Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘government’ category: Page 118

Mar 20, 2020

Coronavirus could cause fall in global CO2 emissions

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, policy, sustainability

Responses to outbreak also show how government policy and behavioural changes can have impact.

Mar 19, 2020

Swiss hospitals face collapse in 10 days if virus keeps spreading

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health

ZURICH (Reuters) — Switzerland’s health care system could collapse by the end of the month if the new coronavirus keeps spreading at current rates, a government official warned on Tuesday.

Swiss authorities estimated that 2,650 people had tested positive for the coronavirus and said 19 people had died, while predicting cases will likely soar in the weeks ahead.

Exact figures were unavailable. Daniel Koch, head of the Federal Office of Health’s communicable diseases division, said the rapid rise had outstripped the state’s ability to record new cases in real time.

Mar 19, 2020

Making Sense with Sam Harris #191 — Early Thoughts On a Pandemic (with Amesh Adalja)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health, security, terrorism

Sam Harris discusses the coronavirus withAmesh Adalja.


In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Amesh Adalja about the spreading coronavirus pandemic. They discuss the contagiousness of the virus and the severity of the resultant illness, the mortality rate and risk factors, vectors of transmission, how long coronavirus can live on surfaces, the importance of social distancing, possible anti-viral treatments, the timeline for a vaccine, the importance of pandemic preparedness, and other topics.

Continue reading “Making Sense with Sam Harris #191 — Early Thoughts On a Pandemic (with Amesh Adalja)” »

Mar 19, 2020

This Austin Company Just Announced the First At-Home COVID-19 Test

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, food, government

On Thursday, March 18, Austin-based Everlywell announced that it will begin selling home tests for COVID-19 beginning Monday, March 23. The business already offers dozens of at-home testing kits for anything from cholesterol levels to fertility to food sensitivities, but it is the first U.S. company to announce an at-home COVID-19 test. Everlywell has an initial supply of 30,000 COVID-19 tests and is working with multiple laboratories to scale that number to 250,000 tests weekly.

The test can be requested online for people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. To access a test, consumers can go to everlywell.com and complete a screening questionnaire. According to the website, the test is shipped to customers with everything needed to collect a sample at home and safely ship that sample to a CLIA-certified lab partner. (All of Everywell’s laboratory partners conducting COVID-19 testing are complying with the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 symptoms.) The samples will then be shipped to partner labs overnight, and secure digital results will be available online within 48 hours of the lab receiving the sample. Free telehealth consultations with an independent, board-certified physician will also be available to those with positive results. The test is $135, at no profit to Everlywell, and is covered by participating HSA and FSA providers. The brand has reached out to government officials to see if the test can be made available for free.

Mar 19, 2020

Intel to Release Neuromorphic-Computing System

Posted by in categories: business, computing, government, neuroscience

Intel Corp. is releasing an experimental research system for neuromorphic computing, a cutting-edge method that simulates the way human brains work to perform computations faster, using significantly less energy.

The system, called Pohoiki Springs, will be made available this month over the cloud to members of the Intel Neuromorphic Research Community, which includes academic researchers, government labs and about a dozen companies such as Accenture PLC and Airbus SE.

Others, including International Business Machines Corp., are also researching the technique.

Mar 19, 2020

Mnuchin Backs $1,000 Per Adult, $500 Per Child in Payments

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, economics, government

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he supports direct payments of $1,000 per adult and $500 per child to Americans within three weeks if Congress backs the plan.

“The president is determined that we are going to support” those affected, Mnuchin said in a Fox Business interview Thursday morning.

Cash handouts to all American households are gaining support in Congress as the best way to shore up an economy brought to a near-standstill by the coronavirus response.

Mar 19, 2020

Russia aims to revive science after era of stagnation

Posted by in categories: climatology, government, robotics/AI, science

In 2018, Putin approved a national research strategy that stretches to 2024. It calls for more money, extra support for early-career scientists, and some 900 new laboratories, including at least 15 world-class research centres with a focus on mathematics, genomics, materials research and robotics. Last year, the government completed a sweeping evaluation of scientific performance at its universities and institutes; it has vowed to modernize equipment in the 300 institutes that made the top quartile. And it says it wants to strengthen previously neglected areas, including climate and environmental research (see ‘Russia’s climate-science ambitions’).


Some researchers see promise in planned reforms.

Mar 18, 2020

Japanese Flu Drug ‘Effective’ Against Coronavirus In Clinical Trials, Chinese Officials Say

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

As the number of global coronavirus cases surpassed 200,000 as of Wednesday, a Japanese flu drug undergoing clinical trials in China as a possible treatment for coronavirus has effectively helped patients recover, Chinese officials told reporters. This is only one of many drugs that have shown promise.


A Chinese government official said patients who took Avigan tested negative for the virus in a shorter amount of time.

Mar 18, 2020

A sneaky attempt to end encryption is worming its way through Congress

Posted by in categories: encryption, government, law enforcement

The EARN IT Act could give law enforcement officials the backdoor they have long wanted — unless tech companies come together to stop it. But Match Group has already endorsed it, putting pressure on Facebook, Twitter, and others.

Mar 18, 2020

Google, Facebook, and other tech companies are reportedly in talks with the US government to use your location data to stop the coronavirus — and to see if social distancing is really working

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

Location data from Facebook and Google could clarify whether people are actually social distancing, and whether it’s working.