During a recent study, a group of magpies removed their GPS trackers, astounding their observers. But were the birds actually trying to help each other?

The seed for the current project was sown last year when a similarly-themed exposition was given pride of place at the Bundestag, the German parliament building in Berlin.

Twenty years ago, people wrongly wrote off the oil industry as a dinosaur. Oil production fell after 1970, so people wrongly predicted that oil production would continue to fall ever thereafter — the “peak oil” theory. Based on this prediction, there was even a weekly newspaper column called “peak oil“, written by Tom Whipple, the […]

The post Oil is the most productive U.S. industry, debunking the myth that ‘peak oil’ was reached long ago appeared first on Liberty Unyielding.

Pakistan crush world champions Australia by nine wickets in Adelaide to set up a one-day international series decider.

Uncapped batter Nathan McSweeney will open for Australia in the first of five Tests against India.

Pakistan thrash Australia by eight wickets in Perth to claim their first one-day series win in the country for 22 years.

India travel to Australia for their five-Test series - here's everything you need to know including the schedule, squads and how to follow on the BBC.

The European Commission's president said the European Union could boost US liquified natural gas purchases in a deal with Trump.

Hi, sellers! In this Industry Buzz, we’re focusing on finding those strategies that will help your digital business achieve long-term growth. To that end, we’ve put together quite a list of resources on conversion rate optimization, pricing, retention, lead nurturing and growth tips and frameworks.

Steve Vonder Haar recently released an outstanding research report about the online webcasting event services business.

He states that consumers of webcasting services have been motivated by two priorities: 1) the desire to keep costs low; and 2) the desire to keep involvement of their own IT departments to a minimum. For this reason, major webcasting event service providers, like ON24, have enjoyed their greatest success at the ends of the market spectrum: low cost self-provisioning services and high touch premium webcasting services.

The premium end of the market has been bolstered by the complexity of the client's needs, which has kept fees high and competition at bay. The low end of the market had become increasingly commoditized.

He concludes that service providers are going to have to push more to the middle of that spectrum and identify more companies that require well-produced webcasts for the market to continue growing.

He also mentions that the complexity of webcast events that has traditionally protected the major service providers is no longer a significant barrier to entry. Sophisticated webcasting software offered on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis allows any number of production companies, agencies, and event companies to compete on an equal footing with the ON24s and the OnStreams.

According to Hoovers, the US marketing and services industry includes about 35,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $80 billion. The industry is fragmented because the top 50 companies generate less than 40 percent of that revenue. In other words, there are a large number of potential buyers of enterprise webcasting software that want to compete for online event services business at a time when traditional advertising revenues are falling and internet advertising revenues are growing. Internet communications are definitely going to become a greater point of emphasis for these companies.

I am unable to attached the report, but you can request a copy at the Interactive Media Strategies website.

Chairman Klein and members of the Senate Industry, Business and Labor Committee- My name is David Heinemeier Hansson, and I’m the CTO and co-founder of Basecamp, a small internet company from Chicago that sells project-management software and email services. I first testified on the topic of big tech monopolies at the House Antitrust Subcommittee’s field… keep reading

Mining and the Circular Economy: Implications for the Minerals and Metals Industries 6 November 2017 — 4:00PM TO 5:30PM Anonymous (not verified) 31 October 2017 Chatham House, London

A New Era for China: Implications for the Global Mining and Metals Industries 18 June 2018 — 9:00AM TO 10:30AM Anonymous (not verified) 8 June 2018 Chatham House, London

Since the turn of the century, China’s demand for resources has dominated global headlines. It’s rapid demand growth through the early 2000s sparked the beginning of the commodities ‘super cycle’, and encouraged a growing Chinese presence in international mining, and in global metals and minerals markets. More recently, its transition toward the ‘new normal’ of slower but higher quality growth has underpinned the sudden slowdown in global commodities demand.

Drawing on China’s domestic ambitions, as set out in the 19th party congress, and on its wider strategic ambitions through the Belt and Road Initiative, the speaker will set out his thoughts on China’s next era of growth, and its likely implications for international mining investment and global metals and minerals markets.

Realizing the Potential of Extractives for Industrial and Economic Development 18 October 2018 — 5:30PM TO 7:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 3 October 2018 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Over the past two decades, the extractives industries have risen in importance for many low- and middle- income countries their prospects for economic development and poverty reduction. During a period of rising commodities prices, the development of extractives became increasingly attractive to both governments and companies. There was - and remains - much discussion about their potential to support inclusive development.

However, there are also risks and uncertainties associated with the extractives industries and many things can, and do, go wrong. Fluctuations in commodity prices can be hard to manage and can lead to considerable fiscal pressures. In the longer-term, climate change and the various policy responses to this, will profoundly affect the extractives sector as renewables replace fossil fuels in the global energy mix.

Managing the extractives sectors will therefore remain highly challenging especially in low-income countries where institutions are often weak. This roundtable will bring together some of the foremost academics and practitioners working in the extractives industries and also in economic development to discuss a major new UNU-WIDER study Extractive Industries: The Management of Resources as a Driver of Sustainable Development.

Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

The Electric Vehicle Revolution: Impacts on Oil Economies and Industry 24 January 2019 — 8:15AM TO 9:45AM Anonymous (not verified) 3 December 2018 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Electric vehicle (EV) deployment is gathering pace: the Norwegian government thinks that EV subsidies will be unnecessary by 2025 as they reach parity with diesel and petrol vehicles.

China has stipulated that EVs comprise 12 per cent of vehicle sales by 2020 while more governments are committing to banning diesel and petrol vehicles.

These developments are expected to be replicated as urban air pollution rises up the political agenda while technological developments and falling costs have given rise to ambitious forecasts on the increase in the deployment of EVs and the demise of the internal combustion engine.

Considering this, the presentations and initial discussion focus on:

• The influence of new technologies on the automotive landscape, including autonomous vehicles.
• How the automotive and oil companies are adjusting their business models to accommodate and encourage the rise in EVs.
• The risks and opportunities for the deployment of EVs for incumbents and new market actors.
• The role of government for example in public procurement and infrastructure development.
• The potential for modal shift and its impact on oil demand.

The discussion then seeks to explore the need for benchmarks of change including data and metrics to understand the changing risk landscape and the implications for different actors.

Finally, the discussion focuses on the speed of transformation and what this means for existing and new market actors.

Now is the moment to launch an African vaccine industry The World Today mhiggins.drupal 31 July 2022

The continent plans to make 60 per cent of its vaccines by 2040. After the failure of the world to help in the pandemic, it’s high time, says Ngozi Erondu.

The lack of an African vaccine industry has been a glaring concern for decades. Before the pandemic, 99 per cent of Africa’s vaccines were manufactured outside the continent. As well as endangering the lives of millions, this situation has inhibited social and economic progress on the continent.

In response, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has undertaken an ambitious plan, outlined in the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) Framework for Action, to develop the nascent African vaccine manufacturing sector into an end-to-end industry by 2040. The framework aims to raise the share of African-manufactured vaccines used across the continent to 60 per cent by 2040, or the equivalent to up to 1.7 billion doses annually.

Seven of every 10 vaccines used in Africa are currently donated through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Most are administered within childhood immunization programmes and are largely manufactured either in India, or by  multinational vaccine manufacturers in North America or Japan.

Vaccine donations have inhibited the development in Africa of vaccines and other countermeasures against diseases.

Though the Ebola virus was discovered in Central Africa in 1976, vaccine development was not adequately funded until it emerged in Europe in 2014. Human monkeypox resurfaced in Nigeria in 2017, yet the global Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations only targeted it for vaccine development in July this year.

The pandemic highlighted Africa’s fatal dependency on imported vaccines. Only 20 per cent of Africans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, due to the failure of countries in the Global North to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines via the COVAX facility to 40 per cent of the world’s most vulnerable people. 

The pandemic also confirmed that Africa could not rely on fellow states of the Global South. At the height of the Delta variant outbreak in early 2021, India halted vaccine exports to Africa, where only 1.5 per cent of the population had at that time received any vaccine doses.

After decades of discussions, there are signs that Africa could soon succeed in creating its own vaccine industry. First, the 55-member African Union is in the process of establishing the African Medicines Agency, a regional regulatory body. 
 

‘The new public health order’

Additionally, the African Export-Import Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) have established a foundation to provide financial and strategic support for the development of the pharmaceutical industry and the consolidation of regional vaccination programmes in Africa (the foundation would potentially negotiate intellectual property rights and licensing issues but that remains to be seen).

Second, studies show there is an emerging middle class in Africa. In a 2011 report by the AfDB, this was estimated at some 56 million households. Potentially, this means many people will be able to buy vaccines and medicines made in Africa.

About a third of African countries currently pay for their vaccine needs. According to PAVM forecasts, the value of the total African market could reach between $3 billion and $17 billion by 2040.

The recent entry into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area should also prove conducive to African vaccine development. Through economic integration, free movement and harmonized regional standards, countries that invest in their biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors may attract employees, regional and international businesses, and investment. Further, the pandemic has encouraged people to relocate to countries with, or planning for, universal healthcare.

Building an African pharmaceutical industry from the ground up could take much longer than two decades and cost tens of billions of dollars. Nevertheless, the moment seems ripe, and timely support has been forthcoming from influential regional actors, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and private sector business executives, including the Zimbabwean-born billionaire Strive Masiyiwa.

With a pandemic treaty embedding equity in prevention, preparedness and response some way off, and given the limitations surrounding the recent World Trade Organization compromise on the TRIPS waiver – which temporarily waives Covid-19 vaccine patent protections for poorer countries – it is doubly important for Africa to build up its own pharmaceutical industry and emergency systems. 

In 2021, John Nkengasong, then director of Africa CDC, wrote of the necessity of a post-pandemic ‘new public health order’ for Africa. Such a change may threaten the global health organizations, industries and institutes who derive payment from ‘saving Africa’ during emergencies. Additionally, through strengthening Africa CDC, other actors such as the World Health Organization may find that they have a diminished strategic role on the continent.
 
While Africa should not dismiss these valuable and long-standing partnerships, it must take the opportunity to advance its interests and to assume leadership in this important area.

Decades of obsolete and unpatched hardware and software endanger us all

The Internet is full of cats—and in this case, malware-delivering fake cat websites used for very targeted search engine optimization.

Using a simple, environment friendly proteome extraction (TOP), we were able to optimize the analysis of clinical samples. Using our TOP method we analyzed a clinical cohort of microsatellite stable (MSS) and unstable (MSI-H) colorectal carcinoma (CRC). We identified a tumor cell specific, STAT1-centered, immune signature expressed by the MSI-H tumor cells. We then showed that long, but not short, exposure to Interferon- induces a similar signature in vitro. We identified 10 different temporal protein expression patterns, classifying the Interferon- protein temporal regulation in CRC. Our data sheds light on the changes that tumor cells undergo under long-term immunological pressure in vivo, the importance of STAT proteins in specific biological scenarios. The data generated could help find novel clinical biomarkers and therapeutic approaches.

Zimbabwe Futures 2030: Policy Priorities for Industrialization, Agri-Business and Tourism 6 June 2019 — 9:30AM TO 1:15PM Anonymous (not verified) 21 June 2019 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday his government will introduce legislation to ban children under 16 years of age from social media.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2024 — D-Wave Quantum Inc. today announced the appointments of veteran technology industry leaders, John DiLullo and Rohit Ghai, to its board of directors. The new […]

The post D-Wave Expands Board with Industry Veterans John DiLullo and Rohit Ghai appeared first on HPCwire.

BEAVERTON, Ore., Sept. 10, 2024 — The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today announced details of its exhibit at stand #A3 […]

The post Ethernet Alliance to Feature Cross-Industry Collaboration at ECOC 2024 Exhibit appeared first on HPCwire.

BEAVERTON, Ore., Oct. 29, 2024 — Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) Consortium, led by Board Members from AMD, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Astera Labs, Cisco, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel, Meta […]

The post Ultra Accelerator Link Consortium Launches with Industry Leaders, Opens Membership to Drive AI Connectivity Standards appeared first on HPCwire.

BOSTON, Oct. 25, 2024 — QuEra Computing, a leader in neutral-atom quantum computing, today announced that on September 6th, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Institute of […]

The post QuEra and AIST Partner on Quantum-HPC Integration for Research and Industry appeared first on HPCwire.

An emperor penguin is being cared for by wildlife experts after becoming the first member of its species to make the 2,200-mile trek from Antarctica to Australia.

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton called for alliances to protect the nations and people of the Indo-Pacific region.

Divergent Technologies developed a digital production system that can revolutionize automotive and industrial scale manufacturing. Divergent uses new manufacturing solutions and their Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS™) software to make […]

The post Transforming Industrial and Automotive Manufacturing appeared first on HPCwire.

Nov. 11, 2024 — Forschungszentrum Jülich and its partners in the QSolid project have begun operating Germany’s first prototype quantum computer featuring optimized qubit quality. This prototype lays the groundwork […]

The post Jülich Leads QSolid Quantum Prototype Toward Hybrid HPC Integration for Industry and Research appeared first on HPCwire.

Intersect360 Research has released a comprehensive new report concerning the challenges facing the combined fields of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). Titled “Issues Facing the HPC-AI Industry: Insights […]

The post Report from HALO Details Issues Facing HPC-AI Industry appeared first on HPCwire.

March 20, 2024 — The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre invites Australian-based research groups to join the Pawsey Uptake Project call. This initiative will provide teams with access to dedicated Pawsey […]

The post Pawsey Invites Australian Researchers to Advance Scientific Innovation Through the Pawsey Uptake Project appeared first on HPCwire.

A Nebraska senator introduced a bill that would give teachers legal cover to physically restraint disruptive students, prompting a strong positive response from members of the state teachers' union.

The state's highest court allowed some claims brought on behalf of relatives of victims of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to proceed against the firearms industry.

A Smithsonian curator reflects back on the artistic legend, a "Renaissance man" with 28 Grammys to his name, who died Sunday at 91 years old

Salzburg – Austria, marked a significant milestone as it celebrated the formal recognition of Traditional Hay Milk Farming in the Austrian Alpine Arc as a FAO Globally Important Agricultural [...]

While Thomas Edison is best-known for inventing the lightbulb, it's often forgotten that he also set up the world's first movie studio, in Fort Lee, New Jersey

Kleptoparasitism, in which a bird harasses another to steal its food, might introduce avian flu to the continent, currently the only one without the severe H5N1 strain

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the "Holy Grail of birdwatching"

Most adult king penguins weigh between 31 and 37 pounds. At nine months old, a 51.8-pound Pesto is already looming over his parents

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is showcasing works full of the Surrealist artist's signature motifs—such as apples, pipes and bowler hats—in addition to lesser-known pieces

The viral king penguin chick at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is beginning to lose his youthful down, a process that will give him his distinctive and waterproof adult plumage