Apple has unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused, including by governments looking to surveil their citizens. The tool designed to detect known images of child sexual abuse, called “neuralMatch,” will…
The ticket window is open again for space flights at Virgin Galactic, with prices starting at $450,000 a seat. The space-tourism company said Thursday it is making progress toward beginning revenue flights next year. It will sell single seats, package deals and entire flights. Virgin Galactic announced the offerings as it reported Thursday that it…
The World Health Organization’s director-general is calling for a worldwide moratorium on COVID-19 booster shots until at least the end of September, to allow low-income nations to get more initial vaccination doses. At a media briefing at the agency’s Geneva headquarters, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again brought up inequities in worldwide vaccine allocation, noting more…
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday the delta variant of the coronavirus accounts for more than 93 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in the country. The CDC’s updated figures for the week ending July 31, show the delta variant, including its sub-lineages, all of which are classified as variants…
A report by U.S. Republican lawmakers says a “preponderance of evidence” proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility — a conclusion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached. The report, released Monday, also cited “ample evidence” that Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) scientists — aided by U.S. experts…
NOAA-supported scientists on Tuesday reported that this year’s “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than originally predicted, at more than 16,000-square kilometers, or about the surface area of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie combined. NOAA forecasted in June that the hypoxic zone — an area with little to no oxygen to support…
A new study suggests Earth’s supply of oxygen developed thanks to the planet’s gradually slowing rotation creating longer days that allowed a certain form of algae to admit more oxygen as a byproduct of its metabolic process. The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that about 2.4 billion years ago there…
Britain has opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and much of Europe, as the government continues to ease coronavirus travel restrictions. Monday was the first day that travelers arriving in Britain from the United States and most parts of the European Union could do so without going into quarantine. New…
WASHINGTON – The top U.S. infectious disease expert said Sunday that the country is facing “some pain and suffering” with the surging delta variant of the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser, told ABC’s “This Week” show, “Things are going to get worse,” and laid the blame on millions of people…
PARIS – After a slow start, the European Union has now overtaken the United States in vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19. Anti-vaccine resistance remains, including in France, where officials estimate more than 200,000 people joined demonstrations this weekend to protest a mandatory health pass. Brandishing banners proclaiming “freedom” and “pass of shame,” tens of thousands…
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced a “massive melting event” during a heat wave that has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms, according to Danish researchers. Since Wednesday, the ice sheet covering the vast Arctic territory has melted by about 8 billion tons a day, twice its normal average rate…
VANCOUVER, CANADA – When the COVID-19 vaccines started rolling out across the United States, Canada was short of supply and its leaders faced harsh criticism for not being better prepared. Expected deliveries from Europe were delayed and the country had no capability to produce its own vaccines. By mid-July, that changed. More doses of vaccines…
