Human activities have caused phosphorus to accumulate in soils and water bodies, creating a legacy that could last for decades, new research shows. A study of three major river basins highlights better sewage treatment facilities and reduced fertiliser use as key reasons for an overall decline in phosphorus levels in the Thames River basin, UK, since the late 1990s.

Researchers have analysed the policy response to the 2013–2014 flooding of the Somerset Levels and Moors in the UK. Analysis of media coverage and interviews with stakeholders revealed how local pressure promoted dredging — a policy that had fallen out of favour with the national Environment Agency (EA). Although dredging was eventually readopted by the EA, there remain uncertainties over its long-term viability due to funding constraints and debates over its effectiveness.

A recent study helps city planners find the greenest and most effective way of producing renewable energy, crops and water on rooftops. The researchers developed a method for analysing the performance and environmental impacts of different combinations of rooftop rainwater-harvesting-, energy- and food systems. It could aid efforts to promote urban self-sufficiency and a sustainable circular economy, they suggest.

River flooding costs billions of euros annually in the EU. When one river floods, others nearby often do so at the same time — extending the overall impact beyond the border of an individual drainage basin. With this in mind, this study analysed the spatial extent of flood events across Europe from 1960 to 2010, using data from the European Flood Database (EFD). The research presents key findings for flood forecasting, risk financing and flood-mitigation policy.

Low oxygen levels (‘hypoxia’) are a pressing concern for marine and freshwater ecosystems worldwide, and this may deteriorate as ocean temperatures rise. Hypoxia causes stress in organisms, which can cause reproductive impairments that persist across generations — even the offspring that have never been exposed to hypoxia. Previous studies discovered that hypoxia can disrupt sex hormones, resulting in birth defects and affecting reproduction of male fish over several generations. This study shows how hypoxia can also affect female marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) over multiple generations — and thus may pose a significant threat to the sustainability of natural fish populations worldwide.

Restaurants have been hit hard and are expected to continue facing a challenge in getting customers back as social distancing becomes the new norm.

Hari Menon pointed out that deliveries were largely constrained due to lack of on-ground staff that had left cities in large numbers prior to the lockdown

“Gaming traffic has increased by 50% in the last few weeks, with doubling of traffic in video streaming and collaborative work apps like Skype, Teams and Zoom,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International, which runs an internet exchange in Mumbai.

Online retailers such as Myntra and Tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases.

A Crisil note said due to the aggressive play by the telcos, the number of subscribers has stagnated at 19 million since 2016. Till now, the lower speed 4G served the purpose for people due to affordable smartphones, it noted. "But now, subscriptions to fixed broadband, especially in the urban areas, have surged because millions are working from home...," it said.

The criminal minds too have evolved during this pandemic. While there has been a significant drop in number of heinous crimes in city, cybercrime cases have spiked since lockdown.

There has been a significant increase in cybercrime against women, especially sextortion, during the COVID-19-induced lockdown with "caged criminals" targeting them online, say experts.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in a latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in a latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.

Cybercriminals are unleashing a surprisingly high volume of new threats in this short period of time to take advantage of inadvertent security gaps as organizations are in a rush to ensure business continuity.

The new features will allow admins to disable the use of a Personal Meeting ID (PMI) for scheduling or starting an instant meeting. As per the company, disabling the use of PMIs reduces that risk altogether and doesn’t leave PMI security up to individual users.

Direct messages on the desktop have been in the works for a while now.

With the microblogging site emerging as a key platform for information dissemination, many central banks are active on Twitter, especially in these times of economic uncertainties amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The integrated database on infrastructure projects can be accessed to study & analyse trends in the sector almost on real-time basis.

For the recent IPL season, Roanuz partnered with various brands and offered their product to run IPL campaigns, key ones being Zomato, RCB, and Book My Show.

The US government’s massive $2-trillion stimulus is expected to provide liquidity to companies, including banking and financial services that are the biggest outsourcers of IT. Infosys gets 31% of its revenue from banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI).

Sharing more details of the same, an official Spokesman said that as per the latest MHA Guidelines, activities in a region shall be allowed based on the risk profiling of the region/districts into Red (Hotspots), Orange, and Green zones. ​​In the Orange zone IT/ITES would be allowed to carry out their activities with staff strength of 50 percent.

Companies like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Haier and Godrej Appliance are leveraging Livechat, WhatsApp, DIY video as well as on-call assistance, and helping remotely on real time basis as their service centres are closed in compliance with the government directives.

The application roped in qualified doctors and medical professionals to furnish authentic corona-related information and bust myths around the same.

There are more than 30,000 microwave ovens, AC and washing machines which needs repair at a time when Indians are locked indoors and doing household chores themselves due to the lockdown.

“We request for your kind direction to the MHA on this very important recommendation from the industry which is duly considered and approved by the crisis management structure set up you – the Empowered Group of Technology and Data Management,” India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo wrote in the letter.

Reliance and Facebook know a friction-less payments service is key to successful online commerce — but so are mom and pop shops. JioMart and WhatsApp’s embryonic Mumbai service is intended to first get Indians accustomed to messaged transactions with local businesses known as kirana: the tiny neighborhood stores where most Indians buy daily essentials.

The decline in growth rate is likely because enterprises relook at their buying decisions owing to increased focus on profitability, said IDC's report.

The UK government on Friday launched a new virtual cyber security school aimed at encouraging teenagers to learn new skills while stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. As part of the free lessons, youngsters can learn how to crack codes, fix security flaws and dissect criminals' digital trails while progressing through a game as a cyber agent.

"All standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential," the ministry of home affairs said in a notification on Friday.

People are actively seeking information on Covid-19’s impact — to stay updated and avoid panic.

Zoom was the most downloaded non-game app worldwide for April 2020 with close to 131 million installs, a 60x growth from April 2019

It is unclear today how to draft a patent framework that allows seamless communication between IoT devices manufactured by different companies adhering to different standards

As revenues dry up from traditional streams of mobility services amidst slowdown, intense competition and price wars, telcos are now focusing on emerging technologies and core emerging services, especially in the areas of IoT

5G with its high-speed and low latency service will help realise the Government of India’s Digital India, Smart Cities and Digital Villages Missions aiming to improve citizen services, bring transparency and good governance. IoT based solutions and services in healthcare, agriculture and retail when powered by 5G will enable connected and ubiquitous services to the citizens.

Egham (UK)In 2020, worldwide shipments of Internet of Things (IoT) enterprise drones (defined as flying drones) will total 526,000 units, an increase of 50% from 2019, Gartner Inc. said on Thursday.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo expects the Covid-19 supply chain disruption to end in a week or two. It is also planning to open a 5G lab in Hyderabad.

IoT is helping Smartworks create workplace of the future by increasing employee productivity and lowering down energy consumption by 15 percent.

Maitrey Modha of CNH Industrial says IoT companies would need to come up with customized solutions based on each type of manufacturing process.

TGBL has transitioned its complete infrastructure landscape on public cloud to enable digital transformation across our business. It translated into benefits like infrastructure flexibility and elasticity and what’s more helped TGBL realize 15% reduction in infrastructure hosting and managed services cost.

Through AI and ML, Eureka Forbes automatically knows when a filter is approaching end of life. "So, even before the customer approaches us for service, we will initiate communication with him, asking him to get the service done," says Khushru Mistry, CIO, Eureka Forbes.

Google has announced machine images, a new type of Compute Engine resource that contains all the information people need to create, backup or restore a virtual machine, reducing the amount of time people spend managing their Cloud environment.

The cloud giants have seen a drop-off in new contracts from big clients for server storage and to overhaul tech.

TONIK Financial, Asean’s first licensed digital-only bank, is leveraging cloud to mitigate the risks of Covid-19.

IT advisory IDC estimates that domestic IT spending will decline 4.5% to $55.5 billion this fiscal

We have already crossed the AI Rubicon, and the future lies in the symbiosis of machine and human intelligence.

The flurry of transactions show the tycoon's ambitions to pivot Reliance Industries into an Indian technology titan are going into hyperdrive

The headcount has now come down from more than 1,000 employees a year ago, with the majority of job cuts in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak that forced shutdowns in the February-April period. The headcount comprises staff on the company’s rolls as well as those on contract and outsourced manpower.

Zoom was the most downloaded non-game app worldwide for April 2020 with close to 131 million installs, a 60x growth from April 2019

DBS Bank is leveraging technology to reduce man hours, enhance the customer journey, automate processes and open new revenue streams.