Ideaforge

Health experts warned Americans on Thursday  that a rising tide of COVID19 cases, led by the Omicron variant, threatened major disruptions in their lives, from schools to shopping, and urged them to prepare now for a challenging month.

The United States had a record seven-day average of new cases, with more than 290,000 new infections reported daily, a Reuters tally showed.

According to the record, at least 18 states and Puerto Rico have set pandemic records for new cases. Maryland, Ohio and Washington, DC also saw record hospital admissions as  U.COVID hospital admissions rose 27%.

The increase is due to an increase in vacation travel as New Years celebrations are yet to come and  schools grapple with students returning to classrooms after the winter break.

“We will see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically that it will be difficult for us to keep everyday life going,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota, told MSNBC.

“Next month is going to be a viral blizzard,” he said. “It is putting pressure on society as a whole. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease official, said Wednesday that cases are likely to increase by the end.

” He and other U.S. health officials  said early data shows Omicron appears less severe, but they have continued to push for vaccines, masks, and physical distance.

Services, schools and retailers among others in the coming weeks. “We have to be very careful not to underestimate Omicron too much,” said Dr. Peter Hoetz, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN.

It is also worrying that healthcare workers are being marginalized with their own COVID cases  as well as less effective therapies, said Hoetz.

“We are at a pretty serious time. As early as early 2020, 825,663 people  in the United States have died of COVID, the data showed, with the latest wave of hospital admissions for the unvaccinated being driven.

” President Joe Biden announced new news this month. plans to tackle the Omicron-powered wave, including federal reinforcements to hospitals and more testing, but some experts say it’s too little and too late.

So far, however, the economy appears to be stable, even if some economists are cautioned. While air traffic was largely disrupted and stores closed and events canceled in some troubled areas, other measures  such as the Christmas sales were maintained.

The labor market is also  holding up: the new applications for state unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in the pandemic era, the Ministry of Labor announced on Thursday. small businesses, he said he expected the first week of January to be slower than Omicron’s forecast.

“The rest of January will likely depend on state and community health policies and epidemiological data,” Greenberg told Reuters. Keys, especially for working parents, with systems in Washington and New York promising to stay open with further testing.

Education Minister Miguel Cardona admitted the problem was staffing  but urged schools to take measures to keep the children in classrooms. Unlike last year’s closings, “we now have better tools. They should stay open, ”he told MSNBC, adding that federal funding continues to be available to increase staffing levels and testing.

In the meantime, some universities have postponed their next semesters or have gone online. “We have light at the end of the tunnel,” said Osterholm. “But now you have to duck.

Source: Tech Crunch

South Africa  lifted the nightly curfew at 4 a.m. The course of the pandemic,  vaccination rates in the country and available capacity in the health sector, according to a press release from Mondli Gungubele, Minister of the Presidency, South Africa is currently at the lowest of its five phases of alert.

 “All indicators suggest that the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at the national level,” said a statement from the special cabinet meeting  on Thursday.

Health ministry data showed an increase in the number of newly discovered cases  in the week ending Jan.

Health ministry data showed an increase in the South Africa was the hardest hit country in Africa during the pandemic, with around 3.5 million infections and 91,000 deaths in  both cases.

In addition to lifting  restrictions on public movement, the government said meetings will be limited to no more than 1,000 people indoors and no more than 2,000 people outdoors.

It also ruled that liquor stores would be allowed to operate beyond 11 p.m. (2100GMT) could revert  to full licensing terms, which is a welcome boon for merchants and businesses hard hit by the pandemic and looking to recover over the holiday season.

The Omicron variant is highly transferable, there were lower hospitalization rates  than in the previous waves, “said the cabinet, adding that the use of masks in public places was still mandatory. Masking when required is still a crime in South Africa.

Source: Tech Crunch

A truck driver, Rogel Aguilera Mederos, whose 110-year prison term caused outrage over a fatal accident, had his sentence reduced to 10 years on Thursday. More than 4.5 million people, including reality TV star Kim Kardashian, called for a reduction in Rogel Aguilera Mederos’s sentence.

Aguilera Mederos, a Cuban immigrant, was moving lumber in April 2019 when his brakes failed on a downhill stretch and he was not using an emergency route. Exit ramp.

His runaway truck crashed into traffic, killing four people and injuring several others.

Aguilera Mederos was convicted on 27 counts, including multiple homicides, by a jury, and a judge sentenced him to 110 years’ imprisonment, which he believed was the minimum mandatory under Colorado law.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis acted Thursday  to reduce what he said was “arbitrary and unfair” earnings.

“The length of his 110-year sentence is simply not proportionate to his actions or the sentences imposed on others for similar crimes,” he wrote in a letter to Aguilera Mederos.

“There is an urgent need to correct this unjust judgment and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system, and as a result, I have decided to commute your sentence now 5 years.

Source: Tech Crunch

 

The original trio from the Wizarding franchise, Harry Potter, are expected to return to the silver screen next New Years Day in the 20th anniversary special when they return to Hogwarts.

 In the reunion special, two of the movie’s lead actors, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, spoke about how they were on the verge of leaving the series after season five, responsible for his childhood fame during his adolescence.

 Best known for their characters  Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Watson and Rupert Grint made the reveal during the  special Harry Potter reunion show for the 20th anniversary.

“You were considering retiring. I never told you about it, ”Rupert joked with Emma about the days before.

 At that time, she revealed how solemnly she  wanted to leave the character: “Yes. I think she was scared.” I don’t know if you ever felt like it reached a tipping point where you said, ‘This is now forever,’ “revealed Watson.” Fame had finally come home in a big way. 

“At some point there was Grint agrees that he also had his moments of contemplation  where he would insist “what life would be  if I called it a day.” Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, added to the conversation, saying, “Never really.

” He talked about it. I think we had it at our own pace. We were then in the moment. “However, the female lead in Harry Potter believed that” no one had to convince her to stay, “except for the love and appreciation of the fans.

Source: Tech Crunch

 

The tragedy today hit millions of houses around the world, as one of the most popular online games in the world was offline several hours.

Fortnite, which has more than 350 million players worldwide, was offline for several hours due to an unknown technical issue.
The time for parents, whose play-obsessed offspring is at home during the winter holidays and devoting themselves to their passion for hours, couldn’t have been worse.
Developer Epic Games posted on Twitter that their team is investigating an issue with the game’s servers: “Fortnite is currently unavailable and players will not be able to log in while we are investigating an issue.
We will provide more information when we have a solution to get the services back. “.” The problem has  been fixed and the game is back to working.
“Fortnite game servers are back online and  Winterfest continues! The problem occurred when Players were unable to log into the game. Several reported receiving a warning: “You are not authorized to play Fortnite.

We’re continuing to work on a fix that will bring Fortnite back online and appreciate everyone’s patience.

Fortnite game servers are currently offline while we investigate a solution to stability issues, and we’ll provide another update as more info is available. pic.twitter.com/aRTnawTJgE

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) December 29, 2021

Epic Games was also having problems.Of course, the large player base had time.
Pro Fortnite player Sypher PK joked that he could potentially run for president since his favorite time has gone.

It’s been 10 minutes since Fortnite servers have been down. I now have touched grass, got jacked, made a billion dollars, and will be running for President.

— SypherPK (@SypherPK) December 29, 2021

Source: Tech Crunch

 

Musk.MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk seems to agree with many that hyper-secret cryptocurrency expert Nick Szabo could be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of the digital currency Bitcoin. 

“You can watch ideas evolve before Bitcoin was launched and see who wrote about those ideas,” Musk told artificial intelligence researcher Lex Fridman on a podcast posted Tuesday when asked what he thought about the real ones Identity of Nakamoto thinks. 

The Tesla billionaire said that while he “obviously” doesn’t know exactly who created Bitcoin, Szabo’s theories seem central to the creation of cryptocurrency. “It seems that Nick Szabo is probably responsible for developing these ideas more than anyone,” he said. “He says he’s not  Nakamoto, but I’m not sure it’s neither here nor there. 

But he seems to be  responsible for the ideas behind Bitcoin more than anyone. Bitcoin was first proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in October 2008. , a pseudonym for what people thought it could be. 

In 2014, a team of linguists examined Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper along with the writings of Szabo and 10 other potential creators. They found the results undeniable. “It’s mind-boggling,” said the researchers, adding that none of the other possible writers were anywhere near as good.

A 2015 New York Times report also identifies the invention of bitcoin in Szabo, who has spoken publicly about the history of bitcoin and blockchain technology but  repeatedly  claims that he is the anonymous inventor of the digital asset. Another reason it is associated with Bitcoin is because of its origins. of the  cryptocurrency “Bit Gold” in 1998.

Source:Yahoo News

Source: Tech Crunch

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands in the foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory during a press event.

Patrick Pleul | picture alliance | Getty Images

Elon Musk sold another $ 1.02 billion in Tesla Inc. stock, moving closer to his goal of reducing his stake in the electric car maker by 10 percent. US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Musk has been selling Tesla shares since asking his Twitter followers in November if he should sell some of his stake. Musk said in a tweet last week that he was “almost done” cutting his Tesla stake by 10 percent. The latest sale brings Musk’s total number to about 15.6 million shares, for about $ 16.4 billion. 

You would have to sell around 17 million shares to get rid of 10 percent of your stake, provided your exposure excludes exercisable options.

>Tesla gained 2.3 percent in pre-market trading in the United States. The stock has gained 54 percent this year. It’s unclear whether the November poll  had anything to do with Musk’s plans. Options towards the end of the year and drew up a business plan for selling stocks ahead of his tweet. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk has net worth of $ 278.9 billion, up nearly 80% this year.

Source: Tech Crunch

 

According to financial documents released Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold 934,090 company shares valued at around $ 1.02 billion not to fund a McMansion on Mars.Musk said he is preparing to pay the biggest tax bill in history.

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With an estimated value of more than $ 275 billion, Musk is the richest person in the world.
As ProPublica revealed in a report earlier this year, Musk has not yet paid large sums of money in personal taxes, given that they alone pay taxpayers’ income or share taxes as soon as they do.

After exercising options to purchase nearly 1.6 million Tesla shares at an exercise price of $ 6.24 per share (given to him in his 2012 compensation package), Musk’s stake in Tesla rose to more than 177 million shares.

Now Musk is expected to face the largest  individual tax bill in US history, with state and California income taxes estimated at $ 11 billion, according to CNBC
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After Musk was named  “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine, Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that the government should “amend the rigged tax code so that the person of the year actually pays taxes and stops taking advantage of everyone else.”

Source: Tech Crunch

 Another WhatsApp scam is circulating, this time aimed at parents. WhatsApp scammers pretend to be desperate children who need money right away.

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 People in the UK have reportedly been defrauded of nearly £ 50,000 for this type of scam. 25 cases of fraud were reported between August and October, with victims losing pounds 48,356. 

A Bedford mom shared her WhatsApp exchange with a Bedford Facebook group to warn others.

“Hello mom, it’s me. I have a new number, you can delete the old one, ”read the scammer’s input text. 

Toni Parker, 53, thought her son had dropped his phone down the toilet and had a new phone number (Picture: Caters News)

When the woman asked who the unknown messenger was, they replied: “Your oldest and sweetest son xx. The scammer then stated that he had  a new phone and was “transferring everything”, claiming that his banking app had banned him for 48 hours. 

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“Very annoying because there is nothing I can do  about it. Can you possibly pay  me and I will get it back to you asap? I’m sorry to bother you with this, ” read the scammer’s text message. However, instead of sending the money immediately, the woman called her daughter, who confirmed that she was not sending the messages.

When the woman realized she was being attacked by a conspiratorial impostor, she immediately warned others about the deception.

 This is not the first time such a tactic has been used to commit fraud on WhatsApp. In August, a nurse was cheated of £ 2,500 after a scammer impersonated her son. In September, WhatsApp users were warned of the scam that could see criminals steal thousands of them.

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 ‘WhatsApp protects our users’ personal messages with end-to-end encryption, but we want to remind people that we all have one.’ We advise all users never to share their six-digit PIN code with anyone, not even with friends or family, and we recommend  all users configure two-step verification for added security.

Source: Tech Crunch

 A round-up of decades of research into a fairly “external” idea with viruses from space begs the question of how scientific we can be when it comes to speculating about the history of life on earth. and nonconformist in describing the scientific fringes, but then articles like this one from 2018 pop up and make us blink like owls not knowing where to start.

In this review, which by. was published, a total of 33 names were listed as authors Advances in Biophysics and Molecular Biology (as of August 2018) The journal is peer-reviewed and fairly well cited.

 So not exactly a small or paid niche source for publication. Science writer Stephen Fleischfresser delves into  the backgrounds of two of the most famous scientists involved: Edward Steele and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Well worth reading.

 For a tl version; Dr. Steele is an immunologist known for his views on evolution based on the acquisition of genetic changes determined by the influence of the environment rather than random mutations in what he calls metalamarckism.

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Wickramasinghe, on the other hand, has had a slightly less controversial career known for empirically confirming Sir Fred Hoyle’s hypothesis that describes the production of complex carbon molecules in interstellar dust. Wickramasinghe and Hoyle were also  responsible for further space biology work. one is based on more than just the origins of organic chemistry. 

Hoyle Wickramasinghes (HW) thesis of cometary biology (cosmic biology) makes the rather simple claim that the direction of evolution was significantly influenced by biochemistry that did not begin on our planet. In Wickramasinghe’s own words: “Comets are the carriers and distributors of life in the cosmos, and life on earth originated and developed as a result of input from comets.

 These inputs, argued Wickramasinghe, are not limited to a generous pinch of  amino acids that have been branded into the world. Neither do acids. Rather, they include viruses that infiltrate organisms and drive their evolution in completely new directions.

The report, entitled “Cause of the Cambrian Explosion: Terrestrial or Cosmic? and other viruses  to be released in meteoric debris may potentially add new DNA sequences to terrestrial genomes and cause further mutagenic changes within the germline and somatic genomes, ”the authors wrote.

 Before going any further, because that was the docile part during this period, a group of mollusks known as cephalopods first stretched  their tentacles under their shells and branched into an amazing variety of sizes and shapes in an amazingly short amount of time  and octopuses are as strange as the animals themselves,  in part because of their ability to manipulate their DNA in the blink of an eye.

 The authors of the article make the rather bold claim that these genetic oddities could be a sign of life from space, this time not from space viruses  but from the arrival of enter genomes frozen in stasis before they thaw in our warm waters.

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“Thus the possibility that cryopreserved squid and/or octopus eggs, arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted,” they wrote.

In his review of the article, University of Eastern Finland medical researcher Keith Baverstock admitted that there is much evidence  plausibly in line with HW’s thesis, such as the strange timeline of virus emergence, but that is not how science comes Ahead. 

“I believe this paper justifies skepticism of the scientific value of stand alone theories of the origin of life,” Baverstock argued at the time.

“The weight of plausible, but non-definitive, evidence, great though that might be, is not the point.”

Although the idea is as new and exciting as it is provocative, nothing in the summary helps us better understand the history of life on earth than existing assumptions that give little  value to our evolutionary model.

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 Perhaps science can handle a generous dose of madness from time to time. The magazine’s editor, Denis Noble, admits that “more research is needed”, which is a bit of an understatement.

 Room for discussion. “As space chemistry and biology grow in importance, it is appropriate for a journal devoted to the interface between physics and biology to stimulate discussion,” said Noble.

“In the future, the ideas will surely become testable.”

Just in case those tests confirm speculations, we recommend being well prepared for the return of our cephalopod overlords. Who knows when they’ll want those eggs back?

Source: Tech Crunch