Non-IT News Thread
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Coronavirus recovery plan 'must tackle climate change'
Tackling climate change must be woven into the solution to the Covid-19 economic crisis, the UK will tell governments next week.
Environment ministers from 30 countries are meeting in a two-day online conference in a bid to make progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The gathering is called the "Petersberg Climate Dialogue". It will focus on how to organise a "green" economic recovery after the acute phase of the pandemic is over. The other aim is to forge international agreement on ambitious carbon cuts despite the postponement of the key conference COP26 - previously scheduled for Glasgow in November (now without a date). Alok Sharma, the UK Climate Secretary and president of COP26, said: "I am committed to increasing global climate ambition so that we deliver on the Paris Agreement (to stabilise temperature rise well below 2C). -
Coronavirus: New Zealand claims no community cases as lockdown eases
New Zealand says it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus.
With new cases in single figures for several days - one on Sunday - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was "currently" eliminated. But officials have warned against complacency, saying it does not mean a total end to new coronavirus cases. The news came hours before New Zealand moved out of its toughest level of social restrictions. From Tuesday, some non-essential business, healthcare and education activity will be able to resume. Most people will still be required to remain at home at all times and avoid all social interactions. -
Pentagon releases UFO videos for the record
The US Department of Defense has released three declassified videos of "unexplained aerial phenomena".
The Pentagon said it wanted to "clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real". The videos had already been leaked in 2007 and 2017. Two were published by the New York Times, while the third was leaked by an organisation co-founded by former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge. After they were first leaked, some people claimed the videos showed alien unidentified flying objects (UFOs). -
Coronavirus: US economy sinks 4.8% amid pandemic shutdowns
The US economy suffered its most severe contraction in more than a decade in the first quarter of the year, as the country introduced lockdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The world's largest economy sank at an annual rate of 4.8%, according to official figures released on Wednesday. It marked the first contraction since 2014, ending a record expansion. The figures do not reflect the full crisis, since many of the restrictions were not put in place until March. Sine then, more than 26 million people in the US have filed for unemployment, and the US has seen historic declines in business activity and consumer confidence. Forecasters expect growth to contract 30% or more in the three months to June. -
Coronavirus: 'Missing link' species may never be found
An "intermediate host" animal passed the coronavirus from wild bats to humans, evidence suggests.
But while the World Health Organization says that the research points to the virus's "natural origin", some scientists say it might never be known how the first person was infected. It remains unclear whether this host animal was sold in the now infamous Wuhan wildlife market in China. But the wildlife trade is seen as a potential source of this "spillover". Researchers say the trade provides a source of species-to-species disease transmission, which caused previous outbreaks and has been blamed for this pandemic. The WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "We were preparing for something like this as it's not a matter of if, it is a matter of when." -
Japan's child population falls for 39th straight year to record low
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The estimated child population in Japan has dropped for the 39th consecutive year to a record low, government data showed Monday, despite efforts to tackle the long-standing issue of a declining birthrate.
The number of children aged 14 or younger stood at 15.12 million as of April 1, down 200,000 from a year earlier and the lowest figure since comparable data became available in 1950, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
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@JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:
Japan's child population falls for 39th straight year to record low
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The estimated child population in Japan has dropped for the 39th consecutive year to a record low, government data showed Monday, despite efforts to tackle the long-standing issue of a declining birthrate.
The number of children aged 14 or younger stood at 15.12 million as of April 1, down 200,000 from a year earlier and the lowest figure since comparable data became available in 1950, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Damn, that's crazy.
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Coronavirus: How will you commute to work after lockdown?
The traditional commute may never be the same again once people return to work after lockdown in what is likely to be an era of social distancing.
t's a particularly big problem for workers in the UK's largest cities. One recent report warned that maintaining a 2m (6ft 6in) distance between Tube passengers in London, for example, would reduce its capacity to 15% of normal levels, and buses to 12%. But if more people take to the streets, will the road network cope? "If in big cities we are to have a radical shift to bicycles, scooters, other ways of getting about, that would require a sudden and radical change in road use," said Prof Tony Travers from the London School of Economics. -
A 5-year-old boy was pulled over in Utah on his way to California to try to buy a Lamborghini
A 5-year-old boy with $3 in his pocket was pulled over by Utah police while driving his parent's car to California to buy a Lamborghini.
The boy left in the SUV after arguing with his mother, who said she would not buy the luxury car for him, Utah Highway Patrol said on Twitter. A trooper spotted the vehicle weaving on Interstate 15 at 30 mph, the Utah Highway Patrol said. Troopers told CNN affiliate KSL-TV they initially thought the boy was an impaired driver. "How old are you? You're 5 years old?" Trooper Rick Morgan says in dash camera footage of the traffic stop. "Wow ... Where did you learn to drive a car?" -
@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
A 5-year-old boy was pulled over in Utah on his way to California to try to buy a Lamborghini
A 5-year-old boy with $3 in his pocket was pulled over by Utah police while driving his parent's car to California to buy a Lamborghini.
The boy left in the SUV after arguing with his mother, who said she would not buy the luxury car for him, Utah Highway Patrol said on Twitter. A trooper spotted the vehicle weaving on Interstate 15 at 30 mph, the Utah Highway Patrol said. Troopers told CNN affiliate KSL-TV they initially thought the boy was an impaired driver. "How old are you? You're 5 years old?" Trooper Rick Morgan says in dash camera footage of the traffic stop. "Wow ... Where did you learn to drive a car?"And after a day later, offers from Lamborghini owners for the 5 year old to ride in a Lamborghini.
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Uber axes 3,700 staff as trips drop in lockdowns
Uber has announced plans to cut 3,700 full-time staff - about 14% of its workforce - as business plunges following pandemic shutdowns.
Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi will also waive his base salary - set at $1m (£809,690) in 2019 - through to the year end. The announcements come a day ahead of the firm's quarterly results. Even before the pandemic, Uber was struggling to balance its books, making a loss of $8.5bn in 2019. Uber said the reductions will come from its customer support and recruiting teams, and would result in $20m in severance pay and other costs. -
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/wells-fargo-federal-probe-coronavirus-paycheck-protection-program
I fucking hate Wells. Literally, the worst bank.
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@Grey said in Non-IT News Thread:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/wells-fargo-federal-probe-coronavirus-paycheck-protection-program
I fucking hate Wells. Literally, the worst bank.
Which is hilarious because before the fake account scandal broke a couple years ago, they were the golden boy of the industry. It's crazy how fast they have run their reputation into the ground.
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Scientists explain magnetic pole's wanderings
European scientists think they can now describe with confidence what's driving the drift of the North Magnetic Pole.
It's shifted in recent years away from Canada towards Siberia. And this rapid movement has required more frequent updates to navigation systems, including those that operate the mapping functions in smartphones. A team, led from Leeds University, says the behaviour is explained by the competition of two magnetic "blobs" on the edge of the Earth's outer core. Changes in the flow of molten material in the planet's interior have altered the strength of the above regions of negative magnetic flux. "This change in the pattern of flow has weakened the patch under Canada and ever so slightly increased the strength of the patch under Siberia," explained Dr Phil Livermore. -
@mlnews This was in textbooks 20 years ago, I dont understand how this is news from those Scientists. I'll read article soon.
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@jmoore said in Non-IT News Thread:
@mlnews This was in textbooks 20 years ago, I dont understand how this is news from those Scientists. I'll read article soon.
IKR?
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@jmoore said in Non-IT News Thread:
@mlnews This was in textbooks 20 years ago, I dont understand how this is news from those Scientists. I'll read article soon.
Agreed.
The question I have is, if the magnetic poles shift because of molten material flow, does that shift the stronger or "thicker" portions of the Earth's magnetic field, thereby potentially blocking or allowing more solar wind to hit colder climates?
Always wondered that but never bothered to look it up.
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Ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn charges of lying to FBI dropped
The US Department of Justice is moving to drop the criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn was among the former aides to President Donald Trump convicted during the special counsel's investigation into Russian election interference. He had pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia's ambassador to the US. Flynn had been seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. The justice department's decision also follows criticism of the case by President Trump and his supporters. -
Washington state now has another bug to worry about after 'murder hornets.' Gypsy moths
Add another giant bug to the list of things Washington state is working to handle right now.
Earlier this week, scientists said they had spotted Asian giant hornets in the state -- and it's still unknown how they got there. Now there's another threat: a non-native gypsy moth. Such a threat, in fact, that Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation because of the creatures, saying there was an "imminent danger of an infestation" of the plant pests in parts of Snohomish County. -
@pmoncho I don't think the amount of solar wind that hits us will be affected. This is just talking about where the poles are. The molten material flow is made up of mostly iron and other heavy metals. The magnetosphere extends all around around Earth and outwards a lot. this is what keeps the solar winds from damaging us and the planet more.
