Late in 2013, a novel variant of the Ebola virus emerged in Western Africa to start what would become the largest human epidemic on record. In a study published December 9th in Cell Host & Microbe, researchers used genome sequencing to trace the introduction and spread of the virus in Liberia–the second worst-affected country. The … Read more
Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt is considering using technology to filter out internet content it checks for “hate and harassment” Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc (formerly called Google), published an opinion piece for the New York Times in which he expressed his thoughts on “the raw reality of the internet,” writing that Google … Read more
In the month of November, Islamic violence in 30 countries took the lives of over 1,455 people and critically injured 1,706. The record, kept by watch group The Religion of Peace, has been maintained since the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center in 2001. Several attacks took place every day of the month in the … Read more
Human rights group No Chain will be leading another protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, December 1st. The protest, which like the last two will continue the theme of “Free the Vietnam 9!” will take place between noon and 1 p.m. The ongoing protests, Henry Song, No Chain’s North American director, said, … Read more
President Obama signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2262) into law Wednesday. This law recognizes the right of U.S. citizens to own asteroid resources they obtain and encourages the commercial exploration and utilization of resources from asteroids. “This is the single greatest recognition of property rights in history,” commented Eric Anderson, co-founder and … Read more
Originally written for Radio Free Asia’s Mandarin service, Woeser’s “Ai Weiwei’s ‘Wing’ From Lhasa” was translated by volunteer Zhao Wencui (Whitman College), with help from Chas McKhann, and has been kindly provided via the Ai Weiwei Studio and originally published by High Peaks Pure Earth. I am a native of Lhasa. Even though I have been … Read more
The International Space Station orbits the Earth at 28,000 km/h, fast enough to make it from our planet to the moon and back in a day. The 1 million pound craft carries its six passengers around the circumference of the Earth every 90 minutes at that speed. And now, thanks to Open Notify‘s API and … Read more
HARRISON HOT SPRINGS, British Columbia — The province’s public health authorities are calling for universal testing for HIV for all citizens. One-fourth of British Columbians carrying the life-threatening disease do not know they are infected, according to B.C.’s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, who spoke on the need for testing Monday. “They do not know that … Read more
Another protest organized by No Chain will take place in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., Tuesday Nov. 24, between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., the NGO announced Monday. The Tuesday protest will “continue to highlight and bring attention to the nine North Korean refugees recently arrested by Vietnam and handed over to the Chinese authorities, and … Read more
Alberta will begin to phase out it’s cheapest energy source at the cost of an extra $320 per household in 2017 and $500 per household in 2018, setting its sights on 30 percent renewable energy by 2030. The plan was announced by the provinces first non-Conservative party in 44 years. Premier Rachel Notley of Canada’s New … Read more
Health products expected to be of the highest quality — those sold in America’s top drugstore and retail giants — are actually often worthless and sometimes harmful, according to a cease and desist letter sent to GNC, Target, Walgreens and WalMart by the New York State attorney general’s office after authorities tested the stores herbal … Read more
Can editors of books be considered legal authors, many critics are asking the foundation which holds the copyright to “The Diary of Anne Frank” after the Swiss organization alerted publishers that Anne’s father, previously credited as an editor, is now to be considered an author of the book. Rather than January 1 — 70 years … Read more