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Larry Collins is a big, gregarious man with tobacco-stained teeth, a salty tongue, and the commanding presence of a sea captain. For 40years he has earned his living as a commercial fisherman, slinging wild-caught seafood from a bustling warehouse on Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco. Collins loves his profession; it has put enough money in his pocket to raise kids, buy a home, and save up for retirement in one of the most expensive cities in America. Sitting in his cramped office, with the smell of fresh fish wafting in from the docks, he talked about the days when more than 4,000 boats would head out from Californias ports each season and ply the waters of the Pacific Coast, trapping crabs and netting huge runs of Chinook salmon.1Ad Policy

I will give you the best salmon year in my whole career. It was 1988. We caught 1.4 million salmon in California, and another 800,000 escaped up the river, he said with obvious nostalgia.2

That era, though, is long gone. These days, the local fishing industry is a withered remnant of its former self. In 2018 we caught maybe 175,000 salmon, and 80,000 went up the river, Collins told me. Fifty-three boats delivered 50 percent of what was caught. While some salmon seasons have been much better than others, such as the robust 2019 season, the fishery has probably been reduced to 5 or 10 percent of what it used to be. Cut off from their ancestral breeding grounds by enormous dams, preyed on by invasive species, and deprived of the freshwater flows that are crucial to sustaining their populations, the salmon have suffered long-term decline and face an increasingly grim future.3

They are in terrible condition, Collins said, his voice rising. And no one seems to give a fuck!4

But its not just the salmon that are suffering. The whole San Francisco Bay ecosystemthat enormous estuary with its maze of bays, rich delta, and associated rivers and streamsis in the midst of an ecological calamity. Decades of dam building and water extraction to quench the thirst of Californias growing population and the needs of its mighty agriculture industry have starved the states waterways, as well as the bay itself, of crucial freshwater supplies. As a result, the entire estuary is under enormous stress. Its water quality is dicey, in some places too stagnant or too saline or beset by algal blooms. Its aquatic food web is fraying, threatening bird species and marine mammals, including orcas. And its fish populations, from the imperiled salmon to tiny smelt, have plummeted. The fisheries for Chinook salmon, starry flounder, and other species are collapsing, said Jon Rosenfield, a senior scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper, a water quality organization.5

The Bay Area, in other words, is grappling with a local manifestation of our global mass extinction crisis.6

We have pillaged that ecosystem, said Felicia Marcus, a former chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board. We have diverted more water from the ecosystem than any estuary that has survived. We are on the brink of losing the salmon, the smeltall of it.7Current Issue

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There is much at stake. San Franciscos estuary, one of the largest in North America, is an ecological mixing bowl where Pacific saltwater meets the freshwater runoff that flows from the Sierra Nevada through the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers into San Francisco Bay and on to the ocean. The blending of these waters produces rich habitat for salmon, smelt, shrimp, crabs, pelicans, cormorants, ducks, whales, seals, and humans. If it continues its decline, everything from fishing jobs and tourist businesses to tribal food security and the general economic stability of Northern California could go with it.8

But there are ways to abate this crisis. In 2018, California water officials took strides to ease the strain on San Franciscos estuary by moving to update and strengthen a body of regulations known as the Bay-Delta Plan. The amendments, which get made every couple of decades, seek to restrict the quantity of water that cities and agricultural operators can divert from the bays tributaries and thereby restore the ailing ecosystem.9

The updated Bay-Delta Plan is meant to help save the bay, its watershed, and its wildlife, so one might assume it would have widespread support among the regions politicians. But thats not the way water politics works in big, dry, crowded California. The plans new mandates are facing staunch opposition from a host of powerful antagonists, including the city of San Francisco, that glittering capital of left coast liberalism. Mayor London Breed, the citys attorney, and its water utility have taken steps to oppose the updated plan. The citys political establishment is in the midst of a legal battle to block stronger environmental protections for the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. The establishments allies in this fight: the states industrial agriculture interests and the federal government under President Donald Trump.10

I am profoundly disappointed in San Francisco, said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, the executive director of the conservation group Restore the Delta and a veteran of Californias water wars. Everyone is worried about fighting and protecting their share of the water, and they dont understand that if you cant keep your water systems alive and healthy, then we are going to end up in a very bad place. They are interested in short-term gain instead of long-term strategy.11

The tide is low: San Francisco Bay tidelands and waterway tributaries. (Steve Proehl / The Image Bank)

In May of last year, a United Nationsbacked panel of scientists and policy experts released an alarming report stating that the world is in the grip of an unprecedented and accelerating biodiversity crisis. The panel found that 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, many within the coming decades. The essential, interconnected web of life on Earth is getting smaller and increasingly frayed, warned Josef Settele, a research scientist who cochaired the panel, upon the reports release. This loss is a direct result of human activity.12

The story of San Francisco Bay is a case study in how such destructive human activity manifests at the local level and wreaks havoc on prized natural resources. Its an object lesson in the way widespread global forcesindustrial farming, urban growth, climate changescramble ecosystems and push species to the brink of collapse. But its also a California story, featuring the powerful industries and particular environmental conditions that have shaped the destiny of the Golden State.13

Much of California is semidesert. While the state boasts mighty rivers, a snow-capped sierra, and the lush Bay Area estuary, its cities are often parched. Los Angeles is drier than Beirut; Sacramento is as dry as the Sahel; San Francisco is just slightly rainier than Chihuahua, writes Marc Reisner in Cadillac Desert, his magisterial book on the history of water development in the American West. And Californias Central Valley, the heart of the states $50billionayear agriculture industry, is a place where rainless summers mean that no important crop except wheat [can] be raised without irrigation. Yet this semidesert is home today to nearly 40 million people and one of the largest agriculture industries on the planet.14 MORE FROM Jimmy Tobias

The only way this paradox is possible is through overwhelming human intervention, specifically by the federal government. Starting in the New Deal era, under the auspices of the Bureau of Reclamation, the US government embarked on a massive water development spree that saw it build huge dams across the West to trap, store, and divert water from rivers to cities, farms, and ranches in Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and yes, California. It was water welfare on a massive scale, meant to support small farmers and growing towns across the region, and for a while it enchanted the American imagination. Who hasnt heard of the Hoover Dam, completed in 1936 on the Colorado River, which still supplies huge quantities of water to Los Angeles and Arizona, among other places?15

In California the Bureau of Reclamations enormous water development efforts were known as the Central Valley Project, or CVP. It created a sprawling network of dams, reservoirs, and canals that sucks up the states river water and supplies it at heavily subsidized rates to Central Valley farmers and to residents of Los Angeles and other Southern California cities. A second development, called the State Water Project, or SWP, was initiated in the early 1960s to dam even more rivers and provide the water to Californias farmers.16

In many ways, these two projects, which primarily draw water from tributaries that feed San Francisco Bay, made modern California possible. Above all, they created the states agriculture industry, saving it from impending groundwater depletion and providing it with a constant supply of publicly subsidized water. And while the CVP and the SWP were conceived to support small farmers and promote a sort of Jeffersonian ideal, they ultimately sparked the rise of the Big Agriculture empires that have enriched land-owning elites.17

These projects, Reisner writes in Cadillac Desert, ended up being one of the countrys foremost examples of socialism for the rich. Today, Californias agriculture industry accounts for as much as 80 percent of water use in the state.18

Keeping California green: One of the vast irrigation systems that helps the dry Gold State bloom. (Citizens of the Planet / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The projects also rained misery on some of the states Indigenous tribes, including the Winnemem Wintu. The 1945 completion of the Shasta Dam, a centerpiece of the CVP, inundated the land on which the majority of Winnemem Wintu villages stood. The tribe was moved out of their villages, said Mark Miyoshi, its historic preservation officer. They didnt have anything. They were made homeless. We were the sacrifice that allowed the Central Valley Project to be constructed.19

The CVP and the SWP devastated the states natural environment, too, wrecking streams, rivers, estuaries, wetlands, and wildlife. Intensive water diversions by agricultural and urban water users result in San Francisco Bays being deprived, on average, of approximately 50 percent of its annual freshwater inflow. Sometimes that figure reaches as high as 70 percent.20

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These water diversions have created a kind of permanent drought for the bay. Among other negative effects, this has heightened salinity levels in the estuary and harmed species like the endangered delta smelt, a tiny iridescent fish that once numbered in the millions. In 2018 and 2019, after decades of decline, a thorough survey of the waters failed to turn up a single smelt.21

Meanwhile, the dams cut off Chinook salmonthe states most iconic fish speciesfrom their ancient spawning grounds high in Northern Californias mountains. Along with industrial pollution and mining, the dams have led to the long-term decline of the winter-run Chinooks, which are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act. Winter-run Chinooks once came in droves each year from the Pacific Ocean, swimming through San Francisco Bay and up into the California highland interior. These days, only a few hundred to a few thousand return to spawn beneath a giant dam on the Sacramento River. The Central Valleys unique spring run of Chinook salmon is also listed under the Endangered Species Act.22

This shocking decline has contributed, in turn, to the collapse of the orca populations that depend on Pacific Coast salmon for their survival. The number of so-called southern resident orcas has dropped from a high of 98 in 1995 to just 73 as of August 2019. The population of these majestic animals is now at a 30-year low.23

Endangered: An orca speeds through the water, one of many species threatened by the collapse of the San Francisco Bay. (Francois Gohier / VW Pics / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

San Francisco Bay, like most ecosystems, exists in a delicate balance, the fate of its species intertwined, their lives dependent on one another. But as in many ecosystems, some species exert more influence than others, their presence holding the system together like a keystone in an arch. Californias Chinook salmon is one of these essential species. Over the millennia, the multitudes of Chinook traveling between sea and river have delivered vast loads of rich ocean nutrients to inland California, all while providing sustenance to whales, seals, birds, bears, wolves, coyotes, humans, and even shrubs and trees. Now, as salmon numbers dwindle, other species are suffering too. Should the Chinook disappear, its unlikely that San Francisco Bay will ever really recover.24

To get a look at the current state of this keystone species, I took a short trip with John McManus, a veteran environmentalist with the Golden State Salmon Association and a dogged defender of Californias fisheries. I met him on a drizzly morning last May in Daly City, south of San Francisco. He wheeled up in an old gray Toyota minivan, and we hit the road, crossing the Bay Bridge and winding through dense traffic until we arrived at the San Francisco Bay delta, where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers merge. Once a wild landscape with some of the best soil on earth, the delta is now blanketed with farms and crisscrossed by canals and levees. It is also sinking below sea level as a result of groundwater depletion.25

On the drive, McManus filled my brain with facts about dams, farms, and fish. We really messed things up. This was such rich habitat once upon a time, he said. We lost about 80 or 90 percent of the historic salmon habitat when they dammed all the Central Valley rivers.26

The problem, he explained, begins at the very start of the salmons life cycle. Nowadays, the salmon that manage to hatch have a tough time making it out to the sea, where they grow into adulthood. When the tiny salmon swim down from the mountains, the low and irregular flow in the regions rivers and streams causes lots of baby fish to get trapped in the deltas artificial canals, where theyre preyed on by invasive species, like hungry striped bass, or sucked into irrigation pumps.27

If youre a baby salmon, McManus said, and youre coming down the Sacramento River trying to get to the ocean, if you get pulled into that delta cross channel, you will never be seen again. Its curtains.28

About an hour into our drive, we pulled into a small gravel parking lot in the town of Woodbridge, where two hulking tanker trucks were idling near the edge of the Mokelumne River. Inside each truck, swimming around in the pitch black, were approximately 100,000 baby salmon from a nearby hatchery. In an effort to prevent a total collapse of the salmon populations, the state and federal governments maintain about a dozen hatcheries across California that raise salmon and then release them into the wild.29

We watched as a crew of technicians from the states Department of Fish and Wildlife pieced together a long metal pipe and lowered it slowly into the fast-moving river. Then they pulled a lever. There was a soft rushing sound, followed by a burst of water from the end of the pipe, and a flurry of tiny fish gushed into the river. They were just a small fraction of the many millions that Californias hatcheries raise each year.30Related Article

This is what it takes to keep the salmon populations from crashing even further below their historical levels. Without the hatcheries, you would see some salmon persist in small numbers, Im guessing, McManus said. But some might blink out. We would have lost winter-run Chinook salmon. We would have lost them in the last drought without the hatcheries.31

The baby fish kept pouring out of the trucks, and soon they were churning the water into whorls of glinting silver. Most of them, I soon learned, werent likely to survive. They were an experimental group meant to determine whether any of them could make the perilous trip through the delta.32

Bill Smith, a state employee in charge of the Mokelumne River Hatchery, wasnt optimistic. He said most of the baby fish would likely perish on their way to sea. Invasive predators will take more than their fair share, and the [irrigation] pumps will take the rest, he said.33

Hatched and ready: Truckloads of fingerling Chinook salmon are pumped into floating holding pens. (Kim Kulish / Corbis via Getty Images )

To save San Franciscos threatened estuary, to really restore it, is a herculean taskone that, in a perfect world, would include stalling climate change; reining in urban growth, industrial agriculture, and pollution; and demolishing the dams that have devastated the landscape. But few hold out hope for such ambitious measures. Instead, most conservationists in the Bay Area are focused on a more pragmatic and immediate solution: restricting the amount of water that agricultural operators and cities are allowed to pull out of the deltas tributaries, thereby alleviating the human-made drought that has done so much damage to the regions watershed.34

This is precisely what the states water regulators sought to accomplish in December 2018, when, after a long and painstaking process, they finalized the first of two updates to the Bay-Delta Plans water quality standards. The amendments, which were crafted by the California State Water Resources Control Board, a powerful independent agency, require irrigators and city agencies to leave more water in certain key tributaries that sustain the bay and its many species.35

In the case of San Francisco and nearby irrigation districts, the revised Bay-Delta Plan requires them to leave 30 to 50 percent of the water that would naturally flow through the Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced rivers in the winter, spring, and early summer. The Tuolumne is the citys main source of drinking water and an important conveyor of fresh water from the Sierra Nevada to the San Francisco Bay delta; these days humans sometimes divert as much as 90 percent of its flow during the winter and spring snowmelt.36

Some high-profile San Franciscans back the new regulations. Aaron Peskin, who represents District 3 on the citys Board of Supervisors, is a supporter of the updated Bay-Delta Plan. San Francisco, I think, needs to be part of the solution as the stresses on the Tuolumne system and on the bay and delta become more profound and as our fisheries are on the verge of collapse, he said. I think we have a political and social and environmental responsibility to do our part.37

To that end, in the fall of 2018, as the regulators were finalizing the first phase of the new Bay-Delta Plan, Peskin introduced a resolution to signal the citys support for the move. The resolution, which was passed by the Board of Supervisors, barred the city attorney from pursuing any litigation meant to block the new regulations. I thought we could establish that our policy was to adhere to what the state water board was going to mandate, Peskin said.38

Gateway to the Bay: The Golden Gate Bridge, which spans the strait between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

But then higher powers intervened. In November 2018, allegedly under pressure from Senator Dianne Feinstein, a key player in California water politics, Breed vetoed Peskins resolution. (A spokesperson for Feinstein asserted that she didnt directly weigh in with the mayor about the matter.) San Francisco, despite all of its left-leaning and environmentally inclined self-image, is in the midst of a huge growth spurt, as is Silicon Valley, Peskin said. His resolution and water use restrictions in general were seen as being a threat to the long-term economic viability of San Francisco and the peninsula.39

Shortly after his resolution was vetoed, San Francisco joined a lawsuit to block the first phase of the Bay-Delta Plan update. That lawsuit is ongoing, and the city has some strange bedfellows in its effort to stymie the new protections. A slurry of influential agriculture interestsincluding Republican ranchers from the central part of our state, Peskin saidare suing to block the updated plan; so is the Trump administration.40

The fight over the Bay-Delta Plan, it is important to note, is unfolding in the midst of a broader legal and political struggle over environmental protections in California. The Trump administration is also working in lockstep with powerful agricultural interests to roll back the Endangered Species Acts protections for Californias salmon, smelt, and orcas. Tellingly, the federal official orchestrating this pro-industry blitz is David Bernhardt, Trumps secretary of the interior and a former lobbyist for some of Big Ags most influential water users in the state.41

The water stops here: The Shasta Dam is one of the tallest in the United States and a centerpiece of the Central Valley Project.

In their defense of San Franciscos lawsuit, city officials say they are merely trying to rein in overzealous regulators. This [legal action] is an unfortunate but necessary step to preserve the rights of the 2.7 million Bay Area customers who rely on [the citys] water system, a spokesperson for the city attorneys office said last year.42

Environmental leaders disagree with that claim. To suggest the Bay-Delta Plan would somehow cause hardships for San Franciscans doesnt ring true, said Sejal Choksi-Chugh, the executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper. Im fairly certain most San Franciscans would choose to protect our beautiful bay over the interests of industrial agriculture. When it comes to water conservation, San Franciscos city government needsto catch up with cities like Los Angeles that require everyone who uses water to enact conservation measuresratepayers and industrial clients alike.43

So far, though, San Francisco appears determined to prevent the updated protections for its namesake waterway. Instead of complying with new regulations, the city and its allies in the agriculture industry hope to persuade state officials to allow them to hammer out a series of less-stringent voluntary agreements governing diversions from the San Francisco Bay delta and its watershed. These groups say they seek a compromise that will protect fish while preserving access to plentiful drinking water supplies. But many conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife and the Environmental Defense Fund, have expressed deep concern about this so-called compromise.44

The voluntary agreements will not adequately improve conditions in the Bay-Delta estuary and its Central Valley watershed, members of the conservation community wrote in a September 2019 letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, whose administration is presiding over the matter. Furthermore, the ongoing process is flawed and not on course to produce an agreement that is legally, scientifically, and biologically adequate to survive environmental review and legal challenge.45

Despite these warnings, Newsoms administration seems keen to move forward with the process. Along with influential figures like Feinstein, the governor has praised the voluntary agreement negotiations, calling them a path forward that will move past the old water binaries and set us up for a secure and prosperous water future. He declined to reappoint Felicia Marcus as chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board, despite (or perhaps because of) her critical role in developing the Bay-Delta Plan update. And while he has pledged to double the states salmon population by 2050, environmentalists are increasingly displeased with his approach to the bay and its watershed. Newsom is ignoring science and looking to cut deals with the big water users, said Restore the Deltas Barrigan-Parrilla.46

City officials in San Francisco and their allies appear to be in no hurry to change the status quo. One key official was loath even to acknowledge the severity of the regional problems. When I asked Michael Carlin, the deputy general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, whether he thought the salmon in the Tuolumne River were in good condition, he grew irritated. No, I am not going to say whether they are in good condition or not in good condition, he said as we sat in the headquarters of the commission, which oversees the citys water supply and has been leading its opposition to the updated Bay-Delta Plan. You are asking a very loaded question, he added, and a very unfair question, to tell you the truth.47

Fair question or not, the situation today in San Francisco Bay is troubling. Its troubling for salmon and smelt, for orcas and seabirds, and for humans too. An entire ecosystem is unraveling bit by bit before our eyes. Northern California is a microcosm of the global biodiversity crisis. The threat of mass extinction isnt just happening in far-off lands or confined to some distant future. It is happening in the United States, right now.48

Peskin, speaking from his office in San Franciscos City Hall, boiled the crisis down to its grim essence. I dont want to be the purveyor of doom and gloom, he said, but we are kind of fucked. Between sea level rise and changing weather patterns and fire becoming the new normal and fish die-offs and ecosystem collapse, it is really not a pretty picture.49

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The Extinction Crisis Devastating San Francisco Bay - The Nation

This report studies the Education Ecosystem with Unified Technology Market with many aspects of the industry like the market size, market status, market trends and forecast, the report also provides brief information of the competitors and the specific growth opportunities with key market drivers. Find the complete Education Ecosystem with Unified Technology Market analysis segmented by companies, region, type and applications in the report.

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Education Ecosystem with Unified Technology Market Countries Analysis Report 2020 by Industry Size, Share, Growth Rate and Revenue - Latest Herald

While the advantages of SDN (Software Defined Networking) and network virtualization are well known in the enterprise IT and data center world, both technologies also bring a host of benefits to the telecommunications service provider community. Not only can these technologies help address the explosive capacity demand of mobile traffic, but they can also reduce the CapEx and OpEx burden faced by service providers to handle this demand by diminishing reliance on expensive proprietary hardware platforms. The recognition of these benefits has led to the emergence of the NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) concept that seeks to virtualize and effectively consolidate many service provider network elements onto multi-tenant industry-standard servers, switches and storage.

Service providers both mobile and fixed-line have already begun making significant investments in SDN and NFV across a number of use cases including but not limited to uCPE/vCPE, SD-WAN, vEPC, vIMS, Cloud RAN and vCDN. SNS Research estimates that service provider SDN and NFV investments will grow at a CAGR of approximately 45% between 2017 and 2020, eventually accounting for nearly $22 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020.

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The SDN, NFV & Network Virtualization Ecosystem: 2017 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the SDN, NFV and network virtualization ecosystem including enabling technologies, key trends, market drivers, challenges, use cases, deployment case studies, regulatory landscape, standardization, opportunities, future roadmap, value chain, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents market size forecasts from 2017 till 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 10 submarkets, 2 user base categories, 9 functional areas, 6 regions and 34 countries.

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How Coronavirus Is Impacting The SDN, NFV & Network Virtualization Ecosystem: 2017 2030 - Cole of Duty

The report on the HetNet Ecosystem market provides a birds eye view of the current proceeding within the HetNet Ecosystem market. Further, the report also takes into account the impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on the HetNet Ecosystem market and offers a clear assessment of the projected market fluctuations during the forecast period. The different factors that are likely to impact the overall dynamics of the HetNet Ecosystem market over the forecast period (2019-2029) including the current trends, growth opportunities, restraining factors, and more are discussed in detail in the market study.

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The major players profiled in this HetNet Ecosystem market report include:

The key players covered in this study3GPPCisco SystemsFujitsu LimitedNXPADLINK TechnologyNokiaCommScopeAmerican Tower CorporationAruba NetworksAskey Computer Corporation

Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoFemtocellsPicocellsMicrocellsMarket segment by Application, split intoResidentialEnterpriseOthers

Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South America

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Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Research Report prospects the HetNet Ecosystem Market - Jewish Life News

The emissions fight has never been more important: Its the only way to avoid these battles of diminishing returns with other ecosystems down the line.

The problem with coral restoration is the one we could soon be facing with multiple ecosystems: Its right to invest billions of dollars in protecting coralwithout fighting to preserve these structures, we risk of the complete collapse of coral ecosystems, involving massive environmental and economic fallout. But focusing on coral-restoration technology can also draw attention away from the culprit driving this change to begin with: emissions.

The most important step for saving coral is moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels. The future trajectory of reef health is entirely dependent on how soon we act, Camp said. The sooner we reduce emissions, the more likely we are to have healthy reefs in the future. While scientists are increasingly wearing multiple hats as activists and communicators, the dialogue around restoring reefs can sometimes glance over the more important truth: Stopping emissions is the best and surest way to guarantee that reefs survive the century. Scientists have only turned to these alternative solutions because the world wont act. Our biggest tool to save coral, reducing emissions, isnt working. So we have to think about the other tools in our toolbox like assisted evolution and geoengineering, Camp said. But, at the same time, the emissions fight has never been more important: Its the only way to avoid these battles of diminishing returns with other ecosystems down the line.

The situation facing coral reefs right now is a dry run for the tipping points rainforests, agriculture, and the polar ice caps could soon face. Right now, the most effective ways to save the Amazon rainforest are preventativestopping deforestation and reducing carbon emissions. But if the Amazon suddenly starts to collapse, it will already be too late and scientists will need to look to new, murky horizons, investing tremendous amounts of money in risky solutions in order to avoid imminent, drastic consequences.

Ecological systems under warming pressure can turn into a runaway train. The trillions of dollars in economic costs of climate inaction are not theoretical: The collapse of reef ecosystems today show us clearly what those economic and ecological costs will look like. Eliminating oil industry subsidies, a transition to a green economy, carbon taxes, far-reaching changes to individual lifestyleseverything needs to be on the table. While scientists can help coral survive into the short-term, its up to the greater communityand, in particular, that means policy at the national and international levelto create a future that coral can survive in.

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The Coming Ecosystem Collapse Is Already Here for Coral - The New Republic

By Charli Shield

After the novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, it didn't take long for conspiracy theorists to claim it was manufactured in a nearby lab.

Scientific consensus, on the other hand, is that the virus SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic disease that jumped from animal to human. It most likely originated in a bat, possibly before passing through another mammal.

While the virus was certainly not engineered in a laboratory, this doesn't mean we haven't played a role in the current pandemic. Human impingement on natural habitats, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are making virus spillover events much more likely, a major new study from scientists in Australia and the US has found.

The number of emerging infectious disease outbreaks has more than tripled every decade since the 1980s. More than two thirds of these diseases originate in animals, and about 70% of those come from wild animals. Many of the infectious diseases we're familiar with Ebola, HIV, swine and avian flu are zoonotic.

Aided by a hyper-connected global population, SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has also demonstrated how quickly modern outbreaks can become pandemics.

While the speed at which COVID-19 has spread across the world has shocked many, scientists have long been warning of such a pandemic.

By disrupting ecosystems, we have created the conditions that allow animal viruses to cross over into human populations, says Joachim Spangenberg, ecologist and vice-president of the Sustainable Europe Research Institute.

"We are creating this situation, not the animals," Spangenberg told DW.

As people move further into the territories of wild animals to clear forests, raise livestock, hunt and extract resources, we are increasingly exposed to the pathogens that normally never leave these places and the bodies they inhabit.

"We're getting closer and closer to wild animals," says Yan Xiang, professor of virology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, "and that brings us into contact with these viruses."

"As you increase human population density and increase encroachment onto natural habitats, not just by people but by our domesticated animals, you're increasing the rolls on the die," David Hayman, professor of infectious disease ecology at Massey University in New Zealand, told DW.

But, as well as increasing the likelihood of transfer, ecosystem disruption also has an impact on how many viruses exist in the wild and how they behave.

In the last century, tropical forests, home to around two thirds of the world's living organisms, have been halved. This profound loss of habitat has ripple effects throughout the entire ecosystem, including on the "parts we tend to forget infections," says Hayman.

In some cases, scientists have observed that when animals at the top of the food chain disappear, the animals at the bottom of the food chain, like rats and mice that carry more pathogens, tend to fill that space.

"It's not just about how many species we have in an ecosystem," says Alice Latinne at the Wildlife Conservation Society, "it's about which species."

"Each species plays a different role in the ecosystem and sometimes, if you just replace one species with another, this can have a huge impact in terms of disease risk. And sometimes we can't predict it," she told DW.

Habitat changes can also force animals and their pathogens to go elsewhere, including areas populated by people.

Latinne draws on the example of the emergence of Nipah virus in Malaysia in the late 1990s, where deforestation drove fruit bats from their forest habitat to mango trees on pig farms. Bats often carry pathogens that don't bother them, but in this case when the pigs came into contact with bat droppings and saliva, they became infected. The pigs then went on to infect farmers.

Evidence linking disruption of ecosystems to increased risk of novel infection transfer is why, Spangenberg says, experts talk about the importance of the "One Health" concept; the idea that the health of animals, the ecosystem and humans are all interlinked, and when one is out of balance, others follow suit.

So-called "wet markets" selling produce, meat and live animals provide another incubator for the emergence of infectious disease. Scientists believe there's a strong possibility SARS-CoV-2 emerged at a wet market in Wuhan, China.

Cramming stressed, sick animals into cages together is, in many ways, the "perfect setting" to incubate new pathogens, Spangenberg says, and "an excellent way to transfer diseases from one species to another." For that reason, many scientists, including Spangenberg, say the world needs, at the very least, to introduce strict regulations for live animal markets.

That's the message from Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the United Nations' biodiversity chief, who has called for a global ban on wildlife markets.

But as Mrema also pointed out, millions of people particularly in low-income communities rely on the food and income sources these markets provide.

That's part of what makes solutions to preventing disease outbreak complex, according to Hayman. Animal exploitation is one part of it, he says. But "poverty, access to jobs, how people are treated in remote areas, the way people engage with food" also contribute to conditions that lead to spillovers.

Even just on an economic level, Latinne believes, "we will be forced to change because the cost of disease emergence and spillover from wildlife will be much higher than the economic benefit of our exploitation of the environment."

"We are part of nature we're part of the ecosystem where our health is linked to the health of wildlife, the health of livestock and the health of the environment," Latinne says. "We have to find a better way to live together safely."

Reposted with permission from Deutsche Welle.

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Coronavirus Pandemic Linked to Destruction of Wildlife and World's Ecosystems - EcoWatch

Eterna and Borderless Capital are joining forces to launch a new initiative that is intended to support developers and entrepreneurs who want to build their decentralized applications on top of the Algorand protocol. Dubbed Eterna Borderless Venture Studio, it is set to provide a range of tools and resources to those interested in creating or transitioning their projects to the open-source public blockchain.

Silvio Micali, founder of Algorand, stated:

An important component of the Algorand community today is broad support for the accelerating momentum of DeFi organizations, enterprises, and governments using this next generation technology. I am excited to see two thought-leading organizations come together and create a rigorous program that will support innovation and frictionless exchange on Algorand.

Eterna Borderless Venture Studio partnered with different excelling student groups from some of the top-notch universities around the world including the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Imperial College of London, to help developers and entrepreneurs succeed. Additionally, MarketAcross as well as F6S will be helping with public relations and marketing campaigns for those who pledge to join, according to Andrea Bonaceto, Partner at Eterna Capital.

Bonaceto affirmed:

We are looking forward to supporting talented teams with innovative ideas. We are creating an ecosystem of industry partners to help our portfolio companies to achieve success while accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology.

The new venture studio is currently accepting applications from eligible startups that will be selected to receive up to $100,000 to push forward the development of their projects. Those firms that emerge as category-leading business will be able to receive a follow-on investment of up to $2 million.

Multiple blockchain companies have already joined Eterna Borderless Venture Studio, including SingularityNET who is looking to increase the speed of transactions between AI agents for a variety of applications in fintech, health tech, and IoT, according to its CEO, Ben Goertzel.

The acceleration program is currently seen as a new way to foster the development of the Algorand borderless economy.

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A new venture studio is aiming to foster the development of the Algorand ecosystem - CryptoSlate

According to the Q1 2020 stats by DappRadar, the crypto market dip by 30%-40% amid the COVID-19 rush for liquid money significantly affected blockchain activity in March. Notably, the dApp ecosystem experienced an immediate drop in activity as the crypto market consolidated to its lowest support level this year. Despite the slump in general dApp activity, market stakeholders on Ethereum, Tron, and EOS seemed to have reacted differently to the extraordinarily dynamic conditions.

This platform emerged as the most active smart contract ecosystem during the first quarter of 2020. Its active user wallet sparked by 16% which translated to 17,489 as March came to an end. The highlight, however, is Ethereums 64% year-on-year growth which is largely attributed to DeFi and Exchanges.

Source: DappRadar

DappRadar has since noted a bounce back in DeFi and DEX activity could largely improve Ethereums performance as we navigate the Q2 of 2020. The steep uptrend in these markets had taken a hit from rising gas fees on Ethereum when the network was congested by stakeholders looking to hedge their positions amidst the uncertain market.

Trons dApp activity has also surged since the year began although the platform was not spared by the bear market in mid-March. Its native token, TRX, recorded a significant 48% drop on the 12th of March while its daily activity decreased by 20% three days later. The platforms general dApp activity was, however, up by 18% since we began 2020 with gambling and high risk category projects accounting for 88% of this ecosystem. Interestingly, this performance is still below the Q1, 2019 stats hence a 15% year-on-year drop in Trons dApp activity.

While its counterparts recorded positive figures, EOS experienced a prolonged drop in activity since November 2019 when they released EIDOS airdrop which eventually congested the network. Compared to Q4 of 2019, EOS lost 10% in dApp activity while its year-on-year trajectory took a massive 73% cut.

Currently, the platform is struggling to maintain 10,000 daily active unique wallets; this is pretty low compared to the EOS glory days when the figure was over 40,000. Notably, this ongoing plunge on EOS dApps made the March 12 market crash insignificant to the networks activity. All dApp categories within its ecosystem have consequently dropped compared to the previous quarter,

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Ethereum Tops DApp Ecosystem in Q1 Followed by Tron and EOS: DappRadar Report - Bitcoin Exchange Guide

Credit: Courtesy of the Vancouver VR/AR Association

We dont know about you, but given the state of the world, strapping on a pair of VR goggles sounds pretty appealing right now. Looking beyond escapism, virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies might end up playing a key role in helping people stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whatever happens, B.C. is at the centre of the action. A new report, Reality Check: The State of Vancouver and BCs VR/AR Ecosystem, paints a detailed picture of our growing hub. Published by the Vancouver Economic Commission, the Vancouver VR/AR Association and the Vancouver International Film Festival, the report also offers several policy recommendations.

With more than 230 so-called immersive technology companies in 2019, the Vancouver VR/AR sector is the worlds second-largest, trailing only the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. VR/AR businesses could add US$1.5 trillion to the global economy by 2030, according to PwC, a huge jump from their current contribution of US$46.4 billion.

Like other industries, VR/AR is feeling the impact of COVID-19. But physical distancing during the crisis could drive adoption for a variety of uses. Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies can help defy distance and bring us closer together, Dan Burgar, co-president of the Vancouver VR/AR Association, said in a statement. Real-time collaboration through telepresence, virtual tourism, virtual classes and virtual events are just small samples of how VR/AR technologies can connect people in the comfort of their own homes.

Reality Check is partly based on online survey sent to 237 VR/AR entitiesincluding businesses, post-secondary institutions, nonprofits and investorsthat saw a 38-percent response rate. To augment the survey data, the authors interviewed the CEOs of six local VR/AR companies at various stages of development.

The reports key findings:

VR/AR is an emerging sector

The local industry is relatively young: 71 percent of companies that responded to the survey were founded in the past decade.

VR/AR has a wide range of applications

The survey revealed a diversity of involvement in VR/AR technologies and applications, the report states. This bodes well for the local and regional ecosystem as companies are either fully immersed in the different dimensions of VR/AR, or are researching and developing relevant applications to the full extent of this technologys potential.

The sector creates high-skilled jobs

On average, companies surveyed employ 25 full-time staff, 18 of them highly qualified STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) hires. Keeping in mind that the poll was conducted before COVID-19, 92 percent of respondents said they expected to expand over the next two years.

B.C.s VR/AR sector is growing

Sixty-four percent of companies surveyed are in the startup or developing stage, with less than $500,000 in annual revenue. Another 20 percent are in the growth stage, with revenue of $500,000 to $3 million. The remaining 16 percent are larger and more mature companies earning $3 million or more in revenue.

VR/AR is a global opportunity

The report highlights a diversity of markets for the provincial industry. Among the companies surveyed, B.C. accounts for 35 percent of total revenue, while other Canadian provinces contribute 14 percent. Of the 51 percent of total revenue that comes from international markets, the U.S. accounts for 39 percent.

The provinces VR/AR companies are investing in R&D

When it comes to research and development, 17 percent of companies surveyed have spent more than $1 million apiece, while 24 percent have devoted $150,000 to $1 million. Meanwhile, 59 percent have spent $150,000 or less on R&Dstill a notable number, given that 64 percent of respondents are startups or early-stage ventures.

The local industry lacks homegrown investors

B.C.-based sources of capital account for just 23 percent of total investment in the provinces VR/AR companies. Foreign investment comprises 53 percentwith the U.S. contributing 17 percent of that portionwhile the remaining 24 percent comes from other provinces.

Access to capital and investment is a major challenge

About half of the companies surveyed have each raised less than $50,000 in capital, while 29 percent have raised between $50,000 and $1 million. Just 22 percent have assembled more than $1 million.

B.C.s VR/AR companies need more access to customers and talent

Besides access to capital, other key challenges cited by survey respondents include finding new domestic and foreign customers, finding and retaining qualified talent, inadequate government support, high operational costs, and finding and keeping affordable spaces.

Satisfaction with current infrastructure is low

According to respondents, the top three gaps in the B.C. VR/AR ecosystem are investment, corporate matchmaking and government support.

Credit: Courtesy of the Vancouver VR/AR Association

Based on its findings, the report makes seven recommendations:

1. Community

Fund basic operation costs for key community organizations to facilitate regular workshops, networking events and talks.

2. Talent

Incentivize post-secondary institutions, accelerators/incubators and bootcamps to develop skills training programs.

3. Support infrastructure

Build a shared facility to incubate early-stage VR/AR startups and provide mentorship, coaching and device rental services.

4. Investment

Foster the creation of angel networks and investor education programs, and fund inbound delegations of foreign investors to meet local companies.

5. Corporate matchmaking

Connect VR/AR startups with traditional domestic sectors to explore new, innovative use cases of VR/AR technology.

6. Tax incentives

Increase the provincial Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit from 17.5 percent to 25 percent, and advocate for fair distribution of Telefilm Canada and Canadian Media Fund funding in the interactive and experimental programs.

7. Export development

Fund operational costs for organizing trade missions to foreign markets.

For the full report, click here.

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New report reveals a growing and diverse VR/AR ecosystem in B.C., but challenges loom - BCBusiness

From distilleries collaborating to produce hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer to service providers offering free support and up-to-date advice to startups, independents are coming together and switching efforts to keep the industry alive

Jason Gibb, co-founder of Bread & Jam, starts: I always thought that the food and drink startup community was an incredibly supportive, collaborative group, but the way weve reacted during the COVID-19 crisis has exceeded even my expectations.

Jason has seen a huge number of service providers offering free support and up-to-date advice to startups. At Bread & Jam, for example, we ran a successful free daily webinar for two weeks focusing on ways to mitigate the impact of the crisis through online videos, blogs and forums like the FoodHub on Facebook, he explains.

Weve seen several websites pop up that aggregate info on producers who are offering D2C deliveries, most notably Stock Up Small and the Food & Drink Festival. And weve seen entrepreneurial brains flexed to the max with everything from shared fulfilment facilities (like Snaffling Pigs amazing offer to fellow brands) to clever marketing stunts like Signature Brews Pub in a Box which comes complete with snacks, music quiz, beer matts, an exclusive playlist and of course delicious beer. Weve obviously been hit extremely hard, some may not make it, but many I believe will come out stronger.

Coming togetherFourth generation family cheesemaker Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses has brought together small artisan food and drink producers and retailers from across the North West to create The Butlers Larder a service delivering fresh produce to doorsteps in the North West and West Yorkshire.

After a very local trial in Longridge, Goosnargh and Grimsargh, Butlers has brought together more suppliers and built an online platform so that it can reach even more households and involve even more small businesses. Its curated selection of food and drink essentials (from cheese, milk, yoghurt and eggs to fresh bread, fruit and vegetables, tea and coffee) from artisan producers in the North West, means that people can taste the best that the region has to offer while supporting small producers at a time when they really need it.

Matthew Hall, fourth generation owner, says, Its a difficult time for many small businesses and we have found a way for them to continue doing what they do best, knowing that they can get their products to people in their own homes.

As a 4th generation family business we have great links with makers, producers and artisans across the North West. We put passion, care and innovation into everything that we do, and we want to work with partners who share our values so that together, we can reach as many homes in the North West as possible with exciting brands and delicious fresh produce, he adds.

Producer partners include Fiddlers Lancashire Crisps, Hawkshead Relish and Andertons Butchers. You can see the full list of partners here.

Switching efforts In Wales several gin distilleries have collaborated to produce and give away more than 200,000 bottles of desperately needed hand sanitiser to frontline services, essential workers and community care providers since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Welsh Drinks Cluster, which represents Wales alcohol and soft drinks producers, the hundreds of thousands of products distributed to-date have been produced by just four distilleries, but this is just the start.

Currently, the organisation is working with 15 distillers across the country to help them switch production in response to the national call out for hand sanitizer. Wales craft gin and rum producers are set to become a vital supplier for communities across the nation and the first to receive the products free of charge have included hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries and the Royal Mail.

Dyfi Distillery, the producers of Pollination Gin, was one of the first to sign up. Danny Cameron, co-founder, explained: Like many distilleries, our thoughts turned to producing alcohol-based hand sanitiser some weeks ago. We have the ethanol and equipment required, the World Health Organizations approved recipes are simple, and the need for the product was more than apparent.

The challenges all distilleries initially met with were a combination of compliance and access to the other raw materials required. Thankfully, by collaborating with various authorities and Drinks Cluster, we were ultimately able to go into production, and distribute hand sanitiser free charge to 31 local front line organisations as a sincere thank you for every single person who is out there helping others, he added.

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Meet the businesses collaborating for the good of the SME ecosystem | News - Speciality Food

Policy advisory and research firm Startup Genometoday released a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the startup ecosystem and though the short-term impact is unsurprisingly not good, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Starting with mainland China, the report notes that venture capital deals have contracted between 50% and 57%in the Middle Kingdom since the onset of the crisis in the first two months of the year, relative to the rest of the world. If that drop is reflected worldwide now that the pandemic is global, $28 billion in startup investment could go missing in 2020 with a dramatic impact in the tech sector.

Noting that the length of the pandemic and its ongoing economic impact remains unknown, the report said that if it should last for longer than two months, the likely economic outcome will be similar to the dot-com bubble crash of 2000-2001 and the financial crisis of 2007-8.

If the coronavirus pandemic delivers a similar outcome a drop of between 21.6% and 29.3% in VC over twelve months the equivalent in 2020 would see a drop of $86.4 billion in VC investment. Both the 2000-2001 and 2007 recessions also saw a 90% decline in tech initial public offerings as well.

A drop in VC funding does not necessarily mean that fewer companies will find investors, however. The report notes that during the past two recessions, more companies were funded, though at lower valuations and lower fundraising, suggesting that businesses that are able to become cash efficient might become even more likely to raise money following a recession.

Newer, smaller startups may also be better-placed to drive jobs growth once the crisis passes as larger, older companies have often been hit harder. This need for net new jobs means the economy needs startups now even more than usual, the reportstates.

Looking forward, the report noted that there is a reason to be optimistic about economic restarts following the shutdowns. China, the place first hit by the virus, is coming back to work: offices are becoming used again as we see from our ecosystem partners in the country and manufacturers like Foxconn (the maker of most of iPhones in China) announced it will be back to normal production schedule by the end of March, the report states. Supporting this trend, LinkedIn data shows Chinese hirings slowly rebounding, though not anywhere near the previous level.

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An IoT ecosystem, like any biome on Earth, is constantly subjected to changes and threats at various scales. Whether the system is an asset tracking solution in a hospital to help deliver more effective healthcare orcold chain managementensuring temperature control during transportation, the hardware/sensor is where the data journey commences in an IoT ecosystem. The integrity of these hardware components is paramount to the success of an IoT solution, but there are currently critical threat points on these devices which left unaddressed could be disastrous.

Much of the focus of IoT security is on keeping the communicated data from IoT devices untampered up the solution stack. Methods like end-to-end AES encryption are currently standard by most network protocols and are well secured and tested. An attack on data tampering at this level is difficult and not worth the attackers time. Since attacking between the two endpoints of the device and the cloud is somewhat of a dead-end, attackers are starting to focus on the endpoints themselves.

One of the most common attacks from the past couple of years is a distributed denial of service (DDOS) which is an attempt to disrupt traffic of a server, service or network by overwhelming the ecosystem with a flood of Internet traffic by using co-opted IoT devices to ping specific servers of the system. In this attack, the data transmitted may not be malicious, but the attack is successful in disrupting the IoT ecosystem. DDOS attacks are an example of why IoT devices can not compromise on taking security measures on device access. Of all of the recorded DDOS attacks in 2018,17% of these attacks were using devices with no password authentication to gain access to the device.

Ideally, manufacturers of IoT devices would standardize practices such as CryptoAuthentication and other obstacles to take control of devices, but often there is no financial incentive to do so. While DDOS attacks come from players outside the environment, new threats from inside IoT devices themselves are festering.In this article, well talk about some common threats to IoT hardware that can cripple a solution.

The microprocessor in all of our computers is made up of billions of transistors. Transistors are gates that depending on the voltages of two inputs, can either allow or obstruct electrons to flow to the output. Series of transistors can make switches and other logic elements to create states. Scale up to a million of these logic elements and we have a modern microprocessor in a computer. Moores law, developed in 1965 by Intel executives Gordon Moore and David House, predicts that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double about every two years by means of greater precision in chip manufacturing and efficiencies in circuit design. As transistors have shrunk to the nanoscale (10^-9 m) we must now evaluate their functionality at the will of quantum mechanics, abandoning the comfortable and somewhat intuitive nature of classical mechanics.

Today, layers of insulating materials that are supposed to curb the flow of electrons so extremely small where a phenomena called quantum tunneling, must be considered. Subatomic particles, like electrons, sometimes act as a particle, but can also behave like a wave. Theoretically, when a wave-acting electron comes across a transistor with a small enough gate, quantum tunneling can occur and what should have been a state of 0 is now a 1, an unintentional bit-flip.

Currently, some transistors are using 5nm nodes and soon 3nm nodes will be on the market. These transistors are at the will of quantum mechanics which affects the ability to predict the behavior of a system with absolute certainty and makes bit-flipping a reality, but it isnt the only threat that can perform bit-flipping. Solar wind and supernovas in space send an amalgam of charged particles and radiation such as gamma rays, neutrons, pions, muons, and alpha particles at Earth every minute. These particles also are culprits of bit-flipping.

The consequences of bit flipping are serious. In a2014 election in Belgium, one candidate was given 4,096 more votes than they actually received because of a bit flip in the 13th bit of the vote counter. A bit flip brought Googles core indexing system down in 2000. In 2008, a Qantas passenger jet was sent into a nosedive because of a bit-flip in the avionics system. These three cases were caused by charged subatomic particles flying across the universe and striking a component of an integrated circuit.

There is a hardware solution to this problem calledError Correcting Code Memory (EECM), which is able to combat unintentional bit flips by storing parity bits and constantly running a detection algorithm through its memory. While effective, these solutions of preventing bit-flips are far from being cost-effective or feasible for battery usage for full-scale IoT deployments. This leaves the solution to cosmic bit flips and keeping the integrity of the data in our IoT ecosystems to the software developers. Using frequent state checks with multiple databases that can verify and (if necessary) flag the system can be used to combat bit flips when logical data anomalies are detected in the system.

The integrity of hardware is critical to the health and effectiveness of an IoT solution, but threats are not being well-managed. Proper access authorization and tested manufacturing protocols of the devices must be used. Without stability at the lowest level of the ecosystem, an effective and reliable solution can not be deployed and can consequently cause harm to the people and environments dependent on the system.

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Hardware Threats to an IoT Ecosystem - IoT For All

Mozilla has announced that its bringing Web Monetization to the Firefox Reality ecosystem with the help of Coil to support payments to creators. This payment mechanism is still described as experimental by Mozilla but it has extended an invitation to participate to those developing content for the platform.

In a similar manner to Scroll, users pay $5 per month for Coil and micropayments are made to creators based on the users attention. Coil uses the Interledger network to move money to content creators in any currency theyd like. Unlike Scroll which only partners with larger organizations, Coil can be used by all content creators, making it ideal for the Firefox Reality platform.

Web Monetization is still in its nascent stages but over time it could become the norm for people to top up their Coil or Scroll account and browse ad-free while allowing content creators to earn an income from the work they do. Right now, Coil payments in the Firefox Reality ecosystem are still an experiment but it will be interesting to see what the firm says about the revenues developers manage to raise.

The new payment system is set to go live on Firefox Reality in the coming weeks. Those who have developed a 3D experience, a game, a 3D video, or are thinking of developing something new, are invited to participate. Developers can request their work be showcased in the Firefox Reality content feed too by emailing the firm at creator_payments@mozilla.com.

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Mozilla to extend Coil support in the Firefox Reality ecosystem - Neowin

Last month, a study in the journal, Environmental Conservation,researchers revealed that the agent of plague, Yersinia pestis, isnt very uncommon among big cats in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

According to the study abstract:

We tested for plague (Yersinia pestis) in a puma population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) over 9 years, overlapping a case when a boy in the area became infected with plague. Antibodies toY. pestiswere detected in 8 of 17 (47%) pumas tested by complement-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the organism itself was detected in 4 of 11 (36%) pumas tested after necropsy. Neither puma sex nor age was significantly associated withY. pestisexposure or mortality, although our sample size was small. The overall prevalence of exposure we recorded was similar to that found along the western slope of Colorado, which is adjacent to the Four Corners region, a known plague hotspot in the USA.

This suggests that: (1)Y. pestismay be present at higher levels in the GYE than previously assumed; (2) plague is a significant source of mortality for local pumas (6.6% of sub-adult and adult mortality); and (3) pumas may be a useful sentinel for potential risk of plague exposure to humans throughout the West. We would also emphasize that hunters and others handling pumas in this region should be made aware of the possibility of exposure.

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents and is generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas, but can also be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife and pets.

Symptoms of plague in humans include sudden onset of fever, chills, headache and weakness. In most cases there is a painful swelling of the lymph node in the groin, armpit or neck areas. Plague can be treated with antibiotics, but infected people and animals must be treated promptly to avoid serious complications or death.

Read more from the original source:

Plague is a significant source of mortality in pumas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem - Outbreak News Today

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The mobile drivers license (mDL) market is developing rapidly in the U.S., with states in varying stages of implementation. The Secure Technology Alliance released today a detailed resource to educate those looking to issue and accept mDLs on how they work and their benefits. The resource also discusses challenges, implementation, privacy considerations and other technical aspects of this emerging technology.

The white paper, The Mobile Drivers License (mDL) and Ecosystem, is available for download at https://www.securetechalliance.org/publications-the-mobile-drivers-license-mdl-and-ecosystem/.

More services are becoming digital to satisfy consumers preferences for using smartphones to carry payments cards, membership cards, and other ID cards with sensitive personal information. Digitizing drivers licenses is a logical next step, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Secure Technology Alliance. To help stakeholders understand how mDLs will change how identification is managed, this resource will answer essential questions around the standards, features and uses of an mDL; why someone should use or accept an mDL; and how the mDL will meet expectations of trustworthiness.

This white paper focuses solely on the mDLs being implemented in the United States that comply with the draft ISO/IEC standard 18013-5, and provides:

Tom Lockwood, Identity Council Chair and leader for the Alliances mDL efforts, noted, This publication was developed through active collaboration and participation by industry and government members of the Secure Technology Alliance Identity Council and invited industry leaders." The Identity Council provides leadership and coordination and serves as focal point for the Alliances identity and identity-related efforts leveraging embedded chip technology and privacy- and security-enhancing software. Additional information on the Identity Council can be found at https://www.securetechalliance.org/activities-councils-identity/.

Secure Technology Alliance members and guests involved in the development and review of this white paper included: Aetna, a CVS Health Company; American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA); Burns Engineering; CPI Card Group; Exponent, Inc.; Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS); HID Global; Gemalto, a Thales Company; GET Group NA; ID Technology Partners; IDEMIA; IDentity Check; Intercede; Kantara Initiative; Mastercard; NextgenID; SAFE Identity; SHAZAM; Underwriters Laboratories (UL); U.S. Department of Defense (DoD); Visa; XTec, Inc.

The Alliance is hosting a webinar series on mDLs to raise awareness and help educate stakeholders on this developing technology. The first webinar in the series will give an introduction to mDLs and will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2020, at 1pm ET/10am PT. Attendees can earn a certificate of participation by attending the webinar series and completing a knowledge assessment at the end of each webinar. More information and registration can be found at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8833959508959887628.

TWEET THIS: @SecureTechOrg releases new white paper on mobile drivers licenses, explaining how they work, what to expect and challenges to building an mDL ecosystem https://www.securetechalliance.org/publications-the-mobile-drivers-license-mdl-and-ecosystem/

About the Secure Technology AllianceThe Secure Technology Alliance is the digital security industrys premier association. The Alliance brings together leading providers and adopters of end-to-end security solutions designed to protect privacy and digital assets in payments, mobile, identity and access, healthcare, transportation and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) markets.

The Alliances mission is to stimulate understanding, adoption and widespread application of connected digital solutions based on secure chip and other technologies and systems needed to protect data, enable secure authentication and facilitate commerce.

The Alliance is driven by its U.S.-focused member companies. They collaborate by sharing expertise and industry best practices through industry and technology councils, focused events, educational resources, industry outreach, advocacy, training and certification programs. Through participation in the breadth of Alliance activities, members strengthen personal and organizational networks and take away the insights to build the business strategies needed to commercialize secure products and services in this dynamic environment.

For more information, please visit http://www.securetechalliance.org.

CONTACT:Adrian LothMontner Tech PR203-226-9290aloth@montner.com

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Secure Technology Alliance Publishes White Paper on Mobile Driver's Licenses and Emerging Ecosystem - GlobeNewswire

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What is it? A sci-adventure where you navigate an alien ocean through a computer interfacePrice TBCRelease date April 3, 2020Publisher Fellow TravellerReviewed on i5-2500K, 8GB RAM, GTX 670Developer Jump Over The AgeMultiplayer NoLink Official site

The way that In Other Waters imagines humanity's first encounter with alien lifeforms is a bit different from other sci-fi stories. Instead of alien species raging war against Earth or the vast spectacle of humans conquering other inhabited planets, developer Gareth Damian Martin's otherwordly adventure takes a more gentle approach. It's a quiet and serene adventure in which you explore an underwater eco-system told through the descriptions of a scientist.

Beneath the turquoise waves of the planet Gliese 677Cc is a thriving alien eco-system. It's an ocean filled with mystery and discovery, and In Other Waters is a fine-tuned balance of awe and trepidation, creating an underwater adventure like no other.

You play as the computer AI of an exo-suit piloted by xenobiologist Ellery Vas, a scientist who has come to Gliese 677Cc to study the planet's strange lifeforms and find her fellow scientist, Minae Nomura, who has not been seen in months since arriving on the planet. The story follows Ellery as she traces her lost colleague's footsteps through the depths of this alien ocean, trying to understand what Minae was studying in secret.

You assist Ellery as she navigates the underwater landscape of this new world through a computer interface. The circle in the middle of the UI displays a sleek, minimalistic map of your surroundings covered in lines, dots and symbols. You scan your surroundings and then decide where Ellery is going to move, with her taking notes and making observations about the ecology and geography as you go.

Ellery's vivid descriptions of your surroundings are your only way of making sense of the world, bringing those lines and symbols to life. As we make our way through the landscape, a dot on the map speeds towards us and I immediately think it's going to attack us, but Ellery calms my fears and explains that it's only a friendly jelly-fish like a creature. Where I only see jagged lines of rock outlines on the interface's sleek design, Ellery says that we are standing on the edge of a vast underwater reef teeming with life. Until her description, the symbols and lines around us are a mystery. As long as Ellery is calm, I am calm, when she panics, I panic. It's a vulnerable feeling, having to rely on her to be my eyes, even though she's the flesh and blood my circuits are meant to protect. The dynamic gave me a sense of responsibility to her and her endeavor, fueling my motivation to explore deeper.

In the same vein as old text adventure games, these descriptions build a strong mental picture of this world's alien ecosystem. Along with her visual descriptions, Ellery logs the species' behaviours and gives observations and educated guesses about how they fit into the larger ecosystem. The writing is vivid to the point where it feels like I'm learning about a real ecosystem. The 'singing' of underwater stalks could be communication system, Ellery says, and their growth pattern implies a complex territorial networkyou get the sense that a lot of research has gone into making this otherwordly ecosystem as believable as possible.

The sound design reinforces the word-built world: Creatures chirp when they speed past you, acid clouds fizzle as they gnaw at the underwater suit. As you go deeper into a cavern the soundscape adjusts to a deeper timbre, pulling you into the depths. Together with the bleeps and bloops of the interface and Amos Roddy's warm synth soundtrack, it creates a rich alien soundscape.

Ellery isn't here on holiday, though, and research is always at the forefront of her mind. Part of the interface allows you to take small samples from the flora and fauna you come across. At the research base, you can analyse them in the laboratory and the data is added to your alien encyclopedia, a log that holds all the information about each species you've encountered. You have the option of going back to previous areas to collect samples that you might have missed with a map indicating their locations. It's not essential, but completionists can enjoy the relaxing collect-a-thon if they like.

Your inventory of organic samples can also be cleverly used as resources on your expeditions. Some can give you an oxygen boost when Ellery's running low and others can even influence the world, such as by making a bunch of alien stalks retract to clear the way through a cavern. It takes careful thinking to progress with what resources you have, so navigation is more than a rote cycle of scanning and moving.

There were a handful of occasions where I got lost exploring In Other Waters' ocean of words. If you forget or misunderstand what the next task is, it can be difficult to proceed. There are conversation logs to re-read, but with all the terminology and species names to remember, I ended up resorting to trial and error several tames.

Otherwise, though, In Other Waters pulled me through fields of alien fauna, caverns filled with glowing acid pools, through powerful currents that could sweep me away, and to the dark depths of the ocean's lower floors. In moments, it captures both the beauty and terror of the ocean. That coupled with the detailed ecosystem and the mystery of Minae's secret work had me spellbound until the end.

Even though its world is alien, In Other Waters conjures the same sense of awe conjured by the real ecosystems of our own planet. Even in the most inhospitable places, life manages to find a way to thrive.

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In Other Waters review - PC Gamer

There are many priorities when it comes to technology today that leaves us all scrambling to find the best options. One of the primary priorities with advancing technology is making sure that what you use is going to be efficient, productive, and friendly to the environment.

Trying to ecosystem-ize or make your devices and how you use them ecofriendly is not an easy thing to do, and it requires a bit of skill. However, once you get the hang of it, you can get any of your devices ready to be eco-friendly and helpful for boosting productivity at the same time.

Here are some ways you can ecosystem-ize your laptop and PC devices to ensure that you are not only boosting your productivity, but also protecting the natural environment.

Eco-friendly hard drives were first made available to the public back in 2008 and have grown in popularity over the years. The earlier versions didnt boost productivity. But with the advancement of technology, they became a much more viable option for enhancing productivity, while ecosystem-izing your computer.

These hard drives have a seamless integration into your current system without any additional performance utilities being necessary.

Not only do the hard drives help boost productivity, but they also dont suffer on performance. Using a smart-align function, these drives make the installation process simplified.

Though this one isn't something you can do to your current system, it is more of an add on with the same eco-friendly benefits for improved productivity.

Getting an under your laptop cooler will help to make your CPU last longer. Having a cooler is especially crucial if you use CPU heavy software for work or play. Keeping your CPU lasting longer is vital to increasing the longevity of your system.

These cooling systems work by generating more airflow around the entire body of your laptop so that it will help to convect the heat away from your device, so it doesnt overheat.

Most under the laptop coolers draw the heat from the underside of your computer, and others will blow cold air into it for more efficient cooling.

There are a variety of Windows settings your laptop holds that can be adjusted to help improve productivity, while enhancing the battery for longevity.

Setting such as the ones for your video card can help boost battery productivity by 8% or more.

Go into your Windows, advanced property settings, and choose the best performance instead of best appearance or letting Windows choose what is best. That will help to improve your battery life. See image:

Your computer is continually running. If you step out to go for lunch or take a phone call, your computer is still running regardless of what you are currently doing. You can change that by adjusting your computer settings to make it go to sleep after a set amount of time of being untouched.

Allowing your computer to keep running even though you arent near it is terrible on your battery and its overall performance as it heats up and no is there to watch it. Therefore, to save the battery and make your computer more ecosystem-ized, set your computer to go to sleep mode within a pre-determined time frame if you have not returned to it.

By doing this, you are still preserving battery life and protecting the environment.

Choosing an ultrabook that is futureproofed or any other computer that can be upgraded is a great way to save the environment while remaining productive. There is an extensive range of laptops, ultrabooks, and computers on the market that are designed to be upgradeable as technology advances and remains useful for many years.

When choosing your laptop, you want to be sure that you are choosing one that has upgradeable RAM, hard drives, and potentially your CPU. However, having the option to upgrade ensures that your laptop will remain productive for many years and not have to be thrown away due to it not being compatible with current technological trends.

Choosing a laptop or computer of any kind that allows you to upgrade the essential components will let you remain productive, while being eco-friendly because you are only ridding yourself of small parts rather than who systems. It is easier on the wallet too.

If you want to ecosystem-ize or make your devices ecofriendly while also boosting productivity, you can use any of the tips above to help you achieve the desired. Consider even the small things like sleep mode, performance enhancers, and under the laptop coolers to help you increase your productivity when using your devices, while decreasing your carbon footprint.

Most of the ideas above can also be used when it comes to advanced tablets, smartphones, and much more. You want to ensure that your devices are keeping you productive at the same time as allowing you to do your part in protecting the environment.

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How to EcoSystem-ize Your PCs & Laptops to Reduce Carbon Footprint and Boost Productivity - News & Features

Industry veterans, top VCs and prominent founders have participated in the fund, which will springboard innovators working around fighting the pandemic.

The startup industry, in yet another major initiative to help fight COVID-19 has come together to create a fund of Rs 100 crore and a pool of experts who can help the sector in this difficult times. This fund will be given out as grants to companies and innovators who can help fight the pandemic.

The initiative, which has been named ACT (Action Covid 19 Team), counts leading entrepreneurs, investors and other industry veterans among its members. They will collaborate with innovators andwill partner with startup founders as they deal with the economic carnage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on how Indian VCs and startup founders were coming together to form a Rs 100 crore fund. What was evidence of the enthusiasm around this initiative was that more than 40% of the fund got subscribed to within the first few days of the initiative getting launched.

"It seeks platforms that have capital efficient scalable solutions which need initial seed grant to fight COVID-19. Additionally the ACT network will bring its networks, team, money and startup assets to create a force multiplier to help these initiatives make rapid meaningful progress," said the collective in a note released on social media channels.

The initiative has partnered with Bengaluru chapter of 'United Way', which is a not for profit organisation to coordinate projects and grant activities.

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

Multiple prominent personalities have already taken to Twitter to voice their support for the initiative, from Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to ex-Googler and currently Sequoia Capital managing director Rajan Anandan. Top executives of the startup ecosystem have also joined the initiative and many have chipped in for the fund as well.

Besides the fund, the broader ecosystem has come together to also create a platform Startup Vs COVID-19 to aggregate startups working on innovative ideas around fighting this deadly pandemic.

The fledgling startup sector is set to face its biggest challenge ever with Covid19 holding the entire nation in its grip. The number of affected persons has crossed 1,600 with the entire country in a state of lockdown till April 14.

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First Published on Apr 1, 2020 09:31 pm

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The startup ecosystem gets its ACT together, sets up fund to help fight COVID-19 - Moneycontrol

juice will be making the switch this summer to become a more sustainable brand, by ensuring every single piece of its packaging is manufactured from post-consumer waste.

The new packaging will consist of plastics that have been put into recycling and can be fully recycled by juice customers after use in their everyday recycling bin, creating a cyclical process that forms its very own global ecosystem.

juice chief executive Jolyon Bennett, explained: We wanted to become the first mobile phone accessories manufacturer to completely remove single-use plastic from our packaging, and we couldnt be more delighted to officially announce that this is an industry first!

There is a lot of plastic out there on planet earth so lets use it and not make anymore. We now need to focus our energy on utilising the sustainable resources out there in order to help slow down the impact and effects of climate change.

This announcement follows the recent launch of juices latest range of 100% compostable phone cases, designed to help reduce the amount of non-bio-degradable material being thrown into landfill.

The plant-based phone cases and their packaging are manufactured from natural materials including wheat, corn and starch and have been designed to break down in the same time as a tea bag (12 months).

The Oxfordshire based firm has had an exciting and successful start to the year, picking up the prestigious Best Accessories Manufacturer award at the annual Mobile News Awards 2020.

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Mobile accessory brand juice creates its own global ecosystem - Packaging News

San Francisco-based Paradigm, a digital asset investment firm, is reportedly the biggest winner of several MKR governance token auctions which were meant to cover about $4.5 million of undercollateralized debt.

The auctions, which took place between March 19 and March 28, 2020, managed to raise 5.3 million Dai, a stablecoin thats part of the MakerDAO ecosystem, which is an Ethereum-based, decentralized lending system. Dai aims to maintain a 1-to-1 soft peg with the US dollar.

During the auction, 20,980 MKR tokens were sold off at an average rate of $296.35 (per token), There were 36 unique bidders that took part in the sale. A total of 106 auctions were held.

To take part in the auctions, participants were required to commit up 50,000 to Dai, and had the chance to receive up to 250 MKR governance tokens from each auction.

Paradigms management confirmed via Twitter that they won 72 out of the 106 auctions and paid 3.6 million Dai for the MKR governance tokens they received.

The first 33 MKR auctions all seemed to have been won by three cryptocurrency addresses that are associated with the MakerDAO Foundation, a non-profit entity that focuses on the ongoing development of the Maker lending protocol.

The Maker Foundation claims that it didnt buy MKR tokens for itself. Instead, it used them to assist third parties with taking part in the auctions.

The Foundation noted:

[Weve] offered limited technical assistance to some bidders on a first come, first serve basis to facilitate their timely and effective participation in the auctions.

The three addresses associated with Maker continued their winning streak and managed to win about 14,295 MKR.

After these three addresses had transferred 14,295 MKR to the Maker Foundations trading desk address, the foundation sent 14,271 MKR to another address. As reported by The Block, 7,089 MKR of these tokens were sent to this new address from the Foundations trading desk address through a multisig wallet.

The new address is most likely controlled by Paradigm, which may have about 14,000 MKR tokens from the auctions, as it reportedly won 68% of them and each auction rewards anywhere between 180 and 250 MKR.

The new MKR tokens will add to Paradigms previous holdings of the governance token. An address associated with the investment company presently holds 15,352 MKR tokens.

Paradigm and Dragonfly Capital have invested $27.5 million in the Maker Foundation. Theyve received roughly 5.5% of MKRs outstanding supply in exchange for their contribution.

The MKR auctions were trying to make up for $4.5 million in bad debt in the Maker lending ecosystem, which had resulted from several liquidators winning collateral liquidation auctions by putting up 0 Dai on March 12, 2020 (when crypto markets crashed by over 50%).

Borrowers that use MakerDAO are given Dai after they deposit Ether (ETH), Basic Attention Token (BAT) or USDC as collateral.

A large number of loans recently dropped below their 150% collateralization threshold, which led to liquidation auctions. This was attributed to a significant decline in the Ether price on March 12.

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Paradigm Is Biggest Winner of MakerDAO Lending Systems MKR Governance Tokens, to Cover $4.5 Million of Undercollaterized Debt - Crowdfund Insider