Air New Zealand to trial digital COVID 'vaccination passport'

Air New Zealand will trial a digital travel pass to give airlines and border authorities access to passenger health information, including their COVID-19 vaccination status, the carrier said Monday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-air-zealand-trial-digital-covid.html

Boeing grounds 777s after engine fire in Colorado

Dozens of Boeing 777 planes were grounded worldwide Monday following a weekend scare on a United Airlines' plane that suffered engine failure and scattered airplane debris over suburban Denver.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-boeing-urges-grounding-777s.html

Australia health chiefs freeze Facebook ads

Australia's health department will no longer advertise on Facebook, it has announced, the latest escalation of the government's feud with the social media giant, which continues to block news content from its platform in the country.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-health-chiefs-facebook-ads.html

Global tech firms in Australia launch anti-disinformation code

Global tech firms in Australia unveiled a new code of practice Monday to curb the spread of disinformation online, following pressure from the government.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-global-tech-firms-australia-anti-disinformation.html

Study of auto recalls shows carmakers delay announcements until they 'hide in the herd'

Automotive recalls are occurring at record levels, but seem to be announced after inexplicable delays. A research study of 48 years of auto recalls announced in the United States finds carmakers frequently wait to make their announcements until after a competitor issues a recall—even if it is unrelated to similar defects.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-auto-recalls-carmakers-herd.html

Privacy faces risks in tech-infused post-COVID workplace

People returning to work following the long pandemic will find an array of tech-infused gadgetry to improve workplace safety but which could pose risks for long-term personal and medical privacy.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-privacy-tech-infused-post-covid-workplace.html

Kroger: Some pharmacy customer data impacted in vendor hack

Kroger Co. says personal data, including Social Security numbers of some of its pharmacy and clinic customers, may have been stolen in the hack of a third-party vendor's file-transfer service.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-kroger-latest-victim-third-party-software.html

Airlines plan to ask passengers for contact-tracing details

The U.S. airline industry is pledging to expand the practice of asking passengers on flights to the United States for information that public health officials could use for contact tracing during the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-airlines-passengers-contact-tracing.html

Google fires another lead AI ethics researcher

Google said Friday it fired a lead artificial intelligence ethics researcher, following controversy last year over the tech giant's dismissal of a Black colleague who was an outspoken diversity advocate.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-google-ai-protested-peer-departure.html

Life from Earth could temporarily survive on Mars

Some microbes on Earth could temporarily survive on the surface of Mars, finds a new study by NASA and German Aerospace Center scientists. The researchers tested the endurance of microorganisms to Martian conditions by launching them into the Earth's stratosphere, as it closely represents key conditions on the Red Planet. Published in Frontiers in Microbiology, this work paves the way for understanding not only the threat of microbes to space missions, but also the opportunities for resource independence from Earth.

Psychological 'signature' for the extremist mind uncovered by Cambridge researchers

Researchers have mapped an underlying "psychological signature" for people who are predisposed to holding extreme social, political or religious attitudes, and support violence in the name of ideology.

Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators

Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.

New model helping identify pregnant women whose previous kidney injury puts them, babies at risk

Young pregnant women, who appear to have fully recovered from an acute injury that reduced their kidney function, have higher rates of significant problems like preeclampsia and low birthweight babies, problems which indicate their kidneys have not actually fully recovered.

Low-quality maternal diet during pregnancy may be associated with late-childhood obesity

Eating a low quality diet, high in foods and food components associated with chronic inflammation, during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of obesity and excess body fat in children, especially during late-childhood. The findings are published the open access journal BMC Medicine.

Drones used to locate dangerous, unplugged oil wells

There are millions of unplugged oil wells in the United States, which pose a serious threat to the environment. Using drones, researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new method to locate these hard-to-locate and dangerous wells.

Study of auto recalls shows carmakers delay announcements until they 'hide in the herd'

Automotive recalls are occurring at record levels, but seem to be announced after inexplicable delays. A research study of 48 years of auto recalls announced in the United States finds carmakers frequently wait to make their announcements until after a competitor issues a recall—even if it is unrelated to similar defects.

Stress was leading reason teachers quit before pandemic, and COVID has made matters worse

Stress was the most common reason teachers cited for leaving the profession before and during the pandemic, according to a RAND Corporation survey of nearly 1,000 former public-school teachers. Three of four former teachers said work was often or always stressful in the most recent year in which they taught in a public school.

Investment needed to bring down pancreatic cancer death rates in Europe

Researchers have called on European policymakers to make adequate resources available to tackle pancreatic cancer, a disease that is almost invariably fatal and where little progress has been made over the past 40 years.

Price Edge Listed as a “Representative Vendor” in the Gartner 2020 Market Guide for B2B Price Optimization and Management Software

Price Edge, a fast-growing provider of Price Optimization & Management (PO&M) solutions, announced today that the company has been listed in the "Market Guide for B2B Price Optimization and Management Software," published by Gartner on October 26, 2020. “Delighted to find Price Edge again listed as a 'Representative Vendor' in Gartner's Market Guide for B2B Price Optimization and Management [PR.com]

Acid reflux disease may increase risk of cancers of the larynx and esophagus

Results from a large prospective study indicate that gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which also causes heartburn symptoms, is linked with higher risks of various cancers of the larynx (or voice box) and esophagus. The study is published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Australia health chiefs freeze Facebook ads

Australia's health department will no longer advertise on Facebook, it has announced, the latest escalation of the government's feud with the social media giant, which continues to block news content from its platform in the country.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-health-chiefs-facebook-ads.html

Global tech firms in Australia launch anti-disinformation code

Global tech firms in Australia unveiled a new code of practice Monday to curb the spread of disinformation online, following pressure from the government.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-global-tech-firms-australia-anti-disinformation.html

Dozens of whales strand at notorious New Zealand bay

Rescuers were racing Monday to save dozens of pilot whales that beached on a stretch of New Zealand coast notorious for mass strandings, wildlife officials said.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-volunteers-zealand-stranded-whales.html

There is no one-size-fits-all road to sustainability on "Patchwork Earth"

In a world as diverse as our own, the journey towards a sustainable future will look different depending on where in the world we live, according to a recent paper published in One Earth and led by McGill University, with researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-one-size-fits-all-road-sustainability-patchwork-earth.html

Rapid evolution may help species adapt to climate change and competition

Loss of biodiversity in the face of climate change is a growing worldwide concern. Another major factor driving the loss of biodiversity is the establishment of invasive species, which often displace native species. A new study shows that species can adapt rapidly to an invader and that this evolutionary change can affect how they deal with a stressful climate.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-rapid-evolution-species-climate-competition.html

Life from Earth could temporarily survive on Mars

Some microbes on Earth could temporarily survive on the surface of Mars, finds a new study by NASA and German Aerospace Center scientists. The researchers tested the endurance of microorganisms to Martian conditions by launching them into the Earth's stratosphere, as it closely represents key conditions on the Red Planet. Published in Frontiers in Microbiology, this work paves the way for understanding not only the threat of microbes to space missions, but also the opportunities for resource independence from Earth.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life-earth-temporarily-survive-mars.html

Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators

Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-reveals-gardens-secret-powerhouse-pollinators.html

Drones used to locate dangerous, unplugged oil wells

There are millions of unplugged oil wells in the United States, which pose a serious threat to the environment. Using drones, researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new method to locate these hard-to-locate and dangerous wells.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-drones-dangerous-unplugged-oil-wells.html

Study of auto recalls shows carmakers delay announcements until they 'hide in the herd'

Automotive recalls are occurring at record levels, but seem to be announced after inexplicable delays. A research study of 48 years of auto recalls announced in the United States finds carmakers frequently wait to make their announcements until after a competitor issues a recall—even if it is unrelated to similar defects.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-auto-recalls-carmakers-herd.html

Stress was leading reason teachers quit before pandemic, and COVID has made matters worse

Stress was the most common reason teachers cited for leaving the profession before and during the pandemic, according to a RAND Corporation survey of nearly 1,000 former public-school teachers. Three of four former teachers said work was often or always stressful in the most recent year in which they taught in a public school.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-stress-teachers-pandemic-covid-worse.html