) Yes, those chatbots really were the worst. Facebook’s ditching the Discover tab, a hub for various business tools and games, among other updates to help streamline the private messaging app’s … Continued
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Tech NewsCongress Approves $1 Billion for Rural Telecoms to “Rip and Replace” Huawei, ZTE Equipment
The Senate unanimously voted Thursday to grant rural telecom carriers a cool $1 billion in funding to help them ditch and replace any existing equipment from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE. Its official name is the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, but many simply call it the “rip and replace” bill because, well, … Continued
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ScienceHealthU.S. Health Workers Lacked Training, Protective Gear When Assisting Coronavirus Evacuees: Report
A whistleblower from the Department of Health and Human Services has alleged that officials sent more than a dozen workers to receive American evacuees from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak, without providing sufficient protective gear or medical training, according to recent reports from the Washington Post and the New York Times. … Continued
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Tech NewsStill Waiting On Your Winnings From HQ Trivia? Apparently, You’re Not Alone
When HQ Trivia abruptly announced it was penniless and shuttering last week, players of the once-viral live game show app wondered what the news meant for any winnings they’d yet to cash in. For many, that question continues to remain unanswered, according to a recent Digital Trends report. Last Friday—when CEO Rus Yusupov announced that … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidWatch This Jetpack Pilot Zip Around Like a Real-Life Iron Man
Holy hell, that is fast. The gravity-defying maniacs over at Jetman Dubai achieved a major company milestone on Friday. In a company first, one of their pilots executed a successful ground-level take-off that transitioned into a high altitude flight. All previous take-offs had been from elevated platforms, i.e. helicopters and the like. This time around, … Continued
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ScienceHealthChina Enlists Tech Titans to Help It Track Coronavirus With Color-Based QR Codes: Report
In its latest dystopian stab at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the Chinese government has employed two of the biggest tech giants in Asia to help it roll out a nationwide color-based tracking system to keep tabs on those suffering from coronavirus symptoms, according to a new Reuters report. Companies enlisted for this real-life sci-fi … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsNo, Pete Buttigieg’s Campaign Didn’t Make A Sockpuppet Twitter Account Claiming to Be Nigerian
Is the vehemently pro-Buttigieg account @easychinedu actually a staffer for the Democratic candidate trying to curry favor with minority voters? Or is it just the latest in a series of troll attacks on the 2020 presidential nominee? The answer, as anticlimactic as it might seem, is neither. A conspiracy theory whipped Twitter into a frenzy … Continued
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Tech NewsSamsung’s Galaxy Z Flip Sure Does Look Fragile in this Durability Test
Samsung’s proclaimed that it has “done the impossible” with its Galaxy Z Flip, that the smartphone even “bends the laws of physics.” But now a new durability test video has us questioning whether its screen really is made of that ultra-thin glass that’s supposed to set it apart from the company’s other bendable phone, the … Continued
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Tech NewsHQ Trivia Has One Final, Drunken Hurrah
After hearing yesterday’s news that HQ Trivia was penniless and abruptly shuttering, host Matt Richards paid $5 out of his own pocket so its last show could have some sort of prize for viewers who stuck around until the very end. Then he flipped off their final audience and threatened to crap on the homes … Continued
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EartherEnvironmental JusticeCanadian Pipeline Protests Shut Down Train Service Across the Country
Large portions of Canada’s train service have shut down—including a vital cross-continental rail line—after indigenous land defenders blockaded several major railways in countrywide anti-pipeline protests. The country’s largest rail network, Canadian National Railway (CN), announced Thursday it would begin “a progressive and orderly shutdown” of its lines across eastern Canada. VIA Rail, a passenger service … Continued
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Tech NewsAnother Tech Event Canceled Over Coronavirus Concerns, This Time in the Bay Area
Facebook will no longer hold its global marketing summit in San Francisco next month, the company announced Friday, in what many are calling the Bay Area’s first reported cancelation attributed to the COVID-19 outbreak. “Out of an abundance of caution, we canceled our global marketing summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus,” … Continued
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Tech News
Well, Looks Like HQ Trivia’s Finally Dead
Let’s be honest, the writing’s been on the wall for a while now. HQ Trivia announced its shuttering Friday in a notification to users that seems to imply the company gives precisely zero fucks at this point: “HQ is live. Just kidding. We’re off-air indefinitely.” Not even a “Thanks for playing,” as the notification goes … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerceAmazon Wins Court Injunction, Halting Work on $10 Billion JEDI Contract It Lost to Microsoft
A federal judge just put the brakes on a major military contract after Amazon argued it only lost out to rival Microsoft because the president wanted to “screw” CEO Jeff Bezos. This injunction marks the latest development in the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project’s ongoing saga. The contract—an up to $10 billion purchase order … Continued
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EartherFour Endangered Gorillas Killed By Lightning Strike in Bizarre Accident
Four rare mountain gorillas have died after being struck by lightning in an equal parts peculiar and unfortunate turn of events for an endangered species that only recently topped 1,000 individuals. The bodies of three adult females, one of which was pregnant, and a male infant were discovered in Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park this week. … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityHow to Get Your $100 From Yahoo After All Those Breaches
The folks behind the largest known hack of user data to date are finally paying up. Yahoo, now owned by Verizon, recently agreed to pay $117.5 million as part of a proposed class action settlement stemming from a series of breaches in the 2010s that affected 3 billion people—basically Yahoo’s then-entire user base. If you … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsLeaked Photos Confirm Samsung’s New Foldable Phone is One Big Boy
As we count down the last few days before Samsung’s Unpacked event Tuesday, here’s yet another Galaxy Z Flip leak that hopefully will help hold you over in the meantime. As shared by Engadget on Friday, a tipster revealed photos purportedly showing the company’s newest take on a foldable phone. Now, considering that plenty of … Continued
Alyse Stanley
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