Monthly Archives: April 2020

An artificial intelligence created by New York-based risk detection firm Dataminr was able to predict where the next spike in coronavirus cases will be in the UK and US by analyzing social media posts, The Next Web reports.

According to the companys website, growth in clusters of eyewitness, on-the-ground, first-hand public social media posts on COVID-19 allowed their algorithm to detect hotspots 7-15 days prior to exponential growth in COVID-19 official case count.

These social media posts include posts ranging from people indicating they tested positive, people indicating they are experiencing symptoms, people indicating they have been exposed but not tested, first-hand accounts of confirmed cases and so on.

Dataminr also predicted future spikes in 14 different US states. Seven days later, all 14 states were hit hard by the coronavirus, TNW reports.

These kinds of posts appear to be a leading indicator of where case count may be spiking in the future, Dataminr CEO Ted Bailey told Business Insider.

The analysis of social media for predicting outbreaks could allow governments to better prepare for the next big crisis.

But any predictions by these kinds of systems have to be taken with a massive grain of salt. No artificial intelligence in the world can verify with 100 percent accuracy the validity of the claims social media users are making about tests being positive, or relatives showing symptoms.

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COVID AI Data Firm Says Its AI Predicts Where Next COVID-19 Spike Will Be - Futurism

Homeward Bound

As the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult and ill-advised to travel, one group found itself trapped in a particularly inhospitable environment: Antarctica.

The members of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff were working at research stations when the pandemic hit. And while plans have been made to bring just about everyone stationed there home, BBC News reports, it was a harrowing endeavor to arrange travel in the midst of a global crisis.

Thecurrent plan is to get BAS workers on a ferry to the Falkland Islands, off the coast of South America, and then fly them home to the U.K. But the BAS is also commissioning a cruise ship, BBC News reports, to accommodate everyone until the ferry arrives and to help keep everyone separated.

The situation has been changing every day, BAS director Jane Francis told BBC News. You think youve got something in place to bring everyone home and then something happens.

Once everyone is home, the next problem is figuring out how to keep Antarctica coronavirus-free when scientists inevitably head back to continue their work.

Were working very hard to do that, Francis told BBC News. Were trying to make sure that anybody that goes to Antarctica is virus-free. So, theyve either not been anywhere where theres been the virus or theyve been in isolation. But that will be our challenge for the forthcoming season, I think.

READ MORE: Coronavirus complicates journeys home from Antarctica [BBC News]

More on COVID-19: Researchers Announce Promising Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate

Read more:
The Pandemic Stranded Them in the Worst Place: Antarctica - Futurism

April 6th 20__Jon Christian__Filed Under: Advanced Transport

YouTube science channel The Action Lab had a fun idea: use the physics-heavy driving simulator BeamNG.drive to show what it would be like to drive on various heavenly bodies.

Heres the Earth, for a baseline:

And heres the simulation with gravity set to that of the Moon, making it difficult to even get traction:

Then the YouTubers went hard by flipping on Jupiters gravity, which immediately crushed their simulated truck into the ground:

Things go completely off the rails when they set the gravity to that of the Sun, instantly crushing the test vehicle:

They also try a bunch of other parameters, including lifting the truck up and then dropping it with various gravity settings. The whole thing is worth a watch!

More on gravity: We May Finally Understand the Speed of Gravity

Up Next__Snowden: Governments Will Use the Coronavirus to Seize More Power >>>

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Here's What It Would Be Like to Drive on Different Planets - Futurism

5G Virus

At least three 5G wireless communication towers have been set on fire in three British cities, according to the BBC as discredited conspiracy theories spread on social media claiming theres a link between the technology and the coronavirus outbreak.

UK cabinet office minister Michael Gove calledthe conspiracy theories nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well during a government briefing, as quoted by the BBC.

According to videos uploaded to social media, workers putting up 5G infrastructure were even getting harassed by conspiracy nuts on the streets. In Birmingham, a tower not even capable of providing 5G services was still set on fire, The Verge reports.

This is now a matter of national security, Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery wrote in a statement. Police and counter terrorism authorities are investigating.

Misleading information and conspiracy theories have abounded online during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many claiming that home remedies and illegal drugs could magically give them immunity.

One theory even claimed that cocaine protects you against the coronavirus a fact that had to be refuted by the French ministry of health on Twitter last month.

READ MORE: British 5G towers are being set on fire because of coronavirus conspiracy theories [The Verge]

More on conspiracy theories: French Government: No, Cocaine Doesnt Cure Coronavirus

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Coronavirus Conspiracy Theorists Are Setting 5G Towers on Fire - Futurism

Even though theres no robust, convincing evidence to suggest that it does any good, President Trump continues to tout the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.

The evidence Trump cites is particularly flimsy, Vox reports. There has yet to be a large enough randomized and double-blinded clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine to definitively conclude what impact the drug has on COVID-19 patients.

So why does Trump keep pushing hydroxychloroquine? A generous interpretation would be that hes eager to find a solution to the pandemic. And because the drug is already FDA-approved to fight malaria and lupus, its simpler to distribute it via an emergency use authorization than it would be to get a new drug approved.

But The New York Times reports that Trump and some of his associates have funds invested in Sanofi, which manufactures the name-brand version of hydroxychloroquine. That means that if drug sales go up, Trump personally stands to profit.

Trump has latched on toone clinical trial that suggested the drug could help. But the trial is so small and shoddy that it cant really be considered evidence, Stat News reports.

Meanwhile, Vox reports that a smattering of other trials, also all too small to be definitive, suggest that the drug is harmless to COVID-19 patients at best and dangerous at worst.

The data are really just, at best, suggestive, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS on Sunday. There have been cases that show there may be an effect, and there are others to show theres no effect. So I think, in terms of science, I dont think we could definitively say it works.

Read more here:
There's No Good Evidence That Hydroxychloroquine Fights COVID-19 - Futurism

Longtime rivals Apple and Google are officially partnering to develop a coronavirus-tracking app designed to tell you if youve recently been exposed to somebody who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The idea is to leverage the vast market reach of the two megacorporations to track the spread of the coronavirus. The app centers on the idea of contact tracing keeping tabs, essentially, on who has the virus and who they could have spread it to already.

Bluetooth technology allows devices to measure proximity to other devices. Since the coronavirus can be transmitted by being close to those who have it, apps using this technology could indicate if a person has been in close contact with somebody who previously self-registered as testing positive for COVID-19.

According to a press release, both companies are planning to release APIs in May that will allow the app to work across both Apples iOS and Googles Android mobile platforms and devices.

Apps from public health authorities will use the software to start collecting data and potentially prompt users if they are at risk.

A full-fledged Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform will eventually be released in the coming months, according to a statement.

To keep those who are using the app anonymous, Google and Apple claim the information sent out will be designed to protect privacy.

List of people youve been in contact with never leaves your phone, according to official documentation. The app will also require explicit user consent.

READ MORE: Apple and Google are building a coronavirus tracking system into iOS and Android [The Verge]

More on tracking the virus: Top Doctor: Getting COVID-19 Once Probably Means Youre Immune

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Apple and Google to Launch App for Tracking the Coronavirus - Futurism

A study was conducted to predict what avid gamers might look like in 20 years if they don't change their lifestyle habits and the results are upsetting.

As part of the study, which was conducted by OnlineCasino.ca, a dummy was created to show the physical effects extensive gaming can have on the body. The grotesque dummy named Michael has pale skin, a hunched back, and dark circles under his eyes due to sleep deprivation. He also has varicose veins from prolonged periods of sitting and Nintendo arthritis from excessive controller use.

The study addresses gaming disorders, which are defined by the World Health Organization as a pattern of gaming behavior (digital-gaming or video-gaming) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.

According to data conducted by Limelight about gaming in the U.S., UK, Japan, South Korea, France, and Germany, the average gamer spends almost 6 hours each week playing online video gamesan increase of 19.3% in the last year.UK gamers average 7.15 hours per week. The NHS has even launched a long-term plan to combat gaming disorders.

Clinical psychologists suggest that psychological problems like anxiety and depression exist prior to gaming disorders, and that gaming creates an escape from the pressure and stress.

"I think there's a lot of social anxiety in young people who are gaming, Rebecca Lockwood of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders explained in a National Geographic report. Gaming is a safe space; you can create a new identity for yourself."

To help combat the unsettling symptoms shown on Michael, the study recommends several tips for gamers to stay active and healthy, including taking time to exercise, preventing eye strain by making sure your room is properly lit, and practicing proper posture.

This isnt the first time a study portrayed the negative effects of prolonged habits with a shocking dummy. In a 2019 report, The Work Colleague of The Future, author and futurist William Higham explained how certain facets of our work life could be ruining our health, and drove the point home by creating a life-sized model named Emma who suffers from all the health concerns he warned about.

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Study Predicts What Gamers Might Look Like In 20 Years And Its Not Pretty - NowThis

New Hole

Over the last month, a new hole in the ozone layer has started to form over the Arctic.

The ozone layer over the North Pole has been depleted plenty of times in the past. But this time around, extreme weather and atmospheric conditions have led to a far greater depletion than normal, according to a European Space Agency press release. While the ESA scientists expect it to close up later this month, its a troubling update on the planets environmental health.

This years Arctic ozone hole is bigger than normal because of atypically cold temperatures in the stratosphere that helped trap a whirlpool of icy wind, called a polar vortex, in the area that dispersed ozone more than usual.

Still, even this unusually large hole in the ozone layer is considerably smaller than the more well-known hole over Antarctica, according to the ESA release. That one can grow to be as much as 25 million square kilometers though its been smaller lately and the new Arctic hole is less than 1 million square kilometers in size.

It remains unclear what to expect in the coming years. While the larger-than-average ozone hole was caused in part by extreme weather, which has been linked to climate change, its too soon to declare that the Arctic ozone depletion will continue to get worse if climate change continues unchecked.

But we do know that ozone depletion can give rise to extreme weather around the world, meaning increasing ozone depletion could have far-reaching implications down the road.

READ MORE: Unusual ozone hole opens over the Arctic [European Space Agency]

More on the ozone layer: Our Efforts to Heal the Ozone Layer Are Finally Paying Off

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A New Hole Is Forming in the Ozone Layer Over the Arctic - Futurism